to do him and his cause justice. Mr. Hollond in his religious views was anxious to keep sacred and secure the Established Church, and at the same time was willing to give to conscientious Dissenters every credit for their honesty and discretion. While he supported the ministers of his own religion, he deprecated any attempt at forcing the consciences of others. Locally he was capable of advancing materially the interests of the borough. He had already done more for the towns and their institutions than any one of his opponents; and if they did Mr. Hollond the honour of electing him he would be residing among them and spending in their neighbourhood the great wealth he possessed; thus adding much to their comfort and welfare.
Election of Hollond and Planta - Politics in 1837
Then followed the speeches of the three candidates, those of Messrs. Planta and Hollond being both lengthy and eloquent, and that of Mr. Brisco less lengthy and less eloquent. A show of hands was taken by the Mayor, and declared to be in favour of Hollond and Planta. A protest was made by a gentleman (whose name I withhold) on the ground that it had been intimated that the vote of Mr. Sutherland Graeme would be objected to. Mr. Richards replied that no objection of that nature could be made on the hustings, and the Mayor refused to accept the protest. A poll was then demanded on behalf of Mr. Brisco.
On the 1st day of August, that is to say on the Tuesday following the nomination, the Radical party were astir as early as four o'clock, their band and pink colours being then set in motion to parade the thoroughfares of the borough and collect the voters, a large number of whom were marched to the polling booth at eight o'clock; thus making an imposing demonstration at the very beginning, to the no small astonishment of their opponents. At the close of the poll the votes recorded were for Planta 403, for Hollond 383, for Brisco 312.
Thus it would appear that the Conservative candidate was elected as the senior member by a majority of twenty; but it was asserted on behalf of the Liberals that by a careful analysis of the poll it was discovered that Mr. Hollond had 25 more good votes than Mr. Planta, and therefore that Mr. Hollond was the senior member by a majority of five. On account of this contention it was agreed to by both parties that in the next day's chairing - which was a magnificent affair - the Blues and the Pinks should alternately take first position in the procession; but as it was imagined that the Blues were determined to take precedence throughout, the Pinks turned off to St. Leonards, leaving the Blues to follow them. I will now add to this narrative the interesting account of this election which, as I have said, has been kindly forwarded to me by a gentleman who took an active part in the same.
MEMORANDA OF THE POLITICAL POSITION OF HASTINGS AND ST. LEONARDS IN 1837.
Immediately after the great political dinner which took place at Hastings in April - so fairly and amply described in BRETT'S GAZETTE - the members of "The Loyal and Constitutional Association" largely increased and the Conservative party in the two towns began to make itself felt. A strong desire prevailed that it was entitled to a share in the representation, and that the Right Hon. J. Planta should be invited once more to be a candidate for the same. With a view to this result a public meeting of the Association was called, and a committee was formed, for the purpose of instituting a rigid house-to-house canvass of the two towns, in order to ascertain how far the Conservative party would be justified in inviting Mr. Planta to offer himself. An influential committee was nominated, with Mr. Sutherland-Graeme as chairman. Most closely and carefully the borough was canvassed; and, without seeking unduly to overrate the strength of the Conservative party, it was ascertained that a very strong feeling existed among the electors generally that Mr. Panta had been much ill-used, in addition to his having been put to a disgraceful expense, at the previous election; also that if that gentleman should be again induced to come forward, he would meet with a very general support. The canvassing committee thus assured, continued their work, and with so much success that, allowing a very considerable margin for possible defaulters, a sufficiently large majority was left to warrant a requisition being made to Mr. Planta to stand for election. Accordingly, a deputation of the electors of the two towns waiting upon Mr. Planta in London, and laid before that gentleman so clear a case that he at once acquiesced, and put out his address. The favourable feeling towards Mr. Planta appeared to gain ground, whilst the Association met once a fortnight in the Pelham Arcade to talk over political matters and keep the party together. There was one special and perhaps remarkable feature in connection with these meetings, and that was the entire absence of "treating." All persons met upon a perfect equality, and every man paid out of his own pocket for whatsoever he called for. Mr. Sutherland-Graeme generally presided at these meetings, and conducted them in the most orderly and satisfactory manner. It was early determined that, so far as was possible, Mr. Planta should be put to no expenses beyond those which were legitimately connected with an election. This idea was extremely popular, and it became a point of honour to keep down all unnecessary costs. Upon the death of the King, the Parliament was dissolved, and in the early autumn all political parties in the borough prepared for action. The majority against Mr. Planta at the previous election was so very large that to those who were well acquainted with the details, the attempt to return so decided a Conservative was deemed to be a rash one; and Mr. Sutherland-Graeme was repeatedly told that he was mad, and that when the day of polling arrived his eyes would be opened. It may here be mentioned that Mr. Sutherland-Graeme has perfect faith in the promise of those voters who had pledged themselves to support Mr. Planta, and that he was fully justified in that faith by the subsequent result of the election, which placed the Rt. Hon J. Planta at the head of the poll. A majority of Mr. Planta's supporters gave him an undivided vote; and it may be mentioned to the credit of many a "small voter," to whose interest it would be to split his vote, that he was most unwilling to do so. It was as late as three o'clock on the day of polling that several voters went to mr. Sutherland-Graeme, seeking to know if Mr. Planta was quite safe, in which case they