336 THE LIFE OF A SPORTSMAN 



in truth he was not deficient in the use of it ; for, 

 although his eloquence was of a noisy and boisterous 

 order, consisting more in the vehemence of his utterance, 

 and the violence of his action and gesture, than in the 

 elegance of his style or the strength of his reasoning, he 

 had a readiness of wit, with a kind of low drollery, that 

 took with the populace, although with better judges it 

 only passed for impudence and buffoonery. On th<3 other 

 hand, the appearance and deportment of his opponent were 

 quite of a different order. He simply thanked the electors 

 for the preference they had given him in that, the first 

 stage [of the contest if contest it was about to be and 

 assured them that, if they did him the honour to elect him, 

 he would endeavour to merit their favour. He concluded 

 his address, however, with this pithy sentence : 



"You have required no pledges from me, gentlemen, 

 and you have done wisely, for none would I have given 

 you. If it be your pleasure to return me to Parliament, 

 as the representative of yourselves and your interests, I 

 will endeavour to do my duty ; but I can only consent to 

 lie placed there with the liberty to speak my own senti- 

 ments, and vote as my conscience directs me. There is, 

 however, one assurance which you may accept as a pledge. 

 I will, to the best of my ability, support the crown, and 

 the ancient institutions of the realm both in church and 

 .state, which the example of a neighbouring country, so 

 lately torn by dissensions in each of these departments, 

 has induced many to assail. I am too young in years to 

 appeal to experience, and my reading, rather than my 

 experience, has led me to believe that there is no certain 

 protection for either person or property under democratic 

 sway, and that Great Britain is the only nation in the 

 world where liberty is the direct end of its constitution. 

 I can only add, then, Esto perpetua." 



Here voices in the crowd exclaimed " Go on ! Look 

 at America ! " 



" Well," continued our bero, " I will look at America, 

 and to what can I compare her ? Why, to one of those 

 lofty and umbrageous trees which grow so bulky, and 

 stretch out their branches to such an extent, that the 

 trunk is no longer able to sustain their weight." 



" Well done, the young one ! " exclaimed an oldish man, 

 in a leathern apron, having somewhat the appearance of a 

 journeyman shoemaker. " Go on ! " 



