e whole thing seems
A picnic an' a joke.

Oh, yellin' puts a heart in ye,
An' stren'th into yer blows--
I wisht that I could hears those cheers
Washin' the neighbors clo'es...

It's funny how some things work out--
Life is so strange, Lord love us--
Here am I, workin' night an' day
To keep a roof above us;

An' Jim is somewhere in the south,
An' Jim ain't really bad,
A-runnin' round an' raisin' Cain,
An' stabbin' some kid's dad.

But that's w'at men are made for--eh?
W'at else is there for me
But workin' on till Jim comes home,
Sick of his bloody spree.

A VOICE FROM THE SWEAT-SHOPS

(_A HYMN WITH RESPONSES_)

"_Praise God from Whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him all creatures here below.
Every morning mercies new
Fall as fresh as morning dew._"

Yet we are choked with sin
With bestial lusts and guile;
God (so it runs) made this world clean
And Man has made it vile.

Aye, here Man lives on man,
And breaks him day by day--
But in the trampled jungle
The tiger claws his prey.

God's curse is on the thief;
The murderer fares ill--
Who gave the beasts their taste for blood
Who taught them how to kill?

"_All praise to Him Who built the hills,
All praise to Him Who each stream fills;
All praise to Him Who lights each star
That sparkles in the sky afar._"

All praise to Him who made
The earthquake and the flood;
All praise to Him who made the pest
That sucks away the blood.

All praise to Him whose mind
Had the desire to make
The shark, the scorpion, the gnat
And the envenomed snake.

Beauty itself He turns
To slay and to be slain--
A thousand evil poisons
His peaceful woods contain.

"_Lift up your heart! Lift up your voice!
Rejoice! Again I say, rejoice!
For His mercies, they are sure
His compassion will endure!_"

Rejoice because each man
Has but a man's desire
To sin the little human sins
As a child that plays with fire.

Rejoice because God's plans
Are far too deep for talk...
He lets the swallow feed on flies--
Then gives it to the hawk!

Rejoice because He made
A world in some wild mood;
A world