Liberty’s Champion
By a Friend of the Author’s.
On the wings of the wind he comes, he comes!
With the rolling billow’s speed;
On his breast are the signs of peace and love,
And his soul is nerved with strength from above:
While his eyes flash fire,
He burns with desire
To achieve the noble deed.
To the shores of the free he goes, he goes!
And smiles as he passes on;
He hears the glad notes of Liberty’s song,
And bids the brave sons of freedom be strong.
While his heart bounds high
To his crown in the sky,
He triumphs o’er conquests won.
To the homes of the slave he flies, he flies!
Where manacled mourners cry;
The bursting groan of the mind’s o’erflow,
Transfixed on the dark and speaking brow:
With a murmuring sound,
Ascends from the ground,
To the God that reigns on high.
To his loved Father’s throne he hastes, he hastes!
And pours forth his soul in grief:
Uprising he finds his strength renewed,
And his heart with fervent love is imbued;
While the heaving sigh,
And the deep-toned cry,
Appeal for instant relief.
To the hard oppressor he cries, he cries,
And points to the bleeding slave;
He tells of the rights of the human soul,
And his eyes with full indignation roll:
While his heart is moved,
And the truth is proved,
He seeks the captive to save.
Again to the foeman he speaks, he speaks,
But utters his cry in vain;
He breathes no curse, no vengeance seeks,—
For the broken hearts or the anguished shrieks,
For the mother’s pains,
Or the father’s gains,—
Upon the oppressor’s name.
To nations of freemen once more he comes,
To raise Liberty’s banner high;
He tells of the wrongs of the bonded slave,
And cries aloud, ’mid throngs of the brave,
“O freemen, arise!
Be faithful and wise,
And answer the mourner’s cry.
In melting strains of love he calls, he calls,
To the great and good from afar;
Till sympathy wakes to the truthful tale,
And the prayer of the faith, which cannot fail,
Ascends to heaven,
And grace is given,
To nerve for the bloodless war.
The truth with a magic power prevails:
All hearts are moved to the strife;
In a holy phalanx, and with deathless aim,
They seek a peaceful triumph to gain
O’er the tyrant’s sway,
In his onward way,
To raise the fallen to life.
At the mighty voice of the glorious free
The chain of the oppressor breaks;
The slave from his bondage springs forth to love,
And, standing erect, his eye fixed above,
He honours his race,
And in the world’s face,
The language of liberty speaks.
The oppressor no longer owns a right,
Or property claims in the slave,
But the world, in the glory of freedom’s light,
Beams out from the darkness of wide-spread night;
Throughout its length,
In greatness and strength,
The honour of the free and brave.
Printed for CHARLES GILPIN, 5, Bishopgate Street Without.
The Fugitive Blacksmith, or Events in the History of JAMES W.C. PENNINGTON, Pastor of a Presbyterian Church, New York. Foolscap 8vo., sewed, price 1s.
“This entrancing narrative * * * We trust that thousands of our readers will procure the volume, which is published by Mr. Gilpin at a mere trifle—much too cheap to accomplish the purpose for which, in part or mainly, it has been published—the raising a fund to remove the pecuniary burdens which press on the author’s flock. NOTHING SHORT OF THE SALE OF FIFTY THOUSAND OR SIXTY THOUSAND COPIES could be at all availing for this object. * * * We very cordially recommend him and his narrative to the kind consideration of our readers. Let them load him with English hospitality, fill his purse, and send him back as fast as possible to the land of his early bondage, of his matured freedom, and to the people to whose character and capabilities he does so much honour.”—Christian Witness, October, 1849.
“The principal portion of the ‘Tract,’ as Mr. Pennington modestly styles his book, consists of an autobiography of his early life as a slave, and of his escape from bondage, and final settlement in New York as a Presbyterian Minister. His adventures and hair-breadth escapes invest the narrative with startling interest, and excite the deepest sympathies of the reader.”—Nonconformist, September, 26th, 1849.
“Believing that by the purchase of this little book our readers will confer a benefit on the writer, at the same time that they become possessed of a narrative of deep interest, we give it our most cordial recommendation.”—Teetotal Times, October, 1849.
London: CHARLES GILPIN, 5, Bishopsgate Street Without.