LIBRARY OF CONGRESS^ @]^. itiit^'r^ ]|a, Slielf_...Z:.f." \ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. TREA.i 4 .li^i— t ^?\3 OR ^ ^t ■^ c^ >^ m^. » >^ » >^' ^\ E strong, 0, woman heart, not wisest, best, "^ Are the pent feelings of a mother's breast " Before she learns, with instinct half divine, To lay her treasures on no earthly shrine ; But trusting to the power that leads her forth, Accepts the omen of a higher birth ; This then, the meed that sorrow brings to thee, And bids thy soul rejoice in being free; The truer freedom that is won by tears, And lays its trophies in the lap of years. That others, guiding o'er life's sea, their bark, May catch the glory of its faintest spark. From shriven hearts, the highest light is cast, Wrought by the anvil and the furnace blast; The Yulcan spirit that subdues the world And casts her children in a purer mold. Then go ye forth with hope all clear and bright, For morn is breaking from the shades of night, — The bright exultant morning of the soul. That lights earth's children to a higher goal. Where Justice will be poised by weight and scale, And Truth walk radiant with a coat of mail. This then, the dawn of that bright day foretold That sages sighed for, and did ne'er behold; But to thine eyes, the mystic scroll is given To view the grandeur of the spirit's heaven. Then wonder not that through earth's darksome way. Thy feet have led thee to the dawning day Whose portal opes upon thy wondering gaze, With all the splendor of its noontide rays; 40 BE STRONG. But grasp the weapons lying by thy side, And launch thy bark upon the flowing tide. A broad expansive ocean is before, Whose waves are laving bright the farther shore, Of a fair sunny Isle, thy future home. Where all tlie treasures of thy heart shall come, And bid thy mother love again rejoice To hear the echo of each loving voice, While fervently thy heart shall say Amen ! To greet the objects of its love again. A work more radiant than all else before, Is waiting ready at thy spirit's door. Thou see'st it not, but soon it will be given ; The mandate comes to thee from highest heaven ; Then ready be ; thyself with thought prepare ; The way is plain, the landscape green and fair. Along the widening cycle of thy way. Behold the promise of the future day Whose morning beams are piercing earth and sky, And bidding ignorance and discord fly. TAKE COURAGE. 41 TAKE COURAGE. Written in Boston, Massachusetts, March 14, 1869. forth to-day! 0, doubting heart! Thy sky is bright and clear ; The winged messengers of love Dwell in thine atmosphere. Their pinions fan thy fevered brow, Their seal is on thy lip ; And honeyed words, ye may not hear, Like fragrant dew ye sip. Ye walk where heavenly breezes Are wafting healing balm, Thy footsteps leading ilpward, Where life has no alarm ; Where all is fair and tender. And words are not in vain. The friends, whose name are legion, Take up the glad refrain. For, sounding from that ''Better Land," The welkin yet shall ring With glowing music, deep and strong, And thoughts the angels bring. In garb of truth and purity. Then walk thy earthly way; No somber thoughts must mar thee now, Or tinge thy dawning day. 42 TAKE COURAGE. Thy glowing path, for which we've toiled And labored on for years, Is opening wide before thee now, Revealed through shining tears, Whose softening influence holy Adorns and elevates, Subdues the wayward fancy, And nobler power creates. Let no despondent thoughts unfold. Nor retrospection, sore, Benumb and stultify the mind. But look ye on before ; Look to the shining future, Leave sorrow with the past. Letting its dark receding wave Flow from thee swift and fast. All hail! the hopes and lessons That wait upon this hour ! In other lands, 'mid other scenes, You'll grasp your soul's bright dower; You'll feel the current deep and strong. Nor fear to stem the tide ; For know ye not the seers of old Are walking by j^our side? The fearless ones, whose mortal breath Went up 'mid smoke and flame ; Yet left an influence ye have felt That seeks no empty fame. Ye know the truth ; then dare proclaim No idle life for thee; Before thy birth the seal was set That made thy spirit free. TAKE COURAGE. 43 We've seen the sorrow of thy life ; We've felt its direst wrong ; But every pang thy bosom knew Hath made thee true and strong- Hath paved the way for angels, To come and enter in The deep recesses, where thy God Dwells free from dust and din. Within the living temple, ' The altar and the shrine, Stored deep within the mysteries Of the great eternal mind ; 'Mid grander scenes than mortals Can see, or feel, or know, Yet, as the ages ripen. Still deeper, stronger grow The power to grasp and handle, To lessen and subdue, The difficulties in the path Of all who DARE BE TRUE. U WOMAN AND MAN. WOMAN AND MAN. Written in reply to a communication from "Esop Jr.," published in the "Banner of Progress," August, 1867. I grant I am a woman; but no more a woman for being Lord Brutus' wife; I grant I am a woman; but withal more than Cato's daughter; If I am stronger than my sex, 'tis by virtue of my Womanhood, In spite of Brutus, or of Cato. — Shakspeare, improved. ET us take a survey of the status of the "first pair," as the representatives of the race, from the history furnished us by Moses, and embellished by wise theologians and pulpit ora- tors all the way down from that startling period when God spake worlds into existence, and commenced to people this little planet — • Earth — by creating man and woman. The history of woman in the Bible furnishes us with very meagre outlines, it is true, for the leading minds of that time were too intent on parading the attributes of the masculine side of creation, out of which were evolved a God to rule the universe. But enough is given to hold up the mirror and show that our much-abused Mother was the first to awaken to a perception of the possibilities which, though vaguely shadowed forth, were to crown the perfect develop- ment of the race; showing that her spiritual and perceptive facul- ties, being more quickened, xoisdom, typified by the serpent, was presented her. Theologians, in casting about for a solution of this great starting point, have been pleased to call it "Adam's fall," and have stigmatized and anathematized woman, in conjunction with the serpent, for being instrumental in bringing a^^at such a dire calamity. Thus mankind have ever rewarded their benefactors. The Bible leaves us in the dark as to the sex of the angel whom God sent with a flaming sword to drive our "first parents" from their sylvan retreat. But there is no doubt that the masculine principle was there represented; hence the "executive power" displayed. Theol- ogy has unwittingly joaid woman a compliment in this connection, by placing her as the leader up into higher conditions, as well as stimulating man to a true perception of his own capabilities. It is not surprising that the human mind at that age should conceive of a masculine God, for it had not arrived at that condition where it WOMAN AND MAN. 45 could comprehend the higher feminine attributes, which are love, mercy, and wisdom. The leading conceptions of an age always deter- mine the status of that age. But the first great decade of the ages is completed, and we now stand on the threshhold of another era, where woman must take her rightful place beside her brother; not as a rival, but as an intelligent co-operator in all the affairs of humanity. She has heretofore been a blind slave to his whims and caprices. And the first step in that direction will be to restore the equilibrium of sex. Mankind have been trying to walk erect with the right side paralyzed, and conse- quently have performed an unnatural locomotion. As with indi- viduals, so with nations. Woman in the past has only performed the lower functions in maternity; never dreaming that she represents the higher creative power of the planet, or that Nature has consigned to her the great work of forming the God-like human soul, male as well as female. To do this nobly, and in accordance with the great design, she must be educated, in the highest sense of the word; she must cultivate all her powers, aU her inherent attributes; she must understand, and enter into all the avenues of life. No more determining of artificial bounds of sex that have been engendered in the ignorance of the past. "Maternity is the decree of Nature." True, and by virtue of that decree, woman is raised above all others in her added powers and capabilities. And when she bears a part in the legislation of the American Republic, there will be an impetus given to civilization that will startle the nations from their lethargy, and furnish the crowning act in the drama of human jprogress. 