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VIII. A NEGATIVE AFFAIR.

When sugar in the lump I see,
I know that it is there,
Melt it, and then I soon suspect
A negative affair:
Where is the sugar, Sir? I say,
Let me both touch and see;
Sweetness instead of sugar, Sir,
You'll not palm off on me.
Don't tell me that the sugar-lumps,
When dropt in water clear,
That they may make the water sweet,
Themselves must disappear;
For common sense, Sir, such as mine,
The lumps themselves must see;
Sweetness instead of sugar, Sir,
You'll not palm off on me.
For instance, Sir, in every hymn
Sound doctrine you should state
As clearly as a dead man's name
Is on his coffin plate:
Religion, Sir, is only fudge,
Let's have theology;
Sweetness instead of sugar, Sir,
You'll not palm off on me.