Oppression feared the day of equal rights,
Predicted; covetous extortion kept
In mind the hour of reckoning, soon to come;
And bribed injustice thought of being judged,
When he should stand on equal foot beside
The man he wronged. And surely-nay, 't is true,
Most true, beyond all whispering of doubt-
That he who lifted up the reeking scourge,
Dripping with gore from the slave's back, before
He struck again, had paused, and seriously
Of that tribunal thought, where God himself
Should look him in the face, and ask, in wrath,
'Why didst thou this? Man! was he not thy
Bone of thy bone, and flesh and blood of thine?' But, ah! this truth, by Heaven and reason taught, Was never fully credited on earth.
The titled, flattered, lofty men of power,
Whose wealth bought verdicts of applause for deeds
Of wickedness, could ne'er believe the time
Should truly come, when judgment should proceed
Impartially against them; and they, too,
Have no good speaker at the Judge's ear,
No witnesses to bring them off for gold,
No
power to turn the sentence from its course:
And they of low estate, who saw themselves,
Day after day, despised, and wronged, and mocked,
Without redress, could scarcely think the day
Should e'er arrive, when they in truth should stand
On perfect level with the potentates
And princes of the earth, and have their cause
Examined fairly, and their rights allowed.
But now this truth was felt, believed and felt,
That men were really of a common stock;
That no man ever had been more than man.”
REALIZATION OF PROPHECY.
"Much prophecy-revealed by holy bards, Who sung the will of Heaven by Judah's streams— Much prophecy that waited long, the scoff Of lips uncircumcised, was then fulfilled; To the last tittle scrupulously fulfilled. It was foretold, by those of ancient days,
A time should come when wickedness should weep
Abased; when every lofty look of man
Should be bowed down, and all his haughtiness
Made low; when righteousness alone should lift
The head in glory, and rejoice at heart;
When many, first in splendor and renown,
Should be most vile; and many, lowest once,
And last in Poverty's obscurest nook,
Highest and first in honor should be seen
Exalted; and when some, when all the good,
Should rise to glory and eternal life;
And all the bad, lamenting, wake, condemned
To shame, contempt, and everlasting grief.
"These prophecies had tarried long; so long, That many wagged the head, and, taunting, asked, "When shall they come?' But asked no more, nor mocked:
For the reproach of prophecy was wiped
Away, and every word of God found true."
"And, oh! what change of state, what change of rank,
In that assembly every where was seen!
The humble-hearted laughed, the lofty mourned, And every man, according to his works Wrought in the body, there took character."
"Thus stood they mixed: all generations stood Of all mankind. Innumerable throng! Great harvest of the grave! waiting the will Of Heaven, attentively and silent all, As forest spreading out beneath the calm Of evening skies, when even the single leaf Is heard distinctly rustle down, and fall; So silent they: when, from above, the sound Of rapid wheels approached; and suddenly In heaven appeared a host of angels strong, With chariots and with steeds of burning fire: Cherub, and Seraph, Thrones, Dominions, Powers, Bright in celestial armor, dazzling, rode : And, leading in the front, illustrious shone, Michael and Gabriel-servants long approved In high commission-girt that day with power, Which naught created, man or devil, might Resist: nor waited gazing long; but quick Descending, silently and without song, As servants bent to do their master's work, To middle air they raised the human race, Above the path long traveled by the sun;
And, as a shepherd from the sheep divides
The goats; or husbandman, with reaping bands,
In harvest separates the precious wheat,
Selected from the tares; so did they part
Mankind-the good and bad, to right and left-
To meet no more: these ne'er again to smile,
Nor those to weep; these never more to share
Society of mercy with the saints,
Nor henceforth those to suffer with the vile.
Strange parting! not for hours, nor days, nor months,
Nor for ten thousand times ten thousand years;
But for a whole eternity! though fit,
And pleasant to the righteous, yet to all
Strange, and most strangely felt! The sire, to right
Retiring, saw the son, sprung from his loins—
Beloved, how dearly once! but who forgot
Too soon, in sin's intoxicating cup,
The father's warnings and the mother's tears—
Fall to the left, among the reprobate ;
And sons redeemed, beheld the fathers, whom
They loved and honored once, gathered among
The wicked: brothers, sisters, kinsmen, friends—
Husband and wife, who ate at the same board,
And under the same roof, united, dwelt,
From youth to hoary age, bearing the chance
And change of time together-parted then
For evermore. But none whose friendship grew
From virtue's pure and everlasting root,
Took different roads; these, knit in stricter bonds
Of amity, embracing, saw no more
Death with his scythe stand by, nor heard the word,
The bitter word, which closed all earthly friendships,
And finished every feast of love-Farewell.
To all, strange parting! to the wicked, sad
And terrible! new horror seized them while
They saw the saints withdrawing, and with them
All hope of safety, all delay of wrath."
THE CROWN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.
"Beneath a crown of rosy light-like that
Which once in Goshen on the flocks, and herds,
And dwellings, smiled, of Jacob, while the land
Of Nile was dark; or like the pillar bright
Of sacred fire, that stood above the sons
Of Israel, when they camped at midnight by
The foot of Horeb, or the desert side
Of Sinai-now the righteous took their place;
All took their place who ever wished to go
To heaven for heaven's own sake; not one remained
Among the accursed, that e'er desired with all
The heart to be redeemed; that ever sought
Submissively to do the will of God,
Howe'er it crossed his own; or to escape
Hell, for aught other than its penal fires.
All took their place rejoicing, and beheld,
In centre of the crown of golden beams
That canopied them o'er, these gracious words,
Blushing with tints of love: 'Fear not, my saints." "
THE WICKED BOUND.
"To other sight of horrible dismay Jehovah's ministers the wicked drove,
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