Apologia

In vain hands bent on sacrifice or clasped in prayer we see;
The ways of God are not exactly what those ways should be.
The swindler and the ruffian lead pleasant lives enough,
While judgments overtake the good and many a sharp rebuff.
The swaggering bully stalks along as blithely as you please,
While those who never miss their prayers are martyrs to disease.
And if great God Almighty fails to keep the balance true,
What can we hope that paltry mortal magistrates will do?