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 U UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. ^ 
 
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MY ADOPTED COUNTRY: 
 
 A P O E M, 
 
 IN THREE PARTS. 
 
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 Man is mankind, of but one family ; 
 The earth his country — that should e'er be free 
 For all to roam o'er ; no dividing line 
 Miscalled a country, should his rights confine. 
 No varied creed should e'er his mind annoy, 
 As but one heaven can mankind enjoy; 
 By creed alone we ne'er shall bliss acquire, 
 Unless with truth. As Empyrean fire 
 Illumes the world, will truthful action save 
 Mankind from evil, e'en beyond the grave. 
 
 / 
 
 BY GEORGE ROGg.ES^ ._, 
 
 NE W YO 
 
 J. C. RIKER, 129 FULTON ST. 
 
 1851. 
 
-T^ a 
 
 
 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1851, 
 
 By GEORGE ROGERS, 
 
 in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, in and 
 for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Lives there a hope within my inmost breast 
 Of future happiness, howe'er imprest ? 
 If I desire for all, as should all men, 
 The greatest good to all, why should my pen 
 Withhold that hope, or rather not express 
 What I desire that all men should possess ? 
 Why should I, when by God and Nature taught, 
 If not quite classic, not give vent to thought ? 
 Opposed to thraldom, why should I forbear 
 To spread my thoughts, that fellow-men may share ? 
 For if 1 think, however strange it seems. 
 These may man benefit — though such, as dreams, 
 May prove fallacious — not what I desire — 
 Still I attention crave, as I aspire 
 To aid my fellow-men, and nobly strive. 
 Grateful for freedom, under which I thrive. 
 Oft lowly plants their fragrance spread around 
 Mute thanks to him who tills the garden ground. 
 With me, I hope all men may yet be free j 
 Each the vine cheer, beneath his own fig-tree ; 
 Blest Freedom's banner proudly brave the breeze 
 In free-trade vessels, sailing o'er all seas j 
 
4 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Our country ever leading in the van — 
 The welfare, bliss, and liberties, of man : 
 Her precepts truthful, purely carried out 
 In bold relief by practice. Nor without 
 Can we be to mankind the guiding star. 
 Upholding peace and censuring evil war. 
 Thus do I hope all nations will attain 
 The rule republic — monarchs cease to reign. 
 
 If my self-taught ideas, as mirror bright. 
 Should cause reflection in a stronger mind, 
 
 By such reflection evil set aright 
 
 Or wrong amended — as crude drug refined 
 
 By art relieves disease — should they do this, 
 
 A life of labor is repaid by bliss. 
 
DEDICATION. 
 
 My one design in tlie first outline of " My Adopted 
 Country" was, to dedicate the poem to a kind and wor- 
 thy friend; who, however, on its completion, declined 
 the proffered meed of grateful friendship. He is one 
 whom I have known many years ; in whose society I 
 have passed many happy hours ; of whose tried and dis- 
 interested friendship I have had sufficient proofs in the 
 fullest acceptation of the term ; one whose sympathies 
 for human suffering and wrong are in accordance with 
 my own. To whom, then, shall I turn, but to my adopted 
 brethren in America by birth 1 
 
 Land of my adoption, I love you ; I venerate the mem- 
 ory of your Washington, and admire the spirit of those 
 liberal institutions that have extended to thousands of 
 foreigners like myself, " strangers in a strange land," 
 the full measure of their hospitality. But, alas for the 
 honor of human nature ! it has been too much the prac- 
 tice of foreign writers with pens dipped in verjuice — 
 "the Halls and the Trollopes" of perverted truth — to 
 assail you in the villany of falsehood. These could but 
 convey, as do the bitter fruits of nature, or putrescence 
 of disease, the acrimony of the one and the decay of the 
 
6 DEDICATION. 
 
 Other ; or, like the thief in the garb of an honest man, 
 who, introduced to a kind and generous host, robs him 
 upon the first opportunity — and worse than the base, 
 tithe-souled pilferer : for he 
 
 « Who steals my purse, steals trash." 
 
 Such, then, has been too often the mgrate return for the 
 kind treatment extended toward themselves and their 
 less-fortunate countrymen. Such conduct I have often 
 deplored, and as often the tinge of shame has mantled 
 o'er my cheek, that such base revilers should have been 
 born on my native soil ! 
 
 Then, though feeling the want of power in my pen, I 
 at last summoned resolution to give ** the lie to slander, 
 and to bear witness to the truth." Therefore it is I 
 dedicate this Poem to my ** Fellow-Men," not forget- 
 ting my worthy friend. A memento, with remarks, is 
 appended to the Dedication, which may " serve to point 
 a moral," if not " adorn a tale." 
 
 G. R. 
 
 New York, Mai/, 1851. 
 
MY WORTHY FRIEND: 
 
 THE GEM OF MEMORY. 
 
 My worthy friend is one I love to name ; 
 Who, throughout life, has ever been the same : 
 As truthful magnet pointing to the pole. 
 His friendly sympathy ne'er knew control. 
 When scorn or malice, as the viper's dart 
 Of wicked slanderers, has pierced my heart, — 
 When gall and wormwood tales have whispered been, 
 Or foully breathed — as rottenness within 
 Impurity begets — ah ! who has then 
 Repelled such slander ? why the best of men ! 
 One whom I love to name — my worthy friend — 
 One whom I '11 love till life attains its end. 
 
 When sad reverse of fortune made me poor, 
 He shared my sorrows while I shared his store ; 
 Within his friendly cot the past surveyed. 
 Reviewed its errors, and new plans were made, 
 But then, too oft are resolutions weak, 
 In place of joys, they sorrows sad bespeak. 
 Bowed down with grief, my shattered nerves gave way, 
 Thus calling friendship's powers into play ; 
 For my kind friend — my true, my worthy friend, 
 
8 myworthyfriend: 
 
 Did unto each and all my wants attend. 
 
 If brooding o'er the ills I 'd undergone 
 
 From misplaced confidence, I felt forlorn, 
 
 Would soothe my mind with kind persuasion's balm, 
 
 The future spoke of, o'er it threw a charm ; 
 
 Telling, the storm must needs give place to calm, 
 
 Thus chasing from my breast each dire alarm. 
 
 And when my weakened frame, as a strained bow 
 
 From tension breaks, with fever laid me low — 
 
 When, racked with anguish, and death seeming nigh. 
 
 He joined my prayers and echoed back each sigh ; 
 
 And when the fever left me, hymned in praise 
 
 Of Him above, preserver of my days. 
 
 E'en while in feeble health, regaining strength, 
 
 He kindly tended, watching oft by stealth ; 
 
 And as I stronger grew, would gently aid 
 
 My tottering steps to where the greenwood shade 
 
 Might shield me from the sunbeams, as my frame 
 
 Its mid-day heat with fever might inflame : 
 
 And if the skies foreshadowed cold or storm. 
 
 He wrapped his cloak around to keep me warm, 
 
 And when, as oft I've said how kind of you, 
 
 He would reply, " Would you not do so too, 
 
 If I was as you are ? I 'm sure you would." 
 
 Then would I cry, oh ! that all men were good, 
 
 What griefs would be as pleasures ; for to me 
 
 Those days of pain are Gems of Memory ! 
 
 As years flew on, remingling with the world 
 Of busy commerce, fortune soon unfurled 
 Her prosperous flag ; each effort to attain 
 
THE GEM OP MEMORY. 
 
 A new estate, was quickly met by gain. 
 Divinely taught, pure love in Fide's bowers, 
 Refreshed and strengthened by reverse's showers— 
 Well warmed my heart at friendship's altar fire, 
 My bosom heaved with fond, humane desire ; 
 I sought by deeds to gladden, as rare flowers 
 Charm with their fragrance, my declining hours, 
 By kindly aiding those oppressed by need. 
 Became the friend that is " a friend indeed." 
 Pained is the heart with sympathy allied. 
 That throbs to aid distress, alas ! of means denied. 
 
 Now, near the ebb of life, my friend and I 
 Near neighbors are ; nor does a day pass by 
 But that we meet ; as oft renew the theme 
 Of bygone years — the passage of life's stream. 
 We too discourse, as in old age we ought, 
 (Like seaman, nearing to his destined port. 
 In hopes to reach it, shuns the rocks and shoals), 
 Of future bliss pertaining unto souls. 
 By prayer and alms we seek such bliss to gain. 
 Thus of past errors to redeem their stain. 
 
MY WORTHY FRIEND. 
 
 As an accompaniment to the poem of my worthy friend, 
 I will in poetic prose make a few remarks. 
 
 Friendship may well be termed " the poetry of life," 
 elevating as it does the stricken, sorrowed spirit! — like 
 a mineral spring of rare powers, strengthening anew the 
 enervated frame. Friendship ! thou charm and sacred 
 talisman of the heart ; thou containest the concentrated 
 excellences of humanity, sweetly soothing all the sorrows 
 of adversity. Brightest gleam of the soul's sunshine ! 
 appearing as a welcome strip of heavenly blue to the 
 storm-wrapped mariner. Ay, tuneful indeed are the re- 
 sponsive pulsations of a friendly heart in the dark and 
 cloudy hour of need. 
 
 Without thee, Friendship, life's sad vale of tears 
 Would be as sea on which no isle appears : 
 Life's mooring-ground art thou ; witli thee as port, 
 The storms of life may well be set at naught. 
 
 And what is this life 1 A passage through a valley of 
 far extent, that, dotted with vegetation, exhibits anon 
 rank and poisonous weeds, encumbering the wayfarer's 
 path, affecting his health, and weakening his mind — 
 weeds that, like the vile wretch who, '* preying as the 
 shark of the deep waters," lives but to batten upon his 
 
MY WORTHY FRIEND. 11 
 
 fellow-men ! Occasionally, the sweet and grateful herb, 
 with its healing balm, as the kind and humane action of 
 a virtuous heart, cheers man as he traverses the tangled 
 labyrinths or pleasantly courses o'er the flowery meads. 
 Even as the oasis or stream of the desert, whereat the 
 thirsty Arab moistens his parched lips and gratifies his 
 appetite, as if with nectar from above, we at times be- 
 hold the charming flower, whose grateful aroma and 
 resplendent hues embody the sublime, as the truthfulness 
 of friendship in humanity — "the light of heaven upon 
 earth." 
 
 Do not, then, think my picture too highly colored ; for 
 I have, in truth, met in life with such good beings, the 
 memory of whom strengthens the pulsations of my heart. 
 And as I dwell upon the graces of humanity, sweet 
 thoughts come sweeping as a delightful incense o*er my 
 senses. It is thus that, in gazing on fine scenery, that 
 charms with its variety, we pause not to search for minor 
 defects ; but, filled with rapture, we exclaim, ** How 
 beautiful!" 
 
 Then should we ever remember that we are all — the 
 erect and the deformed, the talented and the imbecile— 
 of one parentage ; that the Almighty Power, in its wis- 
 dom, has diversified the capacities of man, each forming 
 a portion of one great whole ; and that while individu- 
 ally, by precept and example, we should uphold virtuous 
 action, we should ever be slow in anger to condemn the 
 less-wise or unfortunate beings, and be ever ready to 
 assist humanity in its infirmities — 
 
 E'er to soothe a sorrow — ne'er to virtue blind. 
 
Here is a land I love, Columbia dear, 
 Where man his fellow-man need never fear; 
 The laws abiding which do mete to all, 
 Justice and equal rights; no thraldom's pall 
 Casts here its shadow, as the upas-tree, 
 To poison life, by stifling liberty. 
 Here soars the eagle upward to the sky, 
 Nor clipped, nor shorn of thee, blest liberty. 
 
 May curses blight the hand which throws a brand, 
 To disunite this compact great and grand, 
 Surpassing all that e'er the world has seen, 
 A nation governing self, nor king, nor queen, 
 Nor peer, or any other puppet creature, 
 Can e'er deface of liberty a feature. 
 
 May nations seek thy fraternizing hand, 
 Till all the world shall be but as a band 
 Of brothers linked in friendship's tight embrace. 
 And blessed freedom cover earth's broad space. 
 
 Washington Cbowned. 
 
■-^■- -(^0^ 
 
PART I. 
 FREEDOM'S BOWER. 
 
 When vile misrule bedimmed the skies, 
 
 And Freedom's plant had ceased to flower, 
 A meteor bright was seen to rise, 
 
 That gloom dispelled ; its godlike power 
 Restored the plant for e'er to bloom, 
 
 And spread its tendrils o'er the land ! 
 Thus Freedom's home, in sweet perfume, 
 
 Is as a Bower for all mankind. 
 
 Thou meteor, Washington, as light Divine, 
 Thy 'deeds of virtue will for ever shine. 
 
 To thee, blest country — to thee as a shrine 
 Sacred to freedom — praise be ever thine ! 
 To thee shall distant lands, as offerings, 
 Send to thy shores rich gems that now are kings', 
 To gild thy wreath of glory ; minds as bright 
 As purest diamonds shall lend thee their light. 
 Shelley and Byron have for future time 
 Foretold thy glories — brilliant and sublime. 
 And lesser minds illumed with heavenly fire 
 Have gleamed to heighten thy bright-altar fire ; 
 As least of all, with grateful heart, I bring 
 My simple lay ; as bird though small may sing, 
 If that its virtue might be of avail 
 To add one spark, it would my heart regale— 
 2 
 
14 freedom's bower. 
 
 Columbia, my country ; happy land, 
 
 A bond of union, sublime and grand, 
 
 In holy brotherhood, a compact band ! 
 
 Oh, may such compact for all ages stand 
 
 As signal-tower, or beacon blaze of light, 
 
 To guide the course of other lands aright ; 
 
 May its effulgence ever brightly beam, 
 
 A kind benignant star " o'er life's dull stream." 
 
 Happy my task ! for thou'rt the noblest theme 
 
 The mind can dwell upon ; thy glory's gleam 
 
 Lights up my soul, my ardent muse inspires, 
 
 To climb Parnassus, aided by its fires. 
 
 So with tli# energy of virtue's flame 
 
 Or everlasting fire, though both the same 
 
 Emblems of purity, I choose to trace. 
 
 Thy high attainments, great and happy race, 
 
 Thy early acts of valor 'bove compare ; 
 
 Tliy patriot fathers' gallantry holds dear. 
 