would like to bestow their second vote elsewhere, but on no account would they do so unless fully assured of the safety of Mr. Planta. Such assurances Mr. Sutherland-Graeme felt himself justified in giving. Well,being thus safe to win, as it was believed, the next thing sought was to be at the head of the poll. Robert Hollond, Esq., was the extreme Liberal candidate, and was also very popular, notwithstanding Mr. Brisco's (the third candidate's) great wealth and local influence. During the greater part of the day Messrs. Planta and Hollond were polling very evenly - sometimes one and sometimes the other being a few votes ahead. By-and-by a scheme was proposed, and immediately adopted by Mr. Planta's friends as follows:- About twenty plumpers for Mr. Planta agreed to shut themselves up in a room until summoned to vote, and the polling went on as previously described until 3.30 p.m., when Mr. Hollond was about half-a-dozen votes ahead, and the polling became very slack. The chairman of the Radical committee came to Mr. Sutherland-Graeme and remarked somewhat gleefully that the voters were nearly exhausted, and that Mr. Hollond was leading! It was then time to call upon our friends who had shut themselves up. The band and banners were ordered to the place, the men arranged themselves in twos and twos, and with the band playing "Hurrah for the Bonnets in Blue," marched steadily to the polling booth and plumped for Planta; thus passing Hollond and placing their man at the head by a small majority. It was thus proved that if Mr. Sutherland-Graeme was "mad," there was a great deal of method in his madness. I must add that an extremely good feeling, considering the energy of the competition, prevailed throughout the borough - a feature that redounded to the credit of all concerned, and one which served to rectify in some measure the acerbity which, according to report, was too greatly exhibited on a previous occasion. The state of the poll was officially declared on the following day, immediately after which the "chairing" took place; and rarely had such a sight been witnessed. The cortege left the Marine Hotel, with Mr. and Mrs. Planta, Mr. Sutherland-Graeme, and Mr. Smith, in an open carriage, drawn by four grey horses, with postillions in blue jackets. Being in the height of the autumn season the gigantic procession was joined as it went along by the carriages of visitors whose political opinions accorded with those of the newly elected M.P., added to which were many gentlemen on horseback from neighbouring towns and villages. What with flags, banners, streamers, rosettes and bands of music, the whole procession was a gorgeous one; and some idea may be formed of its length when I say that its head was entering the Archway at St. Leonards, when its rear was leaving the Marine Hotel at Hastings.
I must now relate an interesting anecdote. There resided at 52 Marina an aged lady, the Dowager Lady Lubbock, who, when she heard the procession was about to pass her house, came to the carriage, bearing a silver goblet filled with "claret-cup," and with much spirit proposed "The healths of the new M.P., and the electors who returned him." This event was prior to the days of photography, or such a striking scene would have made a fine subject for the artist. So much space would be occupied if I were to attempt to narrate the numerous and varied incidents connected with this remarkable election, that I will only further describe it as having had many points of resemblance to a political contest more recently witnessed. It may be seen that even in such matters, history, to a great extent, repeats itself. It is indeed curious to find how similar are some of the incidents of the 1837 election to those of the 1880 contest. Then, as in 1880, the Conservatives had been beaten at a previous election by a very large majority; then, as in 1880, the zeal and tact of the Conservative leaders led to victory; then, as in 1880, the political positions were reversed; then, as in 1880, the Conservative cause was not a little assisted by the charming manners of the candidate's wife (for Mrs. Planta was as affable and industrious as was Lady Anne Murray); then, as in 1880, the Conservative candidate obtained the largest number of undivided votes; then, as in 1880, the competitors were three in number; and then, as in 1880, the Conservative candidate was returned at the head of the poll. Thus a lesson may be laid to heart that however clouded the prospects of a cause may be, zeal, energy, tact and courage may achieve success, even though the difficulties to be overcome would appear to be of an insurmountable magnitude.
A few days after our own election, the news was received of Mr. Elphinstone's defeat at Liverpool, for which place he had been put in nomination after he had declined a renewal of the contest at Hastings. It was said "What a pity he did not again stand for Hastings; for, seeing that Mr. Hollond had 147 plumpers, two Liberals might have run together with almost certain success." Remembering, however, that 236 of Mr. Hollond's supporter's (sic) divided their votes between him and one or other of the Conservative candidates - for, after all, Mr. Brisco was but a disguised Tory - Mr. Elphinstone's chance after introducing to his late constituency so wealthy a man as Hollond, would, methinks, have been very small indeed. But Mr. Elphinstone's defeat was not the only unwelcome news received by the Hastings people at that time. My readers will remember that, in seconding the nomination of Mr. Brisco, Mr. Hannay stated he was 84 years of age; also that the proposer was Mr. Camac - a gentleman who did not allude to his age, but who might have said he was 75. These ages, then, even without the plea of "not being used to public speaking," would have been a sufficient apology for the brief and pointless speeches which those two gentlemen inflicted on the electors. It is possible, however, that the efforts which Mr. Camac put forth to serve his brother-in-law, combined with the disappointment of defeat, told upon the not too robust frame of a man whose years were advancing closely to the eighth decade of life, and thus hastened its dissolution; for within a fortnight of the election Mr. Camac's death was announced as having taken place at Harrogate. The exact day, I believe, was the 11th of August. This unlooked-for event naturally cast a gloom over the borough; for, what with the unique equipage of Mr. and Mrs. Camac and their splendid dinners, suppers and soirees dansantes, they seemed to be the moving spirits of fashionable society, and -
