XIV. And in the nights of winter, When the cold north winds blow, And sweepers from the pavement Are shovelling the snow; When the crusted port is opened, And the camphine lamp is lit, When dessert is on the table, And around it bright guests sit. XV. When the gay and lively party Roar at the PUPPET-SHOW, And claret, sparkling like its jokes, Right joyously doth flow. When the good-man plays _écarté_, And the young lads make a noise; When the girls are working crochet, And the children smashing toys. XVI. When the good-wife takes her workbox, And the grandame takes a nap, When Radicals and Chartists Grow lively at the tap. With weeping and with laughter, Still is the story told, How well Sibthorpius kept the Bridge, And how the mob were sold. From _The Puppet-Showman’s Album_. The six points demanded by the Chartists in 1848, were: _Universal Suffrage_, _Vote by Ballot_, _Annual Parliaments_, _Payment of the Members_, _the Abolition of the Property Qualification_, and _Equal Electoral Districts_. Forty years ago these proposals were considered terribly revolutionary, and when the leaders of the movement――Ernest Jones, Fergus O’Connor, Vincent and Stephens――proposed to hold a mass meeting at Kennington, and march to Westminster, it was feared there would be a riot. Special constables were enrolled in large numbers, and strong measures were taken by the police, but little actual disturbance occurred. Colonel Sibthorp, a very eccentric M. P., was especially violent in his denunciations of the Chartists, but it need scarcely be said that the poem is entirely imaginary as to the fight at Westminster Bridge, and the part he took in it. ―――― THE FIGHT FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP. (_As told by an ancient Gladiator to his Great-Grandmother._) Big Heenan of Benicia, By ninety-nine gods he swore, That the bright belt of England Should grace her sons no more. By ninety-nine he swore it, And named the ‘fisting’ day―― ‘East and west and south and north,’ Said Richard Mayne, ‘ride forth, ride forth, ‘And summon mine array.’ ‘Ride forth by heathy Hampshire, Of “chalk-stream-studded” dells, And wake the beaks of Eversley Where gallant Kingsley dwells; Spur fast thro’ Berkshire spinneys, The broad Hog’s Back bestride, And if the White Horse is scour’d Mount up amain and ride: Spur, spur, I say, thro’ England! The word went flashing by. Look out for Sayers and Heenan, Policemen――mind your eye!