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No man can know precisely on the day of election the value of his own vote to the cause, and no man, therefore, is justified, upon any consideration whatever, in neglecting to record it. There are many instances in our parliamentary history showing the important results which have attended the gain or the loss of a single vote. We will give the story of one such case. At the general election in August, 1837, there was no seat more keenly contested than that for Lanarkshire. At two previous elections, since the Reform Act, the Liberals had been in a decided majority—Mr. Maxwell, in December, 1832, winning his seat by a majority of more than two to one over his opponent, Mr. Buchanan; and again, in January, 1835, by a majority of 200 over Mr. A. M. Lockhart. In August, 1837, however, the Conservatives had increased so much in strength as to induce Mr. A. M. Lockhart again to contest the seat with Mr. Maxwell. The struggle was one of the most severe which ever took place in Scotland, the result being a victory for the Conservatives by a majority of one. Among Mr. Lockhart's supporters was a gentleman who at the time of the election happened to be on a tour in Switzerland, but who, hurrying back to record his vote, was just able to reach the polling booth in time. Had he failed in obeying the call of duty the result would have been to lose Mr. Lockhart the seat, for the votes for the two candidates would have been equal, and the returning officer, being a Liberal, would have decided in favour of Mr. Maxwell. Now, let us mark the sequel. In June, 1841, in the same Parliament, there was moved a vote of want of confidence in Lord Melbourne, which was carried, after the severest whipping ever known on both sides, by a majority of one—this majority including among the entire strength of the Conservative party, of whom not one was absent from the division, the member for Lanarkshire, Mr. Lockhart Had he been absent, or had he lost his seat in 1837, Lord Melbourne would have gained a victory, and the Whigs would have enjoyed a further lease of power, for the then Speaker, Mr. Shaw Lefevre, was a Liberal, and would have voted with his party against the motion. Thus we perceive how important to his party was the single vote which the Lanarkshire elector came all the way from Switzerland to record. Probably, had he consulted his own convenience in preference to the dictates of duty, the whole course of our parliamentary history would have been altered. This one vote, in fact, may have contributed to restore the Conservatives to power, and to secure for Conservative principles and the Conservative party all the Prestige and the advantages which that term includes.