 Whose proud success your fellow-men all cheer; 
 
 Thy virtuous matrons, who in history shine 
 
 Sacred to memory, as the hallowed shrine 
 
 That doth entomb the form of thy loved son. 
 
 Phoenix of freedom, the great Washington. 
 
 E'en at the mention of that honored name. 
 
 My heart expands as lit with sacred flame ; 
 
 And now my pen shall trace the thoughts which burn 
 
 ^Vithin my breast, a tribute to his urn ; 
 
 Though if my pen were dipped in gold refined 
 
 'T would not portray the lustre of his mind. 
 
freedom's bower. 15 
 
 As on the vision with a sunlike force 
 Glares the bright comet in its vivid course, 
 Does his pure conduct strike upon the mind, 
 His heart impressed with love of human kind ; 
 Full as o'erflowing cup, his generous soul 
 Discarding items, rested on the whole. 
 Is aught above more beautiful than this ? 
 If so, I 've yet to learn what's really bliss. 
 Can aught come nearer pure celestial joy. 
 Ethereal pleasures that can never cloy ? 
 If not to feel for others as ourselves 
 Is bliss, why, virtues then, as fabled elves, 
 Or lighter fairies, vanish into air, 
 And what we think is dark doth hght appear j 
 All that is really grand or e'en sublime. 
 Would be reversed for e'er through future time. 
 
 George Washington ! all honor to thy name, 
 Shall e'er be sounded by the trump of fame ; 
 Myriads of tongues, in terms of grateful praise, 
 Shall with accord their joyful paeans raise ; 
 Successive generations join the song 
 And hymn the glories that to thee belong ; 
 Thy wreath of fame shall e'er its green leaves wave 
 Blessed by the breath of each poor fettered slave. 
 
 Hail to thee, Washington ! thy truthful course 
 For all mankind displayed its moral force ; 
 As heavenly light radiates from above. 
 Did thy high virtues fill mankind with love. 
 For On thee and thy deeds, the eyes of all 
 
16 freedom's bower. 
 
 Gazed with intenseness, and when death's dim pall 
 Thy honored frame received, to deck thy bier 
 From prince and peasant dropped a manly tear. 
 
 Hail to thee, Washington ! thy truthful course 
 "Was pure as streamlet from its rocky source ; 
 That coursing freely, undisturbed by surge. 
 Like to thy mind, which passion could not urge 
 To deeds to mar its worth, or course derange, 
 Emblem of truth, which naught can ever change. 
 As tranquil stream, translucent as the sky, 
 Whose azure bright is pledge of purity ; 
 O Washington ! how justly I may deem 
 Thy truthful life, as nature's purest stream. 
 
 Hail to thee, Washington ! thy truthful course 
 *Mid war's alarms with spirit showed its force. 
 And when thy country, freed from foreign foes, 
 Upon her well-earned laurels sought repose, 
 You as a Cincinnatus tilled the earth 
 From which your grateful country called you forth 
 With a united voice, from dale and hill. 
 The highest office in her gift to fill ; 
 Conscious that him who oft to victory 
 Had led her troops, would gild her history 
 By lustrous acts of wisdom and of truth, 
 A bright example to her future youth. 
 You left your sunny fields and flowery meads. 
 Your home, your garden, cattle, and your steeds ; 
 Gave up retirement blest, but not for pelf, 
 'Twas that you loved your country more than self: 
 
freedom's bower. 17 
 
 Her sons, as children with a parent's care 
 You guarded, and they bless your memory dear. 
 So, Father of your Country, e'er shall be 
 Thy title — prouder far than " Majesty." 
 How well performed your duties, history tells ; 
 And Freedom's tablets, as loud-sounding bells, 
 With never-dying echoes, shall proclaim 
 In sweetest harmony thy reverent name. 
 
 Tranquil thou sleepest ; but thy spirit blest 
 Breathes o'er the world, where Liberty finds rest : 
 Tranquil thou sleepest ; but thy spirit soars — 
 A beacon to th' oppressed of other shores. 
 Columbia's glory ! sun of Freedom thou ! 
 The wreath of Fame ne'er graced a nobler brow ! 
 
 In early life, how oft a summer's cloud 
 Throws blight on pleasure, as th' appalling shroud 
 Affrights the sense — as o'er the dismal bier. 
 Steeped in deep grief, we shed the sorrowing tear ! 
 Though o'er the blest forms of virtuous dead 
 We can, or should have, but few tears to shed — 
 Through life exempt from vice, their conscience clear. 
 Death had no terrors and the soul no fear, 
 Calmly reposing— -their past days serene — 
 A grateful country keeps their memory green. 
 Pens touched by spark electric, in an age 
 Could not record their virtues on this page. 
 As brightest stars, the memories of good men 
 E'er guide posterity, and wrong contemn. 
 
 2* 
 
1& freedom's bower. 
 
 Green wave the laurels o'er the mighty dead ! 
 Since Goldsmith wrote, but a few years have fled : 
 In those few years have many changes been ; 
 In those few years, thank God, how changed the scene ! 
 Time lifts its curtain, as when vapors rise 
 At early dawn, disclosing midday skies ; 
 E'en so an evil which to-day we deem, 
 May as a blessing on the morrow seem. 
 (1) These then wild shores, that filled him with dismay, 
 Whose many terrors woke his tuneful lay — 
 A land he viewed as if by upas bound. 
 No longer is so, but as golden ground, 
 Whose girth is freedom, uncontrolled by king 
 Or impious rank, as he was wont to sing ; 
 Its fruitful soil now teems with Ceres' wealth; 
 Meandering streams diffuse the land with health ; 
 Nor sedges choke their banks, nor shiv'ring age 
 Compulsive creeps to aid expiring days. 
 Neat homesteads line the banks of either shore, 
 Their doors unlatched — can man desire more? 
 Its people are, as man should ever be, 
 In union bound, enriched by liberty. 
 These blessings, which they one and all enjoy, 
 To others they extend — thus swell their joy. 
 O shade of Goldsmith ! couldst thou tread again 
 The world you honored, and see Freedom reign 
 Over this land, how great would be thy bliss 
 To know the mass exist 'mid happiness ; 
 That thy " deserted village" rose again 
 'Mid Freedom's blessings, o'er the M'estern main ; 
 Thy weary traveller's scenes of danger past, 
 
freedom's bower. 19 
 
 Found in this land a peaceful home at last ; 
 
 And, filled with rapture, all around him sees 
 
 A people blest with labor's meed and ease ! 
 
 His soul, made happy with terrestrial rest, 
 
 Engarners bliss to see his fellows blest. 
 
 How proud had been thy heart to know that they 
 
 In time of famine, misery, and decay, 
 
 As if in grateful homage to your worth, 
 
 Had fed the land that gave a Goldsmith birth ! 
 
 Whose heart, as space unbounded, beat for all, 
 
 And o'er whose grave mankind the tear let fall. 
 
 (2) " Sweet Auburn ! loveliest village of the plain," 
 Thy native charms and beauties urge my strain. 
 As Sol the horizon gilds at parting day. 
 So doth thy blissful state adorn my lay ; 
 Like simple truth, like lustrous light, its rays 
 Do ever thus begild our passing days. 
 Be thine, sweet Auburn — prototype by name 
 With Goldsmith's village, which portrayed the shame 
 Of vile misrule — be thine, sweet Auburn, thine 
 E'er the reverse ; such prayer shall e'er be mine : 
 And as Owasco's stream may calmly glide 
 Thy population on Time's lasting tide, 
 So, freed from despot thraldom, never be 
 By them deserted — seeking 'yond the sea 
 Another home. O may such scenes be past, 
 And may thy blissful state for ever last ! 
 
 " Sweet Auburn ! loveliest village of the plain," 
 In memory sweet I view thee once again j 
 
20 freedom's bower. 
 
 Recall thy peaceful homes, thy lofty spires, 
 
 That fill the Christian mind with high desires ; 
 
 Thy busy streets, the bustling hum of trade, 
 
 Adjacent scenery, and rural shade ; 
 
 Thy massive school-piles, where the youth are taught 
 
 A love of freedom — minds with knowledge fraught; 
 
 Thy generous homes provided for the poor. 
 
 Which having, need not beg from door to door. 
 
 " Sweet Auburn ! loveliest village of the plain," 
 
 Thy deeds are charity, which lessen pain. 
 
 Among thy glories. Auburn, none more bright 
 
 Than thy stateprison, whose imprisoned height 
 
 Does, as the might of truth, in bold relief 
 
 Seem tender Pity weeping over Grief. 
 
 For the unfortunate as well as vile 
 
 Are duly cared for, and their thoughts beguile 
 
 By. acts of industry. Thus all acquire 
 
 An honest trade, by which they oft aspire 
 
 To truthful action ; thus the past regain 
 
 For him who would remove dishonor's stain. 
 
 " 'T is distance lends enchantment to the view," 
 And distance magnifies dread horrors too : 
 As hopeless wretches who the past review. 
 
 Fill up their minds with fears of future wo. 
 Sweetly has Campbell sung Columbia's charms, 
 Though pained the tender reader with alarms; 
 His plaintive " Wyoming," based upon truth. 
 Portrayed the weakness of a nation's youth : 
 That youth, as youth e'er gathers strength with age, 
 By acts of valor graces history's page : 
 
freedom's bower. 21 
 
 That nation now, as giant o'er the land, 
 From sea to sea extends its either hand ; 
 From broad Atlantic to Pacific's strand, 
 Its people roam a free, united band. 
 
 Thou, master-mind, great Shelley ! prophesied 
 The time would come when man to man allied 
 As endless chain, or as the Milky Way, 
 He should illume; no more the earth beray; 
 Nor changed, unchanging throughout time be wise — 
 The earth become once more a paradise. 
 Thy spirit pure, great Shelley ! as is space, 
 (^) Disdained, as poet-laureate, to trace 
 The crimes of monarchy in silken verse — 
 Thy love of freedom made thy language terse. 
 Free e'er to think, as freely didst thou say — 
 " Hail, land of Freedom ! blest America !" 
 Let Scandal breathe the dragon's fetid breath. 
 Its poison ne'er can stain thy laurelled wreath : 
 Let envy, malice, as the viper's sting. 
 Assail thy memory — I thy praise will sing : 
 Let mock-religionists, for purpose vile. 
 Deny thy truths — they bite against a file ! 
 As files, shall future generations find. 
 Such cut the bonds that e'er have bound mankind. 
 
 Ever the heart to its first love returns ; 
 So I, in thought, this moment think of Burns, 
 Whose sweet-toned minstrelsy my schoolboy mind 
 Absorbed as precept for a love of kind. 
 Thus Byron, Shelley, Burns, and many others. 
 
22 FREEDOM S BOWER. 
 
 Who wrote for liberty, I mourn as brothers ; 
 Their mem'ries cherish, while my heart doth yearn 
 In the same cause to mingle in their urn — 
 That from my ashes might my mem'ry rise 
 As phoenix soaring unto azure skies ; 
 Thoughts, pure in spirit, truth to man impart, 
 Enkindling kind emotions in the heart — 
 Warming its sympathies, e'er prototype, 
 To faithful action as Daguerreotype ! 
 
 So may each nation, wisely taught by thee, 
 Promethean land become, as thou art — Free. 
 
 Blest Freedom's bower by zephyrs kind 
 
 Shall waft the pollen from its flowers 
 O'er ocean wide, to bless mankind, 
 
 And cheer each land as genial showers. 
 So shall each land, as Freedom's bower, 
 
 Be " native land" — all men may share : 
 Thus thraldom foul, as fallen tower, 
 
 No more its head, like hydra, rear ! 
 
NOTES TO FREEDOM'S BOWER. 
 
 (^) These then wild shores that filled him with dismay. 
 
 Is view of the lamentations of Oliver Goldsmith over the misfor- 
 tunes of his countrymen, what, we may suppose, would have been his 
 emotions could he for one moment have imagined that the evils he so 
 plaintively bewailed and supposed the emigrant to America at that day 
 to be subject to, were but as the transitory summer's shower that 
 quickly gives place to sunshine and gladness ; that the desert, with its 
 reported horrors, was the promised land of scripture, flowing with 
 milk and honey, and as such would become the happy home of thou- 
 sands of his countrymen. 
 
 Though the sorrows of his countrymen are not entirely removed, 
 how very many of the horrors of their past state of life have been, 
 since his lifetime, ameliorated ! Political equality has been in a great 
 degree arrived at, an advancement in the freedom of trade with other 
 nations attained, with present and further prospective advantages from 
 the discoveries of science. Add to this a liberal system of education, 
 and the abolishment of imprisonment for debt, as well as many hu- 
 mane alterations in criminal jurisprudence. 
 
 Beautiful temperament of disposition and kindliness of heart were 
 thine, Goldsmith ! The very letter to thy brother on the worldly 
 necessity of inculcating sordidness, was but an additional proof that 
 you bewailed the need of personal selfishness ; and one can not doubt 
 but that you felt that the pleasure of doing good incurred, at least in 
 your own breast, a higher degree of happiness than the possession of 
 coffers of hoarded gold. A liberal disposition confers benefits, as a 
 Godhead elevates humanity, and extends a cheering influence over 
 society at large. 
 
24 NOTES TO freedom's BOWER. 
 
 ( 2 ) Sweet Auburn ! loveliest village of the plain ! 
 Thy native charms and beauties urge my strain. 
 
 Auburn, present capital of Cayuga county, New York, 154 miles 
 west of Albany. It was taken from Aurelias township in 1823. 
 Owasco lake touches its southeast corner, by the outlet of which it is 
 watered, and which affords good water-power. This is a small town, 
 including only the chartered limits of the village. Auburn is one of 
 the most flourishing villages in the state, and is situated on the outlet 
 of Owasco lake. It is not very regularly laid out, but the streets are 
 spacious, and many of the buildings are large and elegant ; it contains 
 a courthouse, jail, county-clerk's office, two banks, the Auburn acad- 
 emy, the Auburn female seminary, seven churches (two presbyterian, 
 one methodist, one baptist, one episcopal, one universal ist, and one 
 Roman catholic), sixty stores, one woollen factory, one cotton factory, 
 four flouring-miils, two saw-mills, three furnaces, one brewery, one 
 distillery, four printing-offices, one college (50 students), two acade- 
 mies (250 students), nine schools (740 scholars). Population, about 
 seven thousand. The great western line of railroads passes through 
 the place. 
 
