And slope—ere it’s too late!
Funny Folks, May 9, 1885.
[This poem is founded upon two erroneous assumptions, namely that the explosion at the Admiralty was caused by dynamite, and that it was of Fenian origin. Colonel Majendie has expressed his confident opinion that the explosion was caused by the firing of about 12-lbs. of gunpowder enclosed in a metal pot; and the personal unpopularity of the unfortunate Mr. Swainson is considered a far more likely cause for the outrage, than any political motive.]
——:o:——
The eight following parodies of The Fleet, were published in The Weekly Dispatch Prize Competition of May 10th, 1885, the First Prize of Two Guineas was awarded to Mrs. Emily Lawrence, for the following:—
Whew! whew! if you are hailed the master-hand—
The Laureate of England over all—
On you will come the laugh of all the land
If you to bathos fall,
Who erst did things so great.