was demanded of him that he should support the
particular measure which the ministry had proposed. It was to be "the
bill, the whole bill, and nothing but the bill." Candidates who had long
represented places were told by the electors that they could no longer
vote for them, not because they were against the bill, but that they
were against the king; they did not know much about it, but it was the
king's, and it must pass. The official influence of the ministry was
put forth unsparingly and unblushingly. In some instances, indeed, it
defeated its own object. Thus, in Ireland, two pledged supporters of
the bill were elected for the city of Dublin. The losing candidates
petitioned against the return, and it came out in the proceedings before
the committee, that the vice-regal government had interfered directly to
ensure the success of the sitting members. The consequence of this was
that the committee found the sitting members were not duly elected; and,
on a new election, two members were returned who were hostile to reform.
The tumult and license which usually characterise a general election
were more than ordinarily rampant and intolerant. Anti-bill candidates
and their supporters were exposed to the most lawless violence wherever
they dared to show themselves on the hustings, and were denounced on
the one hand as oppressors of the people, and on the other as disloyal
opponents of the people. In some instances the life, as well as the
property of unpopular men was sacrificed; and in Scotland especially,
the elections were controlled by the violence of riotous mobs. At the
election for the county of Lanark, the late member was attacked with
stones and missiles, from the gallery of the church in which the
election took place; and when he was re-elected, those who voted for him
were detained prisoners for some hours, until the military arrived to
shield them from lawless violence. At Dumbarton, also, the successful
candidate for the county was obliged to conceal himself in a garret,
till the mob, believing he had escaped, dispersed. From the excitement
and violence which everywhere prevailed, it was not surprising that the
great majority of the elections terminated in favour of the reforming
candidates. Out of the eighty-two county members for England, with
the exception of about twelve, all were pledged to support the bill.
Ministers, indeed, completely succeeded in obtaining a house of commons
fashioned after their own mi