 A stateprison is located here, which is regarded as a model for such 
 institutions. The enclosure forms a square five hundred feet on each 
 side, surrounded by a stone wall two thousand feet long, and from 
 sixteen to forty feet high. 
 
 The Owasco outlet passes directly along the outside of the wall, 
 and moves machinery within the prison. The buildings form three 
 sides of a square, the front of which is 276 feet long, and the wings 
 242 feet long and 45 feet high. The main building faces to the east. 
 The north wing is divided into solitary cells and a hospital, and the 
 south wing into walks. Between the wings are an area of grass and 
 gravelled walks. To the west of this is the interior yard, surrounded 
 with workshops, which are built against the outer wall. In the front 
 part of the main building are the residence of the keeper and offices for 
 the clerk and agent. The prisoners labor together when employed, 
 and when not employed are confined in solitary cells. 
 
 M'Culloch's Gazetteer. 
 
NOTES TO freedom's BOWER. 25 
 
 i^^") Disdained, as poet-laureate, to trace 
 The crimes of monarchy in silken verse. 
 
 What is a poet ] 
 
 Nature's purest child, 
 Whose mind with brilliant thoughts is stored, 
 As is the mine of untold wealth — enriched 
 By many a lustrous gem ! as flowery bed, 
 Whose rare and beauteous hues with rich perfume 
 Conjoin the sense to charm and raise the mind. 
 His fancy's space, in which he loves to roam, 
 In unchecked pride and strength, scans all the world- 
 Hears music in the winds, and purest gold 
 Sees molten in the clouds at setting sun ; 
 Views as it were ethereal forms above. 
 And marks their action, while into his ears 
 They, as blest angels, whisper. Tunefully 
 His heart doth beat to aid his fellow-kind, 
 Prometheus-like, to unfold the rights of man ; 
 And as he treads a path oft trod before, 
 A pensive wanderer in the woodland wild, 
 On pebbly beach, or glassy river-side — 
 Communes with other lands, recites with Death 
 Anon, again is prattling with the child ; 
 Talks with the storm, and gives a reason why 
 The ills of life are like a troubled sky : 
 As skilful artist doth his colors blend, 
 To charm the eye and Nature's truth extend. 
 At times he dwells with pain upon the woes 
 That kingly tyrants force on fellow-man, 
 And dips his pen in mental fire. Its throes 
 Write living words as " hand upon the wall," 
 Which, in old time, Belshazzar did amaze ; 
 Makes despots tremble and reform their ways. 
 His is the might of mind that gilds the age — 
 Illumes for e'er man's intellectual page ! 
 3 
 
PART II. 
 
 THE EMIGRANT. 
 
 " My native land !" " Mon pays /" " Mein vaterland /" 
 How oft have tears at parting dewed thy strand ! 
 "My God!" ''Mon DieuV ''Mein Gott T how often 
 
 sighed 
 By the poor emigrants at ocean tide, 
 When sad adieus have sorrowed on the lips, 
 Embarking fi'om their native land in ships — 
 To seek, perhaps for e'er, in other lands, 
 At the dear cost of blest affection's bands, 
 The home denied them in their land of birth. 
 As men cast out — as things of little worth — 
 As wounded deer drove forth from 'mid the herd — 
 The poor are thrust, whose voice can not be heard 
 In self- protection ; for the bonds of pelf 
 Control the laws — those laws controlled by self. 
 Poor shiftless wanderers forced from home to flee, 
 Oh ! vile misrule what woes are caused by thee ! 
 Home and its idols — all are left behind, 
 A path to pioneer to realms more kind. 
 
 In my mind's fancy, I can see the tear 
 Trickle down either cheek of yonder pair ; 
 Each bending frame an honored age portrays, 
 And time-worn garments tell of better days, 
 
28 THE EMIGRANT. 
 
 But now, alas ! their sands of life near run, 
 
 Parting, perhaps for ever from their son ; — 
 
 He too an only one, the last of three, 
 
 The treasured treasure of their misery, — 
 
 For ne'er a phase of life but has its gems. 
 
 Whose rays shed happiness as diadems, 
 
 Cornelia's jewels would as brightly shine 
 
 Within the cot as in a palace fine. 
 
 But hark ! that son is whispering words of hope, 
 
 With fond endearments, giving language scope. 
 
 And see the tears, that just now quickly fell, 
 
 Drop slowly, as the faintly-tolling bell ! 
 
 " Dear father ! mother ! cease these tears I pray. 
 
 You know I 'm going to America, 
 
 That glorious land of freedom and of truth, 
 
 That glorious land, a mentor in its youth ; 
 
 That glorious land where all alike are one. 
 
 For ever hallowed by George Washington ; 
 
 Who, meteor-like, dispelled gloom from the land, 
 
 Trained freedom's plant as bower for mankind. 
 
 Thither I go, from tyranny I flee, 
 
 To breathe the air of freedom with the free ; 
 
 Amid its people, generous and kind, 
 
 Food and employment I am sure to find 
 
 And justly paid for, as the people reign. 
 
 Instead of one, they all are sovereign. 
 
 The masses ruling, justice is unbought — 
 
 Millions for freedom, but for tribute nought. 
 
 Thither I go, yet leave a grief behind, 
 
 'Tis you, my parents, who have e'er been kind; 
 
 Yet do I hope by labor to attain 
 
THE EMIGRANT. 29 
 
 Wherewith to bring you o'er the western main, 
 
 There reunited, days of sorrow past, 
 
 Bliss shall attend life's evening at the last." 
 
 Their tears have ceased, they gaze with upturned eyes 
 
 As if they read the future in the skies. 
 
 E'en too the blushing maid, about to part 
 With the loved form engraven on her heart, 
 Is here, *mong others, to take fond farewell 
 Of him she loves, as if funereal knell 
 Had the ears stricken, mournful sobs resound, 
 Grate on the sense, and moisten e'en the ground, 
 But as their eyesight roams the landscape o'er, 
 In search of those they love, who may no more 
 By them again be seen, aloft they see 
 The flag, whose stars and stripes o'er ev'ry sea 
 Do proudly sail, they seem to find relief. 
 As if the flag had soothed them in their grief. 
 Thou freedom's flag ! blest banner, may'st thou e'er 
 Float with the breeze, thy country's history cheer. 
 
 " All hands aboard," in voice, as stentor loud. 
 By mate or captain, warns the assembled crowd — 
 Who, gladly ling'ring, bid their friends adieu, 
 Oft and again those fond farewells renew. 
 Nor cease their greetings till afar from shore, 
 Their sobbing voices can be heard no more ; 
 E'en then they strive by 'kerchiefs waved on high, 
 To glance adieus from each diverging eye. 
 The ship sails on her course, while homeward they 
 She left behind, pursue their pensive way. 
 
30 THE EMIGRANT. 
 
 A few short months pass o'er, with thrift and care 
 They with their friends their thrifty earnings share. 
 E'en so, and oft I know, so truly tell, 
 Such meetings, merry as a " mari'iage-bell," 
 Have friends rejoined their friends cross ocean wave, 
 To mingle with each other in one grave ; 
 Through life to aid, and loving, cheer each other 
 As man should ever be to man a brother ; 
 'Tis thou, Columbia, strength'neth nature's chain, 
 Whose links extended cross from main to main ; 
 So may thy banner e'er remain unfurled. 
 Till freedom's stream circumfluents the world. 
 
 I '11 now, as when a passenger was I, 
 Renew the theme, nor heedlessly pass by 
 The perils all encounter as they sail 
 Upon the broad Atlantic. Calm and gale 
 Shall both alike be pictured to the sense. 
 Though unto seamanship make no pretence. 
 Preferring rather to detail the woes 
 Caused by foul tyranny, and wrong disclose ; 
 In that the human heart, as gallant craft 
 When soundly built and found afore and aft. 
 Will bravely live 'mid storms and tempests dread, 
 And reach its haven as the hallowed dead. 
 Just in our acts, we may devoid of care 
 Pass through life's passage, nor the future fear 
 Propitious is the wind, the sails they fill — 
 Unloosened to the breeze ; the captain's skill, 
 As roam his eyes aloft, does not espy 
 A rope misplaced, nor yet a fault descry. 
 
THE EMIGRANT. 31 
 
 The sailors mount the ratline — man the yards — 
 Though the wind blusters fear each heart discards. 
 
 In such a ship as this I crossed the sea, 
 Columbia named — that name 's to liberty 
 Throughout the world, as it will ever be, 
 The truthful emblem of philanthropy ! 
 Philanthropy such as no nation e'er 
 Before extended with a parent's care ; 
 As if the oppressed of ev'ry foreign shore 
 Her children were, whose woes the mother bore 
 In part as hers ; for as the pelican 
 Doth feed her young, her breast is bared to man. 
 
 Man is mankind, of but one family ; 
 The earth his country, that should e'er be free 
 For all to roam o'er ; no dividing line. 
 Miscalled a country, should his rights confine. 
 No varied creed should e'er his mind annoy, 
 As but one heaven can mankind enjoy : 
 By creed alone we ne'er shall bliss acquire. 
 Unless with truth. As empyrean fire 
 Illumes the world, will trufliful action save 
 Mankind from evil, e'en beyond the grave. 
 
 But to our emigrants ; 't is now twilight. 
 And darker grows " my native land good-night !'* 
 Though sad the sorrows of our native land, 
 None leave it but they leave regrets behind. 
 Though sad its woes, cast down by many a care. 
 We love it still, and drop the parting tear. 
 
t»5 THE EMIGRANT. 
 
 My "native land, good-night !" — I love thee still ! 
 
 I love thee in thy sorrows — ever will. 
 
 England ! I love thee as my native land ; 
 
 Thy sons, my brothers, e'er my love command : 
 
 Bat though I love thee, I thy rulers hate — 
 
 Abhor thy union of the church and state ; 
 
 Thy rank detest, as vile or evil thing — 
 
 As impious view thy right divine of king ; 
 
 Detest those laws which as impurity 
 
 Oppress and crush men in their poverty ; 
 
 And e'en the right of suffrage does deny, 
 
 To foist vile rank in future progeny. 
 
 Such wrongs abolished, would thy griefs remove, 
 
 And hatred then no longer cloud my love. 
 
 Night spreads her veil of darkness o'er the deep, 
 And watchful tars the midnight vigils keep ; 
 Our tired emigrants, pond'ring on the past. 
 Seek the embrace of Morpheus' arms at last ; 
 They slumbering dream of home's endearing scenes, 
 While with sweet hope Columbia intervenes. 
 As the bright star doth oft the traveller guide, 
 Home and America their thouglits divide 
 While they so dream. I '11 e'en my own describe — 
 Of hope for Britain's masses ; diatribe 
 Permits me so to do, though strange indeed it seem : 
 May its hereafter just as brightly gleam. 
 
THE EMIGRANT. 33 
 
 THE DREAM. 
 
 I dreamed that, as I slept, before mine eyes 
 Appeared a mist, from which ascended cries 
 Of hungered pangs of want, and shrieks of wo, 
 That shook the mist, which, waving to and fro, 
 Quickly dispersed, as if by magic wand. 
 Revealing to my sight my native land ! 
 In mute astonishment I then beheld 
 Vast numbers praying in a barren field. 
 In tones of abject language for relief 
 Unto their rulers, who had caused their grief. 
 I heard them cry aloud, " We starve for bread !" 
 I saw among them corpses of the dead ; 
 I shrank aghast at each succeeding cry, 
 And startled much to see proud Royalty, 
 In all its gilded trappings, skirt the field, 
 As if it mocked the miseries revealed. 
 " Vengeance is mine r'* so saith our heavenly Lord- 
 Who smiteih shall he smitten with the sword ! 
 
 Again the mist concealed all from my view, 
 And shouts of freedom struck my ears anew, 
 Rending the mist in twain. How glad my gaze 
 To see the mass erect, while they in praise 
 Of freedom sang — and this was the refrain : 
 " The people now enjoy their own again !" 
 While in the distance, as a spectre lean. 
 Or fading meteor, Royalty was seen ; 
 The plain, no longer arid, teemed with grain, 
 And rang with paeans of harmonious strain. 
 
34 THE EMIGRANT. 
 
 Ethereal skies then shed their heavenly grace, 
 Reflecting pleasure in each happy face, 
 While from an azure cloud, as lambent form, 
 The goddess Liberty my sight did charm 
 With graceful action — did extend her hand, 
 From which was floating the fraternal band 
 Of virtuous brotherhood, as gleam of light, 
 Than which is naught more pleasing to the sight. 
 And then I saw come sailing from afar — 
 Its course illumined by many a star — 
 The cherished Eagle of Columbia's land ; 
 And in his beak he held another band, 
 On which was written, *' Enter Freedom's gates. 
 And join in friendship the United States !" 
 (°) I saw the goddess, radiant with bliss. 
 Entwine the bands. Oh, may they yet do this ! 
 
 Again the scene, as scenes of nature e'er 
 Give place to change, became as ambient air. 
 In musing mood, my heart with hope beat free 
 For England ! Erin! Poland! Hungary! — 
 Thus, then, I dwell in hope of the last three. 
 
 " Erin ma vourneen, first gem of the sea," 
 Though sorrow shrouds thee, may thy future be 
 As vale of Avoca, the home of repose — 
 Bright prism-hued bliss take the place of thy woes. 
 
 With thee, O Poland ! — brave Hungary, too — 
 I share thy sorrows, take part in thy wo ; 
 Still 'mid the mist of grief, or dew of tears, 
 I view the glory of thy future years. 
 
THE EMIGRANT. 35 
 
 What though the heel of harsh, despotic rule 
 
 Doth now thy hearthstones crush, each monarch's stool 
 
 Shall yet repentance be : for thy brave deeds 
 
 Done on the battle-fields shall be as seeds 
 
 Of rare and beauteous flowers, whose fragrant bloom 
 
 Doth ever cheer man, e'en in sterile home ; 
 
 As still small voice of conscience, they shall e'er 
 
 "Whisper, "Blest Freedom fatherland shall cheer!" 
 
 So shall thy sons incited, never rest 
 
 As despot-slave or wretch by wrong oppressed ; 
 
 But, nerved anew by the remembrance, strike 
 
 Bravely for freedom. Prosper each alike ! 
 
