The county was in a state of the most violent agitation, party spirit being wound up to the highest pitch by the friends of the two noble families, and everything being done that money or personal exertion could accomplish; the roads in all directions were covered night and day with coaches, barouches, curricles, gigs, fly-waggons, and military cars with eight horses, conveying voters from the most remote parts of the county.... On the fifth day Lascelles passed his opponent and kept the lead till the 13th day, at the close of which the numbers stood,--_Milton_, 10,313; _Lascelles_, 10,255. Now the efforts were prodigious and the excitement maddening. "All parties," wrote Mrs Stanhope, "consider themselves secure. Lord Milton met with more success than Mr Lascelles at Sheffield, Rotherham, Doncaster, and, I am sorry to add, Leeds. At Halifax, he had a very cold reception.... Mr Osbaldiston and another man were almost killed going in to vote, owing to the enormous crowd." During all this time the state of York was indescribable, and since the public-houses were ordered by the candidates to supply gratis whatever refreshment the voters called for, the roads in every direction were lined with tipsy men who molested travellers, indulged in rioting, or slumbered in heaps by the roadside; so that, partly on account of the fatigue of travelling, but still more owing to the dangerous condition of the roads and of the city of York, the county gentlemen agreed together that the ladies who were entitled to vote should not exercise this privilege unless it should be found essential. [22] At length the Poll closed, and amid unparalleled excitement it was found that the numbers stood thus:-- MR WILBERFORCE 11,806. LORD MILTON 11,177. Mr Lascelles 10,990.