who used their freedom as
British subjects to be present in Treby on this great occasion, looked like a
possibly uncivil force whose politics were dubious until it was clearly seen for
whom they cheered and for whom they groaned.
    Thus the way up to the polling-booths was variously lined, and those who
walked it, to whatever side they belonged, had the advantage of hearing from the
opposite side what were the most marked defects or excesses in their personal
appearance; for the Trebians of that day held, without being aware that they had
Cicero's authority for it, that the bodily blemishes of an opponent were a
legitimate ground for ridicule; but if the voter frustrated wit by being
handsome, he was groaned at and satirised according to a formula, in which the
adjective was Tory, Whig, or Radical, as the case might be, and the substantive
blank to be filled up after the taste of the speaker.
    Some of the more timid had chosen to go through this ordeal as early as
possible in the morning. One of the earliest was Mr Timothy Rose, the
gentleman-farmer from Leek Malton. He had left home with some foreboding, having
swathed his more vital parts in layers of flannel, and put on two greatcoats as
a soft kind of armour. But reflecting with some trepidation that there were no
resources for protecting his head, he once more wavered in his intention to
vote; he once more observed to Mrs Rose that these were hard times when a man of
independent property was expected to vote willy-nilly; but finally, coerced by
the sense that he should be looked ill on in these times if he did not stand by
the gentlemen round about, he set out in his gig, taking with him a powerful
waggoner, whom he ordered to keep him in sight as he went to the polling-booth.
It was hardly more than nine o'clock when Mr Rose, having thus come up to the
level of his times, cheered himself with a little cherry-brandy at the Marquis,
drove away in a much more courageous spirit, and got down at Mr Nolan's, just
outside the town. The retired Londoner, he considered, was a man of experience,
who would estimate properly the judicious course he had taken, and could make it
known to others. Mr Nolan was superintending the removal of some shrubs in his
garden.
    »Well, Mr Nolan,« said Rose, twinkling a self-complacent look over the red
prominence of his cheeks, »have you been to give your vote yet?«
    »No; all in