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On the Increase of Crime since the Late Civil War
War brings increase of crime; itself a sin,Unnumbered evils follow in its train;
With war at first did Slavery begin,
And, in the end, by war was Slavery slain.
For though a nation struggle to be free,
And conquer in the fratricidal strife,
Still unto sin in bondage it may be,
Nor gain a nobler, purer, higher life.
Intemperance, lust, and greed of gold may still
Follow war's triumph with their deadly blight;
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Threatening our future with disastrous night;
Till ignorance, vice and crime fill all the land,
That else might Freedom's bulwark ever stand!
Poem No. 758; c. 20 February 1875
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