midnight
A dissolution of parliament at any time must occasion great excitement ; combined with a new reign , it inflames the passions of every class of the community . Even the poor begin to hope ; the old , wholesome superstition still lingers , that the sovereign can exercise power ; and the suffering multitude are fain to believe that its remedial character may be about to be revealed in their instance . As for the aristocracy in a new reign , they are all in a flutter . A bewildering vision of coronets , stars , and ribbons ; smiles , and places at court ; haunts their noontide speculations and their midnight dreams . Then we must not forget the numberless instances in which the coming event is deemed to supply the long-sought opportunity of distinction , or the long-dreaded cause of utter discomfiture ; the hundreds , the thousands , who mean to get into parliament , the units who dread getting out . What a crashing change from lounging in St James 's street to sauntering on Boulogne pier ; or , after dining at Brookes and supping at Crockford 's , to be saved from destruction by the friendly interposition that sends you in an official capacity to the marsupial sympathies of Sydney or Swan River ! Now is the time for the men to come forward who have claims ; claims for spending their money , which nobody asked them to do , but which of course they only did for the sake of the party .