EDUCATION AND THE RELIGIOUS DIFFICULTY.

Evening Star, Issue 2918, 26 June 1872, Page 3

EDUCATION AND THE RELIGIOUS DIFFICULTY.

To the Editor.

Sir, —England has upwards of two million children growing up in ignorance, while the statesmen and the sects are wrangling over the religious difficulty. Scotland has also a quarter-of-a-million of children in the same plight. In my progress through the Bards, I have just come ?across some' very appropriate verses on this melancholy subject. Might I request you to publish the following pathetic verses from the muse of Charles Mackay, author of the “Lump of Gold.” These lines are applicable to other lands, and notably to these Colonies. As transcribed by me they run thus, in twelve stanzas. Please insert them and oblige.—Yours, C " d. G. S. Geaxt. THE SOULS CP THE CHILDREN. (i 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, pain, and squalor, Their bright young eyes shall dim. When the children grow too nrmy, We’ll nurse them as our own, And hide them in secret places, Whore none may hear their moan,” “ I bid,” said Beggary, howling, * ‘ I bid for them, one and all! I’ll 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 sun-shine j And if they serve my purpose, I hope they’ll answer thine.” “ And I’ll bid higher and higher,” Said Crime, with wolfish grin, “ For I 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 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 j our 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; 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 grow sick and sad, And kill in its desperation, The incorrigibly 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 thet 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 a 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 each battle strong. Exclaimed, with voice of pity, “ Oh, friends, you do me wrong 1 Oh, cease your bitter wrangling ; For, till you all agree, I fear the little children Will plague both you and me.” But aU 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.