THE PREMIER TO MRS. GLADSTONE.
You must wake me in the morning, rouse me early, wifey, dear;
To-morrow'll be a ticklish time at Westminster, I hear;
At Westminster, the Franchise Bill will glide upon its way,
And I shall have something to say, deary, I shall have something to say.
There's many a black-legged Tory who would frustrate our design—
There's Northcote and there's Goschen, who was once a friend of mine;
But none, I think, will stand their ground if I can get fair play,
For they know it is true what I say, deary, they know it is true what I say.
I sleep so light of late, wifey, that bedtime comes in vain,
They've bored me so with Gordon that I've Egypt on the brain:
Yet I'll regain these wasted hours—this loss of time won't pay—
And show that I mean what I say, deary, show that I mean what I say.
* * * * *
JESSIE H. WHEELER.
The Weekly Dispatch, May 4, 1884.