At the General Election of 1874, Mr. Labouchere made another attempt to enter the House of Commons. He first offered himself at Southwark, but, as he was one of six Liberal candidates, he withdrew, and presented himself for election at Nottingham. At Nottingham also there was a superfluity of Liberal candidates, but two of these, Mr. Labouchere and Mr. Laycock, would probably have got in, had it not been for the determined antagonism of Mr. Heath, the Labour candidate, to Mr. Labouchere. It was also asserted by the leading Liberals of the place that the seats were lost, because Mr. Labouchere's advanced Radicalism scandalised the Liberal supporters. Be that as it may, the result of the election was that two Conservatives were returned for Nottingham. Mr. Labouchere was as usual philosophical upon the subject of his unsuccessful election: "When one is in," he said, "one wants to be out, and when one is out, one wants to be in. La Bruyère says that no married people ever pass a week without wishing, at least once, that they were unmarried, and so I suspect it is with most M.P.'s." There were many amusing stories about Mr. Labouchere current at this time. One of the best that appeared in the Nottingham papers during the election was the following: "He went to a fancy dress ball in London, wearing diplomatic uniform, and on presenting himself at the door, he was refused admission by a policeman. 'Why?' said {94} Mr. Labouchere. 'Because no one is allowed here in a diplomatic uniform,' said the 'bobby.' 'Confound your impudence,' growled the ex-member for Middlesex, 'I will go in.' 'Not in diplomatic dress, no one's to pass here in diplomatic togs,' repeated Mr. Bluebottle; 'my order is to watch this door for that special purpose.' 'What's your name, scoundrel?' yelled the financial editor of the _World_; 'my name is Labouchere, and I will enter.' 'And mine,' rejoined the amateur policeman, 'is Lionel Brough.' They walked upstairs arm-in-arm together." [1] _Times_, April 27, 1866. [2] The committee was composed as follows: Mr. John Tomlinson Hibbert (Chairman), Mr. Robert Dalglish, Mr. Arthur Wellesley Peel, Hon. Fredk. Stanley, and Major Waterhouse. It sat for six days. The counsel for the petitioners were: Mr. W. H. Cooke, Q.C., Mr. Matthews, and Mr. Campbell Bruce. For the defendants: Mr. Serjeant Ballantine and Mr. Biron. [3] _Times_, April 27, 1866. [4] _Times_, April 27, 1866. [5] _Hansard_, vol. 181, s. 3. [6] Herman Merivale, _Bar, Stage, and Platform_. [7] _Times_, April 2, 1867. [8] _Times_, July 5, 1867. [9] _Times_, March 19, 1868. [10] _Times_, March 25, 1868. [11] _Times_, June 24, 1868. [12] _Times_, May 29, 1868. [13] _Times_, May 1, 1868. [14] _Times_, April 21, 1868. [15] _Times_, May 15, 1868. [16] _Times_, June 17 and 24, 1868. [17] _Truth_, November 25, 1886. [18] _Times_, November 3, 1868. [19] _Times_, November 10, 1868. [20] _Times_, November 14, 1868. [21] _Times_, November 27, 1868.