table in the centre are seated from eight to ten persons. At the head of the table in an 'old arm chair' you perceive a gentleman in black, whose benign countenance and hairless sconce imply the most happy pliability of disposition, while the evidence of benevolence, sagacity and self-esteem are sufficiently developed to the scrutinising eye of a phrenologist. The first essay of this gentleman as a politician was under the then tottering and corrupt Town Council, when North and Warre, both staunch Whigs, were the successful candidates. The next election found him ratting; Elphinstone being rejected and Planta accepted. North and Planta were thus indebted to him for his support. At the last election he was the whole-hog Planta-genet.— The person on the right hand of the chairman is a being remarkable for singularity of countenance, and for the perpetual application of the contents of his snuff box, which seems to furnish constant employment for the scavenger. Mark him for.a man of deep cogitation and consequence! His easy address is an assurance that he in some way frequents good society, and his continual use of the pronoun I proves that at one period he must have been a steady reader of Cobbett’s Register. Like that voluminous writer, he is full of promises of what he will do. Why, if you were to ask him to procure for you at once 30 or 40 votes, ‘My dear fellow, it is no sooner said than done; I will do.it.’ And so he would; at least he would promise. We find him first ‘Elphinstone for ever!’ then North and Brisco (the latter. declaring himself no Tory)! and now, forsooth, Planta is his only man. The ears of the people are not attuned to his harmony. — On the left of the chairman you will observe one of the characters of Hastings as various in his polities as he is wayward in his temperament. At times he is ‘a fellow of infinite jest; at others he is taciturn to a fault. His first exhibition was one which had under it the school in which he had been cherished, and the master whom he had served. Then Elphinstone was his ‘only joy.’ When the next election came, he found the North wind had taken go great an effect upon him that from continually condemning the gentleman who bears that name, he could do nothing but shout 'North and Brisco for ever!' — At the last election the wind again shifted, and ‘a fellow-feeling makes us wondrous kind.’ As he has become buried in his obesity, dead to all political shame, and forgetful of those. under whom, he grew, he is to be found hand in hand with Mr. Planta. The people are not wine-bibbers. — A little further to the right you will see one whose red, rosy gills give ample proof of the ‘fair round belly with fat capon lined.’ That man now professes to adore Sir Robert Peel; and yet the time was (when sense prevailed over ledger accounts) that he contemplated the political horizon through a virtuous medium. Prospects, however, blunted ‘his fine feelings of patriotism; and when he obtained the first right of voting for a Member of Parliament he was so far steeped in political degradation as to declare he must consult his ledger before he promised his vote. That counselled him to become a Whig, and accordingly North and Warre obtained his support. Mrs. Camac was then carrying things with a high hand in Hastings and St. Leonards; and the next election found him trailing in Brisco’s wake. But now he has changed with other changlings, and has become a Tory. We must now direct particular attention to the gentleman in a wig, with a black coat too big for his shrunken corpus, buff waistcoat and white trousers. Mark that countenance, that restless eye, that half-averted look, those hollow lines, the self-conceit descending on the upper lip, and the projecting under one; in short, the whole contour of the countenance; and behold how he writes himself a gentleman! Hark! he speaks! Listen and catch his bated breath and whispering humbleness. Observe his modesty; mark his plain dealing. In him you see one incapable of ingratitude, detraction or deceit; a perfect gentleman, a man remarkable for his high and invariable bearing; in fact, a being so perfect that few dare trust themselves to associate with him, all being at once thrown into the shade by the splendour of his talents and virtues. To him works of the greatest magnitude are but peddling affairs. He will detail at a moment’s warning the exact cost of 100 miles of railway with as little trouble as you would dispose of a second-hand trinket. He will construct you a harbour on as short a