 In such fond hope Columbia bids thee cheer; 
 
 In thy success, Columbia's sons will share : 
 
 (2) Kossuth, thy son, they welcome to this land — 
 
 The land of Washington extends its hand ! 
 
 Our emigrants are dreaming : they shall sleep 
 While I relate the perils of the deep ; 
 How sickness, fire, and storm, by turns attend 
 To fill life's bitter cup — its voyage end. 
 
 THE STORM. 
 
 Though fair the morn, as entrance into life 
 Of cherub-child is met with smiles, nor strife 
 Occurs to mar the epoch, yet its vale 
 Ills may environ : so a storm or gale 
 May veil the closing day with tempest dire, 
 And thunder beat the air 'mid lightning's fire. 
 Oft then the ship, which left her port in trim, 
 With fav'ring wind, the seas can barely swim ; 
 
36 THEEMIGRANT. 
 
 Though straining cordage and her rending sails 
 Protract the struggle^ Fate at last prevails : 
 One vivid flash the forest mainmast rends, 
 "Which parts her, midships ; thus the voyage ends. 
 Vainly the shrieks of wo and cries for aid 
 Pierce the dread gloom of ocean's deadly shade > 
 Vainly some struggle in the boiling surge — 
 Soon life 's unheard, save sea-mew as their dirge I 
 
 THE SHIP-FEVER. 
 
 Oft dread Disease stalks o'er the hapless bark, 
 "Whose fated victims feed the greedy shark : 
 The ocean's ghoul, like vampire of the earth, 
 "Who gain extorts amid a nation's dearth j 
 (^) As venal lawyer, wanting conscience, tries 
 To prove crime guiltless, and that ti'uths are lies ; 
 Such Mercury worship, gloat on wo or wrong — 
 They share the product, to one tribe belong. 
 Sad, piteous scenes, heart-rending to the mind, 
 Occur where scores are to one deck confined ; 
 Where all are witness to the work of Death — 
 Its fetid air inhaling at each breath : 
 As that a much-loved wife and mother dear, 
 Sti-uck by disease, sought the Almighty's care. 
 E'en then Affection could not, would not part 
 With the loved form engraven on the heart ; 
 In the sad hope her tomb would mem'ry cheer, 
 (*) With care preserved the form that love held dear. 
 Sad are such scenes, enough to quail e'en they 
 Who 'd seek the New World, sad at home to stay ; 
 
THE EMIGRANT. 37 
 
 (^) But no privations dire can daunt the hope 
 
 Of 'scape from thraldom with which few can cope 
 
 Save those whom fortune favors, or the wretch 
 
 Who to it panders, Tyranny's " Jack Ketch." 
 
 From such a subject, painful to digest, 
 
 We turn with rapture to the mighty West — 
 
 Where, as the garden of humanity, 
 
 Blooms the loved flower of fraternity, 
 
 Whose fruits are kindred happiness and peace, 
 
 Far 'yond the days of ancient Rome or Greece. 
 
 THE SHIP ON FIRE. 
 
 Though to the lips presented, as I ween, 
 The cup of bliss has oft untasted been : 
 So with the ship that 'scapes Coins' ire, 
 In sight of port may meet her fate by fire. 
 It painful is to lengthen out a tale 
 With scenes of sorrow which our hearts bewail j 
 But, as the darker colors shade the light. 
 Such scenes reveal in truth poor human plight : 
 Thus within sight of port have hearts beat time 
 To hope arrived at ; while in joyful chime 
 They've cried, " We see the shore — O happy day I 
 Hail, land of Freedom, blest America !" 
 
 Upon the deck in varied groups they stand. 
 Or sit, or lounge, as they the scenery grand 
 With wistful hours devour — dilate upon 
 The nearing shore, while ever and anon 
 The captain's asked, " Where are we ?" — 'nough to tire 
 The party questioned. Lo ! a cry of " Fire !" 
 4 
 
38 THE EMIGRANT. 
 
 Breaks on the ear : the word no sooner spoke, 
 
 Than quick ascends a volume of black smoke, 
 
 Which rapid changes into living flame, 
 
 While 'mid the din is heard th' endearing name 
 
 Of father, mother, wife, son, or daughter, 
 
 Who maddening shun the flames and seek the water. 
 
 Thus hope forsakes them, and they seek to flee 
 
 As 'twere one death, another death's to be. 
 
 (^) Horror of horrors breaks upon the view ! 
 
 Oh, for an Exmouth to direct the crew, 
 
 Or gallant Jerome ! ocean-monarch he 
 
 Should be entitled of th' Atlantic sea. 
 
 Brief is the struggle, as the burning boat — 
 The flames advancing — sinks, no more to float ! 
 Thus oft in life, the mind, absorbed in gi'ief, 
 Seeks in the darkness of the tomb relief: 
 But then, alas ! as with the sinking boat. 
 Whose whirl engulfs e'en those who round her float 
 Within its reach, so suicidal acts — 
 Sad wo extends (its melancholy facts). C^) 
 
 All are not lost : some live to tell the tale 
 Of loss of friends they shall through life bewail. 
 See ! the fond father grasps his drowning child, 
 While in his face dismay and horror wild 
 Portray his anguish. But what is't he sees, 
 That floats toward him, wafted by the breeze ? 
 (^) It is — O God ! — it is the sacred bier 
 That holds the form of her he loved so dear ; 
 She, the fond wife and mother (guided by 
 As 't were her spirit) comes as sanctuary. 
 
THE EMIGRANT. 39 
 
 It nears him, and tlie living child is placed 
 On the cold breast which it in life caressed ; 
 The father, swimming, guides it to the shore, 
 Thus, life and death conjoined, their child restore. 
 Oh ! blest aftection, link of human souls, 
 E'en life and death thy sympathy controls. 
 
 We now will change the scene, as sunshine e'er 
 Spreads gladness o'er the land, and dry the tear 
 That pity sheds o'er sorrow. So we '11 skip 
 As zephyr light, and join our happy ship, 
 Yes, happy ship ! for those who in her sail 
 'Scape all dread perils, painful to detail. 
 
 Aurora's beams light up the eastern waves — 
 In view, leviathan, who sportive laves 
 His cumbrous form, and spouts amid a school 
 Of porpoises, as " master of a school." 
 Six bells upon the ear as strangely chime 
 As the discordant sound of broken rhyme, 
 Awak'ning those, who late had slept on earth, 
 To life at sea — reclining in a berth. 
 Some rise, while others, filled with horrid qualms. 
 To ease their ailment have recourse to balms ; 
 Some vent ejaculations 'mid dire throes, 
 'Mong which they oft a love of home disclose j 
 The strong and robust wait upon the weak. 
 And cook for breakfast, chop, perchance a steak ; 
 With curious confab at the galley fire, 
 Which, if repeated, ears polite might tire. 
 The sable doctor, versed in making scouse, 
 
40 THE EMIGRANT. 
 
 And other mysteries of a ship's cook-house, 
 
 Kindly assists, so that he may be able 
 
 T' have breakfast ready for the cabin-table. 
 
 The scenes I paint from do not wealth portray— 
 Its actors use not the companion-way — 
 But unto them may hope such wealth presage, 
 Though now they occupy a ship's steerage. 
 This I '11 assert — the tendrils of our kind 
 Twine round the hearts of such. Full well I mind 
 How once at sea upon a foggy morn, 
 A schooner hailed us ; soon her boat was borne 
 Upon the waves, when near our vessels head 
 (9) The boat's crew loudly cried, " We 're out of bread/'* 
 
 Nature refreshed, they then on deck repair, 
 Th' expanse of ocean view — they breathe the air 
 Of nature, freed from harsh, despotic rule — 
 Joyous as schoolboys just let out of school — 
 As all men freed from tyranny must feel, 
 Having at heart their own and fellows weal, 
 Beneath the striped flag whose starry folds 
 He who loves freedom with delight beholds. 
 Their spirits buoyant as the passing billows. 
 Home seems forgotten ; and the weeping-willows 
 Of parting friendship, as a cloudless sky — 
 The storm having passed — permits the earth to dry. 
 
 To while the dull monotony at sea. 
 They read, play chequers — as the case may be; 
 Play chequers, read, or hand at cards — what then? 
 Why read, play chequers, hand at cards again ? 
 
THE EMIGRANT. 41 
 
 "With favoring winds, each blissful morn awakes, 
 Whose cheering influence each with joy partakes j 
 Aid in those duties which relate and chime 
 To health and comfort. Thus they pass the time 
 In kindred action, as the kindly breeze 
 Affects them all, while passing o'er the seas. 
 Would that the seas of life, were thickly strewn 
 With love's bright flowers ; that their seeds were sown 
 By all who linger in this vale of tears. 
 So that they might e'er bloom in after years ; 
 For then the path of life indeed would be 
 As pleasure-voyage o'er a calm blue sea. 
 
 The voyage now is ending ; straining eyes 
 Peer for the land of human liberties. 
 
 " Land ho !" a seaman at the mast-head cries, 
 " Land ho !" on deck is echoed 'mid loud sighs; 
 For sighs betoken pleasures well as pain, 
 As past and present fill the mind though twain. 
 The home we seek, the home we leave behind, 
 As one, engross the feelings of the mind ! 
 
 Hail, happy shore of halcyon liberty ! 
 Hail, land of Washington — the brave and free ! 
 Hail, land of promise to th' oppressed and poor. 
 Whose myriads seek the shelter of thy shore ! 
 
 They see thy land-heights as I saw them, when 
 The sun shone brightly. 'T was a morn in May, 
 The balmy air seemed perfumed, and the clouds 
 
42 THE EMIGRANT. 
 
 "With brilliant hues as canopy above 
 Did the grand scene enliven and illume. 
 
 Ah ! none can tell th' emotions, saving those 
 Who leaving home behind, have sought thy shores, 
 Which throb, and find a vent in grateful prayer, 
 While e'en the tear-drops course adown the cheeks 
 Of stalwart men, as if dear nature's ties 
 Of early life had but recurred again : 
 As that the long-lost child had newly-found 
 Its parent dear. Why should it not be so ? 
 Though memory dwells upon our native shore. 
 We love the land whose mantle wraps us o'er. 
 
 Well I remember, as I stood among 
 My fellow-passengers, my mind thus sung 
 Its tribute in thy praise, America ! 
 
 AN ODE ADDRESSED TO THE AMERICAN NATIOiV. 
 
 Thou sun among the nations of the earth ! 
 Whose starry flag embellishes the seas ; 
 Thou land that unto Washington gave birth ! 
 Bright land of promise, labors meed and ease : 
 With overflowing heart and truthful tongue, 
 America, I greet thee ! 
 
 No scribe e'er wrote upon a holier theme, 
 No painter e'er portrayed a brighter scene, 
 
 Nor poet in his mind's inspired dream 
 Image the lustre of thy rule serene. 
 
THE EMIGRANT. 43 
 
 Thou glorious land, whose tome of history tells 
 
 Of gallant action in thy early days ; 
 "When thy brave sons loud chimed liberty's bells, 
 
 O'er earth to echo e'er deserving praise : 
 
 Hail, to thy matrons, who such gems bequeathec, 
 
 A priceless legacy, to none confined, 
 In grateful tones their names shall e'er be breathed, 
 
 As Sparta's mothers blessed by all mankind ! 
 
 Thy patriot fathers, unto memory dear, 
 
 Whose deeds of virtue bloom as social flowers 
 
 Whose rich perfume shall mankind ever cheer. 
 Till Freedom's altar o'er the wide world towers ! 
 
 Home to the oppressed ! Thou human pelican 
 Baring the bosom of thy wide-spread shore 
 
 To feed and nurture suffering fellow-man — 
 As if his woes you as a mother bore : — 
 
 Oh ! may thy radiant flag increase its stars — 
 
 Its stripes of brotherhood o'er earth extend — 
 So that in union nations cease foul wars. 
 
 Thus o'er the world man be to man a friend ! 
 With overflowing heart and truthful tongue, 
 America, I greet thee ! 
 
 Bay of New York ! as Mercy's angel thou — 
 
 The beams of Ceres glisten on thy brow; 
 
 i}^) Thy swanlike bosom heaves its crested waves. 
 
 To Union faithful as the shore it laves ; 
 
 Thy sunny hills are bright with freedom's rays : 
 
 Each vale redundant, grateful tribute pays ; 
 
44 - THEEMIGRANT. 
 
 Thy neat abodes display both wealth and taste — 
 Where all is beauty, naught can be displaced : 
 Though bards have sung the bay of Naples' praise, 
 Gateway of Freedom ! tliou deserv'st the bays. 
 
 No pious pilgrim e'er on Mecca gazed 
 With warmer feelings, nor by hope more raised, 
 Than do our emigrants — as 'York's tall spires 
 Loom in the distance, which, as beacon-fires 
 That patriot hearts have gladdened, mark the spot 
 Where Freedom reigns, and Thraldom dwelleth not ! 
 
 The ship is moored. Farewell, my gallant bark ! 
 Adieu thy captain, mate and crew. — But hark! 
 Above the hum of voices on the shore, 
 There loudly chimes the music of the poor : 
 'T is " Home, sweet home," bids start the silent tear; 
 The chord is touched which memory holdeth dear ; 
 The heavens absorb such dew-drops ere they fall — 
 The heart's fond tribute, duly paid by all. 
 Ne'er should the pomp of power, or vainer pride (^^) 
 Of wealth, the music of the poor deride, 
 For whom no operatic corps combine 
 To charm the senses, as foretaste divine ! 
 Yet may th' untutored ear with rapture dwell 
 On "hurdy-gurdy" or "street-organ's" swell, 
 Or shrill Pandean pipes, or trumpet's tone. 
 Or shriller bagpipes chorussed with " Och hone !" 
 Often the class who toil with penury sore, 
 Are blithely cheered with music of the poor ; 
 While little children dancing Nature's gait. 
 Delighted beg a penny for the plate ! 
 
THE EMIGRANT. 45 
 
 Pleased beyond measure, lisping voices sing 
 
 In babbling tones as gushes mountain-spring — 
 
 The minstrel follow, as he leaves each door, 
 
 Their Orpheus being — music of the poor ! 
 
