other hand, I think I can venture to say, with something like certainty, that if the united Liberals choose to embrace this the best opportunity that ever offered itself to them, or that ever will, of returning a second Liberal at the next election, they will not have to look long in vain for "a good man and true." But to prevent again the return of a Tory, and to insure success to the Liberal party, a very different system from the old must be pursued... Neither candidate nor voters must have anything to do with Tories, They must take a lesson from their opponents, and never dream of giving a divided support to their own party, or any support at all to the Tory candidate; knowing as they do that Tory voters never think of giving any in return, Above all, they, must never have for a candidate one of those kind of Radicals who so far follow ministerial tactics, as, instead of standing by their own party, and trusting to them alone, fancy Tory Attorneys and such like are ever to be conciliated or severed from their principles or moderated in their Toryism by small family ties, whether of business or kind. To make assurance doubly sure, however, I would give the Liberals one other piece of advice ; and very glad should I be if they would follow. it, Their present Association I fear, if I speak the truth, is somewhat of a milk-and-water one. Why do not some of the bolder spirits of the party (and I know such there are to be found,) form themselves into a Bundle of Sticks Club, after the fashion of the one at Lewes? That began with some half a dozen of the poorer voters, and has grown to a considerable number, all of the same class, They will not touch the unclean beast, Toryism; and they havé been able to carry the elections and preserve the Liberal seat against immense Tory and Aristocratic influence. And, although now beaten for a time, (through others’ misconduct) they will yet be the means of redeeming them. They are then, indeed worthy of all imitation: and not the least among the many advantages their position gives them, is, that they are their own masters; the return is in their own hands; and they are independent of the caprices, wills, and pleasures, of the candidates. Electors of Hastings, follow the example of this Club, and you will crush Toryism.
AN ELECTOR.”
Influence of moderate politicians
If I may be allowed to comment on this letter, I shall say, without bias to either party, that the writer of it is a prototype of many later politicians who, after Tory successes at elections, have ascribed the defeat of Liberals to the influence of "shop," forgetting the fact that ever since the year 1835 more money has been spent in the borough by Liberal candidates than by Conservatives, much as may have been the latter on some few occasions. They seem to have entirely ignored the influence of the moderate men on both sides, as well as the Imperial questions for the time being (apart from all local considerations), which would cause the non-partizan_electors — the Moderate-Liberals and the Liberal-Conservatives — to so record their votes as to turn the scale, one way or the other, in a manner most congenial to. their own moderate and well-digested views. These will be. called "crotchet-mongers," "turn-coats," "political traders" and other hard names, by the extreme men of both parties, who fail to see that a majority of such men act as much upon a really pure principle as,if not more so than, their accusers; who, having always allied themselves to party, are obligingly blind to the defects which are occasionally to be) found in every party. It would be well if Tories and Radicals would look the fact in the face that, although there may be still a small number of electors who would sell their birthright for a mess of pottage, there is a larger number of independent and thoughtful men — howsoever poor in worldly requirements — who are proof against the wiles and wishes of mere party; and to these should be ascribed the power to turn the scale of an election on one side or the other. The determination of the Moderates to do what they conceive to be right has never yet, in my rather long experience of local politics, received that recognition to which I hold it to be honourably entitled; and, until this is done, the Ultras of both parties will continue to ascribe their unexpected defeats to the wrong, or to any number of wrong causes. "Mr. Planta’s doom is sealed after the present Parliament," says the writer of the foregoing letter, and yet it will be found that he was again triumphantly returned to the next Parliament, four years later. In 1847 another Tory took his place, followed by the return of two Tories in 1852. Five years later, one of these had to give way, and, the borough was then represented by one of each side.
Mr. Robertson, the Tory candidate, was again returned in 1855 and 1866; but from 1868 to 1874 the Moderate Libera!s, having no sufficient cause to separate themselves from the extreme section, and seeing that the Conservatives had no candidate to introduce of sufficiently moderate views and of sufficient preposessions, threw in their lot to return two Liberals until 1880, when, the political aspects and prospects had changed, and a Moderate Conservative was returned with the most moderate of the two Liberals.
