THE PRAYER OF THE MAMMONITES.
SIX days we give thee heart and brain ;
In grief or pleasure, joy or pain,
Thou art our guide, O god of Gain!
And on the seventh, although we kneel
At other altars, and conceal,
For fashion's sake, the love we feel;
'Tis but our outward looks that pray;
Our inward thoughts are far away,
And give thee homage night and day.
Though often at a purer
Our thoughts and actions disincline,
We're never hypocrites at thine.
Oh, no! we love thee far too well,
More than our words can ever tell,
With passion indestructible.
When thou art kind, all Earth is fair,
Men's eyes incessant homage glare,
Their tongues perennial flatteries bear.
But when thou frownest, all men frown;
We dwell among the stricken-down,
The scum and by-word of the town.
Though we are good, and wise, and true,
Deprived of thee, men look askew :
We have no merit in their view.
Though we have wit and eloquence,
The world denies us common sense,
If thou no golden shower dispense.
But mean, bad, stupid, all the three—
It matters not whate'er we be,
We have all Virtue, having thee.
Men hold us in their hearts enshrined,
To all our faults their eyes are blind,
We are the salt of humankind.
If we are old, they call us young;
And if we speak with foolish tongue,
The praises of our wit are sung.
If we are ugly, gold can buy
Charms to adorn us in the eye
Of universal flattery.
If we are crooked, we grow straight—
If lame, we have Apollo's gait,
Seen in thy light, O Potentate!
Shine on us, Mammon, evermore-
Send us increase of golden store―
That we may worship and adore ;
And that by look, and voice, and pen
We may be glorified of men,
I WALKED through Bedlam with an aching heart,
And gazing on its poor inhabitants
I learned a lesson of humility.
Some, vacant-eyed, full-faced, and blubber-lipped, Sat on the ground, their chins upon their laps; And cuddled with close arms their firm-set knees. One grey-haired man paced slowly to and fro, And squared his fists at the careering clouds; And muttered to himself as if he talked With grinning demons, whom he longed to strike, Scowling upon him from the upper
Some wandered up and down with lazy gait,
And a perpetual smile upon their lips,
In ill accordance with their ashy eyes-
Dull as the embers of a faded fire.
Others, with restless march and flashing face,
Or a convulsive twitching of the jaws,
Counted their steps across the dreary yard,
Or held fierce converse with ideal foes.
One man, however, with a placid smile, And words and gestures full of courtesy, Begged me to listen to a scheme he had.
“I am,” said he, “ no madman, though I'm here.
Survey me well-do I look like a fool?
Is any idiotey in these bright eyes?
I pray you listen. Are you good and kind,
And will you give or lend me sixpence, sir?
I thought you would, you are a gentleman.
Now, let me see. One penny for a quill,
One penny for some ink, and fourpence more
For paper; that makes sixpence, does it not?
You see that my arithmetic is right—
Best of all proofs of perfect sanity.
My greatest misery in this sad place
Is want of paper to write down my thoughts;
You have supplied my need—and with your gift
I shall not envy any man on earth.
Thank you, again! And now I will disclose
The plan I've dreamed of to reform the world.
Like all great schemes it has but little in 't,—
So simple is it, that you'll doubtless smile
At men's stupidity, who till this day
Never discovered it; though 't is as clear
As theorem in Euclid's book.
It stares them in the face by night and day,
And yet they cannot see its aptitude
To cure all mortal evils. You'll allow
That eating is the greatest curse of life,
The cause of death, the quintessence of sin?
Our mother Eve was cautioned not to eat;
Heaven's only law was, 'Eat thou not at all.'
But Eve was foolish, and the Devil sly;
He knew her weakness-steaks and mutton-chops
Sprang from that apple, as effect from cause!
She ate, and straightway sorrow, pain, and death,
Rushed like a torrent, and laid waste the world.
Man wants no food. The rich and genial air Is filled with all the nutriment he needs. The abundant air-the abundant water pure, Are quite sufficient for his health and strength; All coarser food is but the source of death: Were these alone his diet every day, There would be, clearly, no more robberies; No murders for the sake of paltry gold (Gold, only precious for the sake of food), No judges, juries, hangmen, barristers, No proctors, no attornies, no police;
No toil would wear the flesh and bones of men, At most unwholesome work for scanty pay;
And as for beggary, why, who would beg, When the free air would yield him nourishment? The beggar would be wealthy as a king,
The beggar's brat as happy as a bird
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