icuous joints in his shop-front; frightened his
neighbour, the old lady, into a palpitation of the heart, by his awful
denunciations of Spruggins's party; and bounced in and out, and up and
down, and backwards and forwards, until all the sober inhabitants of the
parish thought it inevitable that he must die of a brain fever, long
before the election began.

The day of election arrived. It was no longer an individual struggle,
but a party contest between the ins and outs. The question was, whether
the withering influence of the overseers, the domination of the
churchwardens, and the blighting despotism of the vestry-clerk, should be
allowed to render the election of beadle a form--a nullity: whether they
should impose a vestry-elected beadle on the parish, to do their bidding
and forward their views, or whether the parishioners, fearlessly
asserting their undoubted rights, should elect an independent beadle of
their own.

The nomination was fixed to take place in the vestry, but so great was
the throng of anxious spectators, that it was found necessary to adjourn
to the church, where the ceremony commenced with due solemnity. The
appearance of the churchwardens and overseers, and the ex-churchwardens
and ex-overseers, with Spruggins in the rear, excited general attention.
Spruggins was a little thin man, in rusty black, with a long pale face,
and a countenance expressive of care and fatigue, which might either be
attributed to the extent of his family or the anxiety of his feelings.
His opponent appeared in a cast-off coat of the captain's--a blue coat
with bright buttons; white trousers, and that description of shoes
familiarly known by the appellation of 'high-lows.' There was a serenity
in the open countenance of Bung--a kind of moral dignity in his confident
air--an 'I wish you may get it' sort of expression in his eye--which
infused animation into his supporters, and evidently dispirited his
opponents.

The ex-churchwarden rose to propose Thomas Spruggins for beadle. He had
known him long. He had had his eye upon him closely for years; he had
watched him with twofold vigilance for months. (A parishioner here
suggested that this might be termed 'taking a double sight,' but the
observation was drowned in loud cries of 'Order!') He would repeat that
he had had his eye upon him for years, and this he would say, that a more
well-conducted, a more well-behaved, a more sober, a more quiet man, with
a more well-r