DOI issue:
January to June, 1846
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.16542#0084
76
PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI.
THE NEW JOHN GILPIN.
showing how peel went further than he intended, and came
safe home again.
iR Robert was a Minister
Of credit and renown ;
Arid eke, by virtue of his place,
Adviser to the Crown.
Now Richard Cobden said to him,
" Protected Corn has been
Thro' thrice ten tedious years, since eight-
Teen hundred and fifteen.
Away went Robert, with the League
Still thundering at his heel,
Insisting loud in total and
Immediate repeal.
The county members in the House,
Thus seeing Robert fly,
With Lord John Russell in his rear,
Set up a hue and cry :
" Stop thief ! Stop thief ! a highway man :;
Not one of them was mute,
And Ben D'Israeli and Colquhoun
Did join in the pursuit.
In the "Protection" heavy coach,
The Upper House gave chase
'< Yet landlords and eke tenants say But Free Trade's bottom, bone, and wind,
Of profits they despair ; Made it a hopeless race.
Despite Protection, growing corn
Is a losing affair.
" There's Mr. Bright, and there's myself,
And Mr. Fox—make three ;
We've raised a League, and you must ride
(As Ben says) after we."
Said Peel, " Your doctrines I admire,
But I am only one ;
Still, if the Duke will stick to me,
I '11 try what can be done.
I am a Premier stout and bold,
As all my party know ;
And my good friends in Manchester
Will lend their horse to go."
Now see him in his new Tariff,
On Free Trade—noble steed !
Full slowly taking duties off,
With caution and good heed.
Then came the blight, and fears arose
We'd not have food to eat,
Free Trade, from walking, 'gan to trot,
Which shook Peel in his seat.
" Fairly and softly," Peel he cried,
But Peel he cried in vain ;
The trot became a gallop soon,
And Free Trade flew amain.
Then giving up, as needs he must
Who cannot help his plight.
Peel seized Free Trade, and like a shot
Flew past Protection quite.
Free Trade, who by a Tory lord
Had ne'er been cross'd before,
What thing upon his back had got
Did wonder more and more.
Away went Robert ! Who but he ?
Free Trade still gaining ground,
He carries weight—he '11 win his race,
Still, as Division-day drew near
'Twas wonderful to view
Mow overboard the men in place
Their old convictions threw.
Thro' manufactures of all kinds
His gambols he did play,
And came to Corn Laws at the last,
Which stood dead in the way.
The sliding-scale he knock'd about
Unto his friends' dismay,
And fix'd how that at three years' end
The tax should die away.
Free Trade, not satisfied at all
To wait for three years more,
Straight gallopp'd off with all his might,
As he had done before.
Away went Robert—neck or nought
Past Radical and Whig ;
He little thought when he began -j. j?or a trjfle
His bill would be so big.
The Post did bark, the Herald scream'd,
Out spoke the farmers all,
And every Duke cried out " For shame ! "
As loud as he could bawl.
The race is run, the race is won
With credit and renown ;
Nor did Free Trade draw breath until
The Corn Laws he ran down.
Now let us sing Long live the League,
And Cobden, long live he ;
And when Peel next doth ride Free Tiade,
May Punch his Laureat be.
THE BAD ENGLISH PARLIAMENT.
The English Parliament, we believe, is supposed to express itself in the
English language. In the opinion, however, of a competent judge, this
supposition is questionable ; for Judge Alderson, the other day, in the
Court of Exchequer, on the trial of the case Young v. Smith, re-
marked, respecting the 26th section of 7 & 8, Victoria, c. 110,—the Joint
Stock Companies Act,—
" That Clause is generally the most unintelligible in the whole Act; and is not unlike
some interpreters, who speak such bad English as to puzzle one more than the language
of the party interpreted."
