The miscellaneous works of David Humphreys Late Minister Plenipotentiary from the United States of America to the Court of Madrid |
 |
|
|
| A POEM ON THE FUTURE GLORY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. |
|
|
|
|
|
| 1. |
| 2. |
| 3. |
| 4. |
| 5. |
| 6. |
| 7. |
| 8. |
| 9. |
| 10. |
| 11. |
| 12. |
 | The miscellaneous works of David Humphreys |  |
A POEM ON THE FUTURE GLORY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
ADVERTISEMENT.
America, after having been concealed for so many ages from the rest of the world, was probably discovered, in the maturity of time, to become the theatre for displaying the illustrious designs of Providence, in its dispensations to the human race. These States arose from the condition of colonies to that of an independent nation, at an epocha, and under circumstances singularly favourable for improvement. Previous to our revolution, though refinements and luxuries had made but little progress, useful education had been cultivated with care, valuable inventions had been multiplied, and arts and sciences were in a flourishing state. In giving a scope to the exertion of their faculties, the inhabitants of the United States had, perhaps, fewer obstacles to impede their proficiency than the people of any other country. There existed among them no privileged orders, no predominant religion, no discouragement to industry, and no exclusion from office. Wide was the field that was opened before them for the range of the human mind. They possessed the advantage of having in view the whole history of mankind, to warn them against the dangers, and to save them from the calamities to which other nations had been exposed. The examples of the wise, the brave, and the good were not wanting to awaken their emulation. They had an opportunity of profiting in every thing, by the experience of all who had preceded them.
Since the conclusion of our revolutionary war, the extraordinary prosperity of the United States has surpassed the most sanguine expectation. If the past is to furnish any criterion for forming a judgment of the future, we are undoubtedly destined, as a nation, to advance with large and rapid strides towards the summit of national aggrandisement. Fully persuaded of the magnitude of the blessings which await us there, the writer wishes to impress the same conviction on the minds of his fellow citizens. Because, he thinks, a confidence in the future felicity and glory of their country will operate usefully in nourishing principles and producing actions sublime and splendid as their destinies. He doubts not then that he shall be pardoned by his countrymen for thus venturing to explore for them the field of futurity; and he hopes the critics will not be offended by the excursion, when they recollect that it has ever been reputed poetic ground; for they cannot but remember the poet and the prophet have been considered so intimately blended together, that a common name (at least in one language)
When the author composed the description of the process of industry in creating a navy, not one armed vessel belonged to the government, or any individual in the United States. It will be seen from the schedule to which reference has been made, what a number of vessels of war (exclusive of armed merchantmen) the little intervening time has produced. From thence the uncommon capacity of a country possessed of such resources, with such exertion for building, aptitude for navigating, and enterprize for employing its navigation, may be readily calculated. Nor less important data have we for calculating the great changes indicative of activity, energy, and perseverance, which must succeed upon the land.
There are now several independent States (which have been admitted as members of the union) established in those very western regions, which the author, in a poem written during the course of our revolution, predicted would be speedily settled under the most happy auspices, and where, at the time when the prediction was published, there existed not one single white inhabitant. The contemplation of such numerous and unparalleled instances of prosperity cannot fail to furnish our citizens with increasing motives of praise and adoration to the Omnipotent, who has thus distinguished them by his mercies. And such instances ought not less to silence the scoffs of those foreigners who affected to believe that nothing but degradation and misery would result from our independence. If they still entertain similar sentiments, let them examine the documents which attest the rapid growth of our population and improvement. Or, if it be practicable, let them take a nearer view of the sources of our augmenting wealth and strength. Whoever shall live a few years longer, may doubtless behold, on that continent, still greater progress in whatever can adorn or console human nature. Who can hesitate to believe we are now competent to the defence of our country in every conceivable crisis? Should the United States be attacked, the writer is firmly persuaded that he would see himself associated with nearly one million of his countrymen in arms, determined to maintain their rights, or perish in the attempt.
