How Wicked We Am

"How wieked we ara when we Bot down and fink it ober," said Brother Gardner as tho voice of the triangle struck the liour of 7. "While I keep tryin' to believe inlleaben.l keep wonderin' how any of us will eber git dar We mus' not envy, an' yit we do envy We inua' not b'ar false wltnesa, an' yit we am foreber strotcliin' de truf. We mus' not )ie, an' yit it comes so handy dat we can't help it. We mus' not steal, an' - an' some of us don't. Dat is, we doau' get ínter a posishun to handle de funds. We mus' be jealous, an' yit when de woinau auross de way, whose husband airns $6 per week, sails out wid fo' new bonnets a y'ar, am it human natur' far iny ole woman to look arter her an' not wish she had hold of her back ha'r? We mus' not sw'ar, au yit what am 1 to do when I strike the eand of a sidewalk plank wid my fut, or whaek my thuiub wid de hammer ? Am it lo be supposed dat 1 will calmly sot down an' sing a gospel hyinn V "Wheu we trade hosses wid a tnun, we cheat him. When a man wants to borry a dollah of us, we lie to Iiiaa, We play keerds, dance, go to de theater an' circus, an' we doan' turn our backs on a dog-ligt t. I teil you we am all poo', weak human bein's, an' eben while we flattcr ourselves dat we am slidin' 'long to'rda Heaben at de rate of a inile a minute, we am all ready to pass a lead nickel on a streek kyar company, or pocket do $5 bill foun' in de postoflice. When I sot down at niglit an' pull off my butes an' put my feet in de oven an' git to tbinkin' of how hard I try to be good, an'hovv pow'ful easy it is to be bad, 1 becomo so absorbed in my thoughta dat de ole woman has to hit me on de ear wid a 'tatter to bring me back to airth an' start me out arter au arinful of wood. Gem'len, let us conti uer to try to be angels, but let us count on wrestlin' wid Satan about fo'ty times a day, an' on bein' fvown flat on our backs ebery blessed time. -