Both the Lords and Commons have standing rules ; but these do not
seem to include the rules of Syntax. We propose that these rules should
be inscribed, by way of legends, on the walls of the interior of the new
Houses of Parliament, where, handsomely emblazoned in old English cha-
racters, they would form very appropriate decorations. As, for instance,
" Ye Nominative Case governs ye verb, and replies to ye Question Who ?
or What ? with Ye Verb," " Conjunctions, copulative and disjunctive, con-
nect similar Moods, Cases, and Tenses ;" or, " Ye Relative agrees with ye
Antecedent in Gender, Number, and Person."
When Parliament turns over a new leaf in the Statute Book, which we
hope, on more accounts than one, that it will do when it gets into its new
house0, let us trust that the sentences committed to the fresh page will
accord with the above-mentioned axioms. Adam Smith is a parliamentary
authority ; why not Lindley Murray ? To the list of officers of the
Lords and Commons, it would really be desirable to add a grammarian, to
be entitled Professor of Plain English. His duty should consist in putting
their enactments into an intelligible form ; and furely, so many charity
boys as there are in the kingdom, there are plenty who would undertake
A Great Idea.
His horse's wind is sound. ever had a greater idea-oi himself.
It will be recollected that Mr. B. D'Israeli said that Sir Robert Peel
was not a fit Premier, because he had not a " great idea." In the event
of a resignation, Her Majesty has determined to offer the Premiership
to Mr. D'Israeli, as being, by his own definition, the beau ideal of a
great statesman : for it is evident that no man, in the course of history,
the stag's retreat.
The French of Boulogne, not understanding the meaning of the word
" stag," have nicknamed the aldermen who have run over to their town
for refuge, " Cerfs-volants" This translation is not so bad, especially
as the flight of the aldermen was probably hastened by the very process
of kite-flying. _
more plague than prophet.
One of our morning contemporaries had an article on Friday, headed
" A Voice from the Potteries," and bearing the signature of Crockery.
We presume the writer wishes to pass himself off as the original Delphic
Oracle. _
Proper Resentment.—No wonder the subscription for the Nelson
column has never succeeded ! What Englishman would like to see
his name connected in auy toing with that of the despot Nicholas J
PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI.
THE NEW JOHN GILPIN.
showing how peel went further than he intended, and came
safe home again.
iR Robert was a Minister
Of credit and renown ;
Arid eke, by virtue of his place,
Adviser to the Crown.
Now Richard Cobden said to him,
" Protected Corn has been
Thro' thrice ten tedious years, since eight-
Teen hundred and fifteen.
Away went Robert, with the League
Still thundering at his heel,
Insisting loud in total and
Immediate repeal.
The county members in the House,
Thus seeing Robert fly,
With Lord John Russell in his rear,
Set up a hue and cry :
" Stop thief ! Stop thief ! a highway man :;
Not one of them was mute,
And Ben D'Israeli and Colquhoun
Did join in the pursuit.
In the "Protection" heavy coach,
The Upper House gave chase
'< Yet landlords and eke tenants say But Free Trade's bottom, bone, and wind,
Of profits they despair ; Made it a hopeless race.
Despite Protection, growing corn
Is a losing affair.
" There's Mr. Bright, and there's myself,
And Mr. Fox—make three ;
We've raised a League, and you must ride
(As Ben says) after we."
Said Peel, " Your doctrines I admire,
But I am only one ;
Still, if the Duke will stick to me,
I '11 try what can be done.
I am a Premier stout and bold,
As all my party know ;
And my good friends in Manchester
Will lend their horse to go."
Now see him in his new Tariff,
On Free Trade—noble steed !
Full slowly taking duties off,
With caution and good heed.
Then came the blight, and fears arose
We'd not have food to eat,
Free Trade, from walking, 'gan to trot,
Which shook Peel in his seat.
" Fairly and softly," Peel he cried,
But Peel he cried in vain ;
The trot became a gallop soon,
And Free Trade flew amain.
Then giving up, as needs he must
Who cannot help his plight.
Peel seized Free Trade, and like a shot
Flew past Protection quite.
