58 RECORDS OF OLD TIMES 



to preserve. I have lived in an atmosphere of 

 continual Parliamentary strife in my native county 

 of Bucks, that 'great historic county,' so named by 

 its distinguished member, ' Benjamin Disraeli.' 



Bucks has been the seat of many a severe party 

 struggle ; and though it contained, before the Reform 

 Bill of '32, two or three real pocket boroughs, yet 

 the other boroughs, and the county itself were often 

 the scenes of close contests, and of dramatically 

 varied successes. So different were the practices of 

 old Parliamentary elections to those of the present 

 time, that electors nowadays feel a difficulty in 

 realising what the system of choosing a represen- 

 tative was, before the introduction of the ballot. 

 That system carried with it the old ' nomination 

 day,' and the poll was taken by open voting ; while 

 the poll for boroughs could remain open for a week, 

 and that for counties to fourteen days. I well 

 remember the last election before the passing of the 

 1832 Reform Bill, when the poll for the borough 

 and hundreds of Aylesbury was kept open five 

 days, and that for the county for the same period. 

 They were closed because the unsuccessful candidate 

 resigned when he saw his efforts were hopeless. 

 The nomination day was a most important factor in 

 the contest, and was the scene of tremendous uproar 

 and confusion, as all the inhabitants had a right to 

 be present, and they expressed their opinions in 

 no uncertain manner. Personal encounters often 

 occurred, and the speeches of proposer, seconder, 

 and candidates were frequently made in dumb show. 

 But where a speaker was generally popular, there 