In the report of the political trial I omitted to state that it was witnessed by a densely crowded court from beginning to end, and that before the case was called, the plaintiff's solicitor offered to leave the matter in the hands of the defendant's solicitor for an amicable arrangement. The latter, however, insisted upon the case being gone through, and after the verdict was given, expressed his regret that it was not for the full amount, as he would then have moved for a new trial.
Leaving for awhile the further consideration of political strife in its direct aspect, it occurs to me to reproduce its oblique bearings as beheld in the glimpses of newspaper rivalries. The resuscitation of the Cinque Ports Chronicle, in 1840, under a different proprietary, as well as with different political views called forth the following specimen of literary amenities in the Dover Chronicle, under the heading of Hastings and St. Leonards:—
The ‘beautiful Goat', we are concerned to state, since our last has been lying in a most precarious state, no hope being entertained of the pretty little chuck’s ultimate recovery. In addition to the anxious attention of Dr, Troup and Surgeon Moor, it has been thought advisable to obtain the assistance of Professor Diplock; but, alas! all, it is feared, will be useless, We caught a sight of its emaciated offspring on Wednesday; and really, poor thing! it was heart-breaking to look upon it. It had been hinted to us that if we were to destroy it at once, it would be a happy release; but we must be permitted, in this case at all events, to have our own way, All men have their hobbies and the Goat is ours; and we would really like to nourish the thing for some time to come. But it is a question with us whether we should not annihilate the doctors. Some folk say that we should do so at once, and of a heap; but we think it better to do the work by degrees, and consequently we shall take Surgeon Moor first."
In what manner Mr. Moor— "Our old friend Johnny Moor," as he was generally spoken of in my hearing — was so terribly castigated by the Dover Chronicle I have no means of showing, but that an attempt was made to demolish him was evident from what appeared in the same journal, dated Aug. 1st, 1840, the extract above being taken from the number dated July 18th. This second "castigation" professes to come "From our Hastings Reporter," and is as follows:— .
We have before said, and taken great pains to prove, that all Tories are respectable: ergo, Mr. Moor, 'our respectable agent' that is the respectable agent of the respectable James Troup Esq , of Cheapside Park; and, as our respectable friend Mr. Joseph Planta would say, without such respectable political characters as Mr. Moor, 'where would our pink voters be?' Ah! where? That’s the rub; for,as Mr Planta observed, 'if they lost them' — that is the black-A-Moors sailing under false colours — 'had they others to supply their places?' No! To the disgrace of that class of voters, it was by their votes only that Mr. Planta was placed at the head of the poll. So much for the respectability of Mr. Moor. That individual evidently writhes under the castigation we inflicted on him in our last.
We suspect that the Hastings supporters of the Dover Chronicle writhed quite as much under the defeat which they sustained at the election referred to, as did Mr. Moor under the castigation about which the Liberal journal is thus exultant. It was not so much because the Liberals had changed their politics as because they were ashamed of the treatment which the Conservative candidate received on the occasion of a previous contest. The more moderate men of the Liberal party knew Mr. Planta to be a perfect gentleman in his demeanour and social relations, and they conceived the idea that some compensation should be made to him in 1837 for the brutal usage to which he was subjected in 1835. There was also, doubtless, some amount of reaction setting in after the furore of excitement consequent upon the first three or four years’ enjoyment of the franchise as conferred by the Reform Bill. At any rate there was a softening down of former asperities among the calmer spirits of the Liberal party towards a political rival, as well as a disposition to credit him with having acted conscientiously, though mistakingly, in the past, and a similar disposition to trust him for the future. Reason impels one to the conclusion that to raise Mr. Planta’s voters from 88 to 403, during an interval of unly two years, 2 greater force was required than that which the Dover Chronicle would have its readers believe was the case; namely, the defection from the Radical ranks of a few "Jim Crows" and "black-a-Moors," for their own private benefit.
