Take, Madam, this poor book of song;
For tho' the faults were thick as dust
In vacant chambers, I could trust
Your kindness. May you rule us long,
And leave us rulers of your blood
As noble till the latest day!

May children of our children say,

She wrought her people lasting good;
"Her court was pure; her life serene;

God gave her peace; her land reposed;
A thousand claims to reverence closed
In her as Mother, Wife, and Queen;

66 And statesmen at her council met
Who knew the seasons, when to take
Occasion by the hand, and make
The bounds of freedom wider yet

"By shaping some august decree,
Which kept her throne unshaken still,
Broad-based upon her people's will,
And compass'd by the inviolate sea."

CHARTIST SONG

THOMAS COOPER

No sooner were the Napoleonic wars at an end than the English people began to demand for themselves such privileges as the French had won. First of all, they asked for power to send representatives to the House of Commons in order that they might have some share in the making of the laws. The substance of their demands was formulated in the People's Charter and the reformers were therefore called Chartists. By 1832, popular agitation had become so vigorous and so

persistent that Parliament dared no longer resist. The first Reform Act was passed in that year. The right of electing representatives to the House of Commons was taken away from the rotten boroughs and given to a number of towns that had never been allowed this privilege. Moreover, the right of voting at town elections was extended to all householders. The people's representatives succeeded in carrying through some much needed reforms.

The time shall come when wrong shall end,
When peasant to peer no more shall bend;
When the lordly Few shall lose their sway,
And the Many no more their frown obey.
Toil, brothers, toil, till the work is done,
Till the struggle is o'er, and the Charter won!

The time shall come when the artisan
Shall homage no more the titled man;
When the moiling men who delve in the mine
By Mammon's decree no more shall pine.

Toil, brothers, toil, till the work is done,
Till the struggle is o'er, and the Charter won.

The time shall come when the weavers' band
Shall hunger no more in their fatherland;
When the factory-child can sleep till day,
And smile while it dreams of sport and play.
Toil, brothers, toil, till the work is done,
Till the struggle is o'er, and the Charter won.

The time shall come when man shall hold
His brother more dear than sordid gold;
When the negro's stain his freeborn mind

Shall sever no more from human-kind.
Toil, brothers, toil, till the world is free,
Till Justice and Love hold jubilee.

The time has come when kingly crown
And mitre for toys of the past are shown;
When the fierce and false alike shall fall,
And mercy and truth encircle all.

Toil, brothers, toil, till the world is free,
Till Mercy and Truth hold jubilee!

The time shall come when earth shall be
A garden of joy, from sea to sea,

When the slaughterous sword is drawn no more,
And goodness exults from shore to shore.
Toil, brothers, toil, till the world is free;
Till Goodness shall hold high jubilee!

THE BARONS BOLD

WILLIAM JOHNSON FOX

THE Chartists were not satisfied with the measure of representation accorded the people by the Reform Act of 1832 and demanded manhood suffrage. On April 6, 1848, twenty-five thousand men assembled on Kennington Common, south of the Thames, determined to carry to the House of Commons a monster petition that the Charter should immediately be granted. The magistrates were greatly alarmed and made elaborate preparations for the defence of the city. The Chartists were unarmed and dared not meet the troops, so the great demonstration came to nothing. But suffrage has since been given to every householder in town and country alike, and the people have to-day sufficient influence in the House of Commons to carry any measure for which they make a united demand.

The Barons bold on Runnymede

By union won their charter;

True men were they, prepar'd to bleed,
But not their rights to barter:
And they swore that England's laws
Were above a tyrant's word;

And they prov'd that freedom's cause
Was above a tyrant's sword:
Then honour we

The memory

Of those Barons brave united;

And like their band,

Join hand to hand :

Our wrongs shall soon be righted.

The Commons brave, in Charles's time,
By union made the Crown fall,
And show'd the world how royal crime
Should lead to royal downfall:
And they swore that rights and laws
Were above a monarch's word;
And they raised the nation's cause
Above the monarch's sword:
Then honour we

The memory

Of those Commons brave, united;

And like their band,

Join hand to hand:

Our wrongs shall soon be righted.

The People firm, from Court and Peers, By union won Reform, sirs,

And, union safe, the nation steers

Through sunshine and through storm, sirs:
And we swear that equal laws

Shall prevail o'er lordlings' words,
And can prove that freedom's cause
Is too strong for hireling swords:
Then honour we

The victory

Of the people brave, united;

Let all our bands

Join hearts and hands:

Our wrongs shall all be righted.

THE CRY OF THE CHILDREN

ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING

THE invention of machinery and the building of great factories made the employment of children profitable, and many a father sent his boys and girls to work before they were old enough to endure the strain. There was at first no limit set to the number of hours the children might be kept at work or to the tasks that might be required of them. The suffering of the factory operatives was finally brought to the attention of Parliament, and laws for the protection of women and children were passed. Mrs. Browning's poem did much to rouse public feeling in behalf of the little toilers.

Do ye

hear the children weeping, O my brothers,
Ere the sorrow comes with years?

They are leaning their young heads against their mothers,

And that cannot stop their tears.

The young lambs are bleating in the meadows,
The young birds are chirping in the nest,