The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1879-10-01
ITO BIZ Continued
The Queen OF the wings.
TTpnhla Rar

While Fox was still in the minority,
Lord CORVALLIS wrote: "The Duchess of
Devonshire is indefatigable in her can
vass; she was in the most blackguard
houses in Long Acre by s o'clock this
morning" The Court party for three
weeks main tanned their majority. "West-
minister goes ON WE'LL" wrote Pitt con-
temptuously to Wilberforce, "in spite of
the Duchess of Devonshire and the other
women of the people,"
Among the people she went freely, Of
ten filling her carriage, with voters whom
she carried off to pump for Fox, and to
whom it must have been a bewildering
sensation to ride in a ducal equipage
with Court beauty. That beauty, it is
we'll known, was more helpful to her than
her rank. "God bless you, madam cried an
Irish workman in the mob, 'I could light
my pipe at your eyes," Her purchase of
vote with a kiss to a butcher who
would take no other bribe was freely
commented on both with pen and pencil.
A ludicrous sketch was circulated of
the Duchess clasping the. burly butcher
in her arms; another showed her sitting
on Fox's knee to have her shoe mended
in a cobbler's stall and meanwhile slip
ping gold into the hands of the cobbler's
wife. Some of the squibs were too vile
to be described, and shocked Queen Char
lotte, to whom they were accidentally
sent in packet of political prints. But
the Duchess went bravey on, needless of
ridicule or calumny. The former she
was prepared for, the latter she could af-
ford to disregard. "She certainly pro-
cured the greatest part of Mr.. Fox's votes
for him" said Walpole.
And though the Court party endeav-
ored to deter her by the most illberal
and indecent abuse, yet they could not
fix the smallest stains on her virtue"
A third caricature represented her as
carrying the Wing candidate on her
shoulders; and the truth of the insinua-
tion consoled her for its coarseness. The
memory of the Ladies' Canvass" as it
was called, long survived its principal
actors. With what effect the Duchess
and her friends "rustled their silks in the
lowest recesses of sin and misery" an old
elector told Allan Cunningham nearly so
years after.
"Lord, Sir" said he, "it was fine
sight to see grand lady come right
smack up to us with, Master, how dye
do? and laugh so loud and talk so kind,
and shake usby the hand and say, Give
us your vote, worthy Sir; plumper for
the peoples friend, our friend, every
body's friend And then, Sir, if we
hummed and hawed they would ask us
for our wives and children; and, if that
didn't do, they'd think nothing of kiss
-ay, a dozen orso. Kissing was nothing
TO them; and it all came SO naturally"
No wonder, comments Cunningham drily,
that Fox was successful.
"The victory" says Wingrove Cooke,
"was decided by woman. y \ Po-
litical enthusiasm in SO fair form could
not fail to gather converts. The Duchess
appeared frequently at the hustings Gin
Covent Garden), and Fox overlook and
at length (on the twenty-third day. passed
his competitor. n \ The Duchess
was found irresistible, and Fox's major
ity steadily increased. At the close of
the poll he stood 1856 votes above Sir
Cecil Wray.