BUSH BALLADS AND RHYMES 



Laurence : 



I, even /, say, *' He who barters worldly weal 



for heavenly worth 

 He does well " — your saints and martyrs 



were examples, here on earth. 



Melchior : 



Aye, in earlier Christian ages, while the 



heathen empire stood, 

 When the war 'twixt saints and sages cried 



aloud for saintly blood. 

 Christ was then their model truly. Now, if 



all were meek and pure, 

 Save the ungodly and the unruly, would the 



Christian Church endure? 

 Shall the toiler or the fighter dream by day 



and watch by night. 

 Turn the left cheek to the smiter, smitten 



rudely on the right ? 

 Strong men must encounter bad men — so- 

 called saints of latter days 

 Have been mostly pious madmen, lusting 



after righteous praise — 

 Or the thralls of superstition, doubtless worthy 



some reward, 



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