| Years. | Population. | Improved Lands, part of 640 millions of Acres. | Militia. | NAVY. Vess. | NAVY. Guns. | Seamen. | Exports. Dollars. | Tonnage. Merchant Vessels. | Receipts, Revenues, &c. |
| 1774 | 2,486,000 | 20,860,000 | 421,300 | 15,000 | 6,100,000 | 198,000 | |||
| 1784 | 3,250,000 | 21,500,000 | 541,666 | 18,000 | 10,150,000 | 250,000 | |||
| 1790 | 3,930,000 | 30,000,000 | 654,000 | 25,000 | 16,000,000 | 486,890 | |||
| 1791 | 4,047,900 | 31,000,000 | 677,650 | 28,000 | 18,399,202 | 502,698 | 4,771,342 | ||
| 1792 | 4,169,337 | 32,000,000 | 694,889 | 30,090 | 21,005,568 | 567,698 | 8,772,458 | ||
| 1793 | 4,294,417 | 33,500,000 | 715,736 | 33,060 | 26,011,788 | 627,570 | 6,450,195 | ||
| 1794 | 4,423,249 | 34,000,000 | 737,208 | 39,900 | 33,043,725 | 628,617 | 9,439,855 | ||
| 1795 | 4,555,946 | 34,550,000 | 759,324 | 45,000 | 47,855,556 | 747,964 | 9,515,758 | ||
| 1796 | 4,692,624 | 35,100,000 | 782,104 | 51,500 | 67,064,097 | 831,900 | 8,740,529 | ||
| 1797 | 4,833,402 | 35,600,000 | 805,567 | 3 | 124 | 60,200 | 51,294,710 | 876,921 | 8,758,780 |
| 1798 | 4,978,404 | 36,100,000 | 829,734 | 13 | 360 | 62,300 | 61,327,411 | 898,329 | 10,161,097 |
| 1799 | 5,127,756 | 36,300,000 | 854,626 | 42 | 950 | 63,500 | 78,665,522 | 920,000 | 12,777,487 |
By authentic documents it appears that the true amount of our national debt, on the first of January, 1791, was 74,185,596 dollars 82 cents; and on the first of Jan. 1800, 70,212,718 dollars 16 cents. By which it is demonstrated that our debt has been diminished 3,972,878 dollars 66 cents, notwithstanding all the embarrassments to which our principal source of revenue has been exposed, and the expensive preparations for defence.
ARGUMENT.
Address to my soul to explore the future fortunes of the United States, which are destined to experience many trials and adversities in our progress to national felicity and glory—our commerce interrupted by the Algerines—sensation produced by it in the Americans—invocation for powers of expression to excite them to revenge—a view of the miseries of the prisoners, which terminates in an anathema on the perpetrators of such cruelties— friends of the captives and ruined merchants, how affected— exhortation to arm unless an equitable peace can be obtained— apostrophe to the tributary powers—resolution to be taken by us—our resources hinted, from a glance at the last war—Great-Britain and Algiers contrasted—prayer to the Supreme Being —an army raised—a navy formed—naval combat with the corsairs—their defeat—their woe—utter destruction of their country—return and rejoicings of the victors—when depredations shall be committed by the piratical privateers of other nations, the American Government is to assume an attitude of defence—in the mean time is exhibited a view of our danger from anarchy—establishment of a more efficient government— true liberty extended through the west—improvement in fortifications, highways, and inland navigation—the new city of Washington built for the permanent residence of the Federal Government—our country an asylum for the oppressed of all nations—Columbia congratulated on her natural and moral blessings, which are the harbingers of freedom to other countries —wars which must first arise, together with the horrors of the French Pentarchy—this epocha succeeded by a prospect of peace, and the amelioration of the human condition, until the consummation of all things.
Ethereal efflux of th' eternal mind!
Rise, in immortal youth and vigour fresh,
Expand thy vision unobscur'd by fresh;
On rapture's plume, with boundless flight, explore
Our prospect opening and our bliss in store!
What though our state, in untried prime, appears
A freighted vessel on the flood of years;
Though unknown perils, tempests, foes and shelves
Surround, and factions rise amidst ourselves;
Though worlds combin'd, or adverse fates annoy,
What but disunion can our bliss destroy?
Though many a dubious day and dismal scene,
Ere our probation cease, must intervene;
Beyond these glooms what brighter days appear,
Where dawns on mortals heav'n's millennial year!
