twenty-five minutes past ten
Are our omnibus conductors and policemen to lose altogether that light which we see so often in their eyes , the dreamy light of ` Old unhappy far-off things And battles long ago ' -- to quote the words of a little-known poet who was a friend of my youth ? I have resolved , as I have said , so far as possible , to preserve the eyes of policemen and omnibus conductors in their present dreamy state . For what is a state without dreams ? And the remedy I propose is as follows : -- `` To-morrow morning at twenty-five minutes past ten , if Heaven spares my life , I purpose to issue a Proclamation . It has been the work of my life , and is about half finished . With the assistance of a whisky and soda , I shall conclude the other half to-night , and my people will receive it to-morrow . All these boroughs where you were born , and hope to lay your bones , shall be reinstated in their ancient magnificence , -- Hammersmith , Kensington , Bayswater , Chelsea , Battersea , Clapham , Balham , and a hundred others .