A History of Parliamentary Elections and Electioneering in the Old Days: Showing the State of Political Parties and Party Warfare at the Hustings and in the House of Commons from the Stuarts to Queen VictoriaGrego, Joseph
History
A History of Parliamentary Elections and Electioneering in the Old Days: Showing the State of Political Parties and Party Warfare at the Hustings and in the House of Commons from the Stuarts to Queen Victoria
Grego, Joseph
Great Britain -- Politics and government; Great Britain. Parliament -- Election
The goddess of Liberty has
arrived on the scene, she has summarily put “Slavery” to flight, and
while she is assisting the guardian of the liberties of Westminster to
rise, the muskets of the soldiery are trampled under foot, in allusion
to the bold and impolitic step of ordering grenadiers to close the
poll, resorted to at the previous election by Lord Sundon, to the
damage of his patron Walpole. In the Commons it was suggested to indict
the soldiers who had the temerity to interfere with “the rights of
election.”
“THE INDEPENDENT WESTMINSTER ELECTORS’ TOAST.[42]
IN MEMORY OF THE GLORIOUS TWO HUNDRED AND TWENTY.
_To the Tune of ‘Come, let us prepare,’ etc._
1.
“My _Westminster_ Friends,
Now we’ve gained our Ends,
Here’s a Health, and I’m sure ’twon’t repent ye:
With Gratitude think,
To the Health let us drink
Of the Glorious _Two hundred and Twenty_.
2.
“Come Honestly on,
Give your votes as you’ve done,
When you voted for EDWIN and VERNON;
Like Britons be bold,
Laugh at Power and Gold,
Else slavery comes, and will spare none.
3.
“The army so grand,
For the good of the Land,
That is annually chose our protectors,
A new Trade have got,
And without _Scott or Lot_;
Are now all become our Electors.
4.
“The Justices, too,
Will soon have their due,
As well as that Rogue the _High Bailey_;
Tho’ ye strut and look big,
With your Sword and Tye-wig,
The Parliament soon will to jail wi’ ye.
5.
“Brave _Edwin_ for you
Did all he could do,
As at the last Poll ye remember,
Now all of ye shou’d
To him be as good,
And choose him once more for your member.
6.
“An _honest good_ Lord
To find out, how hard,
At this time, let any man think, Sir!
Yet all do agree
Lord Perceval’s he,
Then EDWIN and PERCEVAL drink, sir.
7.
“Besides his brave spirit,
My Lord has this merit
With us; that Bob hates him to death, Sir,
He has sworn Zounds and Blood
That my Lord never shou’d
Be a member, as long as he’d breath, Sir.
8.
“Then under his nose
These brave men we will choose,
To show we don’t fear, but despise him.
We’ll laugh and we’ll flout
At the rabble at Court,
Who, for what they can get, idolize him.
9.
“The Parliament just
And firm to their trust,
Have giv’n you another Election;
Then your Liberty use,
These honest men choose,
And rely on their steady protection.
10.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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