Midnight
You can not serve a political end by committing a wrong without inflicting a moral degradation on some one . Political intrigue begets laxity of habits ; it dispels that integrity without which the unfixed mind becomes vicious ; it acts as a festering sore in the body politic . Having concluded their arrangements for the Mayor 's election , the party drinks itself into a noisy mood , each outshouting the other for the right to speak , each refilling and emptying his glass , each asserting with vile imprecations , his dignity as a gentleman . Midnight finds the reeling party adjourning in the midst of confusion . Mr. Snivel winks the vote-cribber into a corner , and commences interrogating him concerning Mag Munday . The implacable face of the vote-cribber reddens , he contorts his brows , frets his jagged beard with the fingers of his left hand , runs his right over the crown of his head , and stammers : `` I know 'd her , lived with her-she used to run sort of wild , and was twice flogged . She got crazed at last ! ''