 Though rude in tone, by voice untuneful sung, 
 
 Nor Jenny Lind cadences are unstrung — 
 
 Whose pearls of charity gleam o'er the mind, 
 
 As light, th' unseen, is present to the blind. 
 
 Like plaintive ballad melting on the ear. 
 
 The heart impressed doth in its sorrow share. 
 
 ** Home, home, sweet home," whate'er that home has been, 
 
 Life's early flower, its leaves are ever green. 
 
 Benevolence, religion of the just ! 
 Without thy charity, 'twere but a jest. 
 With thee all men are of one kith and kin — 
 Crime a misfortune, poverty no sin ; 
 True to the duties which man owes to man, 
 Pities his errors, aids him if it can. 
 
 Benevolence — America — the same 
 In application are. Enduring fame 
 Is thine, America. As vestal shrine, 
 The lustre of thy deeds will ever shine. 
 
 Christ spake by parables, and numbers fed 
 With a few fishes, and as little bread : 
 Columbia, as the Savior of mankind. 
 With her do masses food in plenty find. 
 Though small her store at first, with food for few — 
 As numbers thronged, it fast and faster grew : 
 
46 T H E E M I G R A N T. 
 
 As Israel fed with manna from above, 
 She gives to all who seek her aid and love. 
 
 Though sweet the home, the home we leave behind, 
 Sweet the new home that aids poor human kind — 
 Which not alone receives with open arms 
 Expatriate sons, but soothes with gen'rous balms 
 (^2) Their need or ailments, as they step ashore : 
 By it assured, they '11 feel gaunt want no more. 
 
 I' the limpid lake, whose bosom quiet rests, 
 A stone, cast in, forms ripples on its breast, 
 That soon diverge upon the wat'ry blue — 
 So do our emigrants varied routes pursue : 
 Each seeks a spot congenial to his mind. 
 As lake becalmed, to peacefulness resigned. 
 (^3) Thus, those who seek the prairies of the West, 
 Or woodland wilds, where man is nature bluest. 
 In palace-steamboats quickly speed their way 
 Up mighty rivers, by both night and day; 
 Their eyes with wonder on the mountains pore. 
 Whose towering heights as guardians line the shore. 
 America ! such emblems sure foretell 
 Eternal echoes to foul Thraldom's knell ; 
 That o'er the world thy flag ere long shall be 
 Man's only banner sailing o'er each sea. 
 
 Thus settle down our emigrants : for e'er 
 Released from tyranny, and the dread fear 
 Of future want, days pass with pleasures rife. — 
 So I '11 portray the charms of Western Life. 
 
NOTES TO THE EMIGRANT. 
 
 (}) I saw the goddess, radiant with bliss^ 
 
 Entwine the bands. O may they yet do this ! 
 
 Firmly believing in the destiny of this nation, and that destiny to 
 be the regeneration of man by self-government in all civilized coun- 
 tries, as promulgated by the prosperous and peaceable United States 
 in the glorious continuation of its Union, and just and virtuous exam- 
 ple of its equitable rule, the future union of the masses of this country 
 with those of Great Britain has long been one of the cherished hopes 
 of my existence, and one which I trust I may yet live to see realized. 
 
 I do not think I can better convey my ideas upon this subject than 
 by giving, in ample detail, an Address delivered by me in New York 
 during the late insurrection in Ireland. Though that event was cer- 
 tainly unfortunate in its termination, it was nevertheless a step in aid 
 of the oppressed of that isle, inasmuch as it directed and compelled 
 due attention on the part of the home government to the distressed 
 condition of its subjects, and gave rise to measures in some degree 
 ameliorating. 
 
 Address to the People of the United States, and to the Masses of 
 Foreign Countries in general. By George Rogers. Deliv- 
 ered at the Society Library, New York, June 8, 1848. 
 
 I am indeed flattered that so numerous a body of my fellow-citizens 
 should do me the honor of appearing at my solicitation, to listen to 
 the remarks embodied in an address to my fellow-men. If, in my 
 feeble efforts to point out a mode that may possibly tend to benefit 
 them, even in a small degree, it will amply repay me for the time be- 
 stowed on its attention. 
 
 I have no doubt but that there are some persons who may under- 
 
48 NOTESTO THE EMIGRANT. 
 
 take to impugn my motives. I would remark, in anticipation, that all 
 men are desirous in a degree of doing the same. The motive is, a 
 love of our kind. It must be the quo animo of social feeling, that se- 
 cret sympathetic action of the heart, which loathes to die and separate 
 itself from humanity. No man desires to live alone in a desert, for 
 the greatest punishment that can be inflicted on man, is solitary 
 confinement. I then, in common with all men, desire my fellow-men 
 to receive all the benefits they can properly arrive at, and at least, those 
 precious birthrights that appertain to them by nature and from nature's 
 God. 
 
 Then it is not surprising, nor should it invite calumny, that I have 
 thought proper to put forth a germ that may become a tree of larger 
 growth. Blessed with ample independence from the exercise of my 
 industry, in this happy country, and having, by a residence of years 
 under a monarchy, been eyewitness and partaker of its errors and its 
 wrongs, what is more natural ? Should I not be indeed a Timbn, an 
 ingrate to my adopted country, if I did not desire, by even more than 
 mere quiescent feeling, to advance her glory, and to see such happiness 
 extended throughout the world. 
 
 The method I propose to be adopted to this end, is, I must admit, 
 startling from its novelty ; and a few months since, the bare assertion that 
 such a state of things could be arrived at, would have been quite un- 
 tenable. But the times have changed, are still changing, and the pros- 
 pect of such a measure being fully carried out, does not admit, in my 
 mind, of doubt ; it merely requires consideration, and corresponding ac- 
 tion. 
 
 Periods in the ages of nations occur, when the most wonderful chan- 
 ges for general benefit may be advantageously arrived at, whereas, if 
 the golden opportunity is allowed to pass by, it sinks into the abyss of 
 time and becomes lost to the world for ever. 
 
 Your fellow-man, an Englishman by birth, an American by adop- 
 tion, a lover of liberty and a Republican from principle, makes bold 
 to address you, from a desire to see that principle extend its happy in- 
 fluence, as well as from a strong hope that the ideas he puts forth may 
 be properly construed in their course, and tend to heal those unnatur- 
 al dissensions of national feeling that have too long existed, blasting by 
 their effect, the happiness, prosperity, and welfare of the multitude, 
 and thus by resorting to such measures of humane and faithful appli- 
 cation, the future happiness of the whole human family of the various 
 nations of the earth, may be more fully anticipated. 
 
NOTES TO THE EMIGRANT. 49 
 
 Republicanism is the doctrine of the day ! Fraternization the de- 
 mocracy of humanity, and Freedom the proper attribute of man ! 
 
 The Creator ordained, and nature teaches man, that everything was 
 intended for his general use, comfort, blessing, and happiness. It is 
 only man the tyrant, who, with perverted heart, feelings, and selfish 
 imaginations, has set at defiance, the decree of the one, or the action 
 of the other. Oh ! man is the only living being that preys upon the 
 happiness of his fellows, and though we might make every allowance, 
 or excuse, by sophistical argument, that in a state of ignorance, such 
 things should possibly occur ; yet who could uphold such action, or 
 who would not, readily if possible, throw forth a deep shadow, on such 
 conduct, emanating from an educated class, or advanced state of rea- 
 son in man's passage. For the life of man is but a passage on the 
 highway of eternity. Oh ! that the dark and I would say, blotted pa- 
 ges of humanity's history — yes, pages blotted with human blood, giving 
 forth from their recitals proofs of acute pains, dreadful sufferings, and 
 ignominious punishments for virtuous acts (not crimes), were for ever 
 expunged, and sent like a messenger of Icarus to realms unknown, 
 never to be mentioned. 
 
 In looking back upon the past history of man, it is hardly necessary to 
 give quotations of its beneficial course of action, or its reverses of util- 
 ity, otherwise than as prominent occurrences, or extraordinary acts of 
 wisdom, may be made available. 
 
 The majority of nations at this day, thanks to an overruling Pow- 
 er, need but to be shown the landmarks of human happiness, to be 
 instructed that these are co-existent with freedom, and that with skil- 
 ful pilots they can bring the precious vessels safely into port. 
 
 There is no reason why I should not raise my individual voice in 
 endeavoring to arrive at its partial fulfilment. Every ripple adds to 
 the wave, and if all men would add each their ripple, the ocean of 
 humanity would be perfectin its waves, and then indeed would the 
 sea of Life be broadly democratic, and mankind mingle together in per- 
 fect harmony. 
 
 The world has been blindly leading itself, that is humanity has, which 
 is its intellectual portion. An improper arrangement of mankind has 
 first given birth to erroneous doctrines, and the perpetuation of such 
 rule, has increased such errors till they have become, as it were, a por- 
 tion of the human mind. 
 
 The scales I trust are about to fall from the eyes of man — the age 
 of reason is approaching ; such error shall cease, or I wiU carry my 
 
 5 
 
50 NOTES TO THE EMIGRANT. 
 
 error, if the world deem it such, with me to the grave. Love of, or 
 rather loyalty to kingly government, the result of artifice on the part 
 of regal and despotic governments, to aid and perpetuate their unhal- 
 lowed rule, has given rise to the false idea of love of native land, and 
 nations can not fraternize till ideas so grossly idolatrous have evapor- 
 ated from the minds of men. Can I find words to express my disgust 
 of such unchristian doctrine, that you must love the land or piece of 
 earth to which chance led your parent at your birth 1 And suppose 
 you were born at sea, what then, are you to love the broad ocean — per- 
 haps I can not advance a more appropriate reference in support of the 
 glorious practice of Democracy. 
 
 Disunion has ever been the bane of society, leavmg open to the 
 crafty despots of the human race, weak points of attack, as well as 
 giving invitation to their assaults. 
 
 Fellow-men, I have a few remarks to make in relation to Monarchy 
 and its appliances. At this day, it is certainly proper to assert that 
 monarchy not only owes its origin to a barbarous age, but is also a relic 
 of barbarism, for I trust that even its relics, will soon depart from the 
 association of mankind. 
 
 We can well admit, perhaps, its expediency in those darker ages of 
 man, and that it was even proper that the few intelligent and learned 
 should rule the masses, who were then, comparatively, in a state of 
 ignorance. But man loves power so dearly, and wealth and power so 
 poison the mind, that the craving to extend its domination, is ever 
 practised, as has been the case with monarchy, which by its grasping 
 ambition, losing sight of prudence, prepares, and precipitates its own 
 downfall. 
 
 Thus we have seen the cunning of intrigue anddiplomacy of kingcraft, 
 calling forth to its assistance, every act in its power, by measures of 
 control over the masses, an unnatural array of aristocracy, and its con- 
 comitant gradations of rank, leaving but poverty and degradation to 
 the people ; the religion of Christ perverted to its advantage, the priest- 
 hood controlling the minds by a baneful influence — upholding the di- 
 vine right of kings, subverting their freedom, and adding to their 
 sorrows, by their exorbitant demands and luxurious mode of living. 
 
 We have seen the creation of immense armies, professedly for the 
 protection of the nation from foreign aggression. Yes, we have seen 
 that dubious arm of protection but too often turned against the people 
 who support them, crushing their aspirations for freedom, and adding 
 slaughter and bloodshed to the foothold of oppression. And again, we 
 
NOTES TO THE EMIGRANT. 51 
 
 have seen in the dismemberment of nations and their array under vari- 
 ous princes, or self-created potentates, over their fellow-men, kingdom 
 after kingdom, added to the list of living tyrannies, by which men or bod- 
 ies of men as nations, have been divided, kept aloof from each other, and 
 taught under that cunningly-contrived artifice, to look upon each other 
 as inferiors, as enemies, all free interchange of thought and sentiment 
 prevented, the mind as well as the body enchained, and none but a 
 limited sphere of action for either. And what has not the world lost 
 in consequence of such an inharmonious state of society of God's chil- 
 dren 1 Yes, indeed, what has the world not lost by such action 1 Tal- 
 ent and Genius, like the hoarded wealth of the miser, have often been 
 but as a canker-worm to the heart, inutile, from its want of proper ap- 
 plication, as the jewel in the unexplored mine, or hke the budding 
 flower, crushed under the ruthless hoof of the quadruped, compelled 
 to wither in its incipiency, both its beauty and its fragrance. 
 
 Man proposes but God disposes ; and I see in the present course of 
 events, its great truth. Still it is left for man in his wisdom to make 
 those just and proper arrangements, which, if consistent with a sense of 
 right and justice to his fellow-man, will leave little doubt of their last- 
 ing tendency. I think I perceive every probability of rapid advance- 
 ment in the happiness of mankind, throughout the world ; and it may 
 well behoove all men to ponder at the present time, not only on the 
 propriety of changes, but such as shall create a lasting and beneficial 
 influence on the whole of mankind throughout the globe. 
 
 The friends of monarchy assert that because Republics have in for- 
 mer periods been unstable, they can never successfully last a length- 
 ened period of time. The futility of that argument is becoming apparent. 
 We are as a nation daily strengthening the truth of democracy. It is 
 a system so faithfully balancing each individual interest, leaving equal- 
 ly open, place, honor, and profit to all, that it seems idle to assert a 
 people can not be true to themselves, just as if a whole nation could 
 be capable of a suicidal act. 
 
 And again, the masses of any nation, at any former period of time, 
 were never so liberally or so well educated as are ours, and education 
 is our safeguard. Knowledge is power, and the higher the advance 
 of the mind the stronger its aspirations for freedom, and the greater 
 the truth, to the mind, that democracy and freedom are the proper at- 
 tributes of man. 
 
 It is hardly necessary for me to advert to so notorious a fact as that 
 the greatest minds that have ever existed, have been the firm advocates 
 
52 NOTES TO THE EMIGRANT. 
 
 of these principles, and immense indeed, is the gratitude due to theii 
 memories by all future generations. 
 
 Their memories, as the incense of rare flowers,- 
 Refresh the mind and strengthen freedom's powers. 
 It is a positive truth, that the advancement of republican principles 
 throughout Europe, is owing first, to the march of mind, or diffusion 
 of knowledge by education, and again to the successful application of 
 its practice in these United States. 
 
