 | Poems |  |
63
INVITATION TO THE CLERGY
TO PARTICIPATE IN THE INAUGURATION OF THE TAVERN AT PASSAIC FALLS, N. J.
Ho! preachers of His Gospel who
Salvation came to bring,
Rest from your labors for awhile,
And join our gathering!
Salvation came to bring,
Rest from your labors for awhile,
And join our gathering!
Ye servants of the Living God!
Your fealty cast aside,
And with us for a single day
Stand on the Devil's side!
Your fealty cast aside,
And with us for a single day
Stand on the Devil's side!
What boots it that we open wide
Another door to woe,
Through which a still increasing tide
Of human souls shall flow?
Another door to woe,
Through which a still increasing tide
Of human souls shall flow?
Hell must be peopled; and our plan
Is quite the surest one;
Our railway 's a descending grade,
Our cars the swiftest run.
Is quite the surest one;
Our railway 's a descending grade,
Our cars the swiftest run.
64
Not faster do the waters plunge
Adown Passaic's steep,
Not swifter do the lightnings fly
Athwart the vaulted deep,
Adown Passaic's steep,
Not swifter do the lightnings fly
Athwart the vaulted deep,
Than our good train, when once she starts,
With freight of priceless souls,
Speeds to the pit where, deep and dark,
Perdition's Ocean rolls.
With freight of priceless souls,
Speeds to the pit where, deep and dark,
Perdition's Ocean rolls.
Then come with us and view the train;
The depot consecrate;
Where God's voice in the cataract speaks,
Rum's reign inaugurate!
The depot consecrate;
Where God's voice in the cataract speaks,
Rum's reign inaugurate!
Ho! servants of the Living God!
Your fealty cast aside,
And with us, for a single day,
Stand on the Devil's side!
Your fealty cast aside,
And with us, for a single day,
Stand on the Devil's side!
1859.
Note.—In the year 1859 a party leased the “Cottage on the Cliff,” at the Passaic Falls, Paterson, N. J., proposing to open a first-class restaurant and drinking-saloon. In order to give eclat to his venture, he projected a grand civic and military procession in connection with the inauguration of his “Hotel,” to which he invited the principal citizens and the clergy of Paterson. So cleverly was the affair managed, that many were drawn into participation therein, without seeing clearly the drift of the thing. The above lines were written to show the affair in its true character.
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