Fifth annual report of the Williams Secular School.

  • Williams Secular School.
Date:
1854
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Fifth annual report of the Williams Secular School. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    36 APPENDIX, No. VL THE SOULS OF THE CHILDREN. BY CHARLES MACKAY, LL.D. “ Who bids for the little children— Body, and soul, and brain ? Who bids for the little children— Young and without a stain ? Will no one bid,’ said England, “ For their souls so pure and white, And fit for all good or evil The world on their page may write ?” “ We bid,” said Pest and Famine, “ We bid for life and limb ; Fever, and pain, and squalor, Their bright young eyes shall dim. When the children grow too many, Well nurse them as our own, And hide them in secret places Where none may hear their moan.” “ I bid,” said Beggary, howling, “ i 11 buy them, one and all, 111 teach them a thousand lessons— To lie, to skulk, to crawl; They shall sleep in my lair like maggots, They shall rot in the fair sunshine; And if they serve my purpose, I hope they’ll answer thine.” “ And 111 bid higher and higher Said Crime, with wolfish grin, For 1 love to lead the children Through the pleasant paths of sin. They shall swarm in the streets to pilfer, They shall plague the broad highway, Till they grow too old for pity, And ripe for the law to slay. “ Prison, and hulk, and gallows, Are many in the land— ’Twere folly not to use them, So proudly as they stand. Give me the little children, I’ll take them as they’re born ; And I’ll feed their evil passions With misery and scorn. “ Give me the little children, Ye good, ye rich, ye wise, And let the busy world spin round While ye shut your idle eyes ; And your judges shall have work, And your lawyers wag the tongue ; And the gaolers and policemen Shall be fathers to the young. “ I and the Law, for pastime, Shall struggle day and night; j And the Law shall gain, but I shall win, And we’ll still renew the fight; And ever and aye we’ll wrestle, Till Law grows sick and sad, And kill, in its desperation, The incorrigible bad. “ I, and the Law, and Justice, Shall thwart each other still; And hearts shall break to see it, And innocent blood shall spill; So leave—oh, leave the children To Ignorance and Woe— And I’ll come in and teach them The way that they should go!” “ Oh, shame !” said true Religion, “ Oh, shame, that this should be ! I'll take the little children, I’ll take them all to me, I’ll raise them up with kindness From the mire in which they’re trod ; I’ll teach them words of blessing, I’ll lead them up to God.” “ You’re not the true Religion,” Said Sect, with flashing eyes ; “ Nor thou,” said another, scowling— “ Thou’rt heresy and lies.” “ You shall not have the children,” Said a third, with shout and yell; “ You’re Antichrist and bigot— You’d train them up for hell.” And England, sorely puzzled To see such battle strong, Exclaimed with voice of pity— “ Oh, friends ! you do me wrong! Oh, cease your bitter wrangling, For till you all agree, I fear the little children Will plague both you and me.” ■ But all refused to listen ;— Quoth they—“ We bide our time And the bidders seized the children— Beggary, Filth, and Crime: And the prisons teemed with victims, And the gallows rocked on high, ! And the thick abomination Spread reeking to the .sky.