The force in question was, doubtless, the one I have suggested, and which in other words I explained when describing the election of 1857. I repeat here my desire to hold the balance fairly between political parties, but I cannot put away the fact—as attested by personal recollections, and by contemporaneous journals of the period, copies of which are before me — that for indiscreet assertions and violent diatribes the Tory papers were no match for their opponents. The foregoing quotation from the Dover Chronicle is perhaps one of the mildest specimens of its censorious ebullitions ; as it there only deals with those persons who had so far swerved from their allegiance to the Liberal cause as to become agents for the sale of a Tory paper. But in the same column is a more highly flavoured exordium, which I will also quote as an example of the style in which it was sought to flagellate a real Tory, and one, moreover, who had dared to become a rival journalist. It is headed James Troup, Esq. (From our Hastings reporter),” and is as follows :—
Come forth, then, James Troup; you have for a long season, warred against the world 'under the rose?' it shall be our diligent care, however, that you shall in future appear before the public in propria persons. Yes, however revolting the sight may be, you must be exhibited to your fellow men in your natural character; and however deformed, you must be seen hereafter in nature’s garb. No man upon earth, James Troup, can possibly stand forth as a public man in a more defenceless state than you;— no man upon earth, James Troup, is so little deserving the sympathy of mankind generally, as yourself and, fortunately for all, your race is nearly run. But it happens, unluckily for you, that the mind which dictates to the hand that writes this, fears thee not. He has wintered, he has summered thee; he has fairly placed you in the balance, and has to a fraction, proved your value. Nor will he keep secrets connected with you, that it concerns the world to know; and the result will decide, James Troup, whether you are a useful member to society, or on the other hand, whether you have not polluted every public matter you have touched. He gives you credit for possessing one qualification, James Troup, — that is, you are indefatigable. But in what? In creating mischief, and sowing the seed of discord. The mind and disposition of the man is depicted in his countenance; black suspicion sits mantled upon that lowering brow, and bitter malice is seen lurking in those small but piercing eyes. But it shall be our duty to make you. James Troup, harmless for the future. Well, then, in your attacks upon us, doubtless you consider yourself justified, as usual. You are always in the right — never in the wrong. Oh, no! certainly not - that is, in your own opinion; — but, unhappily for you, you stand in an isolated position ; for it is morally impossible to convince any one sensible being that what James Troup does is right. You stand in the midst of the human race as a singular instance of what is the result of a life devoted to the practice of duplicity. As we said before, you are at war with the world. Your every action every word that escapes your lips, is looked at, carefully conned o'er. What a hapless state this is to be in, James Troup; the more so to a man like yourself, possessing the means to do good, if you had but the inclination. Reflect upon what you are, and what you might have been, even in Hastings. Have you done any one thing to command the respect of your neighbours whether rich or poor? Or has not your whole career been marked by a reckless indifference to the interests of the public, and for your own aggrandisement?, This, James Troup, is the cause why you find yourself alone. The head and point of our offending you, and of your raising from its ashes a defunct Tory paper—a thing that had abused you much, but not more than you deserved, (that was impossible) — was because we shrunk from being the tool of such a man, We made many sacrifices; and how did you reward us? How? Why by imposing on us a wilful a daring misrepresentation. From your own lips you denounced the Directors of the Brighton Railroad and the Engineer thereof, as placing before the Shareholders a false report in reference to the opening of the Shoreham line. when, it was eventually proved that the Directors, as well as the Engineers, fulfilled to the very letter their pledge to the public. This, then, was the principal cause amongst others, that induced us to forego your very disintered favours. But remember, Sir, you have now plunged into a crusade that will cause you no little anxiety; and to the verge of that 'bourne from which no traveller returns,' will we watch your every step. We have nothing to fear from you; and being sufficiently acquainted with your every move, it will be as well our duty as it is our inclination, to protect all from falling into the same error as that we have so recently extricated ourselves from. It is no small gratification to us to know, that in dissolving the connection that existed between us and James Troup, we have gained many estimable friends, caused the return of the friendship and society of many who had withdrawn their confidence in consequence of that connection, while that part of the British Press, which we have the honour and the happiness to be connected with, has, beyond. all precedent, placed itself, by its own merits only, upon a pre-eminence above all others. So much for you this week. James Troup. Whether this will find you behind the counter at the General Repository in Tooley Street, we know not; but wherever you fall in with it, it will add much to your comfort, no doubt.
