A History of Parliamentary Elections and Electioneering 25

A History of Parliamentary Elections and Electioneering 25

Beneath is a coat of arms, a favourite figure with the satirists, as

if designed for the sign of a tavern; the bearings are, 1. A fox

running away with a goose. 2. “Checquy,” _i.e._, as in the sign of the

Chequers; the words, “Time-servers Intire;” behind appear a bottle and

two glasses, tobacco-pipes, and bribes. “£100, £50, £40, £2,”--to suit

all appetites; on a riband above the shield is the legend:--“Votes are

sold for Wine and Gold.” The crest of the card would be a suitable

escutcheon for Hogarth’s comprehensive election satires which appeared

in the contest of 1754.

 

Another coat of arms, also aimed at the credit of the prime minister,

was reissued as appropriate to this season:--“To the glory of the Rt.

Honble. Sir Robert Walpole,” “A great Britt.,” alluding to the motto of

“S(ir) R(obert) W(alpole)’s Arms,” supplies an ironical and explanatory

text:--

 

“There is another Device at the Base, the _Arch_, in the shape

of a _Coat of Arms_, which is bound round with a _Garter_,

and hath these words inscribed upon it:--_Honi soit qui Mal

y pense_; ‘Evil be to him, that evil thinks.’ What is most

remarkable in this _Coat_ is, that it bears _three axes_ on one

side, and that the crest is a _Man’s Head_, with a strange sort

of _Cap_, which hath a Ducal Coronet at the bottom by way of

Border;”

 

--thus suggesting that Walpole deserved decapitation, while the ballads

of the day were all for finding a gibbet for “false Bob.” As to the

print itself, it is said:--

 

“I am glad to hear that it hath already met with the

approbation and encouragement of a _very great Family_; and I

hope shortly to see it displayed in the richest colours upon

Fans, and wrought into _Screens_ and _Hangings_ for the use and

ornament of the Palace of Norfolk;”

 

--referring to Houghton Hall, the seat of Sir Robert Walpole, a

residence well known to fame.

 

The popular interest excited by the Westminster contest generally

seemed to make that election the most prominent in every appeal to

the country. On the dissolution of parliament, April 28, 1741, when

the fate of Walpole’s Administration was known to depend upon the

aggregate return of his nominees, the ministers expected to bring in

their friends who had previously sat for Westminster; the first great

opposition to the Government had its rise there, where the Court was

supposed to possess an unbounded influence. In the “Memoirs of Sir

Robert Walpole” the circumstances of the contest are thus summarized:--

 

“The representatives in the last Parliament were Sir Charles

Wager, First Lord of the Admiralty; and Lord Sundon, a Lord

of the Treasury; and it was supposed they would have been

rechosen, as usual, without opposition. But Lord Sundon was

very unpopular; he had been raised from a low condition to

an Irish Peerage through the interest of his wife, who had

been favourite bed-chamber woman to Queen Catherine, wife

of George II. The other candidate, Sir Charles Wager, was

unexceptionable, both in his public and private character; but

his attachment to the Minister was a sufficient objection.

Some electors of Westminster proposed, very unexpectedly,

Admiral Vernon, then in the height of his popularity, and

Charles Edwin, a private gentleman of considerable fortune.

The opposition, at first despised, became formidable; and Sir

Charles Wager being summoned to convoy the King to Holland,

the management of the election was entrusted to ignorant

vestrymen and violent justices. The majority of the electors

were decidedly in favour of the Ministerial candidate; but Lord

Sundon was imprudently advised to close the poll, to order

a party of Guards to attend, and, while the military power

surrounded the hustings, the High Bailiff returned him and Sir

Charles Wager. This imprudent conduct highly exasperated the

populace, the Guards were insulted, Sundon was attacked, and

narrowly escaped with life. The example of the opposition at

Westminster diffused a general spirit throughout the kingdom,

and violent contests were excited in all quarters. Large

sums of money for supporting the expenses were subscribed by

Pulteney, the Duchess of Marlborough, and the Prince of Wales,

who contracted great debts on this memorable occasion, and

the managers of the opposition employed this money with great

advantage.”

