members determined again to contest
the borough. They were Mr. Kinglake,
who had represented the town since 1857,
and Mr. Vanderbyl, whose election we have
just noticed. On the other side were Mr.
Westropp and a Mr. Gray. Mr. Westropp
had declared, after his experience of 1866,
that he had done with Bridgwater. But
he had since then been invited to a Bridge
Committee dinner, and at that festival had
been heartily received. Carried away by the
enthusiasm he had evoked, Mr. Westropp
(after dinner) consented once more to stand
for the borough. Mr. Gray was a London
merchant of no distinction in the political
world, and the two candidates were so
weak from a political point of view, that
the Liberal managers made sure that heavy
bribery was meant. On Sunday, the 15th
of November (the better the day the better
the deed) a meeting of the heads of the
Liberal party took place. Mr. Vanderbyl,
no doubt thinking he would try and get
as much as possible for the four thousand
pounds he had already spent, had already
announced, through his partner, his intention
not to spend any money. This had
been received with the greatest dissatisfaction.
It was suggested that it was madness
to run two Liberals without money,
as it was beyond doubt that the Conservatives
would bribe freely. Mr. Westropp's
antecedents were well known, and, as more
than one witness subsequently informed
the Commissioners, "Mr. Gray was so
insignificant in every sense that unless his
name meant money it meant nothing at
all." Under these circumstances, it was
suggested to Mr. Vanderbyl that he should
withdraw. This that gentleman objected
to do, and as he appeared equally indisposed
to spend money, things were at a
dead lock. In this crisis, Mr. Vanderbyl's
partner, Mr. Fennelly, suggested that it
would be well to sleep on so important
a matter, and the Liberal agents, taking
the same view of the business, retired
at midnight, leaving the candidate and
his partner together. Very little sleeping
was done, however, for within an hour
Mr. Fennelly waited upon a Mr. Cook and
informed him that money would be
forthcoming. Next morning he went off to
London, having sent before his departure
a telegram to his partner, Mr. Redfern,
in London, "Send fifteen bales, and send
Thomas to meet me at the Paddington
Station."

Mr. Fennelly was a man of foresight, for
it appears, that previous to the interview of
Sunday night, he had written to Mr. Redfern,
"If I telegraph for bales, a bale shall
mean a hundred pounds;" and thus, when
it was found that money must be spent, it
was ready. "Thomas," who was in reality
a clerk named Lomas, met Mr. Fennelly's
train at Paddington. The fifteen hundred
pounds were taken to Bridgwater, and
made up into packages of ten pounds each,
facetiously described as samples of tea.
The friends of the other Liberal candidate
were equally prepared.

The secrets of the Conservative party
were well kept. They had, after much
consideration, decided on fighting on strictly
pure principles, and, in point of fact, did so
fight. But, even without the expenditure
of money, they were dangerous foes. At
eleven o'clock they were far ahead, and at
half-past one Mr. Kinglake left the town,
giving the struggle up for lost. But later
in the day the money power came into
play. At three o'clock the Conservative
majority, which had been at one time as
much as two hundred and forty-eight, had
dwindled away to eight, and at the close of
the poll the majority was the other way.

A petition was immediately threatened,
to the horror of the Liberals, who had relied
on the Conservatives being as culpable
as they were themselves. Every effort was
made to suppress it. But no agreement
could be come to amongst the Liberals
until it was too late. The petition was
tried, and both members unseated. But
edged tools are dangerous things to play
with, and it is not good to light lucifer
matches in a powder magazine. The
appointment of the Commission followed
the judge's report, and the misdeeds of
Bridgwater were all exposed. The truth
was not elicited without a vast amount of
wrangling and squabbling, for which the
Commissioners cannot be held wholly
blameless; but the truth was at last elicited,
and the result is before us in the report
(the second) from which we have gathered
the foregoing history. One point in connexion
with the last election may be noted.
It was conclusively proved that at least two–
thirds of the new voters admitted under the
last Reform Bill were corrupt. One of the
Liberal agents, who ought to have been a
good judge, stated that on the morning of
the election he saw hundreds of the new
voters standing about in the cattle market,
like cattle themselves, waiting for the
highest bidder.

This is the history of Bridgwater, worse
even than that of Beverley. It is satisfactory