Hustle them in, bustle them in, Fetid with squalor, and reeking with gin, Loaded with misery, folly, and sin-- Hustle them, bustle them, jostle them in! Few are the sorrows so hopelessly drear But they have sad representatives here; Never a crime so complete and confessed But has come hither for one night of rest. Seeds that the thorns of diseases may bear Float on the putrid and smoke-laden air; Ghosts of destruction are haunting each breath-- Soft-stepping agents, commissioned by Death. Crowd them in rows, comrades or foes, Deadened with liquor and deafened with din, Fugitives out of the frosts and the snows, Hustle them, bustle them, jostle them in! * * * * * [Illustration: "WEARY OLD MAN WITH THE SNOW-DRIFTED HAIR, NOT BY YOUR FAULT ARE YOU SUFFERING THERE."] Guilt has not pressed unto its breast All who are taking this dingy unrest: Innocence often is Misery's guest; Sorrow may strike at the brightest and best. You from whom hope, but not feeling, has fled, This is your refuge from pauperhood's bed; Timorous lad with a sensitive face, You have no record of crime and disgrace; Weary old man with the snow-drifted hair, Not by your fault are you suffering there, Never a child of your cherishing nigh-- 'Tis not for sin you so drearily die. Pain, in all lands, smites with two hands-- Guilty and good may encounter the test; Misery's cord is of different strands; Sorrow may strike at the brightest and best. Sympathy's tear, warm and sincere, Cannot but glisten while lingering near. Edge not away, sir, in horror of fear, These are your brothers--this family here! What if Misfortune had made _you_ forlorn With her stiletto as well as her scorn? What if some fiend had been making _you_ sure With more temptation than flesh could endure? What if you deep in the slums had been born, Cradled in villany, christened in scorn? What if your toys had been tainted with crime? What if your baby hands dabbled in slime? Judge them with ruth. Maybe, in truth, It is not they, but their luck, that is here. Fancy _your_ growth from a sin-nurtured youth; Pity their weakness, and give them a tear.