time as a hawker would walk from hence to London: In fact, he was never known to fail in more than one object, and that was when he undertook to convert a sandstone into a beautiful [Warrior] square. But he is still sanguine, and doubts not that if he lives 100 years longer, that he shall accomplish every impossibility. To him the committee owe everything; without him they would have been as nothing; and the monster thing here warming into life would never have been conceived. So transcendent are his talents that he is above all consistency in politics. In 1837 he was a strong supporter of Hollond, a Liberal; ‘and so, no doubt, he would have continued had not the sublimnity of his ideas far outshone the limited comprehensions of the 'sons of earth." And as they were presumptuous enough to dispute with him in that which they could not comprehend, and to reject his counsel, which they, poor simple creatures, considered tinged with absurdity, he, in the most grandiloquent style, ‘cut’ them, declaring them to be a set of fools. So they parted in, a difference of opinion only at last. He has now proclaimed himself in favor of Toryism; and certainly the Tories in this town will find in him a worthy coadjutor; and we never trembled for the fate of the Liberal cause till now if the Tories can but understand him and trust him. — But do you observe that thick bushy-headed person in the brown surtout? He is so loud and forward in his ways; so particularly desirous of appearing to be somebody. That’s a ‘tarnation clever chap, that!’ His father always said so. He is so slick there’s no knowing where to find him. ‘ Do anything politically,’ as he says, to turn a pound or two. First you find him an out-and-outer for Elphinstone; then Hollond is his man, and now Planta and Conservatism are his animated care. Interest is the mainspring of his action; and he is consequently quite at home with the clique with whom he is now associated. There are some others round the room all equally consistent — one too good-natured at the first election to refuse anyone, and so promising all; and then too consistent to vote for any, and so disappointing all. Then he came in for Brisco and North; and now he also shouts for Planta. Such are the men who compose the committee of this nameless dinner!"
With this picture of a Tory committee sketched by a Radical pen, my reference to the political situation in 1841 will be brought to a close, the only addition being as follows:— On the 29th of June, Mr. Howard Elphinstone—.who in 1835 was one of the Representatives for Hastings, and in 1537 was defeated at Liverpool--was returned for Lewes, along with Mr. Summers Harford. The latter gentleman was elected by a majority of 4 over the highest of his Conservative opponents, and Mr. Elphinstone with the still smaller majority of 2 over the same antagonist. The actual numbers were Summers Harford, 411; Howard Elphinstone, 409; Hon. Hy. Fitzroy, 207; and Lord Cantelupe, 388. A petition was afterwards presented against the return of the two Liberals, and in consequence of this the sitting Members’ and the defeated candidates’ agents effected a compromise whereby Mr. Harford consented to retire, and Mr. Fitzroy took his seat. Lewes was therefore represented by one Liberal and one Conservative, as Hastings and St. Leonards were at the same time. One of the curiosities of the Lewes election—which in all its phases was an extraordinary one—was that, whilst "a ruthless expenditure" was put forth as the sole reason for Mr. Elphinstone’s not offering himself again for Hastings, the cost of his election at Lewes, as admitted by himself, was at least £6,000. I am afraid that I must plead guilty to having been a recipient of some of the money, I having attended that, and one or two other elections at Lewes, as a super-numerary bandsman. The County Election of that year was of still greater interest to the people of Hastings and St. Leonards, in a smuch as many of them had to take part therein. Passing over the local meetings that were held, as well as the analysis of the voting, it may be enough for me to give the gross numbers polled for the three candidates, These were George Darby, 2,398; A. E. Fuller, 2,367 ; and J. V. Shelley, 995 3 the last-named gentleman thus showing himself to have had but a very poor chance of election.— One sorrowful incident and accident connected with this election was the death of a boy at Battle on the 9th of July through being run over by a carriage-and-four, during the bustle and excitement.
