A KISS FOR A VOTE.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 1518, 5 February 1886, Page 3

A KISS FOR A VOTE.

We do not venture to hint that kissed are as a matter of fact, offered as equivalents for votes in these days The actual kiss for a vote is long out of date, but there can be no doubt that a pretty wife is a most useful ally to'a candidate Smiles of every degree, glances of e v ery description, with accompanying bows and salutation?, fa'niliar nods, a grasp of the hand of varying degrees of cordiality, even a lock of bair as a last resort, have been known to move the British voter. But these things were done very differently a hundred years ago, when the beautiful Duchess of Devonshire was still in the land.

This lady during the Wes'mir ster election of 17*4, when Charles Fox wa* one of ihe candidates, w.is conspicuous in her efforts on his behalf. The story of that famous election in told in the current number of the H'estmintfrr Reiutc, from which we (I'all Mai l GiZftfr) take the following concerning the methods of the Duches*. When it was observed how strenuously the Duchei-s of Devonshire exerted herself in Mr Fox's cause, the following appeared in one of the morn* ing papes, entitled the " Influence of Beauty "

A sober, plain Englishman car. really have no opinion of his own if his understanding is to be attacked by the arguments of his eyes. He can have no chance of his liberty if weapons so irresietiole as smiles and glances are used against him. The influence of beauty, therefore, must be more dnugerous in a free country than the secret influence of the Crown. If it should be admitted that ladies have a right to canvass for their favourite candidate and to exercise the arts of never-failing beauty against the unsuspecting hearts of Englishmen, their next step will be to vote for them ; and they will maintain their franchises by arguments which we cannot nfute. Having gained t, they will not get into Parliament theirs-Ives, and then farewel' to our liberties as a free people ! The ladies now l ave the confidence to aspire to nn equal elevation with the men in everything. They aver that genius is of no sei, zrid, tl.nimg th« m st-lvt? possessed of eqiul talent*, they presume to cultivate them to an equal degree of polish. Is it to he endu-ed that they should not only triumph over us in tL'iire and face, but that they should also be superior to us in accompl shments and sense 1 F.«r be it from the wishes of all sober men ! Let it be therefore known from this time forth that it shall be downright impudence in any woman of rank to have the condescension of speaking to any person of a lower condition ; that ladies of quality have no right to entertain friendships, or, if they should be so indiscreet and unfashionable as to prefer one man to another, that it is absolute vulgarity in them to expose it to the world ; that ladies of quality have no bnsmess with the affairs of the nation ; that ladies ought never to come out of the nursery except to make a pudding for dinner j and that,

if they hare any spare titri«, it should be occupied in the stitching of chair covera

Then follows a supposed letter from the Duchess to Charles Fox :

Dear Charles, —Yesterday I sent you three votes, hut went through great fatigue to procure them j it cost me ten kisses for every plumper. I'm vpry much afraid we are done up. Wi.l see you at the porter shop, and consult ways and means—Yours, S a D E.

Here again is a handbill against Mr Fox, entitled "The B >ok of Tails," cap. i.: —

And now behold in those days, being the eighteenth centtirv, an idol was adored in the land of Albion, and a new religion established ; the people of that land being governed by the moon and the tides, and the following after novelties, and hankerim: after strange gods. The idol was black and fearful to behold ; and therefore he pleased the lower sort, who delight in being terrified ; and the higher order were charmed with his ill example, which destroyed all decorum and distinctions, and lett them at liberty to follow their own inclinations, which were none of the best And now the women of the land rose up, and tiny said one unto another, " Let us raise the idol on high, and make the men fall down and worship him;" and they did so ; and every living thing which had folly in it worshipped the idol; and the geose and the ganders lifted up their filly heads, and cried, ' Lang live the Fux ; may the Fox live lor ever!" .Now behold a woman, fairer than wise, and more wily t an discreet, said, " Let us take the Fox's tail for our type or symbol; let us bear it aloft, and run about the streets, and the squares, and the laivn, and the blind alleys, and make proselytes to the new religion." The matrons and maidens, widows and widows bewitched, were seized with religious lury, and ran wild through the streets, crying, "Fox! Fox!" and they kissed the Fox's tail and put it in th»-ir hats. The idol, raised upon the shoulders of the women, was adored by the men; and 00 the women of Piccadilly carried him up to the Temple. .Now this idol iu his day worked miracles through the wicked spirit, but the good genius of Albion turned against him and all his machinatious in the end; and thereby hangs a tail.