The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-06-28 00:00:00

LAYS OF THE LIVERPOOL ELECTION.

sighs load the air of Liverpool. The Peti-
tioning interest is in a dolorous and disagreeable mood.
The camp is agitated and divided against itself. Its
mirth is now mourning. The boastful mouth is silent.
The braggart has retreated in bashfulness ; loudly-told
hopes are sunk into despair.
Why is this ? ye Liverpool Liberals ? Is it thus ye
mark a glorious victory ? "Eh ! a victory did ye say,
my good friends ; let us see what we have gained. The
privilege of paying £12,000 ; of seeing the Freemen retain
their privileges untouched, our party afraid even to bring
forward a candidate, the Conservative side more energetic
and compact than ever ; and of seeing ourselves laughed
at and lampooned everywhere, even by our friends. Is
this not the sum of our woful gain, my Petitioning Friend,
who blandly asketh me for my subscription to this cause of
purity ? Go ; I have lost enough, without paying for thy
absurdity."
The poor Liberal We pity
.him heartily. And yet
are we not to have our laugh with our Rhymers in their
castigation of that wretched farce, the result of which has
brought Liverpool to the eve of a new election ? The
poets are ever foremost in the righting of wrongs, and in
the reprehension of wickedness. And so, on the present
occasion, we find that, while a stupid proser or two have
appeared on the other side, the true minstrels who attune
their harps on such occasions are up and singing for the
right; and the banks of the Mersey are rife with lays,
many of them exciting the genial laughter and sympathy
of the crowd.

" Liberal"

Thanks, say we, and all encouragement to the rhymers.
They have marked the cause of the poor Postmen, whom
lying slanders assailed, from the lips of lawyers in London
and the servile pens of local scribes—whom it was en-
deavoured to deprive of their daily bread, and who were
brahTed as the probable recipients of infamy and trans-
portation ! And, again, thanks to the rhymers, say we,
for their attachment to the ancient and time-honoured
rights of our Freemen, an attachment which indicates the
possession of a healthy feeling, far removed from the
heart of the selfish utilitarian, who would destroy every
landmark of the past, and wrench from its rightful pos.
sessor every ancient privilege. Claiming precedent at our
hands is the subjoined spirited narrative, after the style
of Ingoldsby

THE LIVERPOOL ELECTION INQUIRY.
The King of the regions below held a court,
Just under this jolly old Town and Port,
In July—Fifty-two ;
And he told all his princes assembled round,
That if some clever imp could only be found,
He'd a job for him to do :
His Majesty then went on to relate
More than was telegraphed on the " slate,"
For he knew exactly the desperate state
Of the so-called Liberal set ;
That they sorely winced under their defeat,
Chiefly that CARDWELL had lost his seat—
Their most especial pet.
"Whoever shall undertake the mission,
Must be prepared to put the dish on"
(His Majesty meant the pot) ;
He then looked round for Beelzebub,
Who sat near the door, on a resin tub,
For the room was deuced hot :
" Go, Bub, and undertake this case,
You've got a sanctimonious face ;
Do all you can to spread dissension,
But talk meanwhile of ' pure intention ;'
Hunt up a batch of 'jolly bricks,'
And make them drunk to learn their tricks.
The witness-box you'll fill with these—
When drunk, they'll lie just as you please ;
Slander—abuse—defame,—and bribe,
But do it all on virtue's side."

Away—away
Ts Beelzebub ;
He cannot stay
To eat his grub !
An express awaits him at the door,
He is in—and at Clayton-square by FOUR ;
Invisible all—
He entered the room, and diffused his gall,
And BILLY took his in the shape of a " Ball ;"

Then grew very funny,
Talk'd of " Carlton" and " Money"—
That full " Thirty Thousand" had brib'd half the town;
With his weather eye open, he had noted it down ;
He'd file a Petition—he'd have an inquiry ;
And BILLY the peaceful—was BILLY the fiery.
"Who'll ring the bell ?"
Why—who, indeed ?
" We, RATHBONE and RONALD,
We'll do the deed."
Beelzebub left when this was arranged,
For he saw all the Liberals here were deranged.
" To love Bible truth,
Yet support our 3laynooth,"
Quoth he, " I am losing my time here forsooth ;
I'll return thro' Kilkenny, and call upon CAHILL—
There are not many like him and Dr. :ll` HALE !

The Petition sped on,

The witnesses came,
The Committee sat down
To examine the same.

But there never was anything turned out so tame.

Some men lost a clay
By going to vote,

And were pa

qid for their time,

As ever

man ought

'ere working for naught !