In western wilds what scenes of grandeur rise,
As unborn ages crowd upon my eyes!
A better æra claims its destin'd birth,
And heav'n descending dwells with man on earth.
While our brave youth through various seas afar,
In toils of peace inure their nerves for war,
See what dark prospect interrupts our joy!
What arm presumptuous dares our trade annoy?
Great God! the rovers who infest thy waves
Have seiz'd our ships, and made our freemen slaves:
And hark! the cries of that disastrous band
Float o'er the main, and reach Columbia's strand—
And circling echoes propagate the sound,
From smooth Saluda, fed with silver rills,
Up the Blue-Ridge, o'er Alleghanean hills,
To where Niagara tremendous roars,
As o'er white-sheeted rocks his torrent pours;
(The dreadful cataract whole regions shakes
Of boundless woods, and congregated lakes!)
To farthest Kennebeck, adown whose tide
The future ships, unfashion'd, monstrous glide,
On whose rough banks, where stood the savage den,
The axe is heard, and busy hum of men—
But hark! their labours and their accents cease,
A warning voice has interdicted peace;
Has spread through cities, gain'd remotest farms,
And fir'd th' indignant States with new alarms:
The sickly flame in ev'ry bosom burns,
Like gloomy torches in sepulchral urns.
Why sleep'st thou, Barlow, child of genius? why
See'st thou, blest Dwight, our land in sadness lie?
And where is Trumbull, earliest boast of fame?
'Tis yours, ye bards, to wake the smother'd flame—
To you, my dearest friends! the task belongs
To rouse your country with heroic songs;
For me, though glowing with conceptions warm,
I find no equal words to give them form:
Pent in my breast, the madd'ning tempest raves,
Like prison'd fires in Ætna's burning caves;
For me why will no thund'ring numbers roll?
Why, niggard language, dost thou balk my soul?
Come thou sweet feeling of another's woe,
That mak'st the heart to melt, the eye to flow!
Deep-stinging sensibility of wrong,
Aid indignation, and inspire my song!
Teach me curst slav'ry cruel woes to paint,
Beneath whose weight our captur'd freemen faint!
Teach me in shades of Stygian night to trace,
In characters of hell, the pirate race!
Teach me, prophetic, to disclose their doom—
A new-born nation trampling on their tomb!
What mortal terrors all my senses seize,
Possess my heart, and life's warm current freeze?
What visionary forms before me swim?
Where am I? Heav'ns! what mean these dol'rous cries?
And what these horrid scenes that round me rise?
Heard ye the groans, those messengers of pain?
Heard ye the clanking of the captive's chain?
Heard ye your free-born sons their fate deplore,
Pale in their chains and lab'ring at the oar?
Saw ye the dungeon, in whose blackest cell,
That house of woe, your friends, your children dwell?
Or saw ye those, who dread the tort'ring hour,
Crush'd by the rigours of a tyrant's pow'r?
Saw ye the shrinking slave, th' uplifted lash,
The frowning butcher, and the redd'ning gash?
Saw ye the fresh blood where it bubbling broke,
From purple scars, beneath the grinding stroke?
Saw ye the naked limbs writh'd to and fro,
In wild contortions of convulsing woe?
Felt ye the blood, with pangs alternate roll'd,
Thrill through your veins and freeze with death-like cold,
Or fire, as down the tear of pity stole,
Your manly breasts, and harrow up the soul!
Some guardian pow'r in mercy intervene,
Hide from my dizzy eyes the cruel scene!
Oh, stop the shrieks that tear my tortur'd ear!
Ye visions, vanish! dungeons, disappear!
Ye fetters, burst! ye monster fierce, avaunt!
Infernal furies on those monsters haunt!
Pursue the foot-steps of that miscreant crew,
Pursue in flames, with hell-born rage pursue!
Shed such dire curses as all utt'rance mock,
Whose plagues astonish and whose horrors shock!
Great maledictions of eternal wrath,
Which, like heav'n's vial'd vengeance, singe and scathe,
Transfix with scorpion stings the callous heart,
Make blood-shot eye-balls from their sockets start!
For balm, pour brimstone in their wounded soul;
Then ope, perdition! and ingulf them whole!
