Punch: Punch (101.1891)

December 12, 1891.] PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI.

279

KUSTICUS EXPECTANS;

Or, the New Dumbledumdeary.

" Rusticus expectat, dura defluat amnis ; at ille
Labitur, et labetur in onuie volubilis aevum."

Horace.

Aik—" Dumbledumdeary."

In the fall of the year, when M.P.'s were
about,

And speeches burst forth like a waterspout,
Hodge took up his bundle, and caught up his
staff, [laugh!—

And went for a walk—if you please, don't
Singing dumbledumdeary, dumble-
dumdeary,
Dumble, dumble, dumbledumdee!

Oh, Hodge had put on his bettermost smock,
And wore his billycock gaily a-cock ;
For Hodge nowadays is a person of note,
And great Governments bow to the "bind,"—
with a vote.

Singing dumbledumdeary, &c.

So he strolled on
wi'out dread or
fear

Of Squoire or Par-
son, or County
Peer,

For the spouting

M.P. and the

Liberal Yan
Had made of the

And if you '11 consent just to vote for us now,
We '11 put a new tune to your old ' Speed
the Plough! "'

Singing dumbledumdeary, &c.

Then Hodge, slightly puzzled, beheld (in his
dream)

A legion of faces that flowed with the stream.
There's two Williams, and Joet, and
Jesse ! " he cried, [tide,—"

Solly, Balfy, and Jokim talk, too, from the

was welcome in any Parliamentary circle,
from " Gosset's Room" to the floor of the
House, which he sometimes "took" to de-
liver a witty speech in support of a Motion
for adjourning over the Derby. He was only
in his fortieth year, married scarce a fort-
night, when comes the blind Fury with tbe
abhorred shears and slits the thin-spun
thread. " Ltcidas is dead!"; but he will
long be remembered as shedding through
seventeen Years a genial light on Irish poli-
Smgmg dumbledumdeary, &e. , ticS) too 0ften 0bSCured by aggressive vul-

" Thev 're making a vast sight o' noise, and | &arity, and the sacrifice of patriotic interests

I fear,

Whilst they all shout together, their mean-
ing's, scarce clear. [I '11 sit
They all drift one way, though, out yonder !
And wait till the shindying slackens a bit."
Singing dumbledumdeary, &c.

So Hodge, like old Horace's Rustic, still
waits [abates;

to the ends of personal vanity.

OXLY FANCY

We are in a position to state that over-
tures were' recently made to a well-known
and popular member of the aristocracy in
connection with a certain high office lately
Till the waters flow by, or their turmoil vacated. It is felt that a gentleman with the

varied experience
and capacity in-
dicated by the
circumstance (to
which we may
allude as not
involving breach
of confidence), that
his name was suc-
cessively mention-

shock-headed /■ wfflBj v>- "^^W^-^wHh '"^pH^ji/', ed in connection

joskin a Man! ^I'JwjaKwf \ jBttSf^Tli\& %n >''^'W^'S^S^^^. with the offices,

Singing dura- wtftMm '\ jffflWP^' ^Imffi > .a*^ / M^L^^T^t. recently vacant,

bledumdeary,
&c.

With promises
stuffed, and with
hope inspired,

Hodge walked,
and walked till
he felt quite tired;

So he sat himself
down on the bank
of a stream,

And, falling
asleep, dreamed
a wonderful
dream.
Singing dum-
bledumdeary,
&c.

The old, old stream
was no longer the
brook

Where he'd angled for minnows with wum And then hopes to reach "Happy Home"

and hook ; o'er that stream.

It swelled and swirled, and its rippling voice Let ms hope that he mayn't find it only a

Was changed to loud echoes of platform noise, j dream!

Singing dumbledumdeary, &c. Singing dumbledumdeary, dumble-

And it seemed to address him, " How long, Durable^ durable, dumbledumdee !

friend Hodge, '_'_

In a smock will you slave, in a pig-stye lodge ?

The Town revolts, but the landlord crew
Still rule the rustics. What can you do ? "
Singing dumbledumdeary, &c.

" Oh, I can reap, and I can sow;
And I can plough, and I can mow ;
And, as Lord Rlpon doth treuly say,
I can yarn my eighteen-uence a day .' "
Singing dumbledumdeary, &c.

" Oh, that," cried the Yoices, " will never do!

Hodge now must have freedom, and comfort ~* ^^l-maimereu, raerry-nearuju man
t ' , wfiom a strange destiny had not only dragged

of Postmaster-
General, Under-
Secretary of State
for Foreign Affairs,
and Leader of the
House of Com-
mons, is peculiarly
well qualified for
the post.

The Prime
Minister has, we
learn, been much
gratified by the
receipt of a letter
volunteered by one
of his colleagues,
expressing gener-
ous satisfaction at
his selection of Mr.
Arthur Balfour
to the Leadership
of the House of Commons. It was the more
pleasing as the name of Lord Salisbury's
correspondent had, in Conservative circles,
been prominently mentioned in connection
with the office. "It is true," the Abounding
Baron wrote, "that the public with unerring
instinct has looked in another direction. I
should therefore like to be the first to say that
your Lordship has done well in recognising
LICK I 0 \\ LL. i^e services to the Unionist cause performed

When the House of Commons meets in by Mr. Balfour. Of course there may be other
February, it will find many vacant places, j openings, and in case your Lordship has occa-
Save, perhaps, on that sacred to the memory sion to communicate with me, it may be con-
of Old Morality, none will draw towards I venient to mention that, having come to town

THE TRIALS OF AN ANXIOUS " JUNIOR."

Promtting a Deaf and Testy "Chief" in open Court is not his Idea of Perfect Bliss.

it such sorrowful glances as the bench below
the Gangway, where, last Session, Dice
Power's smiling face was found. Everyone
in the House knew " Dick," and ail liked him
a modest-mannered, merry-hearted man.

And Yillage Councils, Allotments, and Larks! j^M*^ T^but'/\™£ °f ffi • l &T~
Though the Landlords take fright for their ^ellite Party, had made him the official re-
ATnnnrs and Pari™ » presentative of a body for the most part

Manors and Parks,"

Singing dumbledumdeary, &c.

" No more must he live like a pig in a stye,
Or we (Tory Codlir, Had Short) will know
why.

socially unknown, and disliked with a fervour
happily not often imported into Parliamentary
warfare. Dick Power, whilst never swerving
by a hair's breadth from loyalty to bis col-
leagues and his leader, so bore himself that he | conceived scheme has progressed.

this morning and transacted business at my
office in Bouverie Street, I am about to return
to my countryresidence at Stow-in-the-Wold."

It is announced that Lord Salisbury's new
house at Beaulieu is to be let furnished for
the winter months, the Premier not intending
to return till the Spring. We understand
that one of Mr. Gladstone's friends and
admirers is in treaty for the residence,
intending to place it for a few weeks at the
disposal of the Leader of the Opposition. We
have not yet heard how far this happily-