WHO SHALL TEACH THE CHILDREN?

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume XII, Issue 602, 17 September 1853, Page 8

WHO SHALL TEACH THE CHILDREN?

(From the Illustrated London News ) " Who bids for the little childrenBody and soul and brain ? Who bids for the little children — Young and without a stain ? Will no one bid," said England, " For their soul* so pure and white, And fit for all good or evil, The world on their pagre may write T" " 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, We'll nurse them as our own, And hide them in secret places Where none may hear them moan." " I bid," said Beggary, howling, " I'll buy 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 sunshine 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 Hove to lead the children, Through the pleasant paths of sin. They shall swarm in the streets to pilfer, They shall plague the broad highwsy, 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 ; And the L3W shall gain, but I «hall win, And we'll still renew the fight j And ever and aye we'll wrestle, Till law grows sick and sad, And kills, in its desperation. The incorrigibly bad. 11 1 and the Law, and Justice, Shall thwart each other still s 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 1" 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 t I'll teach them words of bleating I'll lead them up to God." "You're not the true religion," Said a Scot with flushing eyes; " Nor thou, 1 ' said another •cowling "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 nil refused to listen— Quoth they — "We bide our time;" And the bidders seized the children— Hcggary, Filth, and Crime ; And the prisons teemed with victims, And the galloui rocked on high; And the thick abomination; Spread recking to the sky. CXABL*S MItXKY.