In the meanwhile the Baronet continued his canvass, and his carriage with the family arms, and the servants in the family liveries, were incessantly to be seen. He appealed to the Churchmen as one of themselves, to the Dissenters as their friend and ally in the cause of religious freedom. As a landowner he reminded the farmers that they were all in the same boat, and that legislation that was beneficial to the landlord was equally to the advantage of the tenant and the farm-labourer as well. No one was such an ardent admirer of the manufacturing system which had made us a nation of shopkeepers, and he won the hearts of the manufacturers as he told them that to him they seemed as the very pillars of the State. Somehow or other he seemed in a fair way of success, and when he got into a mess his agent was there to pull him out. Thus, one day he happened to call on a humble shopkeeper, who regarded him with natural distrust. ‘Oh, Sir Watkin,’ said he, ‘I am sure I respect you and your family very much; but before I promise you my vote I’d like to hear what are your principles.’ Sir Watkin was about to give the usual and evasive reply, when his agent pulled him back and opened a broadside: ‘His _principles_. You ask a gentleman like Sir Watkin his principles; go along with you! Things have come to a pretty pass when a gentleman like Sir Watkin must stop in the road to tell you his principles. Come along, Sir Watkin, don’t be losing precious time here.’ And the small shopkeeper felt that he had done wrong, and promised him his vote accordingly. ‘That was a clever trick of yours,’ said Sir Watkin, laughing; ‘but it would not do a second time.’ ‘I don’t know, Sir Watkin; it is well to ride the high horse now and then.’ In another case the Baronet did not get off quite so well. Said an operative at one of his meetings: ‘Why are the mothers and sisters of peers, who have done nothing for the public, to be maintained in luxury and at the public expense, while we are obliged to support our poor relatives from our hard-earned wages or see them sent to the workhouse?’ Happily the Baronet’s supporters made such a noise that the reply was unheard. But there was a stronger influence at work. ‘What is the chief recommendation of Sir Watkin?’ asked one of Mr. Wentworth’s supporters of a friend of the Baronet’s. ‘Money, to be sure. He’s got it here,’ said the Baronet’s supporter, significantly slapping his pocket. But the Conservative candidate had money as well. The question was, which had the longest purse. ‘And, then, look at the requisition presented to him,’ continued the Baronet’s friend. ‘Got up by his agent, as a matter of course, who was well paid for his work.’ ‘Then look at his committee.’ ‘All men who are his tradespeople, or tenants and dependents, or flunkies who want to be invited to the Hall. There has been no independent action in the matter.’