ith the mob into the
lower court. Great rush when the door was opened. When the Crier
demanded attention for the reading of the Act against bribery and
corruption, he burst out laughing at the end, in which he was followed by
the Sheriff, candidates and almost everybody else." The show of hands
was, as was generally the case, in favour of the Liberal. But on the
next day--that of the poll--the Tories were declared to have the
majority. All round the polling booths the rioting was great, as men
were brought up in batches to vote--each party struggling to prevent
their being done by the other, and a good deal of fighting ensued. Mr.
Forster writes:--"About nine I sallied forth to take observations. At
the Magdalen Ward booth I saw some dreadful cases of voting by drunken
people, both Whig and Tory--one in which the man could hardly speak, and
there were two men roaring Smith and Nurse (the names of the Whig
candidates) in his ears. I went to see all the polling places in the
course of time. About three I saw some furious bludgeon-fighting in
Palace Plain, the police taking bludgeons from some Tory hired
countrymen. The Mayor and Sheriff were there. One of the police was
badly wounded by a bludgeon. The soldiers were sent for, and then the
Mayor, thinking he could do without them, sent George Everett, the
Sheriff's son, a boy, and myself to stop them. We very soon met them in
the road leading from the Plain to the barracks trotting forward with
their swords drawn. We held up our hands and partially stopped them, but
the Mayor altered his mind and they came on. The policemen had got the
better, but the soldiers soon cleared the place."

The election over--it is said to have cost 40,000 pounds--the triumphant
Members were borne in chairs on men's shoulders and carried through the
streets--a very unpleasant process, as they had to smile and bow to the
crowd of lookers-on in the streets and in the houses along which they
passed. The old dragon Snap from St. Andrew's Hall figured in the show.
Out-voters were brought from London and other parts of the country in
stage coaches hired for the purpose. Every one showed his colour, and
every one was primed with beer and ready for a row. A General Election
was a saturnalia of the most blackguard character. In all, Norfolk
returned twelve Members--four for the county, the Eastern Division
sending two Members, the influential landlords being Lord Wodehouse, the
Earl o