The love of man for man she taught;
She taught that human rights are dear;
She loved the home, and sought to cheer
Sad hearts; and she erected here
A citadel for honest thought.
This was enough. With sullen look
Great guns of war on Oread
Frown down on her defenseless head.
And now the baleful star has said:
"Her doom is writ in Fate's great book."3 2
Then came indictments and grave writs
For treason, construction of, or high;
Which had been found with legal eye,
In ample form and quality,
And sanctioned by juristic wits.
So ordered by Lecompte, the great
First Justice, Chief;-upon whose head
Had clustered all the glory shed
By Southern laws;-whose life was fed
On that rare meat, early and late,
Which doth enchant and chain the mind,-
While Slavery had entwined around
His heart, and in whose smile he found That pure, sweet grace,, which doth confound Justice and those to her inclined. 33
Three victims now for treason 34 stand
In proud sublimity,- each name
Denotes its cause; its public fame;
Its noble birth, and why it came
To do its work sublimely grand.
Free State Hotel- Kansas Free State-
Herald of Freedom, these the foes
Of Slavery's cause; - here were the woes From "Bogus" laws denounced,—here blows For Justice struck sublimely great.
the fortress Freedom built!
Let cannon roar!
Cast out the press!
Will silence speech!
The shattering fall
Set fire to all
Within, and crush the freeman's guilt!"
These the hoarse shouts of Sheriff Jones.
The savage work is done, and there
The fiends of hell ride in the air;
And frowning furies of despair
Shriek their shrill notes in dismal tones.
Carry the news, oh Crime! nor lag
In thy hot haste, to herald forth
The fall of Lawrence and the North!
Now over all, in matchless worth
To Southern cause, the great red flag,
Whereon the lone star shines, there waves
And flaunts insulting in the gale;-
But Freedom, listening, heard the wail
Of her three friends, and saw the trail
Of Treason passing o'er their graves.
Lawrence, you yet shall drink the cup
Of gall, and wear the weeds of woe;-
You yet shall feel the savage blow
And deadly shaft from Treason's bow,-
Yet go down and with Affliction sup.
This past, the victor's crown shall wear.
Lawrence, no more thy fate bewail!
Sprung from the ashes, thee we hail,
Immortal Phoenix of the vale!
And thy proud name and glory share.
Here shall our children joyous come,
From Learning's ample fount to drink;-
Perhaps from Euclid here to shrink,
And with poetic Virgil, link
The Trojan race to that of Rome.
Or here in academic shade
With Plato walk; or find the school Where Athens' sage made wise the fool; Or trace beneath the tyrant's rule Great states, and see their glory fade;
Or here, in some sequestered spot,
The song and theme of poet praise;
Or from the heights of Oread gaze
On other worlds, and catch the rays
Of suns whose years bewilder thought.
FREEDOM'S CHAMPION.
Now the great Nestor of debate,
The manly Sumner, stands with bold
And godlike front, and there unrolled
The scroll of Infamy, and told
How nations fall and how grow great,-
And waiting Senate listening heard.
The Nation heard; and heard the foul And sodden South, who then with scowl Of visage dire sent forth a howl, In answer to the heavenly word. Kansas his theme,-of crime to tell, Which he flung down at Slavery's door. Then Slavery struck, 't is writ in lore. Of hell, and down on Senate floor, Beneath the blow, great Sumner fell. 37
LIBERTY AND JOHN BROWN.
Then Liberty, who long had wept
O'er crimes committed in her name,
Took her sad flight from halls where Fame
Had blazoned forth her deeds, and came
On sable wing of Night, where kept
Her sacred watch-fire burning bright
On Kansas soil, the great John Brown.
Him she found;-not in busy town,
Or soft on easy couch lain down;
But on the grassy plain, where Night
With scent of flower and gentle dew Refreshed, him sad and lowly bent In fervent prayer, and turbulent Unrest she found;-then flashing sent O'er him her radiant light, and threw
Her armor down, and thus began:
"Great friend of man and liberty,
My name and cause shall honored be
In this broad land from sea to sea;
Soon shall Slavery's course be run.
"But ere that time, a mighty hand,
Well worthy of the Titan race,
Must here be raised, and in the face
Of Treason break the lance, and chase
Its furies howling from the land.
"Here in the shade of sacred Night,
With all her stars and heavenly train
Of worshipers who brightly reign
On high to note, thy soul I chain
To my great cause, and give thee sight
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