WEEKLY WHIMS.

Observer, Volume 6, Issue 154, 25 August 1883, Page 11

WEEKLY WHIMS.

-4. " You can allus fetclx the British Public with a top note." — Maccabe ym yictis. Let them rot in rags and tatters, Let them die like rats in holes ; They are fall'n, and little matters What becomes of tainted soula. In torments let them languisli Tor the sin which they have taught ; Let them perish in their anguish For the mischief they have wrought. Leave them lying in the gutter, Now their sins have found them out ; Never heed the pray'rs they utter— To perdition hound them out. Put aside the hand that's groping For a shelter from the blast ; Break the bleeding heart that's hoping, For oblivion of the past. Close the gates of mercy on them, They're polluted and defiled ;' Turn the face of kindness from them, They're degraded and reviled. "Wretched outcasts from the sheepfold, Let them wander to and fro ; For they've yielded up th? stronghold Of their virtue to tlie foe.The repentance is but fleeting, That is caused by grief and pain ; Were they whole, they'd soon be eating The forbidden fruit again. It is justice — let them linger In their misery and pain ; Never raise one helping finger, Never make them whole again. The path of sin they've taken, And the choosing was their own ; The straight way they've forsaken, They must reap as they have sown. Such the cry of those who ever Are the first to cast the stone ; Such the cry of those who never Show the mercy they'd be shown. It is useless to remind them That the purest of them all As hypocrites defined them, Who all others sinners call. That once the fallen sister Was as sinless as the best — That a mother's lips have kissed her, That a father's voice has blesaed. That once the blush of virtue Overspread the painted cheek ; That the brazen looks which hurt you, Once were maidenly and meek. That beneath that tawdry trapping, Once there beat a sinless heart ; That the frame which pain is sapping, Once was upright as a dart. That those eyes so red and staring, Once were clear as stars of night ; And those lips so fondly swearing, In His praises took delight. That against thorn some have spoken Who are viler far than they, Were all their deeds laid open To the searching light of day. That sinners old and feeble Now adorn their saintly ranks. Whose abstinence from evil To their virtue owes no thanks. It is useless to urge pity For the fallen when they're down, For the good ones of our city Would refuse with pious frown. But fain I would remind them Of a striking fact or two, To which their virtues blind them, Or at least appear to do. I will grant that vice is baneful, And that punishment is just ; I'll admit that words disdainful Should express our deep disgust. I'll allow that girls should never Choose the wrong path for the right ; I'll admit that we should sever All the black sheep from the white. That if they stoop to folly, They should eat the bitter fruit ; And pain and melancholy Be the wage of sin's pursuit. But the hunter e'er is stalking, And hi 3 bag is light to fill, And endless years of talking Have not, will not, check the ill. No laws, however skilful, Will over lust prevail, For ma:* is far too wilful, And woman's far too frail. And although of sin the wages Be dispensed in ghastly pain, And although contagion rages, They will sin and sin again. But oft on sinless faces, And in many a little frame, We mark the woeful traces Of an erring parent's shame. 'Tis hard that these should feel them, And for others' sins should ache, So take the fall'n and heal them For our little children's sake. Penny Whistle.

"I don't want a maiden turned into an orthodox angel," cried the leader of Melbourne Freethought ; "I don't want to hare wings sprouting from her shoulder-blades. No; even in. Elysium let .me .haveiier as %■ .know, her,Jiere.; ; let -me 1 encircje ih^r,; wj^B$ v ,wlth .my arm, : and— — •;'* Every Secularist eya,-grj9.w,:bright,fand.<his> teeth, watered.