And then at most uncertain times they wreak the same on us!
With charity we would prevent this poverty and woe,
But find the more we’ve fondly spent, the more the poor do grow!
We’ve tried by punishment full sore to mend the case they’re in;
The more we punish them the more they sin, and sin, and sin!
We make the punishment more kind, we give them wise reform,
And they, with a contented mind, flock to our prisons warm!
Then science comes with solemn air, and shows us social laws,
Explaining how the poor are there from a purely natural cause.
’Tis natural for low and high to struggle and to strive;