THE ROMANCE OF AN ELECTION.

rilHERE is cherished somewhere amidst the secret romance of 1 most Englishmen's minds a purely romantic conception of a political election as a great expression of popular sentiment, of grateful trust and hearty reverence conceived by the people for the person of some one whom they delight to honour. In fact an election is one of the few surviving modes in which large masses of men can, if they will, bring their feelings of respect or repulsion to a bright picturesque focus on a single prominent figure ; and of course the possibilities of the case, rarely as they are prac- tically realized, are not lost upon novelists who love to appeal to the political idealism which lingers, in spite of the vulgar experi- ence of life, at the bottom of most Englishmen's hearts, and connect it with the other coloured dreams of youthful imagi- nations. Thus, which of the generation which read Coningsby, ' in the salad days when he was green in judgment,' but trem- bled with hopeful presentiments of a possible and similar glory when he came to that magnificent surprise awaiting Coningsby when, one evening during a general election, he suddenly stumbles in an evening paper on his own name, proposed to the electors as that of their future member for Dartford ? What lad does not rejoice in the total 'discomfiture of the corrupt and insolent Rigby sneaking away from the election,— in that "car covered with satin and blue ribbons, and drawn by six beautiful grey horses, caparisoned in Coningsby's colours, and ridden by postilions whose very whips were blue and white," and in the picture of the enraptured electors hanging on Coningsby's eloquent accents when he delivers his (wholly unprepared) speech, and moved almost to tears at the prospect of a permanent electoral

tic between themselves and the young Tory prophet, while the waving banners, the triumphal music, the balconies crowded with fair ladies, and containing the exquisite form of Edith 211illbank, enhance the glory of the moment with all the romantic accessories of pictorial honour ? Everybody knows that this sort of thing is not life ; that if Coningsby was elected in that way it was not because the people believed in him as a creed, but because they were overcome by the vulgar worship of rank or the fear of Mr. Millbank's wrath if they opposed his nominee. Again, most likely when Coningsby reached the scene of action he was hot and dusty, and quite without gorgeous ideas, or perhaps he stammered out his acknowledgments in a few platitudes rendered more depressing by a mizzling rain, and was feebly cheered by a wet and dejected crowd. However it may have been, we know too well that the true romantic conception of an election is even more, usually much more, unlike the reality than the romantic conception of love or war. Yet there has been one election already, and that in the un- romantic regions of Lambeth, in which more of these ideal rain- bow colours were united than is at all common on human hust- ings. We do not mean of course that it was precisely in its outward features a poetical scene. The six greys and the satin- covered car were nowhere visible ; the open carriage in which Mr, Hughes was seated with his family was not even so splendid as that in which the great but hapless Mr. Cox displayed himself to the un- bedimmed gaze of Finsbury electors, much less as the magic car of Coningsby, nor had balconies full of richly dressed ladies been ob- served hanging upon the eloquent candidate's lips. Alderman James Clarke Lawrence, who, though defeated himself, had the generosity to congratulate the electors on their choice, was not an effective substitute for Mr. Rigby, with his check-mated malignity and evil scowl. Voters from the New Cut did not look quite so pictu- resque as even "Magog Wrath and Bully Bluck." Then Mr. Hughes is something more than twenty-three, and it cannot be maintained that he conquered the love and reverence of the electors by a single speech. Yet after duly subtracting all these elements of romance, enough remained in this election,—which is far from frequently the case,—to recall the ideal election of our youth, and show that all the elements in that fancy picture are not mere shadows of idealistic dreams.

For in this case there really was that frank, half-tender, and loyal personal relation between the member and his constituents which is the favourite dream of Tory novelists, but the actual reality with neither Tories nor Liberals. Mr. Hughes lived, we believe, for some years at one period of his life almost amongst London working men, in constant and close social intercourse with many of the leaders of co-operative labour and of the most powerful Trades' Unions. This has evidently given a touch of personal pride and loyalty to the sentiment of manyof his new constituents towards their member, and of affectionate warmth and trust to his reci- procal feelings towards them. Instead of standing to them in that relation of mere abstract political agreement which is the strongest and best tie now practically connecting members with their con- stituents, Mr. Hughes evidently held something of a much nearer, more confidential, and more picturesque relationship to his lead- ing constituents. His principal committee-room at the " Rifle" tavern on Tuesday was a most lively and unique scene. There is always life in an English contested election, and, whatever the motive which brings volunteers into the service, while they remain iu it they are apt to identify themselves tolerably heartily with the cause they adopt. But it is rare to see so perfectly equal and eager a sympathy between volunteers of all stations in life as there was in Mr. Hughes' committee-room. With 200 unpaid canvassers among the working men, comprehending some of evi-

dently great organizing ability who were consulted deferentially by their superiors in mere social station, and seemed quite equal to their position, there was a freshness of enjoyment in the contribution of

each to the work of the hour, a spontaneousness of enthusiasm about the whole affair, which could not but contrast strongly with

the paid agent's steady superintendence in most other committee-

rooms. As hour after hour the volunteers came in from the different polling booths with their news, dark or bright, of Mr.

