Virginia Argus. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1796-1816, 1808-01-08

| city ct his oppressors -.f19er' Cir
" Tie Irish En'igrant-- Born in the coun.
try of aifiiction-hls days were DAYS of sor.
row. He tiled the soil of his fathers, and
was an alien in their land. He tasted no,
the fruits which grew by the sweat of his
brow. He fed foreign landlord, whose
face he never saw, and i minister of the
| gospel, whose name he hardly knew-an
unteeling bailIff is his tyrant, and tax-ga-
therer Ills oppressor. Hunted by unriGh.
teous magistrates, and punished by unjust
Judges. The soldier devoured his substance,
and laughed his complaints to scorn. He
tolied the hopeless day, and AZ night lay
down in WEAKNESS. Yet noble he was Of
heart, though his estate was Iow,y. His
cottage was open to the poor. He broke
This children's bread and ate of il sparipg
Fly, that the hungry might have shave. He
welcomed the benighted traveller, aud rose
with the stars of the morning, TO put him
on his way But his soul repined within
him, and he sought relief in change He
had heard OF land where the poor were
at peace, and the laboure thought worthy
OF his hire-where the blood of u athers
had purchased an ASYLUM. He eads the
aged parent whom love grappled TO his
heart. He bears hls infants iIT his arms
II > wife followed his wea,Y ste - They
escape from the barbarous l:sws-that would
make. their country their prison They
cross the trackieSs ocean-they descry
the promised land aud hope brightens
the prospect to their view; but happi-
ness is not for him. The ruthless spirit
of persecution pursues him through the
waste Of the ocean. Shall his foot ne
yer ind rest, nor his heart repuse No
The Prov ing bird of prey hovers on Co.
lumbia's coast. Waited ON eagles wings,
the British pirate Cones ravishes the
poor fugitive from the partner of his sor-
rows, and the tender pledges Of their love.
See the haggard eyes OF a father, to which
nature denies tear stupid moment of
living death. He would interpose ms fee
BILE arm but motIonlesS-he would bid "a
dieu, but his voice refuse It's ofTice-the
prop of his declining years torn remorse-
less from before him, he stands like the
blasted oak, dead to hope and every earth
llyjop!!
"Was it not then enough, that this vic
tim of oppression had left his nat We land
to therapacity ct its invaders Might he
not have been permitted to seek a shelter
In the gloom of the wilderness No! the
ruthless spirit of persecution is not yet sa-
ted with his sutferings. The torments of
one element, exhaustiRg those of another,
are prepared for him. Enslaved to scorn-
iui masters. the authors OF his misery, he
is forced to fight the battle of those his
soul abhorS. Dea,h, that relieves the
wretch, brings no relief t. him, for he liv-
ed not for himself, but for those more dear
to him than lire. Not for himself does he
feel the winters blast, but fer those who
are now unprotected, house ess and for
Torn. Where shall his W &c now wander,
when maddened with despair? Where
shall his father lay his wcaried bones
Where shall his innocent babes find food,
unless the ravens feed them? Oh nard and
cruel men ! ON worse than He'll sh fenCls
--inay not the poor find pity? What's he
that now reviles them? beshrew his VII
thcred heart.
ooh Stewart! --Oh West children of
senins--soUs OF Columbia! where are now
your pencils WIZ YOU profane the boun-
teous gifts of nature, in flattering the nigh
ty and the. great, and withhold a nobier
aid to the cause of the poor and the aillict-
ed"