might, and got an enormous party of my friends, I mean my acquaintance, to
run him down full cry, for having fought for me. It was absurd--it was
rash--it was want of proper confidence in his wife; _thus we_ said. Lord
Delacour had his partisans, it is true; amongst whom the loudest was
odious Mrs. Luttridge. I embraced the first opportunity I met with of
retaliation. You must know that Mrs. Luttridge, besides being a great
faro-player, was a great dabbler in politics; for she was almost as fond
of power as of money: she talked loud and fluently, and had, somehow or
other, partly by intriguing, partly by relationship, connected herself
with some of the leading men in parliament. There was to be a contested
election in our country: Mr. Luttridge had a good estate there next to
Lord Delacour's, and being of an ancient family, and keeping a good table,
the Luttridges were popular enough. At the first news of an election, out
comes a flaming advertisement from Mr. Luttridge; away posted Mrs.
Luttridge to begin her canvass, and away posted Lady Delacour after her,
to canvass for a cousin of Harriot Freke. This was a new scene for me; but
I piqued myself on the versatility of my talents, and I laid myself out in
please all the squires, and, what was more difficult, all the squires'
ladies, in ----shire. I was ambitious to have it said of me, 'that I was
the finest figure that ever appeared upon a canvass.' O, ye ----shireians,
how hard did I work to obtain your praise! All that the combined force of
vanity and hatred could inspire I performed, and with success. You have
but little curiosity, I presume, to know how many hogsheads of port went
down the throat of John Bull, or how many hecatombs were offered up to the
genius of English liberty. My hatred to Mrs. Luttridge was, of course,
called love of my country. Lady Delacour was deified by all _true_
patriots; and, luckily, a handsome legacy left me for my spirit, by an
uncle who died six weeks before the election, enabled us to sustain the
expense of my apotheosis. The day of election came; Harriot Freke and I
mad our appearance on the hustings, dressed in splendid party uniforms;