Page:Passages from the Life of a Philosopher.djvu/288

272 ought either to produce a broad laugh or that involuntary smile which true wit usually provokes. They are productive of little effect except the amusement of the supporters engaged in carrying on the contest.

My own share in elections has generally been in more serious departments. I remember, however, a very harmless squib which I believed equally amused both parties, and which, I was subsequently informed, was concocted in Mr. Cavendish's committee-room.

High mathematical knowledge is by no means a very great qualification in a candidate for the House of Commons, nor is the absence of it any disparagement. In the contest to which I refer, the late Mr. Goulburn was opposed to Mr. Cavendish. The following paragraph appeared in the 'Morning Post:'—

"The Whigs lay great stress on the academical distinction attained by Mr. Cavendish. Mr. Goulburn, it is true, was not a candidate for university honours; but his scientific attainments are by no means insignificant. He has succeeded in the exact rectification of a circular arc; and he has likewise discovered the equation of the lunar caustic, a problem likely to prove of great value in nautical astronomy."

It appears that late one evening a cab drove up in hot haste to the office of the 'Morning Post,' delivered the copy as coming from Mr. Goulburn's committee, and at the same time ordered fifty extra copies of the 'Post' to be sent next morning to their committee-room.

During my own contest for the borough of Finsbury few incidents worth note occurred. One day, as I was returning in an omnibus from the City, an opportunity presented itself by which I acquired a few votes. A gentleman at the extreme end of the omnibus being about to leave it, asked the