Page:A Nineteenth Century Satire.djvu/17

The present Age is one of bounce and brass,
When men are lionised who play the ass;
An Age, when impudence and recklessness
With many is the secret of success;
Which in the mildest terms one can but call,
Both superficial and sensational.
And of the latter—need I say? the cause
Is men's mad thirst for popular applause.
It is an Age of shams and counterfeits,
In Commerce, in our churches, shops and streets;
An Age distinguished for the paltriest tricks
Of Trade, and Literature and Politics;
An Age of humbug, flummery and cant.
Of hurry-skurry action, and loud rant;
A pleasure-seeking and ambitious Age,
In which sensation follies are the rage;
When what is styled, a most successful hit!
Is oft devoid of decency and wit;
An Age of cheap and nasty literature.
Aiming to undermine the good and pure;
An Age which labours to corrupt our youth,
And with false doctrines to obscure the truth;
An Age when Priestcraft's sleek-faced, treacherous men.
In spirit crucify our Lord again;