WHAT THE COMMONS SAY.

WHAT say the Commons? Let them speak again
As they were wont to speak in days of old,
And show themselves true children of the men
By whom the pride of princes was controlled;
For now, in this last century, we need

Strong men, by whom the barons shall be told That they themselves have found their Runnymede, And front a people resolute and bold.

Aye, they have broken silence, and we hear
The clarion notes of men who dare to speak
Outspoken speeches, resonant and clear,

That cry for justice to the poor and weak:
"No more your lordships in your titled might,
The fools of faction and a cunning clique,
Shall e'er defraud the Commons of the right
To claim the justice which the people seek.

"We plead for justice, and we ask no more,

Here in our hands we hold the people's trust, Nor dream that now, as in the days of yore Your feet shall trample freedom in the dust. 'Twere best to give at once what now we claim, And prove your lordships can be calm and just; We would not put your ancient House to shame, But you shall hear us, and obey you must.

"Not for ourselves we plead, but for the men

Whose fathers built our empire stone by stone, And who would fight our battles if again

The thrilling bugle of the foe were blown; They are not worthy? Dare ye tell them so?

Do they not love the land that is their own? No traitors they, your lordships, for you know Their loyal rev'rence for our ancient throne.

"You will not yield? O, ye are nobly born!

We know of old the pride of your disdain; Wrapt in your purple, you were wont to scorn The limbs of labour and the toiling brain; The past was yours, the future shall be ours; Gone is the glory of your feudal reign, For now a freer people know their pow'rs, And all your haughty arrogance is vain.

"Two million voices cry through us to you,

'Give us the Franchise, we have waited long;' And well you know the answer that is due

To this loud call that waxes deep and strong; And yours the blame, if holding back Reform, You rouse to rage the thunder-throated throng, And in the whirlwind and the rushing storm

Are crushed beneath the ruins of this wrong.

"And so, your lordships, you are stubborn still And with your subtle phrases bar the way Of progress, and, with dialectic skill,

Would stem the torrent for a passing day! Pile word on word, and split and carve and cutWe only know you give for answer 'Nay,' And take that answer as you give it, but— To-morrow we will teach you to obey.

"We leave these halls in which we toiled and wrought
To shape a measure temperate and wise,
And from the country will a cry be brought,
That even you, perchance, may not despise ;
A waking people take the challenge thrown
Straight in their teeth with noble jibes and jeers,
And in the coming conflict not alone

The Commons face your arrow-flights of sneers.

"From north and south, from east and west, there come
The voices of the people you would cheat,
And you, who told us that the land was dumb,
Now mock the base 'opinion of the street ;'
Yet deep and deeper swells the loud demand,
And ere again in battle we shall meet,
Your lordships will be taught to understand
How strong the pulses of the country beat.

"Our hopes are in the future, for behold!

The flush of dawn is breaking through the night, And backward will the iron gates be rolled Before a people marching in their might; And if your ancient House shall fall or stand, We cannot say, but God defend the right When onward through the wide enfranchised land The shout of Freedom sweeps from height to height. "Our hopes are in the future, and they range The wide horizon of the days to be, And, rising from the stormy seas of change A great and mighty empire do we see: A land by equal rights and laws controlled,

A land whose people keep them strong and free, A land where men of noblest mind and mould To One alone bow down the suppliant knee."

WHAT THE PEERS SAY.
WHAT say the Peers?-the men who stood
In wilder civil storms than these,
And spake in accents rough and rude
And humbled monarchs to their knees;
They wrested Freedom from the crown,
They fought the foemen of the state,
And, winning honour and renown,
They moulded England-"they were great."

And now, with spirits high and proud,
They meet the clamour for Reform,
And send defiance, clear and loud
Above the raging of the storm:
"Not now, ye Commons, will we make
Mute answer to your large demand,
Though democratic rage should break
From all the platforms in the land.

"Aye, let the people clench their fists,

We will not yield you up their votes, With gyves of iron on our wrists,

And twisted hemp about our throats; No! we will keep inviolate

Our ancient rights, and we shall show That we can measure hate with hate, And give you ready blow for blow.

"We will not take again or now

A measure backed by scorn and threat,
But we will meet you brow to brow,'
With resolution fixed and set.
And if we fall, or if we stand,
'Tis better, howsoe'er it be,
That we should show to all the land
Our wills are ours, and we are free.

"You love the people? you would claim
To mirror forth the nation's will?
And so, for party ends, you frame
This brave electioneering bill.
And you are valiant, you would wrest
From out our lips a swift assent?
Not so, while what alone is best

Of England's thought we represent. "Keep back your measure; let us see

Redistribution clause by clause, And then, perchance, it well may be Both bills shall blossom into laws, And bear rich crop of precious fruits,

In spite of storms and tempest-shocks, While deeper Freedom strikes its roots,

And knits them round our island rocks.