I have an idea that the above effusion is slightly more candid than courteous, and after a few more extracts have been given, it is probable that the reader will feel no surprise that an apology was demanded and ultimately acceded to.
The Dover Chronicle's castigation of Mr. Troup, as the new proprietor of the Cinque Ports Chronicle was of such an abusive character as is not often equalled in the annals of journalism. I now make an extract from the last-named paper, which being written in a, facetious strain, rather than one of malice, redounds, for the nonce, to the greater credit of the Tory print. The The[a] extract in question, whose ironical drift will be seen at a glance; is as follows :-
TO THE WORTHY AND LIBERAL ELECTORS OF HASTINGS AND ST. LEONARDS.
"Gentlemen,— With, the sincerest gratification and delight I address you, the worthy and liberal electors of the ancient borough of Hastings.
"Gentlemen,— I am an opponent of all tread-mill and other coercion, and an unflinching enemy to taxation of all kinds, I will vote that all public servants, including royalty, instead of being paid for performing their respective duties, shall pay the State for holding their several offices. In addition to these general principles. I am prepared to introduce the following bills into Parliament as soon as your kind suffrages have conferred upon me the distinguished honour of becoming your representative in the councils of the nation :—
"1st. A bill enacting that it may and shall be lawful for all servants, whether male or female, to rise from their beds at what time they please, provided it be not after noon; that after having served up breakfast, dinner, or tea, in the dining or drawing room, to sit down and enjoy. themselves mem con
"2dly. A bill providing that if any person take a fancy to a joint of meat in a butcher’s shop, he may help himself to it, without let or hindrance, and that instead of being liable to arrest on a charge of felonious taking, he or she shall be exonerated by giving his or her parole that payment shall be made when convenient.
"3dly. A bill enacting that every poor man shall have one cow apportioned to him; and if he be too idle to fetch the cow from his allotment, a person shall be employed by Government to perform the duty.
"These, gentlemen, are a few of the measures I am prepared to introduce, and which shall be introduced, provided you are true to your own cause, your children, and the State. 'England expects every man to do his duty'; and if you do yours by returning an enlightened representative to Parliament, who will strike, at the root of all abuses and monopolies, the country shall no longer be ridden over rough-shod by a parcel of people called Conservatives, but shall rise like a giant from his slumbers, obtain the blessings of free laws and institutions, and then become 'great, glorious. and free,' the wonder and envy of surrounding nations.
Believe me here to fight your cause,
And bid defiance to existing laws."I shall shortly address you again on the subject of the extensive measures of reform I will effect when your representative.
"In the meantime, believe me, gentlemen, your most devoted and humble servant. "R BARRY.
"Reform Lodge, Hastings, 4th Nov., 1840."
Rival Editors - Apology demanded and given
I shall however, have an opportunity of showing the foregoing mild retaliation is not to be taken as a proof that the Cinque Ports Chronicle was incapable of sitting its rival down to a dish of more highly seasoned food; for having been further goaded by its Dover tormentor, it at length kicked out viciously, but with the important difference that whereas the vituperations of the one were singularly personal, the scoldings of the other were collectively political. But wait until after the rejoinder of the Dover print to the above political skit, which declared that {{Quote|""Our Hastings Reporter has to claim the indulgence of the readers of this journal till next week, when he flatters himself he shall be enabled to place before them a very curious correspondence touching the dispute between himself and the redoubtable James Troup, the very respectable proprietor of the 'Cinque Ports’ Chronicle.' We are credibly informed that 'Sancho’s' bantling is, once more, all but dead. Don’t be angry with us, James Troup, for calling your tool 'Sancho.' You gave him that title yourself, you know: we were satisfied with distinguishing him by the cognomen of the 'Goat.' The thing made its appearance rather late again this week, James Troup: how was that? And there was an awful large bundle of them returned to your friend Shackell through the Post Office on Satur-
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