Free Trade, who by a Tory lord
Had ne'er been cross'd before,
What thing upon his back had got
Did wonder more and more.
Away went Robert ! Who but he ?
Free Trade still gaining ground,
He carries weight—he '11 win his race,
Still, as Division-day drew near
'Twas wonderful to view
Mow overboard the men in place
Their old convictions threw.
Thro' manufactures of all kinds
His gambols he did play,
And came to Corn Laws at the last,
Which stood dead in the way.
The sliding-scale he knock'd about
Unto his friends' dismay,
And fix'd how that at three years' end
The tax should die away.
Free Trade, not satisfied at all
To wait for three years more,
Straight gallopp'd off with all his might,
As he had done before.
Away went Robert—neck or nought
Past Radical and Whig ;
He little thought when he began -j. j?or a trjfle
His bill would be so big.
The Post did bark, the Herald scream'd,
Out spoke the farmers all,
And every Duke cried out " For shame ! "
As loud as he could bawl.
The race is run, the race is won
With credit and renown ;
Nor did Free Trade draw breath until
The Corn Laws he ran down.
Now let us sing Long live the League,
And Cobden, long live he ;
And when Peel next doth ride Free Tiade,
May Punch his Laureat be.
THE BAD ENGLISH PARLIAMENT.
The English Parliament, we believe, is supposed to express itself in the
English language. In the opinion, however, of a competent judge, this
supposition is questionable ; for Judge Alderson, the other day, in the
Court of Exchequer, on the trial of the case Young v. Smith, re-
marked, respecting the 26th section of 7 & 8, Victoria, c. 110,—the Joint
Stock Companies Act,—
" That Clause is generally the most unintelligible in the whole Act; and is not unlike
some interpreters, who speak such bad English as to puzzle one more than the language
of the party interpreted."
Both the Lords and Commons have standing rules ; but these do not
seem to include the rules of Syntax. We propose that these rules should
be inscribed, by way of legends, on the walls of the interior of the new
Houses of Parliament, where, handsomely emblazoned in old English cha-
racters, they would form very appropriate decorations. As, for instance,
" Ye Nominative Case governs ye verb, and replies to ye Question Who ?
or What ? with Ye Verb," " Conjunctions, copulative and disjunctive, con-
nect similar Moods, Cases, and Tenses ;" or, " Ye Relative agrees with ye
Antecedent in Gender, Number, and Person."
When Parliament turns over a new leaf in the Statute Book, which we
hope, on more accounts than one, that it will do when it gets into its new
house0, let us trust that the sentences committed to the fresh page will
accord with the above-mentioned axioms. Adam Smith is a parliamentary
authority ; why not Lindley Murray ? To the list of officers of the
Lords and Commons, it would really be desirable to add a grammarian, to
be entitled Professor of Plain English. His duty should consist in putting
their enactments into an intelligible form ; and furely, so many charity
boys as there are in the kingdom, there are plenty who would undertake
A Great Idea.
His horse's wind is sound. ever had a greater idea-oi himself.
It will be recollected that Mr. B. D'Israeli said that Sir Robert Peel
was not a fit Premier, because he had not a " great idea." In the event
of a resignation, Her Majesty has determined to offer the Premiership
to Mr. D'Israeli, as being, by his own definition, the beau ideal of a
great statesman : for it is evident that no man, in the course of history,
the stag's retreat.
The French of Boulogne, not understanding the meaning of the word
" stag," have nicknamed the aldermen who have run over to their town
for refuge, " Cerfs-volants" This translation is not so bad, especially
as the flight of the aldermen was probably hastened by the very process
of kite-flying. _
more plague than prophet.
One of our morning contemporaries had an article on Friday, headed
" A Voice from the Potteries," and bearing the signature of Crockery.
We presume the writer wishes to pass himself off as the original Delphic
Oracle. _
Proper Resentment.—No wonder the subscription for the Nelson
column has never succeeded ! What Englishman would like to see
his name connected in auy toing with that of the despot Nicholas J