1826.) Leiter on Affairs in general. 185 
man, every body knew, could not afford to devote one tithe of his “ life” 
to any other object than that of decently and competently earning his 
own fortune. “From house to house” he should go—* from door to 
door”—returning thanks to those who had “ favoured him” with their 
suffrage. Returning thanks for-what? For the liberty of dedicating a 
large portion of his time and Jabour—of devoting his “ whole life,’—to the 
business of persons for whom, individually, he cared nothing, and who 
were to pay him nothing for his service! For having had leave given to 
take upon himself an arduous, unpaid office ; which, duly and honestly 
administered, must entail great exertion, expense, and anxiety upon him, 
without affording any return of profit or reward! And this was not a 
close borough, but an open, populous town. This is the regular beg- 
garly trash which is talked, and listened to, at elections. Those who 
choose, love to see a (supposed) superior debase himself before them ; never 
dreaming that his submission can come from any thing but a conscious- 
ness of their merits; and he who is chosen proves his fitness to support 
the nation’s rights, in exact proportion to the readiness which he evinces 
to give up his own! It is a filthy system that of our election alto- 
gether, though one perhaps which, as happens with a great variety of 
other schemes, it is easier to find fault with than to mend: but, incom- 
parably, between the two offences, if I had to decide which was the 
worst, I should say that the buying of votes did not compromise honesty 
so completely as the begging them. 
For success, the “ begging” and “ buying” arrangements should go 
hand in hand, however—one won’t do without the other ; or, if either is 
omitted, certainly the “buying” is the one that you should stick to. Cob- 
bett “ begged” as hard as ever man begged in the world, and bullied ; but 
still he was thrown out for Preston. And indeed it is a curious proof 
how little real influence our Fleet-street friend has with the country— 
five thousand pounds would ensure him a seat; and yet he is not in Par- 
liament! The Preston defeat is said to have given a heavy blow to the 
« Register ;’ and I should not at all wonder if that were the case. 
During the time of the election the sale perhaps might be expected to 
fall, because the paper was only a reprint of the reports from the Morn- 
ing Herald; but since Cobbett himself began again, he is evidently 
shaken ; and he felt that he should be so, for he was very loth and back- 
ward to begin. In fact, events, bad as they are, are doing very little to 
fulfil his prophesies. His abuse is too coarse, and, what is worse, too 
stale—people are tired of listening to it. And the egotism, which— 
with the best face that he could put upon it—was always a ticklish 
string to harp upon, is destruction now, after this broad exposure, that 
people don’t take him at all at the rate of his own estimation. If he 
persists in the old style—tlie calling nicknames, and swearing that “ he 
is the only man in the country,” and so forth—nothing can save him 
from being pooh-poohed ;—in fact, the cry has begun already. And yet 
if he lays this down (which he would probably be glad to do), he admits 
his own defeat; and then certainly loses (with such people as the Re- 
gister circulates among) three-fourths of his readers. 
_ Cobbett stands just now in a very difficult situation, and one from which 
T should not be surprised if he did not recover. Hunt, who never had a 
chance of being elected in Somersetshire, but who nevertheless had fhe 
tact to bear his disappointment with manliness and good-humour, is a thorn 
in his side, and has written a letter (which it would not be easy to answer) 
M.M. New Series.—Vot. II. No. 8, 2B 
