University of Virginia Library

XIV. THE LAST MORNING.

Brown,
alone.
Never I planned
To kill or ravage, torture or destroy,
Not in rebellion, not to slay their foes,
Incite the slave,—solely to loose his cords.
“Do unto me as ye would have me do,
And in my bonds be bound, even as myself”:
By that, as far as in me, I have done.
God hath not parted persons in his law.
Father! if by thy will I came to be
What now I am; if ever in my heart,
From my first recollection, still I felt
Thy guiding hand,—be still to me the same,
This lovely hour, all gentleness and peace,
Ere the faint dawn has painted the dim sky,
And all her beauty sleeps upon the world.
I am at peace with all men; in my heart
I feel the quiet of thy morn. Oh, give
Me strength of hope and power of faith to meet
This sacrifice I make for man; myself,
A poor and sinful creature, worn and weak.
Unfailing God, our friend, Oh, give me strength!
Truly uplift in love, renew my prayer.
Father, pardon what I have done amiss!
These deeds were sad; they wore a troubled look;
Yet for that principle alone, of right,
I forward moved,—then sanctify these acts.
May they upon the future throw their light,
As yonder rising orb, who paints the morn
With beauteous tints of life; let them awake
The hearts of a great people, who have moved
Too sluggishly in freedom's cause; and let
My name, if vain, unnoticed, be the word
To lift a struggling race, and free the slave!
O God! my saviour, my redeemer too,
Receive me to thyself! now that the day
Has dawned when I must die; and those I leave,
That poor and scattered remnant on the hills,
Of my contentment something breathe in them,—
And let their weeping souls be filled with light,
And from their breaking hearts be heaven in view,
Seeing that they, who try for duty, so to live,
However weak, and so to die for it,
May with thee be received.