PROLOGUE.

Southland Times, Issue 1052, 6 November 1868, Page 2

PROLOGUE.

It can t be true, I won t believe a word, The very thought is monstrously absurd : Wonders will never cease, thongh these are common, ,-........, ; See Stewart on the sister-hood of woman. The Penny Headings, nay, it can't be true, Altko' I wish to give them all their due, Have no such high emprise as to bespan The woes and sufferings of our fellow man. Their aim is lower far, to charm, amuse, . And drive away the " yellows and theblues " , Which we are. prone to have (the more's the - P i( 7») ■■•:..■■:..;■■ '„'. .'"<■■ \ Who vegetate in this deserted city. The Penny Readings— paltry even in name, < Self is their origin, and self their aim ; A mighty social miser, hoarding money • As bees from every flower extract the honey, And lay it up fcr use some future day, To wasps and other thieves an easy prey. Such is the jargon we are doomed to hear, Whose jarring accents wound the. unwilling ear Ifrom those who judge in pitying measured tone, The faults of others, but forget their own. ; Whose heart ne'er melted at a tale of grief, Whose hand was never raised to lend relief, To whom the orphan's plaint is made in vain, Or widow*! wail or shriek of anguished pain. •Adown whose wrinkled cheek a tear ne'er ran ; In sympathy with woes of brother man ; Who live for self, who worship self alone. All o her god* forgotten or unknown.

a^^g^ta^MasaMßSMsaaisjisjSisjsjsjsMsMMMMsMsMßMSMMsli^sMs^sMPPi^M..^ Whit U bur duty here— to ctaer sad timj To help the helplesi, mitigftte diitwo, , , To soothe the suffering* of o«j.r mn» And be to him the wod B»m«riUii; To form an oasii of lore to chW ;^> \ . Has joumeybga in thia lone S*hwi hei». -' Ladies and Gentlemen, io •pe^ii«lnple»dinfs Ate needed in d«fen<^ of -Pennj. Be^in^ ? \ ... ( -their actire »ympathie« they i^U nujr^Mmi % "^ . Especially when they extend their aim To benefit mankind and to where .■••_., The ills that flesh. is heir to, and tp&i* To the fair Hand qf fb>ritT:the,ppirjr ■- — •■*•- To scatter blessings in an eyil hourj, . . f ,_ Two kindred institutions are combined -' To cure the body, and to cure the mind, And they who in the first won't help a brother, Deserre a safe asylum in the other.