Ande Trembath: A Tale of Old Cornwall England

by Matthew Stanley Kemp

The proposer of Andrew Trembath was none other than the Reverend Mr. Trewan, headmaster of the Grammar School. In a short, neat speech, and with a few, withering remarks, he scattered the arguments of the proposer's speech in favour of Sir James. Then speaking of his candidate, Andrew Trembath, he referred to his being a scholar of his own school, his honesty, uprightness, and his grasp upon the problems that were stirring old England to her very centre, and closed with an able plea for the seating of ability, though that ability was young. There were strong cheers and many "hears!" from the crowd on its conclusion. But none of these preliminary cheers were so hearty as those which greeted the second, as he arose to greet the audience. And no wonder, for the seconder of Mr. Trewan's speech was the new champion of Cornwall, Dick Thomas. Sir James looked a trifle worried, for he saw the diplomacy in the choice of these. The headmaster of the Grammar School had weight, and Dick Thomas had the hearts of the commonality. The speech which he made was homely enough, and demonstrated that he was, as he said, more a man of action than one of words. But he was Dick Thomas, and Dick Thomas was a host.

Sir James arose with a look of relief on his features. He was a man accustomed to deal with the masses, and wished to offset, as much as possible, the blunders of his own proposer and the enthusiasm of the crowd over the speeches of the opposition. His speech was replete with smooth phrases, and the whole was conducted to the close with the arguments of a logician and the subtility of an old parliamentarian. He demonstrated that he had a clear grasp on the problems of the day, and the temper of the people toward them, but what he did not know was the growing popular estimation of himself among the masses. They were getting to realise that Sir James Lanyan was a "trimmer" and was more for Sir James Lanyan than anything else. He said in part:

"For upwards of a dozen years I have served the people of this section as their representative in the House of Commons, and I trust that, at this time, the confidence of the electors, that they have manifested so often heretofore in my experience and labours, will still remain with me. [Hisses and groans.] These are stirring times and the storms have swept over, again and again, the ship of state, threatening to founder her, and reduce the civilisation of the grandest and most enlightened country under the sun to a melancholy wreck and ruin, battered and beaten by every sea, and a prey of the pirates of Europe. To a careful observer, what perils threaten our country? The spirit of the old-time Luddites has again broken forth in the wrecking of machinery and ruthless destruction of property, and there is trouble and turmoil on every side that, unless checked by the firm hand of a Conservative government, will bring anarchy and ruin. In the midst of all these movements come our friends of the opposition with their so-called, universal panacea of Reform. Reform! Reform what?

"Would you reform the introduction of machinery? We cannot do it. If the people themselves could see the benefits of the oncoming flood of invention, they would not desire to do it. With the vision of a prophet I clearly see the time when business shall be enlarged, living become cheaper, wages higher, all on account of the increased output and increased commerce brought and caused by the introduction of machinery. Will this affect Cornwall? To-day, Cornwall has nothing but her farms, her fisheries and her mines, but with the advent of new machinery will come the spreading of new factories, until even within the 'Delectable Duchy' shall roar and sound the noise of spindles, giving employment to thousands of Cornishmen and their children. The increased wealth of the country will add to the price to be obtained for fish commodities and farm products, and there will be an era of prosperity for the hardy miner, fisherman and farmer such as they have never dreamed of before. Reform? Shall we reform the election laws and boroughs. The statement is frequently made that the election laws give unequal representation, and that there are members of the Commons not placed there by the people, and it is true; but abolish the present system and you will purloin from the nation the services of some of her stoutest pillars. If everything is to depend upon a wider suffrage and the throwing out of what has been called pocket boroughs, where would our broad-minded statesmen, who have, tempo rarily, not the support of the people, come in? Had it not been for a pocket borough, Burke, that Cicero of English politics, would never have entered the halls of legislation. Had it not been for the pocket borough, our most eminent statesmen, North, Flood, Canning, Plunket, Brougham, and others, equally indispensable, would not have gained a foothold in the parliamentarian halls. Sheridan, defeated at Stafford, found support in Ilchester; Grey, refused by Northumberland, was returned by Tavistock."

Here Sir James was interrupted by a rough, country lout, who said gravely that he had a question to ask of great importance.

"Well, my man," and Sir James flashed a keen look at him.

"I would like to ask," said the fellow with a leer, "whether m'lord could lend me half a sovereign?"

The absurdity of the thing gave the audience its desired fun, and a roar of laughter came from the crowd. But Sir James was not the man to be put down with the word of a buffoon. With a smile of sarcasm, he responded:

"Yes, my man, I can lend you not only a half a sovereign, but twenty sovereigns, when the cause of good government, which I represent, has prevailed, and then you will need no borrowing, but you will have so many, easily earned by yourself, that you will want to lend instead of borrow. The very reason that so many are out of half sovereigns to-day is because of the mob spirit and discontent stirred up by the element of so-called reform. I ask whether it was patriotism that stirred up the agitation for so-called reform? No. It could not have been that, for the best good of the nation, at the present time, requires peace and harmony."

Continuing, Sir James referred to the agitation of France that gave vent to Napoleon, and was interrupted here and there with various crys of "Tommy-rot!" and "Gammon!" from his opponents, and equally strong "Hears!" from the Conservative wing, and closed his speech with a strong plea for the upholding of the old line party.