Page:Poems written during the progress of the abolition question in the United States.djvu/72

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LINES,

Written on reading the spirited and manly remarks of Gov. Ritner^[1] of Pennsylvania, in his late Message, on the subject of Slavery.

Thank God for the token!—one lip is still free—
One spirit untrammelled—unbending one knee!
Like the oak of the mountain, deep-rooted and firm,
Erect, when the multitude bends to the storm;
When traitors to Freedom, and Honor, and God,
Are bowed at an Idol polluted with blood;
When the recreant North has forgotten her trust,
And the lip of her honor is low in the dust,—
Thank God, that one man from the shackle has broken!
Thank God, that one man, as a freeman, has spoken!

↑ The fact greatly redounds to the credit, and will serve to perpetuate the memory of this independent farmer and high-minded statesman, that he alone, of all the Governors in the Union, has met the insulting demands and scare-crow menaces of the South, in a manner becoming a freeman and a hater of slavery, in his late message to the Legislature of Pennsylvania.

[1] The fact greatly redounds to the credit, and will serve to perpetuate the memory of this independent farmer and high-minded statesman, that he alone, of all the Governors in the Union, has met the insulting demands and scare-crow menaces of the South, in a manner becoming a freeman and a hater of slavery, in his late message to the Legislature of Pennsylvania.

[1]