Although promising to have done with politics for 1841, there is one other political event which to record should not be out of place. On the 9th of November the Town Council met for the election of Mayor and other business. The Liberal members supported the nomination of Mr. Wilham Duke for the office of chief magistrate and the Conservative party were desirous of electing a gentleman of their own views. The latter, I believe, was Mr. Wastel Brisco, but of this I am not quite sure. Whoever he was, his chance of election was a poor one, the votes given in his favour being only 5, as against 13 for Mr. Duke. Three Liberal aldermen were also chosen on that occasion — Mr. Scrivens and Dr. MacCabe from the East ward, and Mr. Alfred Burton from the West ward. Mr. Burton was elected, to the exclusion of Mr. E. Farncomb, to be, as it turned out seven years later, the first Mayor chosen from St. Leonards, and one of the only three persons in that part of the borough who in a period of 52 years were destined to fill so important an office. It should be mentioned, however, that to the last of the trio (Mr. Gausden), would fall the distinguished honour of filling the civic chair four times. But in many other ways the men of St. Leonards have contributed their quota of usefulness, one sphere being that of the Infirmary, an institution which has been greatly aided by the physicians and surgeons of the younger town, notwithstanding that at the first general meeting, on the 12th of January, the surgeon (Mr. Duke) and assistant-surgeons (Messrs. Savery and Ticehurst) were practitioners in the old town. The necessity and utility of such an institution were clearly shown by the fact that at the end of December—three months after its opening to inpatients — eight of such patients had been received, three of whom had been discharged as cured, whilst, the number of out-patients already amounted to 89. The building had cost more than was calculated, but the debt had been reduced from several hundred pounds to £96 15s. 10d. It was in the same year that the Hastings Dispensary was endowed with increased efficiency; and although any reference to this charity belongs to a history of Hastings rather than to that of St. Leonards, the fact of its being a kindred institution, and excluded at the time from a contemplated share in certain moneys subscribed with some indefiniteness for both, induces me to state a few particulars in connection with the said Dispensary. On the 30th of March, 1841, the number of patients reported to have been admitted during the month was 133, whilst three had died and 100 had been discharged, leaving still on the books 255. At the meeting in September, Mr. W. Lucas-Shadwell munificently gave to the institution the old house on the Oak Pavement in which it had been established, the stipulations being that the property should be invested in trustees consisting of the Mayor, the Rev J. G, Foyster, and Messrs, Wastel Brisco, G. Scrivens, T. B. Baker, W. Amoore and J. C. Jones, for the sole use and benefit of the Dispensary. Mr. Jno. Tree also handed over to the fund of the institution the sum of £26 6s. 8d. from the Licensed Victualler’s Protection Society, the association having been dissolved two or three weeks previously. At the December meeting it was resolved to take down the old house and build a new one on its site, the cost of which was estimated at £600. It was further resolved to solicit public contributions for half that amount. The site of the new Dispensary, I need not say, was contiguous to the Swan Hotel, where, it may be mentioned, a number of Borough and Government officials. with other gentlemen, met to dine on the 2ist of May, in celebration of the Queen's birthday, her Majesty not having as yet deviated from the somewhat absurd custom of her ancestors in keeping birthday anniversaries in anticipation of their date. The said dinner took place after the coastguards had mustered from the different stations, to march through the town in their “jackets of blue and their snow-white ducks” to the East Hill, there to be exercised, and to fire a feu-de-joie over the echoing vale of the ancient town.
The reminiscences of the above-stated dinner brings me back again to St. Leonards, where the Queén’s ‘St. Leonards Archers similarly celebrated her Majesty’s birthday on the proper anniversary. The dinner took place at the Victoria Hotel, and was partaken of by upwards of 70 persons. After the usual loyal toasts had been given and responded to, one gentleman among the company proposed the "Health of her Majesty’s Present Advisers," but it was very properly ruled by the Chairman that such a toast could not be allowed in a mixed assembly without the risk of incurring political dissension, which on such an occasion it would be unwise to do. The dinner was preceded by an archery competition - the first of the season — when the Society's prizes were won by Miss Mackay and Mr. Alfred Burton. A handsome prize given by Miss Mackay was taken by Mr. Broderick. Other meettings(sic) followed, and on the 17th of August - the birthday anniversary of the Duchess of Kent — the Grand Annual Meeting was held, when the grounds, which were yearly improving under the direction and personal labour of the Misses Mackay, were admired for their beauty. The winners of the Royal Victoria Prizes were Miss Mackay (229), Mrs. Howman (196), Mr. T. Bourke, and Mr. A. Burton. The Society’s prizes were won by Miss Wood (267) and Mr. Howman, whilst the Visitors’ prizes were carried off by Mr. H. Wetherell and Miss Fanny Price. The féte terminated, as was usual in the earlier years of the Society, with a dinner and ball at the Assembly rooms.