 The futility of monarchical governments, as tending to the happi- 
 ness of a people, is so well understood as to render but slight remark 
 necessary. In the first place, without a full representation, all classes 
 can not be faithfully governed. Is it not entirely Utopian to suppose 
 that the wealthy, or aristocratic Lord lings of Monarchy, can either un- 
 derstand what are the necessary wants, or have a proper sympathy 
 with a people. They advantage themselves by keeping the people in 
 a state of poverty, as well as ignorance, though surely it is the duty 
 of a government to foresee in its wisdom, as well as provide for all evils 
 under which the people exist. For where the people are not fully 
 represented, on what else have they to place reliance 1 and is not that 
 government recreant to its trust when it fails in its duty of either pre- 
 venting evils of magnitude or providing fully for their results ? Such 
 a government should cease to exist, as it virtually does, from the ab- 
 sence of the fulfilment of its proper duties. 
 
 In the late dreadful famine in Ireland, the question is not how much 
 did the British government appropriate for her necessities, or what 
 measures she created in her behalf The proper question is, did she 
 do her duty 1 did she do all she could, all she ought to have done 1 I 
 answer, no ! She did not; and that answer with its proof should ever 
 be held up to the gaze of the world, a moral lesson, to all present and 
 future governments. I answer then, my own question, no. She did 
 not. Not while she had ample means, beyond what she gave ; with 
 her valuable crown lands, her untold wealth, her jewels, her guarded 
 palaces of splendor, her unlimited public credit. No, she did not her 
 duty, while she could raise by any and every means in her power, 
 even to her last shilling, sufficient to assuage the sufferings of her sister 
 subjects, from whom for centuries she had drawn her supplies of food, 
 its hardy laborers, and brave spirits to recruit her exhausted armies, 
 and marine. Ah ! indeed, the horrible sufferings of her starved, stal- 
 wart sons, her weaker daughters, and helpless infancy, cry aloud in 
 tones of the unstrung harpistry of human sorrow, a sad memorial of 
 
NOTES TO THE EMIGRANT. 53 
 
 the inefficiency of a monarchical form of government in aid of the 
 calamity of a portion of the population of a nation. 
 
 In a republic, this could not possibly occur ; the proper arrangement 
 of society, its fraternal bond, the necessity of each measure of legis- 
 lation, being just and impartial. The proper and equal appropria- 
 tion of funds for the several improvements necessary to advance the 
 general interests of the community, would have prevented the spectacle 
 of one part of the population of a country from presenting so antago- 
 nistic a situation of wealth and poverty as is shown in the disparity 
 of the population of England and Ireland. The fault has arisen from 
 the malfeasance of government, and the want of correct representation. 
 Give them that, and they can correct their own evils, as they are the 
 best judges of what is required. 
 
 There are many who disbelieve and even deny the possibihty of a 
 change of government in Great Britain. It is decreed ! It is not only 
 tottering, but about to fall. This is the age of reason, and the might 
 of right. The men of Great Britain and Ireland, of this generation, 
 will not, dare not leave their posterity the chains their fathers wore. 
 They will not! I am happy in that behef; for, though I disown the 
 false doctrine of love of native land, I love my countrymen, I love 
 liberty, I love my fellow-man : and I thank God I Uve in this age, for 
 it is indeed glorious to live and see man rising in his manhood, and 
 attaining to his proper position. 
 
 We have had our Washington, France has her Lamartine, you 
 shall have yours, and each nation pulsating for liberty shall have 
 theirs ; and we will, yes, the children of the world will bless the hal- 
 lowed memories of them all. 
 
 But this is not all : though in support of the propriety of uniting 
 together, does not the whole world not only know but express its ad- 
 miration at the unity of Irishmen and Englishmen in this country ? 
 Do we hate one another here 1 No ! I say, as I have said before : 
 « Brother Irishmen, I feel for your sorrows ; I regret your wrongs, and 
 I should glory in their removal." Then shall Irishmen be less mag- 
 nanimous than Englishmen (though to be sure they have been ill- 
 treated by the British government) ? But the masses in England are 
 not the government. They groan alike under its baneful effects. It 
 is the system of monarchy that has been to them and other nations the 
 maelstrom of human happiness, the simoom of their prosperity, and 
 the upas-tree of life ! 
 
 Then the removal of monarchy from the British isles must not 
 5* 
 
54 NOTES TO THE EMIGRANT. 
 
 be hastily passed over. It will, if carried into effect, tend to hasten 
 the regeneration of the world, and carry out the doctrine that the des- 
 tiny of the United States is the regeneration of man, by self-govern- 
 ment, throughout the globe. The measure I now propose is the next 
 greatly-important means toward its fulfilment, and the present state of 
 affairs warrants its accomplishment ; and if not taken advantage of 
 when the period arrives, which I think is rapidly approaching, the 
 opportunity may never again occur. 
 
 Then I propose that the masses of England and Ireland, having 
 fraternized, they should seek to become annexed to the United States. 
 Nay, start not at this idea. I will leave the simple proposition while 
 I fortify its propriety, and exhibit its many advantages. In the first 
 place, I say to Englishmen and Irishmen, are not a great portion of 
 your people already annexed to the United States by blood, by rela- 
 tionship ] Do we not speak the same language 1 Do we not show a 
 close affinity in the scale of intelligence, and do not our interests truly 
 demand such a union 1 Your masses could manufacture for us — ours 
 would grow food for yours. Our ingenious citizens and men of opu- 
 lence would devise measures of trade and occupation for your starving 
 and overgrown population : our vast territory, Uke our hearts, is open 
 to receive you. You are aware of our sympathy, and you know our 
 worth ; and would it not be a grand, a splendid holocaust to the prin- 
 ciples of Liberty — the mother, and sister, and daughter, among na- 
 tions, embracing each other firmly and for ever in the bonds of frater- 
 nity, under the glorious banner of the stripes and the stars ? Future 
 generations would bless the union, for it would not only keep together 
 the greatness (in point of commercial dealing) and national wealth of 
 Great Britain and Ireland, but it would advance the cause of freedom 
 throughout Europe. 
 
 I feel assured that the people of the United States, who have never 
 yet withheld the hand of sympathy in aid of the misfortunes of their 
 fellow-men of less-favored climes, will not resist such an appeal, but 
 gladly hail so glorious an opportunity to not alone extend the blessings 
 of our Union in a political sense, but to unite more firmly than ever 
 the bonds of kindred already in existence between the three nations. 
 And what can be more natural than such a desire 1 Who is there 
 among us, but represents, either in his own person, or that of his an- 
 cestry, one or other of the nations of Europe? And shall we not, 
 as the fond children of kind parents, be desirous of reciprocating to 
 
NOTES TO THE EMIGRANT. 55 
 
 those countries (as it were of our birth), as far as in our power lies, 
 the blessings under which we live 1 
 
 The pinions of our Eagle are daily extending in their growth ; and 
 why should they not in time reach across even the broad Atlantic, 
 affording protection and o'ershadowing for ever the sorrows and mis- 
 rule of other lands 1 
 
 Setting aside the powerful appeals of Christian doctrine, or even the 
 proper and natural exercise of humane and benevolent action of man 
 toward his fellow-man, I shall use in addition the powerful argument 
 of self-interest, which invariably tends, when other promptings fail, to 
 bind ahke society, or man to man. Our forefathers burst asunder the 
 bonds of connection with Great Britain, to resist the might of aggres- 
 sion — and it was their interest so to act; and shall not that interest 
 lead us now to reunite, and shed a hallowed sympathy over, as well 
 as remove the sorrows and misfortunes of, our kindred and sister 
 nations 1 
 
 The fraternization of nations would then be carried out, and our 
 democratic practice evidence to the world that such an alliance would 
 prevent every aggression of tyranny over the rights of man for the 
 future ; as the power we should wield, under such a union, would be 
 so immense, that the concentration of all the powers of all nations 
 could not again raise an arm to stifle the voice of Freedom. Now, if 
 my fellow-men of England and Ireland take this subject into consid- 
 eration, there will possibly be no necessity for bloodshed in the over- 
 throw or change of government. 
 
 Again, what would be the position of England and Ireland disunited 
 as republics, ever jealously regarding each other, and adding but 
 strength to past enmities — and Ireland but a ready bait to the ambi- 
 tion of other great powers in their loosened bonds of national strength 1 
 Professing a love of fraternity, mock not truth ! But in casting aside 
 the unnatural bond of union under a monarchy, replace it with repub- 
 lican union. Your combined action has ever added laurels to the 
 glory of the British empire : surpass by acts of wisdom all former 
 achievements ! Recollect that the path I point out is one of holy and 
 righteous acquirement — the extension of the liberties of your fellow- 
 men. Ever first in advance of the nations of Europe, cast not aside, 
 by one false step, your future united happiness — your future glory 
 and imperishable renown ! 
 
 So simple, so just, so natural in its application, is the self-rule of 
 republicanism, that we may see in the future, if you take the initiatory, 
 
56 NOTES TO THE EMIGRANT. 
 
 the extension of the union of the states to all nations. And why not 
 — only first removing the rule of monarchy? Men of all climes, of 
 all nations, of all creeds, and of every profession, live happily in this 
 country, harmoniously blending, and forming one grand tableau vivant 
 of the children of the world, and the same application of its principles 
 can be carried out in the annexation of other countries. Then may I 
 say of my adopted land — 
 
 Nations shall seek thy fraternizing hand, 
 
 Till all the world shall be but as a band 
 
 Of brethren, linked in Friendsliip's tight embrace — 
 
 And blessed freedom cover earth's broad space. 
 
 Then, oh for those halcyon days when man shall need no passport 
 of nationality in his pilgrimage through the world ; when the waves 
 of the ocean shall lave but the shores of Freedom — the sun's ray illume 
 not a spot of earth unblessed by Liberty ; and when the gentle 
 moon and brilliant stars shall shed their light over but one people, the 
 fraternized children of God, the citizens of the world ! 
 
 (2) Kossuth, tJiy son — they welcome to this land — 
 
 The invitation extended on the part of our government to Kosstjth 
 and others, together with the arrangements for their passage hither, 
 under the protection of the flag of the Union, is an appropriate rebuke 
 to the despots of Europe. " Rats avoid a falling house," and these 
 despots may yet be compelled to seek a refuge in the very temple of 
 Liberty whose just and natural prmciples they have desecrated. Gen- 
 erous America ! the folds of thy garment of protection are without a 
 
 (3) As venal lawyer, wanting conscience, tries 
 
 To prove crime guiltless, and tliat truths are- lies. 
 
 It is passing strange how very many arrangements for the benefit 
 of humanity, or furtherance of the ends of justice, have become prosti- 
 tuted, through the agency of evil and designing men, to the entire 
 defeat of the beneficial measures for which they were instituted ! 
 
NOTES TO THE EMIGRANT. 57 
 
 (f) With care preserved the form that love held dear. 
 See Note 8. 
 
 ('') But no privations dire can dauni the hope 
 
 Of 'scape from thraldom with which few can cope. 
 
 Ax Irishman, named Michael Dooley, smuggled a passage from 
 Liverpool to Boston in the ship North Carolina, which arrived last 
 week. He was obliged to take up his berth on some old sails during 
 the long passage. When the ship arrived at quarantine, Dooley was 
 taken from his quarters, literally covered with filth, and both feet and 
 legs frozen up to his knees ! Mortification took place, and the poor 
 wretch submitted to the amputation of both his legs. 
 
 N. Y. Sunday Atlas, Jan. 5, 1851. 
 
 (f) Horror of horrors breaks upon the view, 
 for an Exmouih to direct the crew ! 
 
 A Hero. — The following extract of a letter written by the distin- 
 guished naval officer, Lord Exmouth, and published in the United 
 Service Journal, very forcibly illustrates his benevolent disposition : 
 
 " Why do you ask me to relate the wreck of the Button, Susan 1 
 Lady Exmouth and I were driving to a dinner party at Plymouth, 
 when we saw crowds running to the Hoe; and learning it was a 
 wreck, I left the carriage to take her on, and joined the crowd. I saw 
 the loss of the whole five or six hundred was inevitable without some 
 one to direct them, for the last oflficer was pulled ashore as I reached 
 the surf. 
 
 " I urged the oflicers to return, but they refused ; upon which I made 
 the rope fast to myself, and was hauled through the surf on board, es- 
 tablished order, and did not leave her until every one was saved but 
 the boatswain, who would not go before me. I got safe to land and 
 so did he, and the ship went all to pieces. But I was laid in bed for 
 a week by getting under the mainmast, which had fallen toward the 
 shore ; and my back was cured by Lord Spencer's having conveyed to 
 me by letter his majesty's intention to dub me a baronet. No more 
 have I to say except that I felt more pleasure in giving to a moth- 
 er's arms a dear little infant only three weeks old, than ever I felt in 
 my life, and both were saved. The struggle she had to intrust me 
 
58 NOTES TO THE EMIGRANT. 
 
 with the hantling was a scene I can not describe — nor need you : and 
 consequently you will never let this be visible." 
 
 We are informed that the injunction just referred to was scrupulous- 
 ly regarded till death removed all necessity for secrecy. 
 
 The recent gallant actiojj of Jerome in saving the passengers of the 
 ship Ocean Monarch, I do not deem necessary to detail presuming all 
 to be familiar with the circumstances. 
 
 O Sad wo extends — its melandioly facts, 
 
 D ESP AIH. 
 
 Wheis- all our hopes of future joys have fled — 
 The past been as a road bestrewn with thorns, 
 On which the mind has anguished, and the head 
 
 And heart are racked with grief, and Sorrow mourns 
 In vain for succor — what for you or I, 
 In such a case, is left us, but to die 1 
 
 But to die by our own hands ! What mind can in cool reflection 
 but revolt at such an act 1 Base, wicked, and cowardly suicide ! I 
 can but in charity say, with the author of " Lacon" — "No man ever 
 committed self-murder unless while in a state of derangement." It 
 surely can not be possible that any sane person (and how many men 
 of giant minds have so died !) can be so lost to a hope of the future — 
 to a sense of duty or of love and respect for those they leave behind — 
 as to dehberately, in the sober sense of manhood, commit an act that 
 shall anguish the hearts of those loved ones ; which, torturing as a slow 
 poison, rankles and festers their happiness through life ! These are 
 the melancholy facts connected with suicide. 
 
 Q) It is — God ! — it is the sacred bier 
 
 That Jwlds the form of her he loved so dear. 
 
