Note 20 — III LADY JOHN RUSSELL

In June 1831 Mrs. Bulwer Lytton heard a ragged newspaper boy cry:

“Good news for the poor! Great and glorious speech of His Most Gracious Majesty William the Fourth! The Reform Bill will pass. Then you’ll have your beef and mutton for a penny a pound. And then you’ll be as fine as peacocks for a mere trifle. To say nothing of ale at a penny a quart.”