much precipitancy, or permitted to aspire to an object far above the capacity of the seeker, it becomes dangerous and contemptible; and many a man is inflamed by this empty ambition to gain a seat in the Legislative Assembly, for which neither nature nor education has fitted him.

Among the above number may be mentioned Lord Hovingham, who was fully prepared to stand forth with patriotic ardour as the champion of liberty, and a sworn foe to the "bloated oligarchy." These sentiments he believed to be popular at Rankston, a borough which he was ambitious enough to represent or mis-represent as the case might be in Parliament. His Lordship was fully aware that a bribe judiciously administered would effect wonders, and he was fully prepared not alone to distribute largesse among the enlightened and pure constituency of Rankston, but to shake hands with every butcher, shoemaker, baker, chimney sweeper, innkeeper, grocer and saddler of that immaculate borough, at the same time to

contribute to the wants of their better halves, their sisters and daughters, by giving tea parties to the grown up and buns and cakes to the juveniles. He was also ready to attend all public meetings, and daily to bellow out patriotic speeches, teeming with "Civil and Religious Liberty," "Purity of Election," "Reduction of Taxes," "Abolition of Sinecures."

For a length of time his Lordship had sighed to have "M.P." tacked to his name, and he was doubly anxious for that honour when he found himself cut by all his county neighbours. In the hunting field, where he trusted his liberal subscription would command a certain amount of respect, he was doomed to disappointment, for upon offering his hand to the master of the hounds he abruptly turned away. His reception by the cover's side was certainly the north of friendliness, for one and all gave him the cold shoulder. A hint, too, was conveyed to him that if the lady made her appearance she would probably meet with a far different

welcome than that usually extended to ladies. in the hunting field.

Hearing that there was likely to be a dissolution, Lord Hovingham employed his friend Sharpness to proceed to Rankston, in which he possessed some property, so as to sound the electors. As a matter of course, the wily lawyer informed his client that there was every chance of success, the reverse being notoriously the case. A week before the election was to take place, Lord Hovingham and his cousin arrived in his chariot and four at the Crown Hotel, Rankston, having previously sent his carriages and horses to that borough, so that Mr. Sharpness might go about in great state canvassing the voters. There was no want of mural notices; every dead wall, every scaffolding, every lamp-post was covered with posters describing Lord Hovingham as the true friend of liberty, the unflinching opponent of Conservative mis-rule, the honest advocate of retrenchment in every department of the State, the uncompromising enemy of sinecure offices, and a

strenuous supporter of those who voted for the disestablishment of the Church, the reduction of the army and naval forces. There were other notices referring to his lordship as the champion of the working classes, the philanthropic supporter of all charitable institutions, and possessing every quality which endears a nobleman to all classes of society. As a set-off to the above, there were some very pointed allusions to the late trial, some not very flattering remarks to the baron or the lady who had been so prominently brought before the public in a not over amiable light. Some ribald ballads of the Catnach school were sung about the town, in which " Go, Joanna," to the air of "Susanna," was the burthen. There were also some doggerel lines, introducing the principal points of the recent trial, in which the plaintiff was most severely handled, and the innocent wife warmly extolled. In vain did Mr. Sharpness threaten actions at law against the libellers who had thus dared to attack the nobleman he served; the result of such threats only

stimulated the authors to further exertions, and shortly an addition was made to the above lines in no very eulogistic terms, entitled, "The Pettifogging Lawyer."

In the days of rotten boroughs, Rankston had returned two members to Parliament, but the changes effected in our legislative institutions by the passing of the Reform Bill had long since come into operation. The glories of Bletchingly and Milborne Port had faded from our view; the sun of Old Sarum and Gatton had set for ever; and among the less harshly used victims which ministerial justice, tempered with mercy, had consigned to Schedule B, was the ancient borough of Rankston, the patronage of which had been, for the space of half a century, most impartially divided between the distinguished families of Hazlewood Court and Hovingham Manor. Accordingly, during the whole of that period, every succeeding election had witnessed the peaceful and uncontested return of two senators for that borough, judiciously selected from among the