Once more we come with heart and hand,
In warm and earnest greeting:
Once more we form in goodly band,
A free and cordial meeting.
A meeting that has no design
To threaten, coax, or wheedle;
To hail with glee a new "M. P."
Or choose a parish beadle!
A meeting where no fierce debate
Engenders "Chartist Riot;"
But leaves Queen, Parliament, and State,
In true and loyal quiet.
Notes
Written expressly for the opening of the Bath Penny readings, on the evening October 2, 1863.
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