THE POOR MAN'S PRAYER.

Free Lance, Volume I, Issue 42, 20 April 1901, Page 16

THE POOR MAN'S PRAYER.

Protect mo, Lord, from these Thy saints, the sanctimonious few , Oh, save me from their clutches -when my mortgages come due. Oh I put me not into the hands of these, the men of woe, Who call this earth a "vale of tears," and strive to make it so. Oh! Guard me from the blue-nosed good who lend at ten per cent., And take a twice five hundred lien for ninety shillings lent. Make me, instead, the debtor of some man with human taints. At any rate, protect me, Lord, from these Thy modern saints. Their thoughts are far from mortal life, they never, never sin , They strive to bring to righteousness the very men they skin . They never go a step astray , they never deign to smue, They sin not, and they only aim to castigate the vile. But, oh i why should they count it best with, cold and holy arts To rivet strong sheetr-iron shields around their stony hearts ? Their ears are deaf enough, God wot, to pleadings and complaints. And so I pray, protect me, Lord, from these Thy modern saints. Oh' save me from the sanctified, the too uncommon good, Who tell us what we shouldn't do, and preach us what we should , Those saints who squeeze a shilling twice, and wear cheap aureoles, Will take our children's bread and then attempt, to save our souls > Give me. instead, a worldly man, with some few healthy stams That show he has the common blood of manhood in his veins, And heart that swells enough sometimes to overthrow constraints. But in my need protect me, Lord, from self-appointed saints'

utes before after buying a diamond ring for £20— there was his cheque for the amount. Finally, he was caught on the steamer half-an-hour before she sailed. It is an interesting story, and shows how easily some people " raise the wind."