I. br NOT without envy Wealth at times must look br On their brown strength who wield the reaping-hook.' br And scythe, or at the forge-fire shape the plough br Or the steel harness of the steeds of steam; br All who, by skill and patience, anyhow br Make service noble, and the earth redeem br From savageness. By kingly accolade br Than theirs was never worthier knighthood made. br Well for them, if, while demagogues their vain br And evil counsels proffer, they maintain br Their honest manhood unseduced, and wage br No war with Labor's right to Labor's gain br Of sweet home-comfort, rest of hand and brain, br And softer pillow for the head of Age. br II. br And well for Gain if it ungrudging yields br Labor its just demand; and well for Ease br If in the uses of its own, it sees br No wrong to him who tills its pleasant fields br And spreads the table of its luxuries. br The interests of the rich man and the poor br Are one and same, inseparable evermore; br And, when scant wage or labor fail to give br Food, shelter, raiment, wherewithal to live, br Need has its rights, necessity its claim. br Yea, even self-wrought misery and shame br Test well the charity suffering long and kind. br The home-pressed question of the age can find br No answer in the catch-words of the blind br Leaders of blind. Solution there is none br Save in the Golden Rule of Christ alone.