 | Studies of Sensation and Event |  |
110
SONG OF THE GOLD GETTERS.
“The essence of trade is to buy cheap, and sell dear.”—House of
Commons, England, 1843.
Oh! truth may have suited the knights of old,
And have royally crowned the barbarian's brow;
And the Hottentot's mother his grave may have scrolled,
With “He never once lied;” but Utopia now,
In our civilized world, is the only land
Where truth could be worshipped, where truth could live;
For from statesman to tradesman, all utterance is planned,
Any meanings but true ones to hint at or give.
And have royally crowned the barbarian's brow;
And the Hottentot's mother his grave may have scrolled,
With “He never once lied;” but Utopia now,
In our civilized world, is the only land
Where truth could be worshipped, where truth could live;
For from statesman to tradesman, all utterance is planned,
Any meanings but true ones to hint at or give.
Lie! let us lie! make the lies fit;
It's the only way mortals their fortunes can knit.
It's the only way mortals their fortunes can knit.
If the minister orders war ships at a foe,
He pretends they are bound quite a different way;
And where is the man that shall dare to throw
Disdain on the lie, or the truth to say;
The traveller, hearing the lion's roar,
Lies to the lion by feigning death,
And lives by the lie; and what can there be more
In the minister's lie to the enemy's teeth!
He pretends they are bound quite a different way;
111
Disdain on the lie, or the truth to say;
The traveller, hearing the lion's roar,
Lies to the lion by feigning death,
And lives by the lie; and what can there be more
In the minister's lie to the enemy's teeth!
Lie! let us lie! make the lies fit;
It's the only way mortals their fortunes can knit.
It's the only way mortals their fortunes can knit.
“The best policy's honesty,” horn-books tell,
Though we know who lies best gets the best of the pelf;—
'Tis the sire for his children the axiom likes well,
For the lie's an advantage he wants all himself;
For the same cunning reason, your pulpits, your thrones,
Your senates, your judges, the axiom repeat;
Each wants to monopolise lying, and moans
That he can't with this lie, truth from other men cheat.
Though we know who lies best gets the best of the pelf;—
'Tis the sire for his children the axiom likes well,
For the lie's an advantage he wants all himself;
For the same cunning reason, your pulpits, your thrones,
Your senates, your judges, the axiom repeat;
Each wants to monopolise lying, and moans
That he can't with this lie, truth from other men cheat.
Lie! let us lie! make the lies fit;
It's the only way mortals their fortunes can knit.
It's the only way mortals their fortunes can knit.
Truth now starves in garrets, or rots in a gaol,
Whate'er may have been in the times gone by;
And supremacy national, “cakes and ale,”
Honour, and station, reward the lie;
Let us lie then like statesmen, like fathers, and gold
We shall heap and keep;—the world is war
And out of war's articles, none will uphold
The virtue of truth when a falsehood gains more.
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And supremacy national, “cakes and ale,”
Honour, and station, reward the lie;
Let us lie then like statesmen, like fathers, and gold
We shall heap and keep;—the world is war
And out of war's articles, none will uphold
The virtue of truth when a falsehood gains more.
(Chorus.)
—Lie! let us lie! Oh! we'll make the lies fit;It's the only way mortals their fortunes can knit.
| Studies of Sensation and Event | |