Her influential, gladdening, potent charms,
And saddest scenes of half their force disarms ;-
By her volition companies combine,
Each emulous all others to outshine;
Their different interests blended in one aim,
Emits one genial, philanthropic flame!
I cannot name them all, but foremost stand
Those who distribute Bibles through the land.
Next, Education, with majestic grace,
Bids Ignorance to her high reign give place.
Next, Washingtonian, and Temperance bands,
Of different names, unite their friendly hands;
And Peace Societies, on balmy wing
Their olive wreaths and unstained banners bring,
And would remind the warrior of those strains
That once saluted humble Bethlehem's plains;
And many stately structures meet our eyes,
Whose aims thee bless, and other lands surprise.
See, an infirmary for the eye and ear,
The poor are gratuitously aided here;
An institution to instruct the blind,
Also another to restore the mind
Of the wild maniac; and for those provide
Whose maladies have human skill defied.
And here is one entitled to high fame,
To instruct the deaf mute its exalted aim;
Where those of intellectual strength profound,
Whose ears are closed to each harmonious sound,
Whose thirst for knowledge leads them to explore
Its utmost limits; deprecate no more
Their incapacity science to gain,
But its most lofty summit may attain.
And who are these of philanthropic mould,
Who to the world its mysteries unfold?
Whose noble, generous, Heaven-approving aim,
Is from degrading influence to reclaim
The hapless female, on whose wretched head
Reproach her baneful canopy has spread.
Oh! base destroyer of domestic bliss!
Canst thou inhabit such a land as this?
Is thy vice-steeled, impenetrable breast
Of every tender feeling dispossessed?
Canst thou behold such generous efforts made
To aid the victims by thy wiles betrayed,
And not to thy own bosom censure take,
And, to the utmost, reparation make?
Then quickly to some trackless desert flee,
And rid New England of a wretch like thee!
I leave thee to thy conscience, and thy God!
May the seducer's paths no more be trod
By those who to New England affiance claim,
Or tarnish this illustrious nation's fame.
And who are these by kind attentions led?
A band of orphans, nurtured, clothed and fed;
NEW ENGLAND, may thy annals ever bear
Such rich memorials of thy fostering care;
Here, too, from their galled limbs, Africa's race
Their fetters break, and find a resting place,
And friends, who pity, soothe, and would redress
Their direful wrongs, and saddened spirits bless.
Truly, benevolence is of heavenly birth,
Sent by its origin to bless our earth.
I do not know, and therefore cannot name
All institutions that should notice claim;
And shall to those of skill surpassing mine,
This pleasing, most elaborate task resign.
I call on these to rally 'round thy shrine,
And ask the world if mammon's cause be thine?
True, there are individuals, in whose breasts
This God takes up his most unhallowed rest;
Such as acknowledge his degrading reign,
And would their fellow-beings firm enchain.
But injudicious must that writer be,
Who can such proofs of pure benevolence see,
And mammon-worship still ascribe to thee!
NEW ENGLAND! were it gracious Heaven's design
That changeless wreaths of gladness should entwine
A nation on the earth, these wreaths were thine.
What countless miseries, and what untold ills,
God of this world, upon thy train attend!
What floods of widows' and orphans' tears
Have at thy bidding flowed. The Savior's laws
Would teach us to do good to all mankind,
To covet not, but hold our worldly goods,
As stewards under him, to be bestowed
At his command. O, were this rule obeyed
By all who here profess to follow him,
How changed the aspect of this vale of tears,
How would the truth be quickened in its course,
And Zion from the dust arise and sing.
But avarice spreads her baleful influence round,
Freezing the fount of Christian sympathies,
And checking man's benevolence to man.
As sadly thus I mused at eventide,
The "timely dew of sleep" my eyelids closed,
And dream usurped the place of waking thought,
When lo! a vison strange before me rose.
Methought that time on earth was past; I saw
The great white throne, and Him who sat thereon,
Before whose face the earth and heaven fled !
The books were opened, and the unnumbered dead
Before Him stood to wait their final doom.
I gazed with awe upon the concourse vast,
Of every age and nation gathered there;
But chief observed one trembling, gloomy train,
And heard the Judge their fearful fate pronounce:
"Ye votaries of Mammon, hence depart!
Who hoarded wealth on earth, but were not rich
Toward your God, nor treasure had in heaven.
For I was naked and ye clothed me not --
Sick and in prison, and ye came not there —
Hungry, athirst, ye pitied not." And then
The sad response came up, "When saw we thee
In prison, sick, or hungry, or athirst,
Or naked, and relieved thee not?" He heard,
And pointing to the hosts of ransomed ones,
With palms of victory, and robes of white,
"Even as ye did it not to these," he said,
"Ye did it not to me. Here ye behold
The poor despised on earth, but rich in faith,
Heirs of the kingdom they have entered now.
But ye despised the poor, and heeded not
The words I spake, It is more blessed to give
Than to receive.' See yon shining group,
With crowns of many stars? Those were on earth
My faithful, suffering servants; there they toiled,
With voice, and pen, and press, to scatter light
O'er a sin-darkened world; while ye in ease
And plenty lived, and to each warm appeal
Turned a deaf ear, yea, more, your hands withheld
Oftimes their lawful dues, their service paid
With careless, cold neglect. Mistaken souls!
To think to serve your God and Mammon too;
But as ye sowed, so shall ye reap; on earth
Ye sowed unto the flesh; then wonder not
That of the flesh ye reap corruption now."
In terror I awoke, and trembling prayed
That on my heart, though weak and erring oft,
This blighting curse, this foe to God and man,
Might never lay its soul-destroying power.
FROM THE GERMAN OF HOLTY.
Oh! follow ever truth and right
Till in thy silent grave,
And soften not a finger's breadth
The laws which Jesus gave!
So shalt thou through thy pilgrim life,
As through green meadows pass,
And calmly in the face of death,
Look without fear at last;
So children's children seek thy grave,
And tears weep there upon;
And summer flowers of fragrance full,
Shall from those tears be born.
Welcome, beyond the utmost power,
Of words to speak, the day will be,
When, dear America! thy sons
The colored race as brethren see!
When in the holy house of prayer,
With you, they then as equals kneel,
That house, the only one on earth,
Where all men should as equals feel.
Beneath that roof of EQUAL RIGHTS,
If tears of deep repentance fall,
Whether from white or blackmen's eyes,
They please alike the Lord of all;
The tints of those who pray to Him,
He heeds not, be they black or bright;
He only sees the suppliants's heart,
Content if THAT be pure and white!
"If the African slave trade is piracy, the coasting slave trade cannot be innocent, nor can its aggravated turpitude be denied. In the sight of the same God who abhors the iniquity of the African slave trade, neither the American slave trade nor slavery itself, can be held guiltless."
My country, shall thy honored name
Be as a by-word through the world?
Rouse! for (as if to blast thy fame)
This keen reproach is at thee hurled-
"The banner that above thee waves,
Is floating o'er three million slaves."
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