Poems Written During the Progress of the Abolition Question in the United States

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TO TH:C MEMORY OF THOM.AS SHIPLEY, P•·esidcnt of tl<e Pennsylvania Abolition Society, wlto died on tl<e l7tl• of the 9tl< mo. 1836, a devoted C/n·istian ancl Philanthropist. · GoNE t<> thy heavenly Father's rest- The flowers of Eden round thee blowing! And, on thine ear, the murmurs blest Of Shiloah's waters softly flowing! Beneath that Tree of Life which gives To all the earth its healing leaves- In the white robe of angels clad, And wandering by tlmt sacred river, Whose stroams of holiness make glad The city of our God forever ! Gentlest of spirits !-not for thee Our tears are shed-our sighs are gireo: Why mourn to know thou art a free Partaker of the joys of Heaven ? 59 Finished thy work, and kept thy faith In Christian firmness unto death : And beautiful, as sky and earth, When Autumn's sun is downward going, The blessed memory of thy worth Around thy place of slumber glowing ! But, wo for us ! who linO"er still With feebler strength 0and hearts less lowly, And minds Jess steadfast to the will Of Him, whose every work is holy! For not like thine, is crucified The spirit of our human pride: And, at the bondman's tale of wo, And, for the outcast and forsaken, Not warm like thine, but cold and slow, Our weaker sympathies awaken ! Darkly upon our struggling way The storm of human hate is sweeping ; Hunted and branded, and a prey, Our watch amidst the darkness keeping! Oh ! for that hidden strength which can Nerve unto death the inner man! Oh ! for thy spirit tried and true, And constant in the hour of trial­Prepared to suffer, or to do, In meekness and in self-denial.