The Press.
London, England, 1855-03-17 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

MARCH 17, 1855.

LULLABY.
BY THE NURSE OF JOHN RUSSELL, JUN&

It had become a matter of fact that after the Noble Lord hadbeen absent a fortnight prepara-
tions were made for the removal to Vienna of the whole of his family and establishment. including
some very young children, some of then so young that I anderstasti they are to travel so leisurely
that they will occupy seven days iw the journey. It would appear from this that the Noble Lord.
contemplates a lengthened stay at Vienna--Speech of the Earl y Derby (Times, March IV, 18410).

Baby, my dear, we're not going to be hurried,
We'll stop at each stage for our milk and our bun ;
Baby's Papa won't have baby flurried
For all the old colonies under the sun.

If the naughty things riot and breed revolutions,
Baby shall quietly have out its nap ;
While they look after Pa with their new Constitutions,
Baby, dear Baby, shall mumble its pap.

Sweet pretty Poppet, their letters in batches
We'll drop in the Danube, the Rhine, or the Po ;
Their great thick memorials and heavy despatches
We'll make into dollies to dance as we go.

What matter their wants and impertinent bustle

If wind on its stomach should trouble its state—
If its gums should be teazing the little pet Russell
Who, thanks to " Lord William," was born to be great.
When he grows, if the measles don't spoil his condition,
As big as Papa, the dear Cockatoo,
He'll have such nice playthings, a nice pretty mission,
And lots of nice babies to go with him too.

So, baby, my darling, we're not to be hurried, •
We'll stop at each stage for our milk and our bun ;
Baby's Papa won't have Baby "worried "*
For all the old colonies under the sun.

• A Padiamantary expression of Baby's Paps.

THE " LEADING" JOURNAL

257

going to submit to be impleaded in any Court whatsoever, whatever its
judgment may be ordered to be? But that is quite of a piece with
the impudence of enacting the defaming us " a misdemeanour," when
it chances at this moment to be high treason. Such provisions, we
repeat, can only be meant for insult, and w•e will undertake the go-
vornment of Great Britain on no such terms.

Where, we should like to know, are the provisions for the govern-
ment of India, and in whose hands can that Government be placed so
efficiently as in our own? What is provided as to Education ! What
education, we should like to know, can equal that obtained in our own
columns? Yet, though this proposed bill contains in its title an
allusion to " liberty of the press," there is not a word in the whole of
it providing for the suppression of mischievous publications, such as
M.'Culloch's " Dictionary," or Alison's " History," or Black's " Atlas,"
which are perpetually running counter to our views, commercial, his.
torical, and geographical. Finally, it is not for ourselves that we put
aside this Crown, like Caesar at the Lupercal. It is in the interest of
the people who, we know, will " shout again." It is clear, that Dic-
tator we must be; and if that is not done, absolutely and uncondi-
tionally, by one short act of a single section, why we must resort to a
coup de plume. The consequences be on the heads of those who com-
pel us.

OUR FAST-DAY.
Ay, proclaim a day of fasting and of penance, ye aro right ;
Strew your heads with dust symbolic, on your breasts remorseful

smite ;
For evil deeds that ye have wrought, for good yo've left undone,
Cry out in tearful anguish, "'tis our sin and ours alone."
But in your peevish insolence beware the godless creed
That would impute to Heaven the fruits of which ye sow'd the seed ;
And while ye bid the people that they aid you in your pray'rs,
Own 'tis for pardon of the faults that wore your own—not theirs.

Ay, fast and pray that your neglect of those true hearts and brave
Who've pass'd from their long bitter fast to the cold Tartar grave
May yet be blotted out by the remorseful tears ye shed,
And by the tender sorrowing with which we weep the dead,
And by the angeid nation's vow, which may not be withstood,
That inquest stern shall still be made for all that guiltless blood,
And by the pious chivalry of those who still remain
To do and die as manfully on that bleak Tartar plain.

Fast, Premier, from disloyal acts, and from the scoffing sneers,
And jaunty tone of levity, which ill b esoom thy years ,
Fast, Russell, from indulgence in thy petulance and spleen,
And true-bred Whiggish haughtiness—ever loss proud than mean ;
Fast, Carlisle, from thy coxcomb smiles and philanthropic airs,
Through which thy pulseless apathy will peep out unawares ;
Such is the fast it well behoves our Ministers to make
For their errors and their follies and our lessened honour's sake.

MINISTERIAL PENANCE.

IT is with lugubrions pleasure we inform our readers that upon
Wednesday next the members of her Majesty's Government will
proceed in single file from Downing-street to the Penitentiary, there
to make full confession of their incompetency and shortcomings.
At nine o'clock precisely this melancholy cortege will leave the
Treasury-offices, headed by the
Viscount PALMERSTON, clad in sackcloth, with ashes on his head,
his eyebrows shaved, and his countenance, usually so cheerful, toned
down to an aspect befitting the sad occasion ; followed by
The Duke of NEWCASTLE (specially permitted to join), clad in
a Regulation blanket, and with green coffee-berries in his boots.
Lord PANMURE, in light summer clothing, a birch-broom in one
hand, a box of gout and rheumatic pills in the other, and a tight pair
of ammunition hoots upon his feet.
Lord GRANVILLE, with a flannel cartridge under each arm, a few
Minch shells round his waist (part of the incredible quantity of
ammunition which was not sent out to the Crimea), and a sponge and
rammer across his shoulders.
Mr. FREDERICK PEEL, with his hair brushed the wrong way,
clad in the Regulation drawers and flannel waistcoat only, a coil of
red tape in each hand, with pens, ink, and paper attached.
Sir CHARLES WOOD, in blue frock and trousers, his hair cut
close, a quid in each cheek, and a couple of dead-eyes slung round his
neck, carrying a fid of grease and a inarlinspike in one hand, a
squeejee and a holystone in the other, and his boots full of salt water.
Sir GEORGE GREY, with his facs tattooed and head ornamented
with the feathers of a New Zealand chief, carrying the unsold copies
of " Polynesian Mythology."
Sir WILLIAM MOLESWORTII, in shirt-sleeves, paper cap, and apron,
with a small bag containing hammer and tacks, and a bottle of French
polish (as he appeared upon a recent occasion at Hampton Court), and
driving a furniture van, will bring up the rear.
It is earnestly hoped that the populace will remain in doors
during the time of the procession (from nine till haffpast ten a.m.),
and leave the metropolis silent and deserted to the penitential pro
cession.