46 ODE. ODE. AYritten for tlie first anniversary of the Woman's Suflfrage Society, San Francisco, October, 1S70. jN^E year ago to-day a Spartan band — The truest, bravest, noblest of the land — Assembled in this city by the sea, Proclaiming boldly, woman must he free! " The ballot gained, can aught else be denied! Let bigots sneer, for Jess have martyrs died, We see the future; here we count the cost; The battle for the right is never lost." From small beginnings see the forest grow, The cities' tumult fill the vale below. Old Ocean's heaving bosom covered o'er With stately ships, while on the teeming shore The din of labor, every freeman's pride. Is moving commerce with a o-iant stride. '•t) But 'tis a bolder theme we sing to-night; These are but shadows to the morning light. Lo woman comes! the ballot in her hand, Opening the portal to a structure grand, Enchantress of the future ! free to steer The Ship of State beyond the breakers clear; Bringing her mother-love, sacred and pure. To bear upon the laws, for error's cure; Redeeming man from stern Mosaic rule That stamps its impress on our modern school; No more the subject ruled for selfish power, The worshiped, fondled plaything of the hour, But nature's queen in royal robes arrayed, Her sceptre love, her throne the world's arcade. ODE. 47 So we, to-night, recount with glowing pen The past years work, to be completed when The Suffrage Ship is safely moored away With victory sure, within some land-locked bay. Good friends be cheered! the present is aglow With hope and promise; all the past doth show A prophecy that time will render sure, Then watch and work and patiently endure. Humanity with bleeding heart doth plead For woman's influence in this hour of need; The fabled story of poor Adam's fall Has reached a climax, in this modern thrall; The subject, woman, and the master, man. Hath brought the Nations under fearful ban. We ask a hearing ; here we press our claim To our own birthright in a woman's name, Give us the Ballot; with it comes the power To right old wrongs; then consecrate this hour To woman's effort; all her latent strength Like pent-up forces, must assert itself. The noble river in its majesty Among green glades while sweeping to the sea, Dammed and diverted from its native course By artificial barriers of force, O'erflows its banks and inundates the land, Demoralizing all the work of man. So woman's nature, damned by man-made laws, O'ersteps all bounds, and man her brother, draws Into the vortex where they both must fall. Cursed by the tyranny that crushes all. Let nobler motives move the people now, Before whose mandates even kings must bow. Till every woman in Earth's broad domain Shall rend her fetters and cast off her chain. 48 AWAKE. AWAKE. DEDICATED TO THE TRUE AND EARNEST WOMEN OF CALIFORNIA. NOVEMBER, 16, 1866. [PEAK thou for Woman, glorious theme! Write with a pen of fire! Proclaim her world-wide destiny Along the electric wire. Raise thou the fallen ones of earth — What nobler work to do, When distant generations will Give back the homage due! "b^ Learn well thy task, with zeal pursue Thy heaven-appointed way; The thoughtless may ignore thy work, Yet heed not what they say. The ages wait, with lagging foot. The God-power in the race. To hurl the truth, with purpose high, In Error's dastard face. Old Superstition rears its head Within Earth's fairest bowers, And seeks to blast, with poisonous breath, Her brightest, sweetest flowers; Thy work is there, to speak the truth, Though Bigots sternly frown. To tread beneath thy fearless foot And crush the monster down. AWAKE. Fear not the task will be too great, For strength to thee is given, Through thorny paths thou has been led Unto the gates of heaven. Then will ye halt, and waiting stand, With all this knowledge bright, And see the hosts of Error march To overrule the right. Then seize the pen; with burning ire Awake the slumbering mind; Pour God-like truth, in jDotent words, Upon all human kind. The spell is broke ; the angel world Is hovering near to all ; Dull is the life, and dark the mind, Whereon no light may fall. 49 50 THE PEN IS MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD. THE PEN IS MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD." DEDICATED TO J. M. ROBERTS, EDITOR OP " MIND AND MATTER. [RAYE words are mighty. Happy he who sees with prescient eye, The coming time, resplendent as meteors in the sky! The age of Light and Progress, that bards have long foretold In words prophetic, on the page they gleam like burn- ished gold. So like great Nature's anthem, or the hero's deathless fame, Shall be the echoes of that voice that dares high Truth proclaim. Speak to the lowly and the weak, inspire the doubting soul ; So shall ye soar to loftier heights, and nobler spheres control. Our country lifts her standard high o'er all the hill- tops now, And brings a crown of promise to deck her people's brow: Far in the van heroic souls are clad in bright array, To lead the march of Nations, and point th' unerring way. We catch their deep, inspiring tone — we hear their battle-cry — 'Tis borne aloft in swelling hearts toward the towering sky, THE PEN IS MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD. 51 And finds response in distant lands, where Freedom lies in chains, Forged by relentless tyrants from vile and subtle brains. Reach forth the hand of sympathy, and gird the earth around! Proclaim the mandate of the Free unto the farthest bound ! ^''Tlie 'pen is mightier than the sword!'' Brave words can never die ; Then in the cause of Liberty, rear thou the standard high. 52 , TO ADA. TO ADA. On lier Birthday. From thy Mother, Rockland, Maine, August 3, 1868. [HY natal day! again the year Has glided by, and lo! 'tis here; ^ And standing on our native strand. Where northern billows, swelling grand, Encircle, with their merry mirth. The sturdy land that gave you birth ; Your mother, with a hopeful heart, In all your trials bears a part. And backward, o'er the bygone years Though watered oft with bitter tears, Can view the wisdom that has led; And smoothed how oft life's thorny bed; And now, with finger pointmg bright, It leads from out the stormy night To clearer skies, wiiere gentler gales Shall fill for thee the swelling sails, To waft thy bark with hopeful glee Upon the future's unknown sea; May you be wise, your heart rejoice. And heed the spirit's "still small voice. That speaking to your heart to-day Shall guide and lead your feet away From the low planes, where sordid hearts Do congregate, to swell the marts Of worldly pride and selhsh care. That desecrate the temple fair, And stultify the God-like part Whose shrine is every human heart. TO MRS. H. E. G. 53 TO MRS. H. E. G. ON HER BIRTHDAY, APRIL 17, 1880. Y friend, I would an offering lay On this, thy Earth-life's natal day. Nor sordid boon I claim for thee, It would not make thy spirit free; It would retard the higher power That hovers round thy natal hour. I would point up with hope and joy To gild the gold without alloy. That in the higher mansions lay For all that lead the shining way; Who do the deeds thy hand hath done From early morn to setting sun ; Who feed the hungry, clothe the poor, Nor turn the beggar from the door. I see for thee a grander power Stretch onward from this natal hour, A widening path of hope and joride, Outwrought with angels by thy side — Thy mother-love, thy woman's soul, Shall bear thee to that higher goal. Through earth's dark path thy steps shall lead To help the stricken in their need, To smooth the bed of pain and death, Bringing the sufferer back to health. Thy onward path shall yet be bright, Resplendent with the power of Right. Go forward, then; be not deterred By frown, or sneer, or cruel word ; 54^ TO MRS. H. E. G. The age is dark with crime" s deep thrall, Censure and sorrow meet us all; The angels turn their face away When Earth's fair children go astray; The mother, bending from the skies, Surveys us oft through weeping eyes. With armor bright pursue thy way Toward the grander, purer day, When you will stand with angels bright Beyond the turmoil and the bliglit, And words of love and joy will hear — "Daughter, well done! Reward is here." DEDICATED TO MRS. O. M. W. 55 DEDICATED TO MRS. 0. M. W. ON HER FIFTIETH BIRTHDAY, APRIL 5, 1881. lAUSE and listen! Angel voices Swell the corridors above; Fifty years, with solemn music, Canopied by deeds of love. Pause and listen! earthly sister, Round thee floats the Seraph song; Noble deeds — sublime, immortal, Borne by spirit bands along. Pause and listen ! Earnest voices Mingle with the pean high; List the lessons that they bring thee, Upward turn thy wondsring eye. Fields of ether float above thee, Mapped be3^ond thy eager view; Full of hope and bold endeavor. Comes the lesson unto you. Pause and listen! Are ye ready For the earnest, crowding bands Asking thee to grasp the weapons Borne aloft by angel hands? Fifty years! Oh, pause and listen! Are ye ready for the fray ? Year eventful — full of warning, Ushers in this natal day. 56 DEDICATED TO MRS. 0, M. W. Pause and listen ! Earthly treasures Lay their blessings at thy feet; Of thy stewardship be mindful Ere another year ye greet. 