vening,--a speech
framed with the purpose of proving to his hearers that Purity and the
Rights of Labour combined would make them as angels upon the earth.
As for himself, Moggs, he explained in his speech,--analysing the big
board which adorned the house,--it mattered little whether they did
or did not return him. But let them be always persistent in returning
on every possible occasion Purity and the Rights of Labour, and then
all other good things would follow to them. He enjoyed at any rate
that supreme delight which a man feels when he thoroughly believes
his own doctrine.

But the days were very long with him. When the evening came, when his
friends were relieved from their toil, and could assemble here and
there through the borough to hear him preach to them, he was happy
enough. He had certainly achieved so much that they preferred him now
to their own presidents and chairmen. There was an enthusiasm for
Moggs among the labouring men of Percycross, and he was always happy
while he was addressing them. But the hours in the morning were
long, and sometimes melancholy. Though all the town was busy with
these electioneering doings, there was nothing for him to do. His
rivals canvassed, consulted, roamed through the town,--as he could
see,--filching votes from him. But he, too noble for such work
as that, sat there alone in the little upstairs parlour of the
Cordwainers' Arms, thinking of his speech for the evening,--thinking,
too, of Polly Neefit. And then, of a sudden, it occurred to him that
it would be good to write a letter to Polly from Percycross. Surely
the fact that he was waging this grand battle would have some effect
upon her heart. So he wrote the following letter, which reached Polly
about a week after her return home from Margate.

Cordwainers' Arms Inn, Percycross,
14 October, 186--.

MY DEAR POLLY,--

I hope you won't be angry with me for writing to you. I am
here in the midst of the turmoil of a contested election,
and I cannot refrain from writing to tell you about it.
Out of a full heart they say the mouth speaks, and out of
a very full heart I am speaking to you with my pen. The
honourable prospect of having a seat in the British House
of Parliament, which I regard as the highest dignity that
a Briton can enjoy, is very much to me, and fills my mind,
and my heart, and my soul; but it all is not so much to me
as your love, if only I could win that se