How long will heav'n restrain its bursting ire,
Nor rain blue tempests of devouring fire?
How long shall widows weep their sons in vain,
The prop of years, in slav'ry's iron chain?
The sounding shore, and call her absent love;
With wasting fears and sighs his lot bewail,
And seem to see him in each coming sail?
How long the merchant turn his failing eyes,
In desperation, on the seas and skies,
And ask his captur'd ships, his ravish'd goods,
With frantic ravings, of the heav'ns and floods?
How long, Columbians dear! will ye complain
Of wrongs unpunish'd on the midland main?
In timid sloth shall injur'd brav'ry sleep?
Awake! awake! avengers of the deep!
Revenge! revenge! the voice of nature cries;
Awake to glory, and to vengeance rise!
To arms! to arms! ye bold, indignant bands!
'Tis Heav'n inspires, 'tis God himself commands:
Save human nature from such deadly harms,
By force of reason, or by force of arms.
Oh ye great pow'rs, who passports basely crave
From Afric's lords, to sail the midland wave—
Great fallen pow'rs, whose gems and golden bribes
Buy paltry passports from these savage tribes!
Ye, whose fine purples, silks, and stuffs of gold,
(An annual tribute) their dark limbs infold—
Ye, whose mean policy for them equips,
To plague mankind, the predatory ships—
Why will ye buy your infamy so dear?
Is it self-int'rest, or a dastard fear?
Is it because you meanly think to gain
A richer commerce on the th' infested main?
Is it because you meanly wish to see
Your rivals chain'd, yourselves ignobly free?
Who gave commission to these monsters fierce
To hold in chains the humbled universe?
Would God, would nature, would their conqu'ring swords,
Without your meanness, make them ocean's lords?
What! do ye fear? nor dare their pow'r provoke?
Would not that bubble burst beneath your stroke?
And shall the weak remains of barb'rous rage,
Insulting, triumph o'er th' enlighten'd age?
Do ye not feel confusion, horror, shame,
To bear a hateful, tributary name?
And break the fetters from the human race?
Then, though unaided by these mighty pow'rs,
Ours be the toil; the danger, glory ours:
Then, oh my friends! by heav'n ordain'd to free
From tyrant rage, the long-infested sea—
Then let us firm, though solitary, stand,
The sword and olive-branch in either hand:
An equal peace propose with reason's voice,
Or rush to arms, if arms should be their choice.
Stung by their crimes, can aught your vengeance stay?
Can terror daunt you? or can death dismay?
The soul enrag'd, can threats, can tortures tame,
Or the dank dungeon quench th' ethereal flame?
Have ye not once to heav'n's dread throne appeal'd,
And has not heav'n your independence seal'd?
What was the pow'r ye dar'd that time engage,
And brave the terrors of its hostile rage?
Was it not Britain, great in warlike toils,
The first of nations, as the queen of isles?
Britain, whose fleets, that rul'd the briny surge,
Made navies tremble to its utmost verge;
Whose single arm held half the world at odds,
Great nurse of sages, bards and demi-gods!
But what are these, whose threat'nings round you burst?
Of men the dregs, the feeblest, vilest, worst:
These are the pirates from the Barb'ry strand,
Audacious miscreants, fierce, yet feeble band!
Who, impious, dare (no provocation giv'n)
Insult the rights of man—the laws of heav'n!
Wilt thou not rise, eh God, to plead our cause,
Assert thine honour, and defend thy laws!
Wilt thou not bend the highest heav'ns to hear
The pris'ner's cry, and stop the falling tear!
Wilt thou not strike the guilty race with dread,
On impious realms thy tenfold fury shed!
Oh thou Most High, be innocence thy care,
Oh, make thy red right arm of vengeance bare!
Resume, in wrath, the thunders thou hast hurl'd
To blight the tenants of the nether world!
Lead forth our arms, and crush the sons of pride!
And could that gallant race, of glorious name,
Whose infant deeds, immortaliz'd by fame,
Fix'd freedom's reign beyond the western waves,
Consent their sons and brothers shall be slaves?
