(The Earl of Ellenborough was sent to India, as Governor-General, in 1842, and remained there till 1844. On his return there was some difficulty to find a place in the Government for him. By Sir Robert Peel he was appointed First Lord of the Admiralty, a post which he probably owed to the friendship and interest of the Duke of Wellington.) THE RAILWAYS GROSS MISMANAGEMENT; Or, The Complaint of the “Engine-driver” versified. (_Written in_ 1847, _when Railways were in their infancy_.) You Managers of Railways, Who meet to talk and dine, Ah! little do you think upon The dangers of the line; Give ear unto your engineers, And they will plainly show All the wrack, which, alack! From mismanagement doth flow. All who are engine-drivers Must have tremendous pluck, For when you get upon your seat You trust your life to luck; You must not be faint-hearted For crash or overthrow, And the spills from the ills Of mismanagement that flow. Sometimes our trains are mixed up, Of common sense in spite, With several heavy carriages, And others that are light; Out rolls the train, and no man What next may come can know; And whate’er happens here From mismanagement doth flow. But our worst source of peril By far, is when we find An engine put before the train, And one to push behind; Then jamm’d and crush’d together Of carriages the row Oft will be――which, you see, From mismanagement doth flow. Unto our trains of breaksmen There is a shameful lack; And hence it is our lives and limbs So often go to wrack, For want of due assistance Our peril when we know: This defect from neglect And mismanagement doth flow. Ye legislative sages! On you it is we call! For as for our proprietors, Gain is their all in all, Which, for the public safety, They somewhat must forego, Or your bills stop those ills From mismanagement that flow. _Punch_, 1847. ―――― “A great deal more attention will have to be given than heretofore by the agriculturists of England, and perhaps even Scotland, to the production of fruits, vegetables and flowers. You know that in Scotland a great example of this kind has been set in the cultivation of strawberries.”――Mr. Gladstone at West Calder, Nov. 27, 1879. Ye husbandmen of Scotland, Who till our native soil, How vain your high-class farming! How profitless your toil! Your fields of grain are humbug, Your flocks and herds are “bam”―― Go cultivate the strawberry, And make it into jam! * * * * *