 For the above I drew upon the following incident connected with 
 the explosion and burning of the steamer Anthony Wayne, on Lake 
 Erie, in April, 1851. ' I consider it one of the most affecting incidents 
 that has ever happened : — 
 
 " The case of Mr. Archer Brackney is of thrilling interest. He was 
 on his way from Lafayette, Indiana, to Philadelphia, with the remains 
 
NOTES TO THE EMIGRANT. 59 
 
 of his wife and child recently deceased. Both of the corpses were 
 enclosed in one box. When the explosion took place, he succeeded 
 in dragging his two living children from their rooms, and with them 
 plunged into the water. After swimming round for a short time, he 
 came in contact with the box containing his wife and child. Upon this 
 he succeeded for some time in keeping himself and children from 
 drowning, although every wave would roll his frail support and plunge 
 them in the water, until at last his little boy, two years old, was 
 drowned in his arms. After becoming satisfied that his boy was dead, 
 he reluctantly parted with the body, and turned his attention to the 
 rescue of the remaining child, who was cHnging round his neck, cry- 
 ing, < Papa, we shall drown !' He finally succeeded in gaining the float- 
 ing part of the wreck with his little daughter, and both were saved." 
 
 (9) The boafs crew loudly cried, " We Ve out of bread 
 
 /'» 
 
 On a foggy morn on the Atlantic, some years ago, a vessel from 
 Liverpool, when near St. George's bank, was hailed, as above, by a 
 schooner, thirty-four days out of Bermuda, for Halifax. It was highly 
 creditable to see with what avidity the steerage passengers contributed 
 provisions to their relief. Our captain — noble fellow he — gave a 
 cask of bread. They, in return, brought a few jars of pickles and tam- 
 arinds, and a speedy finale to their voyage was drunk that night in 
 many a tumbler of tamarind-punch. Certainly an agreeable mixture ! 
 Reader, have you ever tried it 1 
 
 • 
 
 (^°) Thy swanlike bosom heaves its crested waves. 
 To Union faithful as the shore it laves. 
 
 The attachment of New York to the Union she has ever held to be 
 paramount to all other duties. 
 
 e — 
 
 (1^) Ne'er should the pomp of power or vainer pride 
 Of wealth the music of the poor deride. 
 
 THE MtrSIC OF THE POOK. 
 
 I RECOLLECT, iu boyhood's time, how at my father's door 
 The Savoyard would stop and chime — the music of the poor; 
 'T is true our home was coarse and plain, of poverty the core, 
 Yet oft was sweetened by that strain — the music of the poor. 
 
60 NOTES TO THE EMIGRANT. 
 
 I recollect that " Home, sweet home" chimed sweetly at our door. 
 Nor little thought I then should roam, as since, the wide world o'er ; 
 Italia's skies I 've lived beneath, acquired worldly store. 
 Plucked leaflets from Fame's laurelled wreath, yet recollect when poor 
 
 I've mixed in circles high and grand, arranged with skill and lore; 
 In thought reviewed my native land, and lingered on her shore ; 
 Her glories then have been my pride — have caused my heart to soar — 
 Such memory sweet could not deride the music of the poor. 
 
 But Europe's lands I've left behind, returned to home once more; 
 I greet as 'twere an olden friend — the music of the poor. 
 It gives me pain to hear some talk : they, too, may have been poor — 
 That soon they'll thrust from daily walk the music of the poorf 
 
 Take from the rich who 've much to give — take concert, play, or ball ; 
 But from the poor, who barely live, oh ne'er take aught at all ; 
 But rather take a well-filled purse, and add to each small store, 
 Nor make their situation worse because they are the poor ! 
 
 April 15, 1851. 
 
 (12^ Their need or ailments as they step ashore. 
 
 Past history records the grandeur and achievements of nations — the 
 conquests of an Alexaijder as well as the victories of a Bonapaute ; 
 but its future page will be illustrated with the true character af a na- 
 tion's glory, which consists in universal happiness and equality. 
 
 Columbia! thou almoner of nations — it was left for you to por- 
 tray, in the lustre of midday truth, the benevolence of an entire people. 
 
 The laws in relation to the emigrant are upon the most humane 
 and liberal scale. First, in relation to the arrangement for the trans- 
 portation of himself and family. This is in proportion to the tonnage 
 of the vessels. Secondly, that upon their arrival at the port of New 
 York, the vessels are boarded by a health-officer, whose duty it is to 
 have the sick conveyed to the proper hospital, where aid and medical 
 skill of the first order are immediately called into action. Those so 
 poor and weakly as to be incapable of immediate labor, and who would 
 be an improper spectacle of misery to the public, are sent to the poor- 
 houses of the city, where contumely awaits them not, but in truth the 
 kindness of the good Samaritan. Thirdly, those in good health and 
 
NOTES TO THE EMIGRANT. 61 
 
 robust in frame, though needy, are kindly sent by the commissioners 
 of emigration to sections of the country where their labor is in de- 
 mand. I have been an eyewitness to many painful scenes of newly- 
 arrived groups of emigrants — " men cast out, as things of little worth," 
 from the land enriched by their labor. Such scenes, however tearful 
 to behold, rapidly give place to the reflection that, in th€ future, want 
 will be to them a stranger. 
 
 (13) Thus, those who seek the prairies of the Westf 
 Or woodland wilds, where man is nature blest. 
 
 I WAS much interested in a conversation I held lately with an old 
 settler residing fifty miles west of St. Louis. He described the section 
 of the country in which he lived as follows : " Nature," said he, " does 
 almost everything for us. The character of the soil is such, that upon 
 being once broken by a team of oxen, to use my own phrase, as I 
 often say, * it may be ploughed ever after by a cat,' requiring but little 
 labor to produce the most plenteous crops. As for manure, the land 
 will not be worn out in five hundred years. My family consists of 
 eleven persons. Two or three weeks of labor in the spring, in putting 
 in the crops, and about the same period in the fall for their gathering, 
 suffices to support us all ; leaving me the remainder of my time for 
 mechanical pursuits, study, or amusement. Game of various kinds is 
 abundant ; noble streams thread the prairie ; while fine oak-openings, 
 as dry-land isles, vary its surface — the occasional homesteads appear- 
 ing to the view as ships upon the sea. 
 
 " The floral beauties of the prairie (as vividly-colored shells that 
 adorn the lips of ocean) I can not possibly in appropriate language 
 describe, save that Nature seems to have arrayed herself in varied 
 flowery shapes, of the richest hues and sweetest- seen ted odors, as if to 
 invite mankind to partake of the luxuriant repose she has so gener- 
 ously prepared for their enjoyment. 
 
 « The climate is genial, and the winters barely wintry, so that our 
 cattle remain unhoused throughout the year. The swine we mark in 
 the spring, and turn them into the woods, better cared for by Nature 
 than we could do for them ; and in the fall we collect them together 
 for marketing and other purposes We can get to St. Louis and back 
 in a day, meanwhile transacting business in the city. On our route 
 to town we frequently meet with neighbors, when one may say to 
 6 
 
62 NOTES TO THE EMIGRANT. 
 
 another : ' Friend, I see you have plenty of corn ; and I have plenty 
 of hogs, but am short of corn to fat with.' The other will reply — 
 * Send your wagons down,' which is done by the former, who takes as 
 much as he desires, without count ; and when pig-killing time is come, 
 sends what he considers a fair equivalent. In fact," added my in- 
 formant, " many of our transactions are done in the like manner." On 
 inquiring the cause to which he attributed this fine state of society, he 
 replied : " To tell the truth, our population is mostly composed of 
 enterprising and industrious men ; and were you to see the neatness 
 of our homesteads, our churches, schoolhouses, roads, and fences, you 
 would say, * These people must of necessity be prosperous and happy, 
 consequently united ; for without unanimity in a community, general 
 happiness can not exist.' " 
 
^ 
 
 
PART III. 
 LIFE IN THE WEST. 
 
 Hail, rural life ! thou dost possess the charm 
 To smoothe life's passage. Thou'rt as nature's balm 
 That to the mind contentment e'er conveys, 
 As pure religion calms our later days. 
 Hail, rural life ! I sing with heartfelt praise 
 Thy rustic cottage, 'mid the shade of bays 
 Or ornate linden, with its graceful flowers. 
 Ah me ! what blissful and begilded hours 
 May yet be mine, in the decline of years — 
 Afar removed from city life and cares, 
 Which, as a rust, doth oft pervert the sense— 
 In its place leaving cant or false pretence ; 
 Or as a blight that kills the ripening fruit, 
 Tainls with corruption, rend'ring Virtue mute. 
 How oft its pleasures sheathe the poisoned barb ! 
 E'en Vice puts on her most seductive garbj 
 Where self-gain only in man's bosom burns, 
 Each human heart on its own axis turns : 
 Thus some seem ever upon evil turning, 
 As " Nero fiddled while old Rome was burning" — 
 Though to all rules exceptions do belong, 
 For some less selfish seek to aid the throng. 
 
64 LIFE IN THE WEST. 
 
 Some think bliss can not be from gold apart : 
 Strange its possession ofttimes chills the heart ! 
 The selfish heart is ne'er with plenty blest — 
 On other objects ever seems in quest. 
 In such pursuit, alas ! how many find 
 Too late the treasure which they leave behind ! 
 Humanity is as a diamond-mine : 
 Few minds are great, while others fainter shine 
 For all possess the spark of light within — 
 Gems wanting lustre, as man stained with sin : 
 But there are minds as purest brilliants bright, 
 And naught can dim the lustre of their light. — 
 
 So with thee, rural life ! — each rising morn 
 Gilds with its brightness pleasing toil at dawn ; 
 Thy leaves enwreathe us 'mid our daily cares, 
 Whose shade umbrageous our household shares : 
 Atween the limbs, bright Sol, as friendship warm, 
 Reminds us of our duties ; nor to harm 
 Our fellow-mortals — but (that as its rays 
 Do pleasure all) in peace to pass our days. 
 Guided by sentiment and feeling kind 
 E'er to soothe sorrow — ne'er to virtue blind. (^) 
 
 Shrill clarion's throat proclaims th' approach of morn, 
 As low the herd e'er at the rising dawn ; 
 "While feathered warblers pipe their tuneful lays. 
 And busy bees pursue industry's ways. 
 As lifts the morn its vapory mists aloft. 
 We ope the door and lattice : breezes soft. 
 Perfumed by Flora's bouquet, sweep within — 
 
LIFE IN THE WEST. 6d 
 
 'T is Nature's greeting ! good morn's origin. 
 We freely breathe the air, which, as first blush 
 Of life into the lungs of babe doth rush, 
 Giving life liberty, the " pearl sans prix," 
 Without which life is as the scathed tree ; 
 But blest with liberty, the mind aspires 
 T' attain the summit of its high desires. 
 
 Too true, alas ! that lust accursed of wealth 
 In crowded cities poisons public health ; 
 For narrow-minded men too oft confine 
 The poor in tenements " dark as the mine" — 
 Such not inaptly termed " a living tomb," 
 Whence reek foul odors. Hence the city's gloom, 
 Seen as we near its limits ; and the skies 
 Of heaven are stained by such enormities ! 
 
 Freedom is as the daylight to the earth. 
 That ushers floral Nature into birth : 
 Through life its charm doth e'er possess a power 
 On man beyond — a Danae's golden shower. 
 With it all things are ever seeming bright 
 As hope to youth, or as the signal-light 
 That to the weary seamen shines afar — 
 Else 'mid the darkness known not where they are. 
 The tow'ring hills, the spacious vales, proclaim 
 An earthly freedom. — Liberty, blest name ! 
 The plants that give forth seeds, the flowers that bloom, 
 The trees that bear rich fruits, the wild bee's home 
 Amid the forest-glade, the purling stream 
 Where the fish gambol as they gayly swim i 
 
 6* 
 
66 LIFE IN THE WEST. 
 
 The pure azure, the heavens overhead, 
 
 Where birds in graceful whirl their pinions spread ; 
 
 The sun that shines by day, the moon by night, 
 
 And twinkling stars that lend their brilliant light — 
 
 All, all, on earth, in air, or in the sea, 
 
 Are attributes of thee, blest Liberty ! 
 
 Hail, rural life ! where man his welfare owes 
 To his Creator, all he reaps or sows ; 
 Who, justly dealing, unto all mankind, 
 Gives unto him who seeking, seeks to find, 
 Ample reward for all his toil and cares. 
 And which the good e'er with the poor man shares — 
 Mindful that he but lends unto the Lord, 
 His mind content with Heaven's just award. 
 Hail, rural life ! where deeds of crime and wrong 
 Are seldom tempted, seldom do belong ; 
 Where tales of misery and scenes of pain 
 Sear not the heart, or rack the tender brain. 
 Sweet Nature, smiling in her bright array, 
 Lengthens the pleasure of each busy day ; 
 Yes, virtuous pleasure — for no schemes of wealth, 
 By which to rob our neighbors as by stealth, 
 Disturb the sense, the health to undermine. 
 Which naught restores — not e'en a golden mine. 
 Hail, rural life ! " Unto the manor born" 
 Is man by Nature. As the stout hawthorn 
 Defies th' effect of heat and winter's cold, 
 Nature's pure air retards our growing old : 
 In rural life how many charms we find — 
 Health, peace, and virtue — happiness combined! 
 
LIFE IN THE WEST. 67 
 
 We now resume the theme with morning prayer — 
 
 First proper duty, in which all should share. 
 
 Great God of nature ! wondrous are thy ways, 
 
 And blest the man who ever truly prays ! — 
 
 For no bad thought or action ever can 
 
 Degrade the mind or life of such a man ! 
 
 I hate a bigot — caring not for creeds — 
 
 Loving the man whose truths are shown by deeds ; 
 
 Whate'er his creed, whose acts of kindness prove 
 
 It fills his mind with pure and holy love. 
 
 Creeds are but shadows of religion when 
 
 Men heed them not ! — as dash is naught of pen. 
 
 By earnest prayer we may the heart incline 
 
 Always to truth, as culture trains the vine. 
 
 Prayer, like reflection to the human mind, 
 
 E'er strengthens virtue and the love of kind. 
 