But not for this—in Albion's angry hour
Ye dar'd the vengeance of unfeeling pow'r;
In many a field repell'd the stronger foe,
And rose to greatness from the depth of woe:
But not for this—the flame of freedom ran
From breast to breast, and man electriz'd man;
Your senate walls, with patriot thunders rung,
And “death or independence” fir'd each tongue.
But hark, the trump through every region blown,
Sounds from cold Lawrence to the burning zone;
Thy cause, humanity! that swells its breath,
Wakes in each bosom cool contempt of death.
By rumbling drums from distant regions call'd,
Men, scorning pirate rage, start unappall'd:
With eye-balls flaming, checks of crimson flush,
From rice-green fields and fir-clad mountains rush
High-mettled youths—unus'd to sights of slain,
Of hostile navies, or the stormy main,
Enrag'd, they leave unfinish'd furrows far,
To dare the deep, and toil in fields of war.
From dreams of peace the sleeping vet'rans wake,
Their rattling arms, with grasp indignant, shake;
Those arms, their pride, their country's gift, what day
To independence they had op'd the way;
Frowning wide ruin, terrible they rise,
Like battling thunders bursting from the skies.
From Erie's inland vales, unnam'd in song,
In native fierceness pour the hunter throng:
Beneath their rapid march realms roll behind;
Their uncomb'd locks loose floating on the wind:
Coarse their worn garbs—they place their only pride
In the dread rifle, oft in battle tried:
With aim unbalk'd, whose leaden vengeance sings,
Sure as the dart the king of terror flings.
Such light-arm'd youths the gallant Fayette led—
Ere Steuben brought the Prussian lore from far,
Or Knox created all the stores of war.
Through tented fields impetuous ardour spreads—
Rous'd by the trump the coursers rear their heads,
Snuff in the tainted gale the nitrous grain,
Responsive neigh, and prance the wide champaign.
At the conclusion of the war, Congress gave to the soldiers of the continental army the arms with which they had defended their country.
And rouse in freedom's cause the fearless age,
With martial heat each colder bosom warm,
String the tough nerve and brace the brawny arm.
Now preparation forms the gleaming blade,
In moulds capacious pond'rous deaths are made.
In crowded docks th' incessant labour glows—
The tool resounds—the wond'rous structure grows—
Let not th' uplifted arm its toil relax!
Give me the music echoing to the axe;
Chim'd with the caulker's stroke that stops each chink,
While beat in time the hammer'd anvils clink;
As oft the boatswain's call with piping shrill,
And sailors' simple song the pauses fill.
Give me to see the pitchy blazes curl,
The ropes dark rise and canvass white unfurl.
Prop'd on the stocks stupendous war-ships stand,
Raise their huge bulks and darken all the strand;
Till tow'ring fleets, from diff'rent harbours join'd,
Float on the pinions of the fav'ring wind;
Tall groves of masts, like mountain forests, rise,
Wav'd high in air the starry streamer flies:
To prosp'rous gales the canvass wide unfurl'd,
Bears the rous'd vengeance round the wat'ry world.
See ocean whitens with innum'rous sails—
Be still, ye storms! breathe soft, ye friendly gales!
See where Columbia's mighty squadron runs
To climes illum'd by other stars and suns;
Gains the deep strait; ascends the midland wave,
Of ancient fleets th' unfathomable grave!
When freedom's ardent chiefs, with eager eye,
Dim through the mist the corsair force descry;
Whose sails slow rising skirt the distant heav'n,
Like shad'wy vapours of ascending ev'n—
There growing moons, that guide Barbaric wars.
Th' obstructions clear'd—obliquely on the gales—
With open ports—half furl'd the flapping sails—
Near and more near, athwart the bill'wy tide,
In terrors arm'd, the floating bulwarks glide;
Tier pil'd o'er tier the sleeping thunder lies,
Anon to rend the shudd'ring main and skies.
Ere yet they shut the narrow space between,
Begins the prelude of a bloodier scene—
With sudden touch deep-throated engines roar,
Pierce heav'n's blue vault and dash the waves to shore;
Then madd'ning billows mock the fearful sound,
While o'er their surface globes of iron bound;
Unknown concussions rolling o'er their heads,
Far fly the monsters round their coral beds.
