“The Reds’ grave Nestor he, a man sedate
As ever filed a bill, or ruled a State.”
A bargain for organizing opposition is arranged between these twain:—
“Ten minutes’ converse fixed the compact’s grounds,
And Frank engaged to pay twelve hundred pounds.”
Next comes the personal canvassing by Squire Mogg, and the purchase of votes by direct flattery and indirect bribery:—
“From house to house Mogg’s well-fed body springs,
Helped by his patriot spirit’s ostrich wings,
With Whisk, and Small, and Snooks, a faithful few
Worth more than all a sultan’s retinue.
They point the path, the missing phrase supply,
Oft prompt a name, and hint with hand or eye,
Back each bold pledge, the fervid speech admire,
And still add fuel to their leader’s fire.”
Now as to the bribery. After purchasing a superabundance of everything he was likely to use (such as a hundredweight of soap), the candidate plunges into eccentricities recognized on these occasions:—
“By ready speech and vow, by flattery soft,
Sometimes by gifts, by promised favours oft,
He prospered well, and many a purchase made,
That helped at once the Cause and quickened Trade.
A stuffed jackdaw upon an upper shelf
Now caught his fancy, now a cup of delf;
He paid three pounds for each. A cat that tore
His fingers cost him ten, a rabbit more.”
All these oddities, besides fifteen old almanacks, white mice, and other worthless articles, were secured to enlist suffrages, and purchased at similarly extravagant rates; a familiar subterfuge for stultifying the Bribery Act:—