0, be mindful of the mission To no other one consigned! Let its nobler, higher duties Raise aloft thy thoughtful mind. Lo, they pass. The grave procession, Filing through the streets of time — Years that hold our best endeavor; Years that chant a funeral chime. Ere another year shall greet thee, Higher, nobler deeds unfold, Bravely meet the coming crisis. Fling thy standard to the world. Listen for the angel voices Floating through the ambient air; Notes of warning — words of wisdom, Sounding from the portal fair. Heed and listen! comes the mandate From a purer, fairer land; High above this world of sorrow, From thy loved — thy angel band. LESSONS. 57 LESSONS. ' Tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything." XL lesser streams are silenced In ocean's grander roar; The cataract majestic, Is sounding evermore. Nature's eternal anthem Leaves naught imsaid, unsung, Type of the mind immortal. Whose lyre the Godhead strung How like the wild sea's current, " Casting up mire and dirt," Are human souls, still struggling The evil to avert. To reach a higher standpoint, If heaven perchance be nigh, Or sinking in the vortex. Where fear and discord lie. But nature's plan is onward; The burdened soul descries, Beyond the umbrageous forest, The hills of promise rise ; Grander, because the valley Is nestling in between; Fairer, because all tangled The thickets intervene ; 68 LESSONS. Clearer, for sparkling dew-drops, Like gems bedeck the way, ( I Their scintillations blending With the peerless light of day. All nature reads a lesson To this thinking soul of mine, Truer than fabled stor}', More potent, more benign. The page alive and glowing ; Each word a spoken psalm ; Sent with the force of lightning, All error to disarm. Read thou that page, my brother, 'Tis open round thy way ; All ample to thy vision, The golden sunlight's ray. Shall gild thy mind's researches, Trace out the hidden plan, And teach God's ways are easy To the delving soul of man. Then woman's mind so fitted, Life's mysteries to discern, Will poise with open vision, A higher truth to learn. 'Tis laid on all your altars, This open book so fair; Scan well the page before you — Read thou the lesson there. LESSONS. 59 Perchance a problem deeper, May stagger and amaze; But patience on the morrow, Dispels the mist and haze. While inspiration glowing, Still comes from worlds above, Where the Father's "many mansions" Are 'rayed with purer love, 60^ . REVEILLE. REVEILLE, OR DRUM BEAT Al BREAK OF DAY. ^0, the promised day is dawning, Long foretold by prophets old ! And the sign of truth and progress High above us is unrolled ; And the muffled tramp of millions, Arming for the coming fight. Throng the hill-side and the valle}^, With their armor burnished bright! Up, and doing! noble workers. In the cause of truth and right. On the breeze, from distant nations, Hear the bugle's stirring note, And the loud-mouth'd cannon, sounding Warning from its brazen throat! Every man must do his duty. Every Avoman wield a power ; Earth, from out the sleep of ages. Waits the great baptismal hour! 0, be earnest, zealous, truthful. Ye who claim the higher dower! Read the lesson, tyrants; tremble! Long beneath your blighting sway God-like souls have toiled, and fainted With the burden of the day! See the martyrs crowned with glory. Bending from their higher spheres! REVEILLE. 61 Courage, brothers, light is breaking! And the blinding weight of tears, Wrung from hearts oppressed and tortur'd, Renovates the coming years. Woman! patient, hopeful, trusting. Send your burning thoughts afar ; Truth's bright standard be your watchword. Justice high your guiding star; For your part the age is waiting — Harkning for the grander chime! Now it lacks the truer key-note, That shall make men's lives sublime! Mothers, daughters, wives, and sisters, Yours the greatest work of time. Up and doing! Souls are sleeping That but need your potent power, Rousing them to higher motives, Such as suit this fateful hour! Know thyself, and then thy duty Plain before thee will uprise ; Then the new and purer Era, Free from Error's dark disguise, Shall unfold before your vision, Spanning earth, and sea, and skies. 62 frep:dom'.s promise. FREEDOM'S PROMISE. "Freedom's battle once begun, Bequeathed from bleeding sire to son, Though baffled oft, is ever won." E still, 0, anxious hearts! and. calmly wait The coming hour that tells a people" s fate. Curb the deep throbbings of your heaving breasts, 0, lowly ones, who long have been oppressed! And ye, who stand upon the watchman's tower, And read the record of each passing hour, Nerve your brave hearts with a diviner glow, For aspiration like the ocean's flow. Is welling up from souls whose latent power Will brook nor metes nor bounds to Freedom's dower. 0, subtle souls! whose boon it is to know By Reason's power and Inspiration's glow, The deeper current of this moving life, Whose every phase with higher thought is rife — Work nobly, earnestly, and proudly dare To urge the conquest of a realm so fair, Upon whose grander hights the coming man Shall walk triumphant to great Nature's plan-, No more the tool, the plaything of the hour, He stands a god, nor fears the tyrant's power! But ere that distant goal shall be attained. To basest ends the good will be profaned; FREEDOM'S PROMISE. 63 While demagogues, in robes of ermine clad, Corrupt the nation, meek-eyed Justice, sad, With mournful gaze surveys the passing scene. Yet sees, beyond the mists that intervene, A radiant future, tinged with golden beams — A full-orbed Freedom, on whose summit teems The culmination of long-toiling years, Outwrought through agony, and blood, and tears. Roll back the curtain of the starry dome! Survey the grandeur of the spirit's home! ''Let there be light!" the cheering strain prolong, And 0, ye nations! swell the magic song, Till earth's remotest mountain shall proclaim A people's birth-right is no idle name! Hurl Pope and Potentate from earthly throne — Justice and right shall circle every zone ; A higher Faith will cheer the coming age, Redeeming death, and bright'ning history's page. The maudlin priest, with creed and parchment old, No longer leads; truth is not bought and sold, But conies untrammeled from the spheres above, And draws the people by the power of love; It needs no organ peal, no steeples high. No mitred crown nor hypocritic sigh, But throws its holy spell o'er high and low. Embracing Nations in its hallowed glow. 64 WOMANHOOD. WOMANHOOD. Written in Boston, in January, 1S68. 'VENTS more important than any tliat have graced the thea- ter of American affairs are just befoi'e us, sounding the knell of a greater than African slavery; that which comes nearer this people and takes a stronger hold upon the institutions of the land; a slavery that is jjolluting every avenue of civilization and dragging humanity down to the level of animal life, without its natural and normal condition. It is none other than the degra- dation of xvoman, the mother of the race, the fair pillar of our republic, lying prostrate in the dust, shorn of her bright proportions and serving only as a stumbling block to bar the progress of the ages. Look abroad and behold her in all the departments of life; first, the fashionable lady, prostituting her God-given attributes upon the shrine of folly and show; then contrast with her the over-worked daughters of toil; then the poor, degraded child of crime and sensu- ality. But, it may be asked, are there no honorable women, wives, and mothers, over all the land, to redeem this fearful picture that hangs like a pall upon the walls of our American structure? Ah, 'tis of these we would speak to-day ! Are they filling the true jalace designed by the great Architect of the universe ? Wives they are, 'tis true; mothers they must be perforce, not often by their own free will, or what means the fearful crime that follows so closely on these relations ? for it is alarmingly prevalent in so-called married life, and not confined, by any means, to those outside of conventional marriage. This is the most vital question of the age. Womanhood is offered an unhallowed sacrifice to the demon, licentiousness, that is walking forth to-day, in all the panoply of power within Church and State, desolating shrines wliere innocence and purity dwell. It is a disease whose accumulating force has been the work of centuries; a leprosy before whose scathing influence humanity pauses, spell-bound and paralyzed. We say womanhood is sacrifice:l, because she is emphat- ically the victim; and the cause originated with the license of priest- hood, far back in the past. Mahometanism and Mormonism are WOMANHOOD. 