The battle closes—fiercer fights begin—
And hollow hulls reverberate the din:
The green waves blacken as the tempest lours,
Chain-bolts and langrage rain in dreadful show'rs;
Ship dash'd on ship upheaves the flashing flood,
The black sides wrapt in flame, the decks in blood:
From both the lines now smoke, now flames aspire,
Now clouds they roll, now gleam a ridge of fire:
On hostile prows Columbia's heroes stand,
Conqu'ring 'mid death, or dying sword in hand;
Promiscuous cries, with shouts confus'dly drown'd
In the wild uproar, swell the dol'rous sound:
And naught distinct is heard, and naught is seen
Where wreaths of vapour hov'ring intervene;
Save when black grains expand imprison'd air,
The thunder wake and shoot a livid glare;
Then ghastly forms are seen by transient gleams,
The dead and wounded drench'd in purple streams.
Now helmless ships in devious routes are driv'n,
The cordage torn, the masts to atoms riv'n:
Now where they glow with curling waves of fire,
In one explosion total crews expire.
Here barks relinquis'd, burnt to ocean's brink,
Half veil'd in crimson clouds, begin to sink.
Here yawning gulfs absord th' o'erloaded boat:
There red-hot balls, that graze the waters, hiss,
And plunge the gallies down the dread abyss.
Here shatter'd limbs, there garments dipt in blood,
With mingling crimson stain the foughten flood;
While Afric's pirates, shrinking from the day,
By terror urg'd, drag wounded hulks away.
As when two adverse storms, impetuous driv'n
From east and west, sail up the azure heav'n,
In flaming fields of day together run,
Explode their fires and blot with night the sun—
The eastern cloud, its flames expir'd at last,
Flies from the light'ning of the western blast:
So fled the corsair line the blighting stroke
Of freedom's thunder—so their battle broke—
As if by heav'n's own arm subdu'd at length,
Their courage chill'd, and wither'd all their strength.
Oh, then let vict'ry stimulate the chace,
To free from shameful chains the human race;
To drive these pirates from th' insulted waves,
To ope their dungeons to despairing slaves;
To snatch from impious hands, and break the rod
Which erst defac'd the likeness of a God:
Then seize th' occasion, call the furious gales,
Crack bending oars, stretch wide inflated sails;
On rapid wings of wind the tempest bear,
Make death's deep tubes with lurid lightnings glare;
Like evanescent mists dispel their hosts,
And with destruction's besom sweep their coasts!
Woe to proud Algiers; to your princes woe!
Your pride is perish'd with your youths laid low—
Woe to ye people! woe, distress, and fears!
Your hour is come to drink the cup of tears:
A ghastly paleness gathers on your cheeks,
While mem'ry haunts your cars with captive shrieks;
Then stifled conscience wak'ning dares to cry,
“Think on your crimson crimes, despair and die!”—
Then ruin comes, with fire, and sword, and blood,
And men shall ask, “where once your cities stood?”
Unwonted glooms the silent coasts surprize;
The heav'ns with sable clouds are overcast,
And death-like sounds ride on the hollow blast:
The rank grass rustling to the passing gale;
Ev'n now of men the cheerful voices fail:
No busy marts appear, no crowded ports,
No rural dances, and no splendid courts;
In halls, so late with feasts and music crown'd,
No revels sport, nor mirthful cymbals sound.
Fastidious pomp! how are thy pageants fled!
How sleep the haughty in their lowly bed!
Their cultur'd fields to desolation turn'd,
The buildings levell'd and th' enclosures burn'd.
Where the fair garden bloom'd, the thorn succeeds,
'Mid noxious brambles and envenom'd weeds.
O'er fallow plains no vagrant flocks are seen,
To print with tracks or crop the dewy green.
The Plague, where thousands felt his mortal stings,
In vacant air his shafts promiscuous flings;
There walks in darkness, thirsting still for gore,
And raves, unsated, round the desert shore—
The sandy waste, th' immeasurable heath,
Alone are prowl'd by animals of death.
Here tawny lions guard their gory den;
There birds of prey usurp the haunts of men;
Through dreary wilds a mournful echo calls,
From mould'ring tow'rs and desolated walls.
Where the wan light through broken windows gleams,
The fox looks out, the boding raven screams;
While trembling travellers in wild amaze,
On wrecks of state and piles of ruin gaze.
