Page images
PDF
EPUB

166

The Day of Judgment.

And when the dark and silent grave
Its gloomy jaws shall close,

And the stern master and his slave
Alike in dust repose,—

Couldst thou bewraie thy Birthright soe
As flatter Guilt's prosperitye,
And laude Oppressiounes iron blowe-
This Worldes for Thee.

Sithence to this thou wilt not bend.
Life's at an end.

Couldst thou spurn Vertue meanly clad,
As if it 'twere spotted Infamy,
And prayse as Good what is most Bad-
This Worldes for Thee.

Sithence thou canst not will it soe,
Poor Flutterer goe!

If Head with Hearte could so accord,

In bond of perfyte Amitie,

That Falsehood raigned in Thoughte, Deed, Word

This Worldes for the Thee.

But scorning guile, Truth-plighted one!

Thy race is run.

Couldst thou laughe loude, when grieved hearts weep,

And Fiendlyke probe theire Agonye,

Rich harvest here thou soon wouldst reape

This Worldes for Thee;

But with the Weeper thou must weepe.

And sad watch keep.

The Day of Judgment.

Each bursting sigh, each bitter tear,

Each bosom's tortured beat,

Shall then in black array appear

Before the judgment seat.

Couldst thou smyle swete when Wrong hath wrung
The withers of the Poore but Prowde,

And by the rootes pluck out the tongue

That dare be lowde

In Righteous cause, whate'er may be-
This Worldes for Thee.

This canst thou not! Then fluttering thing
Unstained in thy puritye,

Sweep towards heaven with tireless wing-
Meet Home for Thee.

Feare not the crashing of Lyfe's Tree-
God's Love guides Thee.

167

Lord Deliver.

XCIII.

E. L. FOLLEN.

LORD deliver! thou canst save,
Save from evil, Mighty God ;-
Hear! oh hear the kneeling slave ;—
Break, oh break the oppressor's rod.

That captive's prayer—may it fill
All the earth, and all the sky;
Every other voice be still,

While he pleads to God on high.

He whose ear is every where,

Who doth silent sorrow see,
He will hear the captive's prayer—
He can set the captive free.

From the tyranny within,

Save thy children, Lord, we pray; Chains of iron, chains of sin

Let them all be cast away.

Freedom.

Love to man, and love to God,

These must all our weapons be; These can break the oppressor's rod, These will set the captive free.

169

Freedom.

XCIV.

EDWARD LYTTON BULWER.

Oh, Freedom! with prophet's voice,
Bid the ends of the earth rejoice!
Wherever the proud are strong,
And right is oppressed by wrong—
Wherever the day dim shines,

Through the cell where the captive pines-
Go forth, with a trumpet's sound!

And tell to the nations round

On the hills which the heroes trod,-
In the shrines of the saints of God,-
In the ruler's hall, and the martyr's prison,
That the slumber is broke and the sleeper
arisen!

That the day of the scourge and the fetter is

o'er,

And earth feels the tread of the Freeman once

more !

Speaking the Truth in Love.

XOV.*

EQUIP me for the war,

And teach my hands to fight;
My simple upright heart prepare,
And guide my words aright.

Control my every thought;
My whole of sin remove ;
Let all my works in thee be wrought ;
Let all be wrought in love.

From the Letter of Angelina Grimke.

How earnestly have I desired, not that we may escape suffering, but that we may be willing to endure unto the end. If we call upon the slaveholder to suffer the loss of what he calls property, then let us show him we make this demand from a deep sense of duty, by being ourselves willing to suffer the loss of character, property-yea, and life itself, in what we believe to be the cause of bleeding humanity. My mind has especially turned towards those, who are standing in the forefront of the battle; and the prayer has gone up for their preservation-not the preservation of their lives, but the preservation of their minds in humility and patience, faith, hope, and charity-that charity which is the bond of perfectness. At one time, I thought this system would be overthrown in blood, with the confused noise of the warrior; but a hope gleams across my mind, that our blood will be spilt, instead of the slaveholders; our lives will be taken, and theirs spared. Who that stands between the porch and the altar, weeping over the sins of the people, will not be willing to suffer, if such immense good will be accomplished.'

« ՆախորդըՇարունակել »