But at length the Commons settle Into order as behoves them. And the Chancellor upstanding Mounts the throne's wide steps, and kneeling To his sovereign he offers Her own speech, which she declining, He unrolls, and then distinctly With a voice and tone majestic (Picked up in his constant practice), Read it in this way and this wise:-- "Listen to these words of wisdom Sounding much but meaning little, That with much elaborate caution, In the Cabinet we hit on. Oh, my faithful Lords and Commons, As it is so far from likely That you read the daily journals, As it is so very certain You've heard nothing that has happened, I will tell you what you cannot By remotest chance have heard of: Know ye then, my trusted children, There has been a war in Turkey, And my Ministers have written Some despatches on the subject; So if, later on, my Commons Should find out the vote for foolscap And for ink and quills is swollen, They will know the cause and pass it; But let me haste on to tell you In thrice twenty lines the items That for weeks have been known fully Through the papers to the people. Know ye then, my Lords and Commons (This is likewise news important, I have journeyed far to tell you), We joined Europe in a Conference, And we sent our trusty cousin, Robert Cecil, Salisbury's Marquis, To take part in its discussions? Know ye not that Robert Cecil, Lordly master he of Hatfield, Went and saw, but did not conquer-- Went and talked, but did not manage Well his coaxing or his bluster; Nay, came back completely vanquished, And must do without his dukedom? Need I add, my knowing children, How his failure grieved his colleagues-- How Lord Derby wept to hear it-- How Lord Beaconsfield has felt it? Still bewails it much in private, And in public should his lips curl, That is merely force of habit. Know ye too, my legislators, My most able statute-makers, That my Indian subjects vastly Liked the squibs let off at Delhi, By my dreamy poet-Viceroy; And, about to die of famine, They enjoyed the show immensely. All the Colonies are prosp'rous! Which, if I am not mistaken, Will be news to many of them, Say, for instance, to Barbadoes. Gentlemen, who pull the purse-strings, I presume you will, as usual, Vote sufficient of the needful. Go, then, and in these great labours May the spirit of the Master, Gitche Manito, the Mighty Aid you, lest they should o'erwhelm you."