The direful signs which mark the day of doom
Shall scarcely scatter such portentous gloom—
When, rock'd the ground, convuls'd each roaring flood,
The stars shall fall, the sun be turn'd to blood,
The globe itself dissolve in fluid fire,
Time be no more, and man's whole race expire.
Thus hath thy hand, great God! through ev'ry age,
When ripe for ruin, pour'd on man thy rage:
So didst thou erst on Babylon let fall
The plagues thy hand inscrib'd upon the wall;
To cow'ring eagles, drunk with human blood;
Seal in thy wrath imperial Salem's doom,
And sweep her millions to a common tomb.
But let us turn from objects that disgust,
The ghosts of empires and of men accurst:
Turn we from sights that pain the feeling breast,
To where new nations populate the west:
For there, anon, shall new auroras rise,
And, streaming, brighten up th' Atlantic skies;
Back on the solar path, with living ray,
Heav'n's own pure splendours pour a tide of day.
And, lo! successful from heroic toils,
With glory cover'd and enrich'd with spoils;
With garlands waving o'er these spoils of war,
The pomp preceded by th' imperial star;
'Mid shouts of joy from liberated slaves,
In triumph ride th' avengers of the waves.
And see, they gain Columbia's happy strand,
Where anxious crowds in expectation stand.
See raptur'd thousands hail the kindred race,
And court the heroes to their fond embrace:
In fond embraces strain'd the captive clings,
And feels and looks unutterable things.
See there the widow finds her long-lost son,
See in each others' arms the lovers run;
With joy tumultuous their swol'n bosoms glow,
And one short moment pays for years of woe!
While grateful sports and festal songs proclaim,
Their joys domestic, and their distant fame.
Soon shall our sails, in commerce unconfin'd,
Whiten each sea and swell in every wind.
Then should far other pirates rove the main,
To plunder urg'd by sateless lust of gain;
Rise, fathers of our councils! trade protect,
Make warring pow'rs our neutral rights respect;
To vengeance rous'd by many a corsair-crime,
Resume in wrath an attitude sublime;
And make, as far as heav'n's dread thunder rolls.
Our naval thunder shake the sea-girt poles.
Ere heav'n shall seal the finish'd book of fate.
Full soon the sons of anarchy will urge
The sister-states to dissolution's verge;
Rending the feeble ties with frantic hand,
No hope of safety for our suff'ring land;
Till Washington, with fed'ral patriots rise,
And draw more close th' indissoluble ties;
To constituted pow'rs new strength afford,
Nor war, nor feuds, nor time shall break the triple cord.
There freedom make her holy voice be heard;
No anarchists enjoy their pop'lar dreams,
Agrarian laws! disorganizing schemes!
No proud aristocrats imperious lour,
Or cringing minions court a despot's pow'r.
Then see strong bulwarks towns Atlantic guard,
O'er wastes, late trackless, wide high-ways prepar'd;
Canals protract th' interminable tide,
While loaded barks through levell'd mountains glide;
To nameless wilds new charms by culture giv'n,
And a new city rise the type of heav'n.
On broad Potowmac's bank then spring to birth,
Thou seat of empire and delight of earth!
Of Washington assume the glorious name,
Immortal pledge of union and of fame!
Hail site sublime! unconscious of thy doom,
Thou future city burst the shapeless gloom,
From long oblivion wake—unrivall'd rise—
And spread thy destin'd beauties to the skies!
Through rows of goodly trees with umbrage fair,
And streams, whose freshness cools the summer air;
From where the Tiber's tide thy margin laves,
To where Potowmac rolls his sea-like waves,
I see thy spacious streets their walks extend,
The domes rise beauteous and the arches bend—
I see thy portals proud, adorn'd with art,
Where thronging nations enter and depart—
I see Columbia's delegated sires
Intent on high debate—awful!—serene!—
Nor Greece nor Rome beheld an equal scene.
Where the first magistrate of freemen dwells,
In simple state the noble pile excels.
Nor less those courts a deep attention draw,
Where rest enshrin'd, as oracles of law,
The judges of the land—thence right shall reign,
Nor they the sword of justice bear in vain.
