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oot of 'em. The Jews were so glad when old Pharaoh was "had" That they sounded their timbrels and capered like mad. You see he was hated from Jordan to Cairo-- Whence comes the expression "to buck against faro". For forty long years, 'midst perils and fears In deserts with never a tramline to follow by, The Israelite horde went roaming abroad Like so many sundowners out on the wallaby. When Moses, who led 'em, and taught 'em, and fed 'em, Was dying, he murmured "A rorty old hoss you are: I give you command of the whole of the band"-- And handed the Government over to Joshua. . . . . . But Moses told 'em before he died, "Wherever you are, whatever betide, Every year as the time draws near By lot or by rote choose you a goat, And let the high priest confess on the beast The sins of the people, the worst and the least. Lay your sins on the goat! Sure the plan ought to suit yer, Because all your sins are "his troubles" in future. Then lead him away to the wilderness black To die with the weight of your sins on his back: Of thirst let him perish alone and unshriven, For thus shall your sins be absolved and forgiven!" 'Tis needless to say, though it reeked of barbarity, This scapegoat arrangement gained great popularity. By this means a Jew, whate'er he might do, Though he burgled, or murdered, or cheated at loo, Or meat on Good Friday (a sin most terrific) ate, Could get his discharge, like a bankrupt's certificate. (Just here let us note--_DID THEY CHOOSE THEIR BEST GOAT?_ It's food for conjecture; to judge from the picture By Hunt in the Gallery close to our door, a Man well might suppose that the scapegoat they chose Was a long way from being their choicest Angora. In fact I should think he was one of their weediest; 'Tis a rule that obtains, no matter who reigns, When making a sacrifice, offer the seediest; Which accounts for a theory known to my hearers Who live in the wild by the wattle beguiled, That a "stag" makes quite good enough mutton for shearers.) Be that as it may, as each year passed away, A scapegoat was led to the desert and freighted With sin (the poor brute must have been overweighted) And left there--to die as his fancy dictated. . . . . . The day it has come; with trumpet and drum, With pomp and solemnity fit for the tomb, They led the old billy-
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