 | Three hours ; or, the vigil of love : and other poems |  |
16.
The history of their truthful love,And all that served their faith to prove,
And all the trials that befell—
These were a tale o'er long to tell.
'T is sad to think, beneath the sun,
What deeds of darkness have been done!
What multitudes have pined and died
Through human prejudice and pride!
What prison secrets will be told
When the last Record is unrolled!
God's Record of the sins of men—
Oh! where will flee the guilty then?
Thanks be to God, one Land is free
From deeds of blood iniquity!
The “bannered stars” have never shed
Their glory o'er a victim's head;
It should be a matter of grateful thanks as well as of proud triumph to every American, that the Government of the United States, and also the separate Governments of all the States, have been organized and carried into effect without the shedding of a drop of blood,—without a single instance of violence. These Governments have been sustained, and the Laws everywhere upheld by the People without any armed force; and there has never been a proved traitor, or an execution for political offences. Contrast this picture with that of the best Government in the Old World—with Great Britain. How many “traitors” have there been discovered! The noblest blood of England has been poured out on the scaffold! What dreadful tortures, what awful punishments have been inflicted on political offenders! And now a large armed force is there required to keep the people in subjection to the Laws. Well may Americans thank God for their good Government and their favoured lot.
Nor drop of blood has flowed to dower
The fabric of the Union's power!
| Three hours ; or, the vigil of love : and other poems | |