The Express.
London, England, 1848-11-23 00:00:00

and upon the whole it rather rafted him than other-'
wise to resign St. Alban's, and accept the stewardship
of the Chiltern Hundreds, together with the rectories of
Great and Little Homey, with Pelunanh in proem-
'ilea. Accordingly, one gloomy morning, very early
in February, 1841, there aseed apron the walls of
lit- Alban's, farewell addtees of " the honourable"
(henceforth to be "the honourable and reverend")
Edward Harbottle Orimston, together with a letter
from Mr. Benjamin Bond Cabbell, to the " worthy
and independent electors of St. Alban's," earnestly
soliciting their votes and
1841 was a year when ethew ' could not afford to
lose a seat that could be won at any price. Especially
was it important at the commencement of a session to
shew, if possible, that "the sense" of the country was
with them. Even "the sense" of St. Alban's might
do something for them, bad as it was known tote.
Accordingly, when two gentlemen from St. Alban's—
Dr. Webster, a practising physician, and Mr. Henry
Edwards, aforementioned—appeared at the door of
the Treasury, Whitehall, they were received by the
Under Secretary with open arms. Lori John Russell'
was consulted. It was thought desirable to start •
safe ministerialist—some one whose MOONS would be
identified with the success of the government—whilst,
in the event of defer, they would incur little respon-
sibility. It war suggested that title might carry weight,
and that he should occupy some sort of office. The
fortunate (or unfortunate) candidate who appeared to
combine all these desirabilities was the Earl of Lis-
,owel, an Irish nobleman, utterly unknown as a po-
litician, but connected with the government by reason
of holding the office of a lord-in-waiting to the Queen.
It is believed that Lord John Russell himself ex-
pressed to Lord Listowel the desire of the govern-'
ment that he should "go down." The earl, it ie
said, was rather averse to the proceeding. The office
of lord-in-waiting is not usually supposed to
imply subjection to very troublesome duties. Lord
Lietowel probably thought that to canvass such
atown as St. Alban's in the depth of winter was rather
a bore than otherwise. But high influence was brought
to bear upon hint. Words are even said to have
fallen from exalted lips, indicative of a royal wish
that lie should "go down and beat those Grim-
stem" As foe the bother, the under-secretary
begged his lordship not to mind that,—" Coppock
would manage all that."
The nomination for St. Alban's had been fixed for
Monday, the Bth of February. Mr. B. B. Cabbell
was in high feather in the early part of the week pre-
ceding. The whip had no one in the field—
" 1,0001." would do it. The object of his ambi-
tion, a seat in parliamert, long sought for and
not obtained, was at last before his eyes. On
Thursday, the 4th of February, Mr. Cabbell was
in full canvass, when a hand-bill suddenly appeared
requesting the electors to withhold their suffrages, as
another candidate would be in the town that evening
at 6 o'clock. Mr. Cabbell laughed at the idea; his
agents smiled also (before him) but among themselves
they agreed to try and find out what this meant, for
it looked like "business." At 6 o'clock a crowd was
collected in the street, when a messenger, " fiery hot
with haste," spurred into the town. His object was
to deliver a letter, requesting that the leading liberals
" might be assembh d at eight, to receive a distin-
guished nobleman." At ten minutes before eight,
just as Mr. B. B. Cabbell had sat down to dinner, a
carriage and four passed his window. It was my
Lord Listowei, and the deservedly popular 1)r. Web-
ster. The cheers of the crowd entirely spoilt Mr.
Cabbell's appetite.
Lord Listowel's friends went to work, and did
miracles in a short time. The man, however, had
not come yet. It was not until Saturday evening that
he arrived. He came after dusk, in a quiet chaise
and pair, with the blinds down. He drove up to the
whig inn quietly. When he got out he was anxious
about his baggage. It was only ono portmanteau ;
but l e requested the " boots" to call some assistance,
as it was quite fall, and his outs were heavy. It was
with great difficulty they got it out. S x stout men
staggered under it as they took it into the hall.
Eight of them carried it up stairs, one step at a time.
Once it slipped a little, and there was a sort of " jar"
inside, very unlike shirts and stockings. far"
" waiter" tipped • wink, and it was evident boots"
understood him. It has been since declared that there
were 4,000 persuaders in that portmanteau.
On the Sunday there was a constant movement
about the " George." After dusk people came in in
some numbers. All night they continued to drop in
there. Monday was the nomination, and every one
was engaged thereat, except one gentleman who sat
in a room by himself alone. Monday evening and
night people of all sorts called to see him. The stair-
case was very crowded. A strong man kept the door
of his room. Hi+ visitors were admitted one at a
time. At least 200 had interviews. Some stayed
five minutes, some ten, some a quarter of an hour.
What passed is, of course, a secret ; but they all came
out evidently satisfied. At dawn on the polling day,
a person, whose business had kept him up all night
was standing at his door when an influential member
of the whig committee pa-sed on his way home.
" What news ? " said the one. "All right," whis-
pered the other, very low indeed ; "he's sap."
_ _

The " worthy and independent voters of the borough
of St. Alban's' elected a burgess to serve in parliament
on that Tuesday, the 9th of February, 1841, and on
the evening of that day John Horrer Rumball, EFq ,
the mayor, declared the numbers to be, for the Dui
of Listowel, 232 ; for Benjamin Bond Cabbell, Esq.,
205; and that the Earl of Listowel was duly elected.
Out of the 232 and 205 a liberal calculation has been
made that 34 neither directly nor indirectly received
bribe, benefit, or reward. There is considerable diffi-
culty in selecting a 35th.

The result appeared in all the London papers on
the following morning. Those in the tory interest
made no comment; but the *big journals sang a
Piton over this " great and glorious victory of prin-
ciple," this " decided proof of popular opinion," this
" evident indication of the public sense of the merits
of the ministers." The gentlemen about the fire at
the Reform Club chuckled immensely, and those
who frequented the Carlton cursed ()Obeli for losing,
and giving the whip an oppottnnity of getting up a
cry of " reaction."
What followed we intend to narrate.