65 the hot-beds where swarm and fester the emanations of the hydra- headed monster whose magnetic radiations are permeating all nations and peoples. Silently but surely it takes hold on every department of human life. "Let us eat, drink, and be merry, for to-morrow we die," is the language of Christendom to-day, not to go abroad for multiplied proofs of this fearful malady. Woman, then, is the doomed and helpless instrument to transmit the curse to all gener- ations, through that w:hich was intended as the viost sacred and noble mission conferred upon the hufinan family. When will ye awake, oh, down-trodden daughters of humanity! to a truer appreci- ation of yourself — the leader, not the led ; the dictator and guardian of true motherhood, made sacred alone by its own inherent demands, based on natural laivs, governed by reason and intuition, those uner- ring guides to which all else must be subservient. Arise, then, oh, woman! and dare he free. Upon your decision must rest the fate of Empire. Man's aggressive and propelling spirit has wrought for you no flowery bed of ease; his protection has legislated you into imbecility, above whose vortex you are being launched into a whirlpool of despair and horror, where you must awake to the cries of your suffering ones, appealing to you at last for succor. And this comes by intrusting your God-given right and heritage to your brother, regardless of the mandate "Be true to thyself." Our nation has just passed through a bloody war, where your dear ones have been offered upon its altar. And what have you gained by the sacrifice ? Look around oh ! woman, and answer the question. Survey the two great political parties that are leading the nation on to anarchy. What are the principles won by your suffering and penance for others' sins ? Ask yourselves before God and your own womanhood, what are you doing for yourselves and your children. The same answer comes that has been heard from women in all the past: "We are looking for others to do our work; content to be subordinate, when God is speaking to you, through untold anguish, to intrust our work to no unskilled hands. Does your brother still offer protection ? Point him to your down-trodden sister, and bid him lift her up to woman's high estate; lead him into the dens of poverty, and ask him to throw his protecting arm around her there; accompany him within the marts of trade and comj)etition, and there see woman sacrificed and bleeding upon that unholy altar. Where has not woman been led, content, alas ! to follow out the programme 66 WOMANHOOD. engendered "vvithin an ignorant and adulterous age, whose turbid and relentless waters are deluging this fair heritage of our fathers, upon whose parchment scroll stands, like mockery, the words, "All governments derive their just power from the consent of the gov- erned." "A greater than Daniel has come to judgment," and will be heard. Yes, above the clamor of party strife and the senseless cry of demagogues, is heard the "voice that spake as never man spake:" "Ye are weighed in the balance, and found wanting!" "Prepare ye, for the day of God's vengeance is at hand!" "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto these. My little ones, ye have done it unto Me! " "Behold, I am leading this nation through troublous times! the seed has been sown; wonder not at the fruit of the harvest time." "Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles ? " These little ones whom ye despise, will, in turn, lead you forth, oh! "wicked and perverse generation." Already anointed are they for the work, and ye must give way. Blessed are they who have their lamps trimmed and burning to light up the nation's darkness ! On the scroll of after years will appear in characters of fire the history of to-day, written by the pen of inspiration, thrown backward over scenes -the mind shrinks now to contemplate. But fear not, ohf chosen ones, for the result; thy work will culminate there, and other times and other peoples will do thee homage. Be inspired to meet the demand that is calling thee with no gentle voice to the altar of sacrifice. Be calm, trusting and reliant. We know thy power and will guard tliy way, though it lead to the cannon's mouth or up the steeps of Calvary. MACEDONIA. 67 MACEDONIA. "Come over and help us." — Bible. [ISTERS, 'tis the Nation's morning! Ye the heralds of the day, Sounding forth a double warning, Be not loiterers by the way. Man, thy brother, stands bewildered. Clutching at the veriest straw, Patching up the broken fragments, While above, the higher law Thunders forth the word portentous That shall make the nations quake, And restore your own dear birthright, Speaking out as man ne'er spake. Heralds ye of grander lessons Than the ancient world e'er learned; Ye, the lowly ones and fettered, By your stronger brother spurned. But the gem that is embedded Deepest in the miry clay. Brightest shines when resurrected — Polished till the diamond's ray Sends its radiations onward. Sparkling like a coronal Set upon the brow of beauty^ Glowing thoughts and words to tell. 68 MACEDONIA. Man, thy brother, stands bewildered; Who, aU\s! shall break the spell? Who proclaim the mighty mandate. Arching heaven and spanning hell? Where the clarion voice, that, sounding, Shall reveal the dawning way? Who the mighty one entrusted To restore God's holy sway? Woman, thou, the chosen vessel. Yours the hand must grasp the helm ; Hear ye not the sounding breakers. Fear ye yet, the flood to stem? From the higher realms of silence, Arching worlds of space and time, Comes the key-note, forged in anger. Pealing forth from power sublime. Waken, then; your noble mission. Doubly earned by sighs and tears. Wafts thy soul to full fruition, Reaching out and quelling fears. Onward from the darker ages. Used for manhood's baser part. Crucified upon the altar Of thy brother's craven heart, Thou hast borne thy burdens meekly. While the asp's sting pierced thy breast, Granting all thy brother asked for. Bowing to his stern behest, MACEDONIA, 69 Till the race bore fearful impress Of the galling chains ye wore, Manacled in mind and purpose, ' Hearts perverted, reason lower Than the passions holding pastime O'er the God-like soul within, Chaining all the nobler instincts With an iron band of sin. Thou, the mother, God's own artist, In whose hand the chisel rare Is entrusted, for producing Beings worthy of thy care. Man, thy brother, is bewildered O'er the yawning chasm vast; Have thy lamps all trimmed and burning Hear ye not the trumpet blast? Lo the bridegroom comes ; be ready ; Go ye forth with power to-day. Grasp the weapons angels bring thee, Walking forth on God's highway. Fairer than a risen Jesus Comes the sun of truth to you Herald of the power that woman In her risen strength may do. 70 WOMAN. WOMAN. "Speak to the daughters of my people." OMAN, standing by the jDortal Of a newer, purer life, Grander far than all preceding, With a world's wide pur|)ose rife; Weaving thoughts that strain and quicken, Soaring forth to realms afar, Tracing out the hidden meaning Of each brightly beaming star; Sounding depths by man unfathomed, Reaching where the angels tread, Where the olden seers and prophets Have by fast and prayer been led; Waking strains that lead the ages, Striking chords that sweep the heart. Pointing to a bright elysium, Where ye, too, shall bear a part. God's own children, sorely fettered. Wake to higher, nobler life; Break the bonds that long have bound thee, Rise above the sordid strife; Gods are with thee; angels hasten To unbar the pearly gate, Letting in a flood of sunshine, O'er the turbid sea of hate. WOMAN. 