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Show \V nn A RosE, That Bloomet l on tl1 6, Day of John /Jrown's ltfar~yl'dom. IN tho I nn ~ s il t'OCC' of tho ni ght, Nnturo's benlf{ntmt power Woku nRpimtion ~ for tho light Within tho folded flower. Its proscnco and tho g ra cious day l\lado summer in tho room, But woman's oycs sh od tender dow On the little rose in bloom. Tbon ulos~;omod forth n grander !lower, In tho wilderness of wron g, Untouched by Slavery's bittor frost, A Ron! dovout and stron g . O od-wt~t ch cd , tha t century pl:tnt uprose, l'ar shinin ~ throngl.l tho gloom, Filliug a nntion wilb l11o breath or 1\ nolllo lifo in 'bloom. A lifo 80 powC'rful in its truth, .A nature so compl!'to ; It conquered rule r, j ndgo nnd priest, And bel (! them t~l ils fl'ot. Death sron1l'ti prond ro tnko a sonl So henulirnlly given, An<l the g~tll ows only proved to him A stepping-stone to h eaven. Each ch eerful won!, each valiant act, So s imple, so !\ulJiilllo, Spoke to us lh•·ou ~h lho r ever ent hush Which sanc tified !hut limo. That moment when the lJra,•o old man " ' C'nt so serenely forth, Wilh footstt'(l!' whoso unfalte ring tread Itecchoed through tho North. Tho sword ho wielded for tho ri ~;ht Turns to n. victor's ptdm; llis memory sounds forever moro, A spirit-~ tiJTin g psalm. No breath of shnme can touch his shield, Nor ngos dim its shine; Living, ho nHltlo lifo 'b<.'autifnl,Dying, mndo clcalh divino. No monument of q uarried s tone, No eloqm' nce of speech, Can g rn.vo tho lessons on the land His mnrtyrdom will teach. No nulo!!Y like hi!; own words, 'Vith h e ro-~pi ri t ri!'o, "I trnly serve tho cnnse I love, l3y yiohling up my lifo." .£ J{ . c-It~ -ff. VI. LETTERS OF VICTOR Huco. IIAUTEVILLE IIouSJo~, Dec. 2, 1859. SIR: When one thinks of ihc United Stale· of America, a maje tic fi gure ri ·cs to the mind-1Vashington. Now, in that country of 1Vashing ton, cc 'vhat is going on at this hour! There are slaves in tl1c Southern S tate:;, a faet which strikes with indignation, as the most monstrous of contradielion ", the reasonable and freer con ·cicncc of the Northern Stat<'. . The c sla vc , I hc'sc neg roc. , a w bite man, a free man, one John Brown, wanted to deliver. Certainly, if in urrection be ever a , acrcd duty, it is against Slavery. Brown wi::;hcd to ~egin the good work by the deliverance of the slaYcs in Virginia. B eing a Puritan, a r eligious and austere man, and full of the G o~ p e1, he cried. aloud to these menl1is brothers - the cry oC emancipation "Christ lw. set us free ! " The .la vc~, enervated by Slavery, made no r esponse to his appeal- Slavery makes deafness in the ouL Brown, finding him~clf abamloncd, fought with a. lrandful of heroic men ; ltc stnrgglctl; he fell, riddled with bullets ; his two yonng sons, martyr:; of a holy cau c, dead at his side. This is whn t i .., called tire llarpcr's F erry amtir. ,Joltn Brown, taken pri 'oncr, has just been tried, with four of his fellow:;; - Stephens, Uoppoc, Green, and. Copeland. \Vhat ~ort of trial it was, a word will tell. Brown, stretched. upon a truckle bed, with s1x half-closed (99) |
