in gilded letters; while the band (consisting of a man with a big drum,
another with a serpent, a third with a trumpet, a fourth with a bassoon,
two with clarionets, and a boy with a fife) struck up--"_See the
conquering hero comes!_" They puffed and blew lustily; bang! bang! bang!
went the drum; but the rain, the thunder, and the lightning woefully
interfered with their harmony. 'Twould have made your heart ache to see
the wet flag clinging obstinately to the pole, in spite of all the
efforts of its burly bearer! But now for the procession--first, on
horseback, was Barnabas Bloodsuck, (senior,) Esq.; beside him rode his
son, Barnabas Bloodsuck, (junior,) Esq.; then came the Reverend Gideon
Fleshpot, solemn simpleton, the vicar of Grilston, the only Radical
clergyman in that part of the country; beside him, the Reverend Smirk
Mudflint, a flippant, bitter, little Unitarian parson, a great crony of
Mr. Fleshpot, and his surname singularly enough exactly designating the
qualities of his brain and heart. Next to these, alone in his one-horse
chaise, (looking like a pill-box drawn by a leech,) came the little fat
Whig apothecary, Gargle Glister, Esq. Following him came, also in a gig,
Going Gone, Esq., the auctioneer--the main prop of the Liberal side,
being a most eloquent speaker--and Mr. Hic Hæc Hoc, a learned
schoolmaster, who undertook to teach the rudiments of Latin, viz. the
Latin grammar up as far as the irregular verbs. Then there were Mr.
Centipede, the editor, and Mr. Woodhouse, the publisher and proprietor
of the "YORKSHIRE STINGO," for which, also, Mr. Mudflint wrote a great
deal. These, and about a dozen others, the flower of the "party"
thereabouts, disdainful of the inclement weather, bent on displaying
their attachment to the new owner of Yatton, and solacing each his
patient inner man with anticipation of the jolly cheer awaiting him at
the Hall, formed the principal part of the procession; the rest
consisting of rather a miscellaneous assortment of scot-and-lot and
potwalloper-looking people, all very wet and hungry, and very frequently
casting looks of devout expectation towards the Hall. Scarcely a
villager of Yatton was to be seen stirring; nor did any of the tenants
of the estate join in the procession; even had they not felt far
otherwise disposed, they had luckily a complete excuse for their
non-appearance in the deplorable state of the weather. Sometimes the
band played; then a peal of thunder came; then a cry of "hurra!
Titmouse forever! hurra!" then the band, and then the thunder, and rain!
rain! rain! Thus they got to the park gates, where they paused, the
half-drowned men and boys shouting, "Titmouse forever! hurra--a--a!" Mr.
Titmouse bobbing about, now at one window, then at the other, with his
hat off, in the most gracious manner. Really it seemed almost as if the
elements were indicating the displeasure of heaven at Mr. Titmouse's
assumption of Yatton; for just as he was passing under the old gateway,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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