For the peace which shall follow the squadrons' tramp, Where the brazen trumpets bray, And, drunk with the fury of storm and strife, The blood-red chargers neigh. For the peace which shall wash out the leprous stain Of our slavery, foul and grim, And shall sunder the fetters which creak and clank On the down-trodden dark man's limb. I will curse him as traitor, and false of heart, Out! out of the way! with your spurious peace, We will rescue our land from the traitorous grasp, Out! out of the way!, with your knavish schemes, Crouch away in the dark, like a sneaking hound You would barter the fruit of our fathers' blood, To purchase a place with rebellion's votes, By the widow's wail, by the mother's tears, The Prescience of the Poet. (EXTRACT FROM MR. MURDOCH'S LECTURES.) THE following lines are from a poem by Thomas Buchanan Read, Esq., entitled "The New Pastoral," published about ten years ago. They derive their present interest mainly from the fact that they are singularly prophetic of events which now form the murky clouds enshrouding the whole nation in one common gloom, and of the rainbow arch of hope which will hereafter break forth and dispel the darkness in the ordered time of Him who hath said, "I make peace and create evil." Mr. Read seems to have been impressed with the idea of awakening the enthusiasm of the people in favor of their country, by elevating them above mere party strifes, and filling them with the inspiration of a great cause. In one of the passages, you will observe, he anticipates the time when, through the machinations of the artful and designing demagogue, this fair land may be divided and desolated by civil war, and, with surprising prescience, signalizes, and almost names, the man who, from the ranks of toil and private life, may arise to redeem the nation. Whether in this peculiar passage he had the present Chief Magistrate in view, it is not for me to say; but certainly the reader cannot fail to distinguish something like a portrait of that President who, born among the people and in his early life devoted to hard toil, may, with the blessing of divine Providence, prove to be the accepted chieftain of the deliverance of the Republic, and the perpetuation of the Union. This extract was first read in the Hall of Representatives at Washington, on the occasion of a benefit for the sick and wounded soldiers. A large and distinguished audience was present; the extract was part of my introduction; and, as I uttered the prophecy concerning the man of the West, Mr. Lincoln entered the chamber and seated himself in a chair on the right of the Speaker's stand, near the entrance. He was not observed for some moments, but gradually his presence was acknowledged by loud applause, which finally became general, as the application of his position and services to the poet's language became apparent and general. I was not aware of his presence, till, pausing in respect to the applause, I inadvertently turned, and saw the President in the chair near to the door. He came late, and, not wishing to disturb the speaker, he had entered alone, and quietly seated himself in the vacant chair. Extract from The New Pastoral, BY THOMAS BUCHANAN READ. Oн, to roam, like the rivers, through empires of woods, Leave the tears to the maiden, the fears to the child, There the deep forests fall, and the old shadows fly, Oh, the East holds no place where the onward can rest, Let contemplation view the future scene. Afar the woods before the vision fly, Swift as the shadow o'er the meadow-grass When the red grate usurps the wooded hearth. Perform their errands to the Mexic Gulf, And send them back the tropic bales and fruits. Dream of the troublous days before their time, Where rose the first rude cabin, and the space Where stood the forest chapel with its graves, Perchance the mightiest inland mart shall spring; Which tinkering knaves have striven to set ajar! That they shall hold when heavier bands shall fail, There are trembling hearts and there are tongues, |