The judge's decision in Percycross as to the late election was no sooner known than fresh overtures¹ were made to Ontario Moggs by the Young Men's Association. A letter of triumph was addressed to him at the Cheshire Cheese, in which he was informed that Intimidation² and Corruption³ had been trodden under foot in the infamous⁵ person of Mr. Griffenbottom, and that Purity and the Rights of Labour were still the watchwords of that wholesome⁶ party in the borough⁷ which was determined⁸ to send Mr. Moggs to Parliament. Did not Mr. Moggs think it best that he should come down at once to the borough and look after his interests? Now Mr. Moggs junior, when he received this letter, had left the borough no more than three or four days since, having been summoned there as a witness during the trial of the petition;—and such continued attendance to the political interests of a small and otherwise uninteresting town, without the advantage of a seat in Parliament, was felt by Mr. Moggs senior to be a nuisance. The expense in all these matters fell of course upon the shoulders of the father. "I don't believe in them humbugs⁹ no longer," said Mr. Moggs senior. Moggs junior, who had felt the enthusiasm of the young men of Percycross, and who had more to get and less to lose than his father, did believe. Although he had been so lately at Percycross, he went down again, and again made speeches to the young men at the Mechanics' Institute. Nothing could be more triumphant¹⁰ than his speeches, nothing more pleasant than his popularity; but he could not fail to become aware, after a further sojourn

分享到：