&;ject of " bands

Such a Jerem
May put up b

7 Diddle
.s Fiddle—

He'll never be waned while Liverpool stands

youth,
a a friend to Maynooth,

A very nice
Thoug

Said the Liberals wanted to compromise,
That if MAC would but go,
They would turn away JOE,
And TURNER and CARDWELL they'd equally prize

Oh, ye who are " Liberals " only in name !
Your Petition has clad you in " garments of shame ;"
You have won—but you lose the regard of the just—
You have won—but you have to come down with " the
dust "

You have won—but you'll lose the Election again,
For we must and we will have Conservative men. Z

Quite in a different style is No. 2, which is appro-
priately entitled—

A DOLOROUS DUET,

AS SING BY THE CO-PETITIONERS

RATHBONE.

Oh ! 'tis the rosy month of June,
_ The sun shines bright on Mersey's shore ;

But ah ! I'm sadly out of tune,
Because we've not a copper more !
I leaned my back upon an oak,
I thought it was a trusty tree,
But first it bow'd, and then it broke;
And, faith, it did come down on me.
Oh! yes, it did come down on we.

RONALD,

BOTH

RONALD

Oh ! when 'twas young, that lovely case—
Which, BILLY, owed its birth to you,
I did in it my whole trust place ;
But ah ! RATHBONE, you proved untrue.
Thy servile gossips in the town
Its lovely horrors said they knew,
But when we got to London town,
Those horrors melted like the dew.
And, faith, it's fairly dried me too !
Whole twenty-five !* Oh, what a-do !

RATHBONE
RONALD.

RATHBONE.

Oh, RONALD dear, I'm ill at ease—
The thousands that we've yet to get ;
I'll fly to the antipodes,
Or boldly brave the grim Gazette.
Oh, wherefore should I mind my toilet,
Oh, why so nicely oil my locks ?
Fame, fortune. friends are all away—
My friends could dip me in the docks.
Mind, BILL, you put them in a box !
Oh, RONALD, spare those shabby knocks.
(A pause.)

RONALD,

RATIEBONE.

The midnight road is now my bed;
The sheets shall ne'er be pressed by me ;
I'll never rest my aching head,
Since all I sought has fled from me !
Oh ! winter wind, when shalt thou blow,
And shake the ships upon the sea ;
Oh I gentle Death, thou kindest foe,
Oh, take young BILL of Wavertree !
RONALD. But no more tin you'll take from me.
RATUDONE. Alas ! that friends should disagree.
* This petitioner subscribed 425 towards the inquiry.

RATHBONE.

Our next specimen is sent from the classic locale of
Everton Brow; and in that part of the town the song, in
MSS., is said to have become quite popular. It is called—

A NICE YOUNG ENGLISH GENTLEMAN,
Tune.—" THE OLD COUNTRY GENTLEMAN."

The song I'll sing its lately made, and tells of latter days,
Of a nice young English gentleman, his dad, and their queer

ways,
Which never have been chronicled in older minstrels' lays,
And which expose a Quaker's son, and his funny little tralls.
He's a nice young English gentleman, all of the modern time,
_

Old Liverpool, it was BI LL's home, and on the Mersey's shore
His dad had dwelt full many a year—for he was known of yore;
1" Apostate, oh 1" the Quaker howled ; " Old BILL, do ye
mind the time,"
The people bawled,
Gascoigne,
You fine old English gentleman, all of the olden time ?"

"when you behaved so bad to General

Old BILL he was a Liberal, and modelled on the plan
Ot doing right unto himself, if to no other man ;
And so when'er his party won, by money, drink, or force,
He cheered and croaked, and cried " Hurra !" till he was
nearly hoarse,
This just old Quaker gentleman, all of the olden time.

But a change came o'er his spirit when, in luckless '52,
His favourites were left behind, and lost by four to two ;
lie swore an oath, conceived a plan within his brain, and then
lie called young BILL, the charge gave out—young BILL he
said "Amen l"

This fine young English gentleman, all of the modern time

"Straight off you'll go to London, BILL, take RONALD with
you, too,
See your dear brother, P-7, and give him the case to do ;
Some knaves who like their beer first find, and make them all

topheavy,
Note down their fibs, and then per train transport the entire

bevy,
You rare young English gentleman, all of the modern time,

"By hook or crook, I will confound the Freemen of this town,
The rabble rude, the villains vile, who dare on me to frown ;
That north-country loon, 31---e, and C- T--, they
must go, _ -

If truth won't do it,then, dear son, fibs will, my son, you know,
For you're a smart young English
gentleman, and worthy of
your line."
_

's stuff'd, young BILL is there, but he looks

Old KINGLAKE
rather blue,
For poor deceived RONALD, in a buff, bas ta'en the rue ;
Bat for full twenty days young BILL he shows his pretty face,
And, with arts unbounded, tries to bolster up the horrid Case.
This patriotic gentleman, all of the modern time.