[182] This was a remarkable election, and created immense excitement at the time. There had been no contested election for forty-six years, and in 1807 there were four candidates for the two seats. One, a Mr. Fowkes, received two votes. William Wilberforce, the great advocate for the abolition of slavery, led all the way; the real contest was between Milton and Lascelles. Wilberforce’s expenses were largely met by subscription; the cost to the other two was enormous. The Recorder of Leeds said, “The yellow had not only been in the hats, but had also been in the pockets of the voters for Lord Milton.” The state of the poll at the end was:
| Wilberforce | 11,806 |
| Milton | 11,177 |
| Lascelles | 10,988 |
| Fowkes | 2 |
Smith, Parliaments of England, ii. 136, 140. The Times, 26th, 28th, 30th May, 2nd, 4th, 6th June 1807.
Wm. Wilberforce, Esq.; Rt. Hon. Chas. Wm. Wentworth, commonly called Viscount Milton; Hon. Henry Lascelles.
[185] “Ces jeunes captifs furent instruits par les soins de M. l’Évêque de Moulins.”
[186] As these pages are passing through the press, the opportunity offers of seeing through the observant eyes of Mrs. Larpent the Bishop as he was when she met him in London, about 1804, and for the “man with a fine presence” we must substitute the “little deformed lively man,” described in that lady’s diary, “Nineteenth Century and After,” No. 438, August 1913, p. 318.
[187] Appendix G.
[188a] Mémoire des Évêques français résidant à Londres qui n’ont pas donné leur démission, Londres, May 1802; Biographie des Hommes vivant, 1818, Paris; Biographie des Contemporains, Paris.
[188b] Mémoire des Évêques français résidant à Londres, pp. 108, 217, 284.
[188c] The only reference by his French biographer to his work at Norman Cross, which looms so large in this book, is that “he is said to have visited the prisoners of war when in England.”