71 In the nation's resurrection, Yoiir's the greatest, noblest part, Leading up your sons and brothers, With a brave, heroic heart. By the pangs ye, too, have suffered, Grird your bosom and be strong, For the sullen shocks of battle To these stirring times belong. Blood must flow before redemption Bathes thee with her clearer light; Earth-bound souls are still in prison, Groaning through the sultry night. Thine the hand, linked with thy brother, That must ^' roll the stone away " From the tomb of bygone ages, Where the ghosts of error lay. Heed the mandate! Wisdom calls thee; Clear her voice is — as the morn, And the savior of the people Ever is of woman horn. 72 PROGRESS. PROGRESS. ORNINGr dawns in mystic grandeur- Mother earth with beauty teems; Hoary mists of superstition Melt before the genial beams ; While the car of day mounts upward, Glowing, sparkling on her course ; Winning by her gentle influence — Her's no triumph born of force. Hope, with proud exultant pinion, Like a rainbow spans the way, Scattering radiant scintillations As the fountain's jetting spray. Lo ! the promise of the ages, Made to man, now dawns apace, Harbinger of th' umpire. Reason — Rise and give the stranger place! Principles sublime and mighty. Are evolved in ambient air; All the atmosphere is radiant — For the truth now do and dare! This the age demanding action! Gird your armor firmly on! Noble workers, heaven-directed. Human prejudice is strong. Toiling with a holy purpose, When the early morn appears, Glorious shall be the noon-day Of the swift revolving years. PROGRESS. JS Errors old must be combated, Priest and people shall advance, Musty parchments cannot longer Chain the mind in ignorance. For the present time is brilliant With the promise of the age ; They who run may read the lesson ; Bravely turn each glowing page. And the goal is human freedom! Who shall dare the race impede ? 'Tis your birthright, man and woman! Bow to neither sect nor creed! 74 LOVE. LOVE. '0 hand of mother, on me laid, Hath sanctified this holy name Nor offering on earth's altars made, Can bring the meed the soul would claim. But grander than the heights above, And deeper than the depths below, Far stronger than the northern blast Sweeping abo^e the arctic snow, Comes the full anthem from a heart Whose chords no master-hand hath swept. But smouldering fires hath burned, until, With strong convulsions, nature wept. Then from the vortex of despair Gleamed forth the souls diviner wealth. And far above a world of scorn, Looked deep within, and found itself. For truth no sordid mind may grasp Is undulating far and free. Embracing ties the world disowns, Probing the ages yet to be. The ages o'er whose trembling verge The great Archangel's trumpet-sound Shall echo 'mid your vales and hills. Breaking the silence so profound. LOVE. 75 The silence of the suffering heart, Made eloquent by keen despair, Until it rends the bridge of might And beards the lion in his lair. 0, woman love! in after years, When scourging hand hath set ye free, The offering of thy earthly life, Shall double power and purpose be, To gird thy soul for grander ends, Than e'en thy wildest dreams hath known; Then let thy birthright stand revealed 'Till woman's mission be up thrown. For on the placid sea of Love, Outreaching from thine own brave soul A current flows to bear thee on, Toward a grander, loftier goal. Then take the meed by suffering won. The guerdon of a grateful heart, A deeper incense still is thine And woman's hand must still impart. For w^ore than all the wealth of earth. And sordid aims that men pursue. Is the great sum of human Love In all its avenues made true. JUSTICE. JUSTICE. ^REAT truths, like buniing stars, flash forth at night, '^ Piercing the darkness, heralding the light; When dawning day reveals to mortal ken The hidden glories, long concealed from men. G-reat truths are born 'mid conflict and desjDair; They leap to light from sorrow's fruitful lair; Flashing like meteors, radiant, bright, serene, Spanning the darkness like the morning's beam. They come in whirlwinds, 'mid the tempest strife, And galvanize dead natures into life; Advance the progress of the lagging years ; Baptize the heart anew, through burning tears; Electrify the inner and divine, Purging the grossness of the common mind. Advance then, woman; know thy birth-right sure, The great of earth, are those who most endure; No laggard she, whose mind and heart may scan The opening vista of this age of man. How grand the shadows lift the soul above ; How bright the radiance of diviner love ; How still and deep the inner current leads, Searching the problem of the soul's great needs; Bidding us seek alway diviner guide, For holy angels walk our steps beside Their ministry for good, 0! let us heed; Leaving their impress on each daily deed ; For not in vain such counselors are given — They bring a foretaste of the bliss of heaven. A warning voice is whispered in our ear. JUSTICE. Like strains of music, on the evening clear Anon, in peril's hour, a clasping hand Is leading upward to a calmer land — A clime all free from error, grief or care, For Truth stands forth, guarding the portal fair. Then make thy mind. Oh! pilgrim on life's sea, A fitting temple of the great To Be. A grander chord of human thought must swell, To pierce the darkness of the bigot's hell, Dispelling ignorance, despair and hate, ' Alas! the legacy of cruel fate. Bequeathed by ages, o'er whose tomb of years. The soul sits brooding, full of doubts and fears, Still learns amid the lessons of the hour. The deeper eloquence of might and power ; The power of love, that bright, effulgent ray — How dwarfed the soul that answers not its sway ; How dark and stunted seem all else, beside The glowing beauty of great nature's bride; The permeating, searching power that blends Her swaying elements for grander ends. Stand forth, 0, Truth! despite the frown or sneer, Here build thy temple in the opening year; Scourging from out the altar's sacred fane All desecrations from unholy gain ; All baser passions, hoary with old time. Pregnant with echoes of medieval chime, We here invoke thee; waiting hearts lay bare, Inscribe thy lessons on the tablet fair. Anew we consecrate our life to thee. Oh, goddess of the future, pure and free; Thou guide divine, of souls baptized by fire, Until they wake the spirits' holier lyre 78 JUSTICE. With answering strains made eloquent and strong By burning contact with the monster Wrong. Here, like a child, we seek again the knee. To lisp our accents, and be taught of thee. We feel thy power — thy higher, nobler sway Confront our errors and our fears allay. We tread the confines of a better land. And feel the pressure of a guiding hand. 0, Truth sublime! thy presence we implore; Thy shield invoke ; our waiting hearts full sore Are bowed in silence; open thou the door And let the radiance of diviner love Descend and lift us to thy courts above. That we may tread thy mansions pure and free, And breathe the perfume of the great To Be. TRUST. 79 TRUST. AKK lowers the cloud! oh, human heart! Still bleeding and despairing? Then let me rend the veil apart, Thy deepest sorrows sharing. The past, a dark, sad picture weaves, To eyes all moist with weeping. The future, under love's bright leaves, Is purely, sweetly sleeping. In memory's heritage of tears The meadow-land is flowing, The hill of life at last appears To have another showing. A greater lesson comes to-day. Born of the tempest's raging; More true and lasting is its sway — A nobler life presaging. Shrink not to scan the picture well, Though pain in retrospection Shall cause the chords of life to swell Beneath the deep inspection. No faltering step has e'er been lost, But nobly, wisely taken. Though sharp and strong the pang it cost, With reason almost shaken, But poised above the sullen roar Of error, seething, swelling. The troubled heart, though sad and sore, Has reached a purer dwelling. so TRUST. All bright above the tempest's strife, In calmer trust reposing — A heritage well-earned, a life To grander ends emerging. A broader sweep of destiny Beams now above, displaying The true and wave-like symphony That higher love is swaying. All eager climb the mountain height Of sterling, wise endeavor; The beacon now is pointing bright. Despite the wind or weather. The guiding hand is thine; accej^t. For at the threshold waiting. An angel in the heart hath kept Thy earliest thoughts debating. The aspirations of the child, All garnered and protected, Assume a power more firm and mild That still is heaven directed. Life's mission then, will be more plain Unto thy comprehension, When thou dost learn it is in vain The Father's plan to question. But trusting^ yield thy better self. Heeding thine own impression ; And let thy deep soul's glowing wealth Become the world's possession. COMPENSATION. 