One of the novelties of 1841[a] was the appearance of a steam-carriage designed to run on the ordinary roads. On Saturday, August 28th (I believe it was), the St. Leonards people rushed to the new London road, there to witness the ascent of the said carriage, which steamed along the front from Hastings, and had come to a halt close to the trees which were afterwards to form a part of the Gensing Gardens. It had arrived at Hastings on an experimental trip from London, two days previously, where the damage from the bursting of its boiler, a mile or more ere it reached the town, was repaired. It proceeded on its return journey until it reached a steep hill near Sevenoaks, but in descending that long declivity, the drag-chain broke, and the carriage rushed on at a speed of over sixty miles an hour; thus impressing its occupants with fear that they would be dashed to pieces. They reached the bottom, however, in safety, but in the endeavour to ascend the opposite hill, the machinery was found to be too much damaged to achieve it. With the help of ten horses the unfortunate carriage was got to the Crown-Inn Yard at Sevenoaks, and this was the last account I obtained of it. A first trial had been made in the preceding year and because nothing more serious had happened to the carriage on this its second trip than the bursting of its boiler, the breaking of its drag-chain, and some other injuries, with a narrow escape from a general smash, some of the London papers ludicrously described the journey as a successful one.
About the same time as the event just described — probably a few nights before — an accident occurred to the Hastings and St. Leonards mail-coach, resulting in the death of the driver (Joseph Mepham) injury to one hand of the guard (Johnson) and bruises to one of the passengers. The coach was on its journey between these towns and London, when it got into collision with some waggons. The coachman was thrown off, and the wheels passed over his body, after which the poor man rolled over, groaned piteously, but gave no other utterance.
Surgeon Duke, from Hastings, was in the coach at the time, but his services were of no avail. Johnson, the guard, — whom I knew as a stalwart man, regardless of his own hurt, exerted himself most praiseworthily, in extricating the coach from the waggons, tying up the splinter-bar to the pole, and getting the coach and its contents down to Riverhead. Poor Mepham was much respected, and his untimely death was greatly deplored. Pleasant as it was on a fine day to travel by stage coaches, and convenient as it might have been to travel by the four-horse mail, these luxuries were not without their draw-backs. I have known many runaways and breakdowns among the coaches, some of which, as I shall describe further on, were attended with loss of life or limb; but the only other accidents to the night mails that I can just now think of beyond thos already recorded were those which occurred on the 24th of February, 1841, and the 26th of September, 1825. These were both near the middle of the journey, and have been described in rhymed anniversaries as follows :—
In Eighteen-twenty-five the Hastings mail
By coach to London went, and not by rail;
Such coach, when it arrived at Tonbridge town,
Performed an overturning tumble-down.
The passengers went rolling in the dirt,
The driver broke a leg, with other hurt.
The up-mail coach, in Eighteen-forty-one,
When it to nearly Tunbridge Wells had run,
Was overturned by horses on the spree,
Which caused much hurt to human arm and knee.”
As 1841 was a Census-year, it may be well here to repeat the figures as they were officially announced. The two parishes in which the town of St. Leonards is situate contained 2,675 persons; i.e. 1917 1n St. Mary Magdalen and 758 in St. Leonard. The numbers in the other parishes of the Hastings borough were, All Saints’, 2,839 3 St. Clement's, 3,189; St. Mary-in-Castle, 2,926 ; St. Michael and Holy Trinity, 116; St. Andrew's, 8; Bulverhithe, 37; and Borough Gaol, 3;—total 11,789. The additional parishes of Ore, Fairlight, Pett and Guestling, together with the Workhouse, which complete the Hastings Union, contributed 3,067 to the population, thus making the census of the Union, as dis-
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