THE VILLAGE : IN AND ABOUT IT 133 



among his parishioners, no doubt with "a lurch 

 to quackery," as is Dr. O. W. Holmes' reproach 

 against divines straying into his own field. He 

 took pupils at Brentford, one of them the Elwes 

 afterwards so notorious as a miser ; and with more 

 than one he travelled on the Continent, leaving 

 behind him, let us trust, an orthodox curate. 

 Then the cry of " Wilkes and liberty ! " set him 

 on commencing as politician and pamphleteer ; 

 and for years he revelled in the hot water of 

 faction. He canvassed for Wilkes with such 

 zeal that he is accused of saying " in a cause so 

 just and holy he would dye his black coat red." 

 We hear once of all the constables in London 

 being drafted to Brentford, where the turbulent 

 elections did not go off without bloodshed as well 

 as much beer-tapping. A man lost his life, as 

 was alleged, at the hands of bullies in the pay 

 of the Court party; and that bellicose parson 

 exerted himself to bring the accused to justice, 

 who were convicted but pardoned by the Ministry. 

 Before long the reverend champion of liberty 

 quarrelled with Wilkes, against whom in his 

 private character Home pointed an acrimonious 

 pen, to the chuckling delight of their political 

 opponents. He started a newspaper for publish- 