81 COMPENSATION. lUMMER, in the lap of Autumn Pours her rich and golden store ; Bursting buds proclaim the Spring-time; When the Winter storm is o'er; So upon life's toilsome journey, Like the circling round of years; We may trace the deep emotions Moving us to smiles and tears. Yet again might Spring-time gladden, Did we keep the fountain clear, And with high resolves, determine, Only by the right to steer ; Moving thoughtfully, serenely, Like the onward march of Time, Noble deeds may be accomplished, And a destiny sublime. Grandly Nature tells her story, As the seasons glide along. Full of symbols, hints and warnings, That to every age belong ; Her's a quaint and ponderous volume, Every page is lettered o'er; Such as this, need no revising — Earnestly its truth explore.- Reap the harvest of the future; Rich experience will be there, If within life's early Spring-time, Thou hast sown the seeds with care, 82 COMPENSATION. Golden sheaves of thought and feeling, Well adorn the Autumn years ; Noble acts, and deeds of mercy, When the wintry gloom appears. Note the emblems of the morning, Scan the lessons of the day; When the twilight hour is dawning. Thoughtfully review the way; Let the night's deep inspiration, Eloquent with heavenly light. Nerve thee — guard thy every action — Keep thy spirit's armor bright! RETROSPECTION. 83 RETROSPECTION. Suggested while writing to Mrs. F. G. McDottgal ^NOW ye, my friend, within the radiance Of calmer hope I rest, Though surges from the waves of long ago Are beating 'gainst my breast. How wildly o'er the spirit comes anon Deep memories of the past. That present hours, though hallowed and blest With somber shades are cast. How in the solitude visions intrude Darkly athwart the day, That ghosts of other years stalk wildly in, Holding the will at bay. While children's voices mingle with the strains, The chimes that wake and start. The echo of whose footsteps come and go, Across the busy mart. The Summer bloom waned strangely o'er a path Held by an unseen band. Till Autumn's mellow fruit, in sunny hours, Lay tempting to the hand. Winter, the crowned monarch of the year, Held vigils o'er the way, While Spring, with bounding footstep, comes again. With bud and leaf and spray. Musing, I ask, while seasons come and go. What mean the tone they bring ? And why, along the twilight of the years We scent the breath of Spring ? RETROSPECTION. Why buds, that withered in the "long ago," Should wake to life again, With bells of memory, soft, and sweet, and low, Chiming a sad refrain ? I ask, and answer comes laden with trust, Life's truest lessons, like the costly flower, Spring ever from the dust. And wanton feet, that rudely crushed the buds Of early hope and faith, Find when the seasons wane with bitter blast, How cruel mem'ries scathe. See how the morning hues were tinged and blurr'd With discord, born of greed, Forgetting, in the rush for wealth and fame. The deeper soul's true meed. So buried treasures leap to life again. Touched by a potent power And lo! the spirit of the bud and leaf Burst into fruit and flower. THE INNER LIFE. 85 THE INNER LIFE. WALK a land of beauty; beyond the jarring whirl, I see a band of angels their banners bright unfurl ; I almost hear their footsteps press closely to my side; Their voices die in music, above the rolling tide — The tide of earthly being, that laves this lower strand, And surges o'er our human hearts with purpose high and grand, Relentless in its seeming, yet bouyant in its power. It brings the meed of recompense to gild each passing hour. Again I walk in shadows fraught with some mystic power. Athwart the dim horizon life's solemn fate-clouds lower; The angel voice is silent, my courage almost gone, My bark before the raging blast in fury dasheth on. Before my mental vision the dusty wayside teems With struggling, toiling millions, whose hopes are only dreams. I feel the heartful yearnings, the deep desponding tone. That Cometh from those sinking souls, on life's rough billows thrown. Again 'mid scenes of beauty, I rove with Angel guides; The calm is o'er my spirit thrown, no earthly care divides. 0, wonder of our being! 0, mystery none may know! Whose future is the ages, whose past is long ago, 86 THE INNER LIFH Whose symbol is the ocean, the mountain top serene — The grandeur of the forest, the valle}' thrown between, The majestic rolling river, the bright and flowery lea, The lake in placid beauty, the calm and tranquil sea. All these are emblems truly of the wayward heart of man, As he struggles upward blindly, yet ever in the van. Now proud ambition lures him, now faith serenely guides ; Anon, his nobler nature is surging like the tides; Then lowly in the valley his spirit seems to lie, Until we start in terror, to his sharp desponding cry. But on, forever onward, toward the higher goal. Sweeps the never ending current — 'Tis Man's Immortal Soul. HOMESTEAD VOICES. 87 HOMESTEAD VOICES. The Author arrived in California in 1851; revisited her Eastern home in 1868. lAUGHTER, come home!" a mother's heart is yearning, ^ And reaching forth its tendrils o'er the sea: ''A life-long wanderer! when will thy returning Bring back the hopes we felt go forth with thee ? Long years have come and gone, since the sad morning We saw bright visions luring thee away, And feared that thou, alas! our home love scorning, Would'st droop and falter over life's rough way." "Daughter, come home!" fond eyes to thee are turning — A father's thoughts dwell on thy lonely wa}^; He asks — with heaving sighs his heart is burning — Upon that distant shore, 0, why delay? We know the dreams that called thee hence are ended. That sorrow on thy heart has cast its blight; But inner strength with suffering i« blended, And now for thee there dawns a purer light. " Sister, come home!" a plaintiff voice is calling. From one who trod w^ith us life's early way. When all was gay, and rays of joy were falling Around like flakes of snow on wintry day. " 0, sister dear! my eyes are sad with weeping; Before my vision stands the vacant chair; A brother's* form, in coffined vestments sleeping. Was borne in sorrow to our threshold fair." *A brother who died in the naval hospital in New Orleans, Sept., 1864. 88 HOMESTEAD VOICES. '•'Sister, come home'.'" a brother, too, is pleading, In manly tones, 0, heed our earnest prayer! Too long ye stay, on buried hopes still feeding; Our childhood's haunts are green, and bright and fair 'Tis true you'll miss some dear, familiar faces. And Time has left his impress all around ; But roses bloom in "old remembered places," And childish playthings still bedeck the ground. "Mother, 0, come!" a daughter's tones are blending With sisters, friends, and kinsmen far away; "Arise! and back thy homeward path still wending. Recall the vision of the dawning da3^" A spirit sister speaks! 0, pause and listen! "You'll visit once again the scenes of yore! And while upon your lids the tear-drops glisten, You'll rigJitly con life's riddle sadly o'er." HOMEWARD 89 HOMEWARD. A reply to "Homestead Voices." San Francisco, May 1, 1S68. OTHER, I come! thy wandering child Would gaze once more upon thy face, Though time has left its impress there. And quenched the light of youthful grace That shone in earlier, happier years, Ere sorrow on thy lot was cast. And footsteps crossed home's threshold o'er. Leaving an echo as they passed. Father, I come! the years agone Have left deep traces on thy brow, While fancy, busy with the past. Is conjuring up the future now — The future, o'er whose untried way We walk with cautious steps and slow, When life's experiences have filled The past with bitterness and woe. Sister, I would an offering bring. Full of the lessons of the hour, j To span the void that death hath made, And build a bright, a living tower. Linked by a chain whose shining bands Knows no corroding touch of time — That reaches to immortal heights. And verges on a hope sublime. Then grieve no more for one whose form Is sleeping 'neath Pacific's wave; She is not there ! the immortal part Hath rose triumphant o'er the grave. 90 HOMEWARD. Xor, mother, mourn thy darling son, Who laid his earthly armor Ij}^, Beside a far-off southern shore, When waves of conflict raged so high. They are not gone, but with us still, Xo empty place is at our board ; And tears of sorrow ill befit Hearts Avith such living manna stored. Weep for earth's sufferers ever3^wherc, If weep ye must, but not for them! Tlieij walk the bright, immortal shore — These still Time's chilling billows stem. And more than all, I bring a boon, Born 'mid dark conflict's sternestpower; Its shield has been a living force To guide my steps through sorrow's hour. 