THE LIBERAL PSALM OF LIFE.
Tell us not in mournful numbers
Liberal union is a dream:
Bright is cranky, Bob Lowe slumbers;
Yet things are not what they seem.
Opposition must be earnest,
Or we shall not win the goal;
If for Gladstone still thou yearnest,
Thou art a weak-minded soul.
Ministerial slips to follow
Is our destined end and way,
So that we may throw each morrow
Stumbling blocks in Dizzy's way.
Dizzy's strong, but fame is fleeting;
Conservatism, now so brave,
In the Bills which we are greeting,
Yet may find an early grave.
Trust no Forster, howe'er pleasant,
Let past premiers bury their dead;
Act with Hartington at present,
Nor the coming session dread.
Hansard's pages all remind us
We have but to bide our time;
Dizzy some fine day may find us
In majority sublime.
Gladstone's gone, but till another,
Like him takes the helm again,
Let us help our leader, brother,
Hartington with might and main.
Let us then be up and doing,
Meeting Dizzy in debate,
Tory tactics still pursuing,
Find a policy—and wait!
From Funny Folks, February 27, 1875, when the Conservative party, led by Mr. Disraeli, was in power, and the Liberal Opposition was led by Lord Hartington.