LINES
RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED TO THE VIRTUOUS AND
PATRIOTIC WIVES AND MOTHERS OF ENGLAND.
Daughters of England! forms of love and grace,
Warmed with compassion for a suffering race,
You leave your household pleasures for a while,
The child's companionship—the husband's smile,
To show your hatred of oppressive laws,
To lift your banner in a holy cause,
To lend your mild endeavours to secure
Bread to the hungry—justice to the poor!
Spirits of pity, you were ever prone
To make another's sorrows all your own,
And with a feeling, sacred and sincere,
To soothe and strengthen, sympathise and cheer!
Go forth and triumph in this stirring hour,
Strong in your weakness, gentle in your power!
Go forth, ye beings, kindred to divine,
And proudly prosper in your task benign!
Go forth, a faithful and angelic band,
And wake the grateful voice of every groaning land!
Manchester, January 7, 1842.