Hughes's prospect of heading the poll, and contributed their

items to the common fund with the manner of men who were partners and not subordinates in the contest, one felt that this was

indeed an election conducted on the co-operative principle, in which all expected to share the reward of success. At every announcement of a gain on Mr. Doulton the hearty cheering which broke forth from all parts of the room was thoroughly refreshing. Once, at one o'clock, there was an awful and as it turned out, true rumour that a miscalculation had been made, and that Mr. Hughes was 100 behind Mr. Doulton instead of before him. The next half hour

was grave and anxious, and the jokes which usually filled the minutes of suspense were themselves suspended. But at the next announcement the mistake had not only been repaired, but a real gain of some additional hundred votes hal to be announced beyond the nominal figure of the last previous hour, and then the joy was tumultuous. Individuals engaged in solemn acts of beef and beer stopped with full mouths to add their inarticulate sounds to the general cheering, and even a working terrier who had found his way into the committee-room by mistake, wagged his rather elementary tail in high delight at the situation. The moment was one so well calculated to relax the usual reserve of Englishmen that a neighbourly working man who highly approved of the sentiments we had been heard to utter, confided to us on the spot a copy of a very respectable electioneering poem in favour of "Tom Brown," on the merits of which we fraternized as heartily as if it had been contributed by the Poet Laureate. Indeed we doubt if that eminent person could have produced as good an expression of the sort of mutual respect and warm feeling which united the candidate and his constituents :— "YOUNG LAMBETH TO OLD Tom.

When first you came among us, And show'd your brave old face, We little thought a month would make

You foremost in the race ; For we knew, and blushed to know it, That here, in days of yore, The wily dodge did much, Tom, The money bags did more, That ho who'd hire every cab And post on every wall, Though wrestling with a better man Was sure to 'win the fall And they told us that you scorned a trick,

And that to make things worse, A lifetime spent in noble deeds,

Had left a lightish purse.

So we thought you'd make a speech or two

(And then politely yield), dust to let some cheaper borough know

That you were in the field.

But we soon saw from your firm- set foot, And the square cut of your chin, That when Tom Brown begins to fight, He surely means to win.

And you said we may be beat, friends, But let's do what we can,

And if Lambeth sees I'm worthy, Then Lambeth I'm your man.

Now it's not alone your book, Tom, Straightforward, pure, and true, Nor your firm and kindly look, Tom, Have won our hearts to you, Nor yet alone that in the fight You've fearless been and strong, To help the poor man to his right,

To strive against the wrong, Nor yet that you are one of those

Who've calmed our stupid fears, And taught Old England she may trust Her unpaid Volunteers.

Those count for much I know, Tom; Bat there's something stronger too—.

You've TRUSTED us—and so, Tom— We'll show that we trust you. Lambeth, 7 July, 1865."

This really expresses strongly the old British ideal of the relation between a member and his constituents.

But it was when four o'clock approached, and loud cheering approached the committee-room with it, announcing the arrival of the member—as he might then be called—in a carriage with his family from outlying districts, that the election came nearest to the ideal of one's childhood. Every one crowded round Mr. Hughes, whose face was radiant with that rare pleasure that has in it no alloy, and the adjournment to the hustings was a popular ovation. There might be seen the popular member and the unpopular member vying with each other in the etiquettes of the occasion, to the great satisfaction of the crowd who thereby got time for epigrammatic remarks, and there also the pale face of the rejected candidate, who bore his defeat with sufficient manliness, looming Large in the back- ground. Struggling women volunteered various scraps of valuable information as to the merits of the different members, and when Mr. Hughes at last came forward, amid enthusiastic cheering, and the sunlight fell upon his frank and pleasant face, and audible remarks were heard commenting with even greater emphasis on his personal attractions than on his political promise, it was not by any means so unlike that poetical form of elec- tion pictured in Coningsby as real life usually is. Then there was the unpopular member, Mr. Doulton, who only spoke for one minute, which minute was embittered to him by the elevation of a pole, crowned with bread and onions,_ by way of reproach for some remark he was rumoured to have made that 15s. a week was quite enough to support a working man's family in plenty —of vegetables. The onions approached Mr. Doulton's nose at one time very closely, and no doubt the odour strengthened him in his determination to postpone his remarks to the morrow. Then Mr. Lawrence spoke, but in his case a big key, symbolical of lock-outs, was elevated above the heads of the crowd, which appeared to have as depressing a moral effect upon his spirits as if he had been locked out from his own workshops. Mr. Haig, the Conservative candidate, on this occasion did not show. He had exhausted his energies in pro- curing cabs to drive imaginary Haigites to the poll, which cabs stood in long files, &opining fares, and making holiday 6"-----,41,1 , 1 ' Haig's expense. It had been much the same, we fear, w :ref. j bills. The driver of a donkey-cart heavily laden with his ,..,. ' was observed on the previous day to be indulging in a little paE" ,,,a; mime on his own account. ,He stuck the bills honestly, but 11.._ , neutralized their moral effect by putting the reins of the donkey- . cart into the hands of a monkey, and adorning the hinder parts of the donkey with a sort of impromptu paper crinoline, manufactured of Mr. Haig's recommendations to the electors to vote for that distinguished man. No doubt such treacheries as these, and those of which Mr. Haig disburdened himself on Wednesday at the declaration of the poll, had entered like iron into his soul, and he disappointed us on this occasion by not entering an appearance. The comic element, needful to bring fully out the romantic side of the election, was nevertheless contributed by him throughout the day. It added effect to all the declarations of the state of the poll to see such numbers as " Haig, 450," after "Hughes, 4,960," and it was evident that Mr. Haig was cherished in the background of everybody's mind as a cheering and grotesque image to fall back upon during temporary distress.

On the whole, we never saw a popular election so near the romantic type as that at Lambeth, so much true warmth of feeling between the people and their member, so frank and outspoken a trust on his side, so frank and hearty a loyalty on theirs. It may be said that such relations do not ensure Parliamentary success. Surely not, but they ensure the true representation of the people in a sense very different from that in which the term is ordinarily used. The success of the new member as a counsellor and legis- lator depends no doubt on a very different class of qualities than those which excite and justify the enthusiasm of a constituency. The former will depend on Mr. Hughes's own intellectual strength and exertions. But it is something to know that English working men have at least one representative who lives in their hearts as well as in their intellectual sympathies, who can speak for them as one with authority, and not as either a capitalist or a newspaper scribe.