"For not alone with you remains

The love of Freedom; we would tear From hands of toil the galling chains Of slavish bondage that they wear. These are our brethren, we can trust

The noble instincts of our race-
Their hearts are true, their minds are just,
And education grows apace.

"Ye will not yield? Then, will you take
The verdict of the people's will?
For here we challenge you to stake
Your fortunes on your party bill;
Ye are a Commons worn and old,

66

The vigour of your youth is past;
Go down to those from whom you hold
Your boasted mandate, vague and vast;

Go, ask the nation now to seal

The record that your work has made,
And if ye stand in that appeal,

No longer is Reform delayed.
Opinions come, opinions go;

Our party quarrels flame and die;
We are content, for well we know
With whom the final issues lie.

"Ye will not yield, nor yet dissolve?

Ye dream that ye shall have your way?
Let all the caucus wheels revolve,

Let all the founts of faction play;
Go, beat your drums and blow your brass,
Let all your blazoned banners float,
But not for these your Bill shall pass,
And not by these you win a vote.

"We have our birthright; it is ours

To guide the fortunes of the realm, And when the dark'ning tempest low'rs, To stand undaunted by the helm; Inspired by hope, unmoved by fear, Amidst these stormy seas we sail, And, nerved by duty, calmly hear The rising voices of the gale."

WHAT THE PEOPLE SAY.

HIGH above the clash of parties swells the shout of those who say:

"We are marching on to Freedom, who are ye that bar the way?

"Duke and marquis, lord and lordling, what are ye that we should wait

In our millions, while ye listen to our thunder at the gate?

"It were wise and well your lordships clear from out the way before

66

Ye are asked with stern persistence by what right ye guard the door.

Aye, we know your ancient story, all your records we have read,

How ye guarded England's glory, how ye fought and how ye bled;

"How ye bore the lion-standard bravely over land and sea,

And in court and camp triumphant made and kept our empire free.

"But the man who resteth only on the ruins of the past,

When the tempest roars around him must go down before the blast.

"Landed lords and titled Tories, are ye deaf and are ye blind?

Are ye waiting till in anger ye are taught the nation's mind?

"We are marching on to Freedom, and our lords no more we need;

We have children of the people strong to dare and fit to lead.

"In the warehouse and the workshop, at the plough and by the bench,

In the mine and at the anvil, on the seas and in the trench,

"Have we proved our manhood truly, by our blood and by our sweat,

Yet ye perfumed nobies tell us, 'No, ye are not worthy yet!'

"Not alone by sword and parchment, but by toil of loom and spade,

Was the might of Britain nourished and her firm foundations laid;

"And if war again should waken, and the bugle-blast be blown,

If the battle-billows breaking beat in thunder round the throne,

"Shall not we, from field and fact'ry, fight as we have fought before,

Charging where the foe is thickest and the cannon loudest roar?

"Now that ye have left your labours and the lobbies of your House,

Leave to keepers and to Cockneys hill, and moor, and deer, and grouse.

"Look how nations tyrant-trodden, checked and crushed through weary years,

66

Forge at last the sword of Freedom in their anger and their tears.

True, the iron age is vanished, and the court of red appeal

Rings no more with cruel shouting and the sweep of stinging steel;

"Nor is ours the red-cap fever and the heat of Gallic veins,

We can weigh our social problems with well-balanced British brains.

"But the lesson written plainly on the pages of the past

Is, that howsoe'er it conquers Freedom triumphs at the last.

"Ah! ye scorn our vast processions? Not by these shall ye be cowed?

These are frolics of the masses, and the humours of the crowd?

"It is true our martial music, mighty meetings, platform talk,

Are not action, but, your lordships, is it wise at these to mock?

"For beneath this proud parading' and these bla. zoned flags we 'flaunt,'

Flows a people's steady purpose, strong in knowing what they want;

"And we hope to teach your lordships, in the sternest sort of school,

That the people's will is final and the strongest hand inust rule.

"Off with all your fancy phrases! Off with sophistries and lies!

Give us straight and manly answers, simple Noes or simple Ayes.

"Ye are the stubborn and unyielding, and our millions ye defy?

As you please, your noble lordships, we shall meet at Philippi.'

"When the civil struggle closes by your noble House begun,

When the hurly-burly's' over, when the battle's lost and won,'

"Ye shall find the path of progress wider, straighter, freer made,

And our ancient throne's foundations 'even yet more firmly' laid;

"Ye shall find a people rising to the zenith of their hope,

Stronger in the strength of freedom with an empire's cares to cope.

"Not to-day, nor yet to-morrow, may the fair fulfilment be,

But, your lordships, we are marching, and we shall-we shall be free."

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