 

This account, by W. Coxe, epitomizes the situation. George (Bubb)

Dodington was active on this occasion, directing the manœuvres of

the Leicester House faction, on behalf of the heir to the throne, in

opposition to the ministers of his father, the king. Naturally the view

taken by Walpole’s biographer is favourable to that minister, who was

at this time looked upon as the under-hand enemy of his country. He was

accused of favouring Spain and France; and the taking of Porto Bello

by Admiral Vernon, which was not, after all, a brilliant affair, but

chiefly due to the cowardice of its defenders, was regarded as quite as

much of a victory over the prime minister as over England’s foes. These

sentiments characterize the spirit abroad on the Westminster contest of

1741, which gave rise to many songs, broadsides, and pictorial satires

uniformly unfavourable to the minister and his adherents.

 

The kind of influence or coercion brought to bear is described in an

“Address to the Independent and Worthy Electors,” which was issued by

the “patriotic party,” May 5th:--

 

“Notwithstanding the extraordinary methods used by some of the

Burgesses of the Westminster Court, the select vestries of

several of the parishes, and the High Constable; who has in his

own name, and by his own power, taken upon him to summon the

inhabitants to give their Poll _against_ Admiral Vernon and Mr.

Edwin; we have been already so successful in our endeavours to

retrieve the _independency_ of this City and Liberty, in the

Election for the next Parliament, that the old members have but

a very inconsiderable majority (if any) of Good Votes against

 

The Glorious ADMIRAL VERNON,

And CHARLES EDWIN, Esq.,

 

who stand upon the Country Interest.

 

Therefore, Gentlemen, now is the time for completing what we

have so successfully begun; since it is certain that almost

the _whole_ of the Interest on the other side is already near

poll’d, and not one-fourth of ours. And considering the great

and perhaps decisive turn that the Election of this City and

Liberty may give to the Elections all over the kingdom, it is

hoped that no man who has a regard for the Liberties of his

Country, and the Independency of Parliament, will lie by or

remain neuter upon this occasion.

 

Therefore your Votes and Interest in favour of

 

ADMIRAL VERNON, and

CHARLES EDWIN, Esq.,

 

who have no other views than the good of their country and the

prosperity of this ancient City and Liberty.”

 

The contest thus stood: the king, Duke of Cumberland, and the

ministers,--with all their patronage, but overburdened with

unpopularity, especially as regarded certain acts touching the navy,

the standing army, and excise and other new taxes disliked by

most,--supporting candidates looked upon with disfavour, on the one

side; opposed by the Prince of Wales and his active friends of the

“patriotic party,” with a popular naval commander and “a friend of his

country” as candidates, and the voice of the multitude, on the other;

the arena being the hustings at Covent Garden, supposed to be regarded

expectantly by all the constituencies in the country.

 

[Illustration: TO THE INDEPENDENT ELECTORS OF WESTMINSTER. VERNON AND

EDWIN. 1741.

 

[_Page 97._]

 

A pictorial version of the scene of the Westminster Election, 1741,

dedicated “to the brave Admiral Vernon and his worthy colleague,

Charles Edwin, Esq.,” appeared with a copy of verses “To the

Independent and Worthy Electors of this Ancient City of Westminster.”

The candidates are exhibited before the front of Covent Garden Church;

in the pediment is shown a dial, with the motto which at that time

caught the eye of the moving crowd, “So Passes Ye Glory of Ye World.”

Seated at a table in the portico beneath, are the poll clerks, with

the returning officer casting up the votes: one clerk is directing a

list to be set down in the “Poll Book” for “Vernon and Edwin;” while

the representative of the other side says, “Few for my Lord.” Vernon’s

ships, and the benefit of increased commerce in the shape of bales of

merchandise, are shown in the distance; the favoured admiral himself,

with laced cocked hat and a staff in his right hand, is declaring,

“For the Glory of Britain, down with the Spaniards.” In front of the

platform, and next the popular favourite, stands Charles Edwin, who

is declaring his sentiments to be for “My King and my Country.” The

candidates of the opposition are received with enthusiasm: “Vernon

for ever, no dribbers here;” “Edwin at home, Vernon abroad,” is

shouted by the persons to the left of the picture. The results of

the election were undetermined when this engraving appeared, so the

engraver has anticipated the ultimate results of the petition, and

made the ministerial candidates unsuccessful. Sir Charles Wager,

in a dejected state, is exclaiming, “I don’t know where to put up

next.” Lord Sundon, represented as a mere “fribble,” is in conference

with Justice De Veil, who had a large share in the control of the

Westminster election, and being in the Government pay and a powerful