 As at the frugal meal each takes his seat, 
 A blessing 's asked upon the bread they eat ; 
 And though e'en clad in coarse or russet brown, 
 They've better health than half the folks in town. 
 For though no luxuries bestrew the board, 
 Nor gold or silver e'er have they to hoard. 
 Yet, should a weary trav'ller pass the door, 
 Or outcast wand'rer, sad, in misery poor. 
 Quick does the cupboard yield a little more ; 
 Soon is the stranger fed, though small the store. 
 Time is well spent in soothing pain or care. 
 That grief disrobes of but a single tear. 
 
 And as when filled, he rises to depart, 
 "With grateful thanks the promptings of his heart, 
 
68 LIFEINTHEWEST. 
 
 "Which though attired in frail coverings. 
 
 May be as truthful as a mighty king's. 
 
 Poverty is not shame, nor sorrow crime, 
 
 To soothe and pity either is sublime ; 
 
 And those who daily labor on a farm 
 
 Are ever found with milk of kindness warm 
 
 The open face of nature glads their eyes, 
 
 Like to a human heart without disguise. 
 
 No mammon-temples daily cross their sight. 
 
 To poison sympathy, or virtue blight : 
 
 Crime is not tempted by the glitt'ring gold 
 
 Of crowded cities, where 't is bought and sold ; 
 
 Where sacrilege no longer ranks 'mong crimes — 
 
 Churches are sold, and dead are moved betimes. 
 
 (2) Buildings, as tow'ring heights obscure the sun, 
 Whose genial rays should gladden ev'ry one. 
 Thus dank and noxious vapors slime the cells. 
 
 Or basement caverns, where the poor man dwells. 
 Bright arch of heaven ! beneath thy skies azure, 
 
 (3) Misers shut out thy lustre from the poor ! 
 Thus are diseases spawned, that upas-like 
 Deal death around to rich and poor alike, 
 
 In such case justice — type of godlike mind — 
 Adjusts her scales, as lesson to mankind. 
 So oft base villains, by their schemes of fraud, 
 Dig their own pitfalls, meet their due reward. 
 When place is paid for, peculation vile. 
 By covert fraud, repays the cunning wile ; 
 So laws for lucre passed — whene'er enforced. 
 Freedom is trammelled, and mankind coerced. 
 Thus justice, by the laws perverted course. 
 
LIFE IN THE WEST. 69 
 
 Is as a sinuous stream. The greatest curse 
 Of all communities, is too much law, 
 For where 'tis simple, who can find a flaw ? 
 But as the fisherman his nets doth spread, 
 The lawyers have the laws ; the wisest head 
 Is his who e'er abstains from city life, 
 Where crime and vice and miseries are rife. 
 
 The breakfast o'er another prayer is given, 
 And thanks repay the gen'rous gifts of heaven ; 
 While they their hands and eyes to heaven raise, 
 Each grateful heart accords its rightful praise. 
 Thy crime, Ingratitude ! is seldom found 
 In peaceful scenes of nature to abound ; 
 For the mind e'er amid its beauties seems 
 Itself to purify — as pebbly streams. 
 In rural life, the scenes of nature tend 
 To make us love our neighbor as a friend ; 
 And e'en th' assistant brutes command our care. 
 Whose drudgery lends to happiness its share. 
 As they depart with Tom, the fields to plough. 
 Does Sarah, pail in hand, to milk the cow, 
 Whose healthful beverage (beyond e'en wine) 
 Doth health and strength with temperance combine. 
 The faithful dog lies basking in the sun — 
 Through night the guardian, feels his duty done. 
 Quick at our call the poultry gather round — 
 The hand that feeds them used unto the sound. 
 The ducks and geese swim in the shady pool ; 
 The little children sidle off to school ; 
 The snow-fleeced pet lamb, with its plaintive " Ba !" 
 
70 LIFE IN THE WEST. 
 
 Raven or magpie, with its " Ha ! ha ! ha !" — 
 All, all denote a happy phase of life : 
 Each is a pleasure far removed from strife. 
 Nor marred by evils which do appertain 
 To cities, where the aim of life is gain. 
 
 The noontide meal prepared, the winding horn 
 Recalls to home the reapers from the corn, 
 Or plough, or harrow — as may chance to be 
 The time of year for either of the three. 
 The cattle placed to rest within the glade. 
 In comfort feed, and cool beneath the shade 
 Of widely-spreading oak or stalely beech — 
 The purling brook at hand within their reach : 
 For ever mindful of the faithful beast 
 Is the good man, with kindness in his breast. 
 Then Tom and Sam, or Bill, or Gteorge, or Joe, 
 The horn resounding, to their dinner go ; 
 With appetite they enter — labor's meed — 
 Anti-dyspeptic. Not as gourmands feed. 
 But plain and simple fare forms their repast ; 
 And, ere 't is tasted, is a blessing asked. 
 Children of nature view things as they seem — 
 Wearing no veil, veil not their thoughts — as dream 
 Is ever noiseless, without speech : but they 
 Give their minds utterance ; audibly they pray 
 Ere they receive, which having so received, 
 Return their thanks ; thus are their minds relieved. 
 Treasures, as happiness, oft disappear 
 If not well guarded ; and the bitter tear 
 Caused by repentance comes, alas ! too late : 
 
LIPEINTHEWEST. 71 
 
 The consolation then is, that 't was fate ! 
 
 Fate is but chance ! they who on it rely, 
 
 Will meet with hothy just as perchance they die. 
 
 But Fate will ne'er console the man who fails 
 
 His proper duties to fulfil. Sad tales 
 
 Ring in my ears of woes brought upon those 
 
 Who neither virtue nor religion chose. 
 
 O blest Religion ! Virtue's anchor-sheet, 
 
 Food to the soul as to the body's meat : 
 
 Man's truest guide — the passion's firm control — 
 
 Without thee man is not a perfect whole ; 
 
 For pure religion is benevolence — 
 
 As truth, as virtue, 't is of mind the sense. 
 
 Past is the hour of rest. Again the field 
 Is traversed : else its golden grain doth yield, 
 Or new-mown hay is turned, or luscious fruit 
 Is gathered ; nor doth " tithing" feed dispute — 
 Which (" For the laborer 's worthy of his hire") 
 Industry robs of what it doth acquire. 
 Happy this land, where, freed from taxes vile, 
 Man worships as he pleases ; nor, the while, 
 Is forced a church to aid, his conscience says 
 Is not the true one, nor to which he prays ! 
 
 The dews of eve fall fast. 'T is time to fold 
 Or litter down the cattle, if the cold 
 Of winter draws apace ; for much depends 
 On the care given to our farming friends. 
 Thus the day's labors close at eventide, 
 And supper-time is come. So, side by side, 
 
72 LIFE IN THE WEST. 
 
 Again they sit — again a blessing ask : 
 
 Tlius ends throughout the year their daily task. 
 
 Again returning thanks, the eve they spend 
 
 With kindly neighbors ; or, mayhap, a friend 
 
 Drops in to tell the news — perhaps to say, 
 
 " Has neighbor need of corn, or oats, or hay V* 
 
 But ne'er an evening closes till is read 
 
 The valued Book — then prayers — and then to bed. 
 
 Industry courts repose : throughout the night 
 Unbroken slumbers nerve the frame aright. 
 
 Such social scenes as these adorn the West, 
 Such open unto all of such in quest. 
 Columbia, land of Washington the blest ! 
 May discord ne'er of such thy land divest — 
 May peace triumphant reign within thy breast ! 
 Should traitor seek to rend thy peaceful vail, 
 As scorpion ringed may he his fate bewail 
 In tone so loud, that e'er through all the land 
 Its echoes shall be heard !— to warn mankind 
 The fate decreed to those who, Judas-like, 
 Betray in secret, when they dare not strike ! 
 
 Blest ark of Freedom ! this my earnest prayer : 
 Mayst thou through time prove mankind's sanctuaire. 
 
 G. R. 
 
NOTES TO LIFE IN THE WEST. 
 
 (') E^er to soothe sorrow — ne'er to virtue blind. 
 
 Vvv. deeply drank of Sorrow's bitter cup, 
 So that to future ptiiii my heart is dead ! 
 Still in my breast a pang for others rests, 
 And my eye moistens oft o'er tales of wo, 
 Though seared my mind to grief. 
 
 'Tis he alone whom sad misfortune sore 
 
 Has hardly pressed, can poise its leaden weight; 
 
 As weather-beaten, oft-wrecked mariner 
 
 Can mark the chart forewarning rocks and shoals. 
 
 Would that the lessons sad Experience gives 
 
 Of Life's rough path, could teach all men to-smoothe 
 
 The highway of mankind ! 
 
 C^) Buildings, as towering heights, obscure the sun. 
 
 Measuiies affecting the health and convenience of the residents of 
 a city, are of paramount importance. "Get from between me and the 
 sun I" was the exclamation of Diogexes to Alkxandeh. Such lan- 
 guage might well be used at the present day, by the less-wealthy citi- 
 zen, to him who for self-gain rears edifices of bricks and mortar, which, 
 o'ertopping the angle of light, preclude the rays of the sun from cheer- 
 ing his neighbor " 'cniss the way." Does the possession of wealth 
 imply the privileged right of injuriously affecting the health of citizens 
 generally 1 To my mind, the altitude of buildings should be in ac- 
 cordance with the width of the streets ; for after heavy rains, in warm 
 seasons, the sun being excluded, and partial ventilation only permitted, 
 the basements of buildings, as well as the streets, remain damp, and 
 emit noxious exhalations, from which naturally arise malignant fevera, 
 
 7 
 
74 NOTES TO LIFE IN THE WEST. 
 
 that at times sweep off large portions of our population. Again, lots 
 or portions of ground shouUl be appropriated by law to the occupancy of 
 but a certain number of persons, and in all cases a sufficiency of area for 
 yard-room, the only surety for good ventilation. Calamity consequent 
 upon crowded doniicils, ships, &c., has by numerous examples warned 
 all of the necessity of providing, by just and conservative legislation, 
 for the health of the body politic; and which, together with due con- 
 sideration for the comfort of the less fortunate of a city's population, 
 should actuate us in devising and carrying out every measure tending 
 in the least degree to so desirable a result. 
 
 Further, the immense structures erected by the cupidity of man in 
 all the principal cities of the world, add greatly, in the event of a fire, 
 to extend the conflagration ; and where the streets are narrow, a fire, 
 when once fairly under way, can not be arrested in its progress by 
 ordinary measures. The immense surface of heat presented to sur- 
 rounding objects, like the orb of light, affects all things within the 
 radii of its circumference. 
 
 \ 
 (3) Misers shut out thy lustre from the poor. 
 
 Gold ! thou glittering bauble to the pride of man J How unac- 
 countable a fact is it that thou numberest so many votaries ! The 
 wretch who hoards, that he may gloat over thee, can have no excuse, 
 save that of a total absence of sensibility. How unlike the wealthy 
 patron of the arts, whose stately mansion evidences the scientific skill 
 of the architect ! the bibliopolist, whose splendidly-bound tomes betoken 
 the research of cultivated intellect ! the connoisseur, in whose gallery 
 are portrayed the beauties of nature with the refinement of art ! Even 
 the splendidly-decked <//5^tw^!ze of the fashionable world, together with 
 the voluptuary, are lovers of their kind, whose hearts yearn toward 
 their fellow-man ! But what character can we find to male with the 
 sordid wretch, the depraved, cold-hearted miser, who, vampire-like, 
 gloats o'er his wealth as 'twere a victim — his eyes alone should dwell 
 upon and blight what he should bless ! El Dorado, the gilded one ! 
 I envy not the sordid their wealth. I pine not for gold ; yet should I 
 like to have the power to bestow it with a liberal hand, wherewith to 
 gild the weary hours and many wants of the poverty-stricken children 
 of the world. 
 
GEORGE WASHINGTON, 
 
 CROWNED BY 
 
 "EQUALITY, FRATERNITY, AND LIBERTY." 
 
 A DEMOCRATIC POEM, 
 
 DEnCATED UNTO YOUTH. 
 
 By GEORGE ROGERS. 
 
 Notices of the Press. 
 
 GeORGB WASHTKTGTOTiT, CrOWNED BY LlBEHTT, EaUALTTT, AWD 
 
 Fratkhnitt : a democratic poem, in five cantos, dedicated unto youth. 
 By George Rogers. We have read this singular and perfectly original 
 poem, with unusual care and avidity, from the fact that it helongs to a 
 class of literature that is not often attempted. 
 
 Mr. Rogers, its author, is a democrat, in the enlarged and most com- 
 prehensive sense of the term, and has struggled hard and successfully 
 to imbue the minds of his readers with democratic principles. He 
 writes gracefully and easily ; and many of his flights may be ranked 
 with the loftiest aspirations of the more eminent bards. Poetry and 
 political economy are nor always found congenial spirits; but, it must 
 be confessed that Mr. Rogers has been far more successful than most 
 of his predecessors, in concocting a political Tpoem.— Sunday Atlas. 
 
 The poem contains many excellent and patriotic sentiments, fluent- 
 ly and rather carelessly versified. The author has chosen the same 
 stanza as " Dermot M'Morrogh," written by one of the finest scholars 
 in the western hemisphere ; and, to say the truth, we think it as good 
 a poem as that. — Evening Post. 
 
 This is the first poem ever written on Washington by an English- 
 man, although the Father of his Country has many warm admirers in 
 England. It is a work of 166 pages, handsomely printed, and written 
 in an easy-flowing style, creditable to the good feelings as well as the 
 ability of the author. — Noah's Sunday Times. 
 
 The object of the author seems to be to inculcate the great maxim 
 that republicanism is a blessing and monarchy a curse. The author 
 is an Englishman by birth, as he says himself, reared within the pes- 
 tiferous atmosphere of royalty. We have not space to make as many 
 extracts as we should Hke to give, to illustrate the vast range of ideas 
 which he crowds into five cantos. We take averse or two at random, 
 &c., &c. — The People. 
 
 This appears to be a neat poem from the pen of the author, abound- 
 ing with many gems, and suited in a great measure to the taste and 
 spirit of the age. It is a neat octavo volume, embellished with a well- 
 executed portrait of Washington the immortal Father of his Country. 
 Want of time has prevented us from perusing this work with the atten- 
 tion it requires, but we make room for the following selections, &c. — 
 Truth-Teller. 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 016 256 031 1 f]