ery man in Eatanswill, conscious of the weight
that attached to his example, felt himself bound to unite, heart and
soul, with one of the two great parties that divided the town--the Blues
and the Buffs. Now the Blues lost no opportunity of opposing the
Buffs, and the Buffs lost no opportunity of opposing the Blues; and
the consequence was, that whenever the Buffs and Blues met together
at public meeting, town-hall, fair, or market, disputes and high words
arose between them. With these dissensions it is almost superfluous
to say that everything in Eatanswill was made a party question. If the
Buffs proposed to new skylight the market-place, the Blues got up
public meetings, and denounced the proceeding; if the Blues proposed the
erection of an additional pump in the High Street, the Buffs rose as
one man and stood aghast at the enormity. There were Blue shops and Buff
shops, Blue inns and Buff inns--there was a Blue aisle and a Buff aisle
in the very church itself.

Of course it was essentially and indispensably necessary that each of
these powerful parties should have its chosen organ and representative:
and, accordingly, there were two newspapers in the town--the Eatanswill
GAZETTE and the Eatanswill INDEPENDENT; the former advocating Blue
principles, and the latter conducted on grounds decidedly Buff.
Fine newspapers they were. Such leading articles, and such spirited
attacks!--'Our worthless contemporary, the GAZETTE'--'That disgraceful
and dastardly journal, the INDEPENDENT'--'That false and scurrilous
print, the INDEPENDENT'--'That vile and slanderous calumniator, the
GAZETTE;' these, and other spirit-stirring denunciations, were strewn
plentifully over the columns of each, in every number, and excited
feelings of the most intense delight and indignation in the bosoms of
the townspeople.

Mr. Pickwick, with his usual foresight and sagacity, had chosen a
peculiarly desirable moment for his visit to the borough. Never was such
a contest known. The Honourable Samuel Slumkey, of Slumkey Hall, was
the Blue candidate; and Horatio Fizkin, Esq., of Fizkin Lodge, near
Eatanswill, had been prevailed upon by his friends to stand forward on
the Buff interest. The GAZETTE warned the electors of Eatanswill that
the eyes not only of England, but of the whole civilised world, were
upon them; and the INDEPENDENT imperatively demanded to know, whether
the constituency of Eatanswill were the grand fellows they had always
taken the