When many a bottle’s floor’d,
And gormandizing aldermen
Gloat o’er the groaning board,
Between the punch and turtle,
The tale they still shall tell:
How Lawrence jockey’d Besley—
How Gladstone managed well.
The Period. 1869.
The new Blackfriars Bridge was opened by the Queen on November 6, 1869, during the mayoralty of Alderman James C. Lawrence, who wished to be twice Lord Mayor of London, but he was beaten by Mr. Robert Besley.