'Tis Inspiration's holy light, That comes from higher, brighter spheres- Exultant lifts the soul above, And wipes away all earthly tears. OFF ACAPULCO. 91 OFF ACAPULCO. steamship "Golden Age," May 21, 1868. (TANDING on Time's towering headlands. Looking forth toward the sea. Tell us, bold explorer, frankly What thy fertile thoughts may be. Reach tney on to spheres untrodden, In the swiftly coming years ? Yerge they to a hope immortal, Or obscured by misty tears?. Bears the past thy feelings onward ? Lures the future to betray? Tell us truly, are ye musing, Idly wasting out life's day? ''Life is earnest," watch the current, Catch the gently whispering breeze, Trim thy sails with earnest purpose. Boldly steer o'er untried seas. Ever onward be thy motto, Storing knowledge on the way, Hope's elastic current bear thee To a brighter, happier day; Till ye view the silver lining, Tinging bright thy earthly cloud. Once enwrapping life's great duty, With the semblance of a shroud ; 92 OFF ACAPULCO Till ye view, with soul enraptured. Rights that mortal never trod. Looming forth with power and grandeur, In the mystic realm of God. GREETING TO MAINE. 93 CmEETING TO MAINE. Written while sailing through Penobscot Bay, June 10, 1868. Y native State; thy bounding sea Is nature's offering unto thee! The rocks that gird thy rugged shore Are written deep with mystic lore ; Thy lengthning coast and sunny isles Are luring with their many wiles Thy wandering child to seek thy breast And claim again the needful rest; For years of toil and feverish pain, That leave their traces on the brain, Benumbing oft with scathing power The inspiration of the hour That, come a. messenger of love To lift the groveling thoughts above. Penobscot Bay! thy restless waves. Reminder of thy children's graves In other lands, and severed wide Where rolls old ocean's ruthless tide. Revealing through these blinding tears, The hopes and dreams of other years. Here on this floating deck I stand, Raising by memory's magic wand The shadowy past, and laying bare The joys and sorrows written there. I come again for strength and power To aid me, in this earnest hour ; To consecrate the heart anew For the great work I see to do. 94 GREETING TO MAINE. Thy granite liills arc firm and strong; Inspired by these to grapple wrong, In God's own might the sword is drawn For generations yet unborn. Thy waving pine-tree's fragrant breath, Bright harbingers of life, not death, Are speaking wivth a living voice, To elevate and to rejoice The hearts of those, where error blind Doth cripple all the powers of mind. I come again, thy wayward child, To read thy history wierd and wild. Where Winter with his sternest power Stalks wildly forth, through field and bower, Laying his hand with withering might On Summer's golden treasures bright; Stern emblem of the blighting power That desolates the festive hour. I bring experience rich and rare, Enwrapping with a mantle fair The present dim, uncertain way. And lighting up with hopes bright ray The coming day, whose eastern beams Are faintly shadowed forth in gleams Of higher thought and nobler aim, That seeks no answering voice: Fame! But is content that future time Adown the ages, shall consign To earnest souls, the meed that's due, Regardless of the lioiv or who^ For compensation's law is true, Extending all creation through. GREETING TO MAINE, 95 The lowliest child that seeks thy soil Can gain a recompense by toil — Toil of the heart, or hand or brain. These are the thoughts I bring, Maine! And lay this offering at thy feet. Where Ocean's restless billows meet. Accept the tribute of my la}^ : A grateful heart, I bring to-day ; The legacy of childhood's years Is brightly seen through falling tears — A soul to scan J a heart to grieve^ A will to pity and relieve^ ' A loyal love for truth and rights Deep hatred of the tyrants might. I pledge my fealty, through tears, Beside the shrine of early years, And nerve my heart, with strength and power For the great future's trial hour. 96 REVISITED. REVISITED. Written on the shore of Penobscot Bay, June 1869. "Hast thou come with the heart of thy childhood back, The free, the pure, the kind ? So murmured the trees in my homeward track, As they played to the mountain wind." — Mrs. Hemans Long years agone, a thouglitful child, I stood Beside the restless, ever-changing sea. Gazing afar ; and by some wondrous power, The future, in that dreamy mood. Was sho\vn to me. '^HE haze that floated over the coming years was lifted, reveal- ing the grief, the turmoil, the changing scenes, which memory now calls up from the dim cloisters of the shadowy past. But then 'twas summoned forth by some weird, mystic spell, that riveted the senses, chaining them as by magic, to the sorcery of the hour. The wild panorama of Ocean, as restless as the heart that beat in the bosom of the wayward, undisciplined child, was heaving and surging forward, then breaking in bright Waves along the pebbly beach. Then fancies, like wandering ghosts, thronged quick and fast before the enraptured vision, while nature, in that prophetic hour, was questioned and importuned to reveal the end and aim of human hopes and aspirations. The bland, soft breath of June, redolent with flow^ers and lumi- nous with sunshine, floated around, wafting fragrance to the senses, imbued alike with past and futui'c themes. The woman soul was wakening to the music of coming years; now harsh and discordant — anon, fully teeming with the hopes that lend their stimuli to the struggling soul. How deep the question, as eagerly the thoughts went searching for an answer to the mind's strong, yearning tone. What is the end and aim of ail this mighty plan ? Hour after hour went unheeded by, and still the deep problem of life remained unsolved, while the ocean sang its sublime anthem, as it had in all the ages, yet tenderly encircling a green isle, which, EEVISITED. 97 like an oasis in the desert of a barren life, reposed amid the waste of waters. Since then, eventful years, mirrored forth by the waves of that restless sea, have left their impress upon the childish brow reflected there on that bright Summer day. Still, the question asked again, 'mid other scenes, beneath stranger skies, remains unanswered. And oft the weary head, hot with the world's feverish breath, has longed to seek the solitude of that hour, and wandering back beyond the dark vista of life's bewildering shams, repose once more in the innocence of childhood's idle dreams. But when the boon again was given to seek the haunts of early years, how changed the sylvan scene ! The waves were sounding still, but how reproachfully their chorus fell upon the listening ear ! Then the future was again invoked, but the dark, relentless past pushed sternly in, demanding with imperious tone a trophy worthy of the lessons given in childhood's thoughtful moods. Then the blotted page that memory offered to the soul's vision was scanned anew. Hand in hand with vanished hours, were trod the old familiar paths, trying to recall the glowing fancies that gave wings to the fleeting Summer days. Ah ! where are now the buoyant hopes that gilded all with rainbow hues of promise? Then the answer came, faint and scarcely articulate: "Not dead, but sleep- ing." From out these old retreats a murmur, like the "voice of many waters," sounded in the ear, "From this meridian hight survey fearlessly the warnings of the past, and by them learn the lesson of the hour. Begin anew thy journey and thy life; let the mistakes and errors of early undisciplined years, serve as guides for the coming day; seek not to look too eagerly into that which is to be, but let no present duty go undone; awake the enthusiasm of the youthful heart, sanctified by the sorrow of the past and be prepared for all the future may demand." Wood, field, and ocean, spread before the vision, waved assent to the deep import of these solemn words, as, turning into the old familiar path, weary feet retraced the homeward way. But the old question asked by the child-heart, and the problem all unanswered and unsolved, still beckoned on toward the unknown and undiscov- ered that is ever beyond. The setting sun, throwing his rays athwart the path, reflecting shadows of rock and tree, cast a mild, soft radiance on all around, quieting the turbulent beating of a sor- rowing heart. Thus I passed again from my childhood haunts, with heart softened and subdued by the influence of the scene, and better prepared to grapple with the stern role of fate. 98 THE INDIAN'S WARNING. THE INDIAN'S WARNING. "the AMERICAN INDIAN AS HE WAS, AND AS HE IS. 