A little later the three young men were seated together in a large room, substantially, but not luxuriously, furnished. There was hope for the country in such a trio—a descendant of the Royal Family, a son of a Canadian farmer and a clergyman, and a layman, the son of a rich manufacturer. That the three should have anything in common was one of the wonderful signs of those wonderful times; but that they had in common everything which each held dearest was more remarkable still.
They conversed together, as young patriots must needs do, of their country and the services which they desired to render her; and when they parted, with a strong clasp of the hands and a “God speed you,” each felt that he had received strength which would nerve him for his future life whatever duties it might bring.
CHAPTER XXIX.
YOUNG ENGLAND.
As soon as the dissolution of Parliament was declared, more than the ordinary activity was displayed, and everywhere for a few days the usual tactics were observed. The two “great parties,” as they were called, sent representatives to the various towns, and these issued their addresses, put in various forms of expression, but all meaning the same thing: “Send me. I am for progress. Your interests will be supported, and the Millennium will come, if only you do your duty and plump for me;” or, “Send me. I am a patriot of the true colour, and all that is most desirable for the Empire will be secured, with peace and prosperity, if you obey your consciences and plump for me.”
The immediate occasion of the dissolution was that Parliament was not sufficiently united in regard to the age at which children should be allowed to leave school and commence work. The Government and its supporters said thirteen, the Opposition said fourteen, and got the larger number of votes.
In almost all the Parliamentary boroughs the work of the wire-pullers in London, who tried to dictate to the voters as to the men who were to be their representatives, was in vain. The towns had already chosen their men. Almost without exception they were local men, well known to the people, among whom they bore unblemished characters, and by whom they were pronounced men of knowledge and ability. In the country, in more than a few cases, the squire was the favourite candidate because he was the squire; but the rule everywhere was not for the man to choose the people, but the people to choose the man. For once in the history of England the man did not solicit the suffrages of the voters, but they requested him to allow them to place him in Westminster, in order that he might serve them.
It was agreed that there should be no canvassing, and there was therefore less need than usual of workers and conveyances and all the old-fashioned methods of impelling men to the poll.
But there was an organisation, alert and active, which served the good cause in a way so effective as to astonish the world. It was the society of the Young Crusaders who came forward at this crisis and showed their power, not only in their vast numbers, but in their complete discipline. They took the country by storm. To every political meeting they sent a representative who could speak, and who asked to be allowed to place the wishes of the voters of the future before the voters of to-day. “The laws you make now,” said they, “will affect us much more than they will you. Ought we not, therefore, to have a voice in the matter?” And the voice they raised moved men, and made them stand to their principles, and gave them courage for the conflict.
They succeeded in getting their colours adopted—“the red, white and blue of Old England: the red for Battle, the white for Purity, and the blue for Temperance.” The Crusaders were themselves seen everywhere during the fray; their fresh young voices cheered and sang; they cried “Shame!” whenever unfairness, or slander, or untruthfulness characterised a speech, and shouted God speed when they knew and honoured the speaker. It was a great change. For many years women had taken some part in the political battles that had been fought; they had addressed meetings, and canvassed householders, and driven in their carriages to the scene of action; but it was a new thing for the lads to take part in an election. They were at present without votes, but they were learning the duties of citizens as thoroughly as they were learning their trades, and the real questions that were at issue were questions in regard to which they were often less ignorant than their fathers, because they had the advantage of good, clear-headed, and impartial teachers.
Of course, many of the newspapers published satirical articles every day. Were the men of England so fallen, so lost to the sense of their own manliness, as to be dictated to by a lot of little Sunday-school boys? The producers of caricature and illustrators of all the comic papers had a fine time, Christian Society and other journals of a similar type were more scurrilous than ever, and there was no end to the sneers at religion and religionists which were produced.