illaloo that went up when
the Overseers posted their new assessment on the church door and 'twas
found they'd ruled out no less than sixty voters known, or suspected to
be, in Dr. Macann's interest. The Tories appealed to Quarter Sessions, of
course, and the Rate was quashed. On their side, Roger Newte and Bob
Martin kept the Overseers up to the proper mark of stubbornness: so to
London the matter went, and from London down came the order for a new
assessment. But by this time Parliament's days were numbered; and,
speculating on this, Mr. Newte (who was now Mayor of the Borough) played a
stroke in a thousand. He persuaded the Overseers to make a return to the
writ certifying they had obeyed it to the best of their skill and
conscience, and drawn up a new list: which list they posted a fortnight
later, and only seven days--as it turned out--before Parliament dissolved:
and will you believe it, but the only difference between it and the old
one was that they'd added the name of Christiana Lebow, widow--who, being
a woman, hadn't a vote at all!

But wait a bit! The Overseers, choosing their time, had this new list
posted in the church porch at ten o'clock one morning; and having posted
it, stepped across the road to the "George and Dragon." The old inn used
to stand slap opposite the church; and there, in the parlour-window, were
assembled all the Duke's men--Squire Martin and his son, Roger Newte, John
a Hall, the Parson, and, all the rest of the gang--as well to see how the
people would take it as to give the timorous Overseers a backing.
This was Newte's idea--to sit there in full view, put a bold face on it,
and have the row--if row there was to be--over at once. And, to top it
up, they had both the Whig candidates with them--these having arrived in
Ardevora three days before, and begun their canvass, knowing that
Parliament must be dissolved and the new writs issued in a few days at
farthest.

Well, a crowd gathered at once about the list, and some ran off with the
dare-devil news of it, while others hung about and grumbled and let out a
few oaths every now and then and looked like men in two minds about
stoning the windows opposite, where the Duke's gang lounged as careless as
brass, sipping their punch and covering the poor Overseers, that half
expected to be ducked in the harbour sooner or later for their morning's
work.

For one solid hour they sat there, fairly daunting the crowd: but as the
church cloc