There stands thy fountain, science! early plann'd
To pour a flood of blessings round the land—
Since him who tastes thy salutary wave,
No force or fraud can make in mind a slave.
To our new empire, lo! what crowds repair,
Walk in its light and in its blessings share;
For there th' oppress'd a place of refuge find,
The last asylum for distrest mankind.
Columbia, hail! exult thou happy state!
Large in thy limits, in thy produce great;
The harvests thine that rise by countless rills.
And thine the cattle on ten thousand hills.
Rejoice, Columbia! fair in charms of youth,
Firm in thy trust—th' eternal rock of truth—
Shrink not from trials, nor to suff'rings yield,
The Lord, thy God, will guard thee with his shield—
Of thy high destinies the call attend,
That bids thy sway with time and nature end;
Thy splendours grow with each increasing year,
And distant nations guide in freedom's great career.
Forerunners of this period wars shall rise,
And scenes of horror new beneath the skies—
A monster-pow'r usurp the mighty void
Of thrones subverted and of states destroy'd:
The fruitful parent of unnumber'd woes,
Nor less destructive to his friends than foes;
With grasp fraternal when he stops the breath,
Gloomy as night and terrible as death!
No beast more fell, with rage and vengeance swell'd,
Th' Apocalypse in Patmos' isle beheld.
And strives to soar with five times fifty wings;
Five heads the monster rears with serpent eyes,
And opes his mouths with boasts and blasphemies:
Where'er he moves he blasts the conquer'd land,
And deals destruction with unsparing hand;
Surrounding monarchs paralys'd with awe,
Crouch the weak knee, receive th' unrighteous law:
While Rome's high pontiff from his sev'n hills hurl'd,
In consternation leaves the papal world.
To save Columbia from that monster-pow'r,
Behold how heav'n prepares a shelt'ring tow'r!
As some hoar mound of adamantine rock,
Of mingling elements resists the shock;
What time the storm of angry heav'n is hurl'd,
One sweeping deluge on the wasted world:
So fix'd firm Adams stands—a flint his face—
'Mid floods of wrath a shelter for our race.
Then see, like reptiles in their native dung,
New broods of monsters from the monster sprung;
Voracious revel in their sire's decay,
Suck his heart's blood, and perish with their prey!
This prediction was written and seen by a number of the author's friends long before the first deportation and changes of the French Directory.
That promis'd bliss with liberty to man;
From tyrant force too strong to be withstood,
Corruption, terror, ruin, fire and blood;
A Pow'r shall rise to bid the Discord cease,
And join all nations in the leagues of Peace.
To cure the pangs that nerve-torne nations feel,
A bleeding world with better balm to heal;
Come, emanation from the King of Kings,
Religion! come, with healing on thy wings!
O'er wilds of western waves ascend our strand,
Send forth thy saving virtues round our land!
Remit thy influence mild through every clime!
Wide as existence, durable as time,
And man adore th' UNUTTERABLE NAME!
Then happier days, by hallow'd bards foretold,
Shall far surpass the fabled age of gold;
The human mind its noblest pow'rs display,
And knowledge, rising to meridian day,
Shine like the lib'ral sun; th' illumin'd youths
By fair discussion find immortal truths.
Why turns th' horizon red? the dawn is near:
Infants of light, ye harbingers appear;
With ten-fold brightness gild the happier age,
And light the actors o'er a broader stage!
This drama closing—ere th' approaching end,
See heav'n's perennial year to earth descend.
Then wake, Columbians! fav'rites of the skies,
Awake to glory, and to rapture rise!
Behold the dawn of your ascending fame
Illume the nations with a purer flame;
Progressive splendours spread o'er ev'ry clime!
Then wrapt in visions of unfolding time,
Pierce midnight clouds that hide his dark abyss,
And see, in embryo, scenes of future bliss!
See days, and months, and years, there roll in night,
While age succeeding age ascends to light;
Till your blest offspring, countless as the stars,
In open ocean quench the torch of wars:
With God-like aim, in one firm union bind
The common good and int'rest of mankind;
Unbar the gates of commerce for their race,
And build the gen'ral peace on freedom's broadest base.
| The miscellaneous works of David Humphreys | |