'EW ENGLAND! on thy wave-washed shore I sit and list the billow's roar, As on the pinions of the past, Wild thoughts are hieing with the blast. I hear the tides of long ago Surge onward with a steady flow, Bearing the sturdy years away To open up a brighter day. I see the past; oh, who shall dare Unfold the scroll that's written there? And to this generation read The record of each bloody deed? The red man's hope, the red man's pride Is graven on this flowing tide ; And as the swiftly urged canoe Shall come the lesson unto you: These are our lands; we've passed away, Yet still we speak to you to-day. And through the daughters of your land. Will renovate and guard the strand. We come, without a whoop or sound. From the great Spirit's hunting-ground, To touch your hearts with living fire And bid your spirits come up higher. The future we dare not unfold, Your hearts would tremble to behold; For retribution's sullen tide THE INDIAN'S WARNING. 99 Must surge above your towering pride, Before you learn the power and might That follows in the wake of Right, The Indian's vengeance still is here, We come in love and know no fear. We come with arrows keen and bright; Precursor to a stormy night. Before the mists are cleared away That usher in the new-born day. Your sachems fan their council-fire With hate and wrath and burning ire, And do not heed the still, small voice That bids a people's heart rejoice. The Indian's vengeance does not sleep; It towers above yon rocky steep, It cleaves the bosom of your bay, And shoots athwart the sun's bright ray. It is a vengeance deep and long! Heed it ye weak; tremble, ye strong! For, like the arrow swiftly sped. Its aim is poised to heart and head. Your wigwams raise, your watch-fires build, Your flocks are here, your lands are tilled, Your big canoes are swift and strong. But freighted deep with greed and wrong. An altar build, and incense burn To heaven, from out a living urn. Till higher truth shall lead you forth To battle 'gainst the wrongs of earth. The Indian's spirit comes to save. For red man's heart is " strong and brave." 100 IMPROMPTU. IMPROMPTU. To a Friend, who asked for a Poem, San Francisco, 1866. iGAIN you ask a poem, 1113^ friend, You seem to think We've naught to do but take our peii And dip it in the ink. You do not know, the poet's heaven Is far and hard to gain, And that the journey thither Is fraught with grief and pain. That blinding waves of discord, Are surging round our wa}^, While dark'ning gorge and battlement Shut out the sun's bright ray. That oft on slippery pathway. And narrow shelving rock. We pause, to see the lightning play And list the thunder shock. Yet, do not deem our progress Is ever dark and wild, For flowers are springing in our path To lure us, as a child. And radiant landscape, clear and bright- With gently murmuring rill Are winding through green meadows Beyond the sloping hill. And so, dear friend, we promise In days that are before To write for you a poem, when IMPROMPTU. 101 Our early dreams are o'er. And the eager, rambling ideals That marked our reckless youth, Will yield to smoother measure, And sing of grander truth. Till then, adieu! and know, 0, friend, That all cannot be Poets, Whose thouofhts in metre blend. 102 INSCRIBED TO MY DEAR SISTER. INSCRIBED TO MY DEAR SISTER. Mrs. L. a. Snowe, of Rockland, Maine, December 12th, 1S68. AM alone amid the Avaves of life's ocean; and fancies intrude themselves ujDon one's solitude, not always pleasant nor "^ profitable. I am thinking of the novelty of my position to-day, and trying to solve the role of fate. You, my sister, are surrounded by your little ones. O, cherish and protect them now, for there may come to you, too, perchance, a day Avhen your household gods may be sundered and apart, and you jDOwerless to avert. So to-night I sit by a lonely hearth, and my thoughts wander over continents and oceans, 1)y quiet firesides, as well as other places not so quiet nor so pleasant to contemplate. I see you all, mother, father, brothers, sisters, friends, and last, not least, children — all are thronging before my vision, commanding attention I cannot withhold. How I would like to see you and talk over all things pertaining to the great movement that has been the day-star of our lives — yours and mine, my sister — for the heri- tage of a broader freedom was born to us, and nurtured among our native hills, rugged and homely as their outlines presented to our young lives, type of that wilderness that shall yet "bud and blos- som as the rose." Let us be thankful for the inspiration that came to us there, we, the presci'ibed and fettered half of a great humanity, whose destiny the plummet of the far future must sound in all its depth, for great possibilities are not attained in years, nor even centuries. Take courage, then, O, strong and noble heart ! in your comparatively narrow sphere you are doing more than you have the least concep- tion of. I can feel the inspiration of your soul to-night rebuking me for my inertness, when so much is demanded of woman — women who know their rights, and knowing, dare maintain. Do not fear for me; full soon I shall be pushed forth upon the arena of an active destiny, whose tide will bear me on, perhaps relent- lessly, to other deep and painful experiences. Then let me rest awhile by the wayside to gather strength for the contest, for already INSCRIBED TO MY DEAR SISTER. 103 the forces are niarshalling themselves, and the clangor of the trumpet is sounding from anear and far. Not long will the noon-tide hour last; to me it has brought a season of rest and refreshment, and has poised my heart and mind for that which is just before; so near that its advancing wave is already laving my feet, and I feel the quick tide of a diviner inspi- ration which is shortly to deluge the land, bringing both pain and pleasure, for the twin sisters walk forth hand in hand, blending the elements of their being for the regeneration of earth's children. We must accept the one if we would enjoy the other; 'tis the legacy of our humanity, and constantly commands us up higher. Let us advance then most fearlessly; for beyond the briers and brambles of our earth path lie the clear waters of spirituality, blending with the evergreen glades of our better humanity. So, my sister, I would have you feel the importance, and true import, of a nature such as thine. No common destiny is in reserve for thee; a little while, and the place that knows thee now will know thee there no more. Other and far different scenes will invite you, and you, too, will feel the world's inspiration calling you forth. Lay, then, to-day the foundation, broad, compact, and perma- ment, and you will have to take no backward step. 104 BIRTH OF ASTREA. BIRTH OF ASTREA. NOVEMBER 7, ISSl. From the Spirit of I^Iiis. F. G. McDougal, through Mrs. R. H. Wilson. ' For the godlike of the human, Is incarnate now in woman." — Mks. McDougal. '^HIS night to us is born a child, On whom the sages must have smiled, So full is she of mystic lore. Which clearei' is than aught before. Astrea, my child, I see thee now With martyr's wreath upon thy brow, In garments robed of purest white, A mission hast, my heart's delight! Thy duty then, my child, fulfill. That sage's smile may cheer thee still — Wake energies of woman's mind. Give added force, her place to find. Unseal the eyes of brother man. That he may learn that nature's plan Is woman free, through unseen power That surges nearer, hour by hour. It reaches all; the tide rolls in ; AVith inspired word, the voyage begin, Progression's flag shall ne'er be furled. Till Truth supreme illumes the world. Then go, fair Astrea, on thy way. Though fierce the strife and dark the day, From battle's din, turn not to me, Till on thy brow shall mirrored be Triumph of Cause consigned to Thee. " Rest artist, thy work is done." pe G^,Oil^ INDEX. A Prophecy 11 Awake 23 Bom Again ;. . 24 Be Strong •• 19 Birth of Astrea 104 Conservatism vs. Spiritualism 21 Children's Lyceum 28 Compensation 81 Dedicated to Mrs. O. M. W 55 Freedom's Promise 62 Gray Dawn of the Morn 13 Greeting to Maine 93 Homestead Voices 87 Homeward 89 Invocation 16 Impromptu — 100 Inscribed to My Sister 102 Justice 76 Labor is Worship 36 Lessons 57 Love 74 Macedonia 67 Our Banner 18 Our Little Freddie 26 One More Unfortunate 32 Ode 46 Off Acapulco 91 Progress '2 Reveille 60 Retrospection 83 Revisited 96 To Eliza 17 T,he Higher Birth 22 To Maggie 30 Take Courage 41 The Pen and Sword 50 To Ada 52 Trust 79 The Inner Life 85 The Indian's Warning 98 To Mrs. H. E. G . . . -. g Wayside Blossoms 34 What Cheer 38 Woman and Man 44 Womanhood 64 Woman ' 70 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS io^ir5'?"'% Hlii'siO il m^ m m iM