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204

The Green Bag.

When Solomon essayed to hire His neighbor Hiram, King of Tyre, To build the Temple, for his toil He offered store of wheat and oil; But that he might more profit see, He threw in towns in Galilee, Which when they came to sight of Hiram He did not very much admire 'em. And so the Tyrian merchantmen And Carthaginian traders, when They boldly sailed to Britain's isle, The pictured natives did beguile With cheap inducements and ' job lots ' Of girdles, beads, and showy pots; — The founders of our common law Were caught with glittering gewgaw. The pious, thrifty Puritan, In buying with a frying-pan A township of the Indian land, Gave waters of a scorching brand; And so the honest Hollander In purchasing the Mohawk fur Threw in with gaudy flannel caps Some gallons of the strongest Schnapps. "'T is not the age of business cards, Of ' dodgers ' littering up the yards, Of overhanging glittering signs, Of hand-bills with their crude designs, Which vex the street and spoil the fences, And swamp the profits in expenses; But 'tis the age of chromo-art, Which brightens humble house and heart, And adds to dwellings of the poor The beauty of the rich man's door, Gladdens the weary housewife's eyes, And stills the fretting children's cries. The indispensable milkman Delivers cream in patent can; Butter comes home on wooden plates, In pictured box the sugared cates;

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