Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1844-12-27
A FREE TRADERS FREEDOM.

4 1HIlc strain ~ UiHiam Cpilcn Brydnt
"rHE ANTIQUITY OF FREEDOM
"Here arc old trees tall oaks, and gnarled pines,
That stream with gray green moses; here the
ground
Was never trenched BY spade, and flowers spring
up
Unsown and die ungathered. II is sweet
To lnger here, among the fitting birds,
And leaping squirrels, wandering brooks, and
winds
That shake the leaves, and scatter, as they pass,
A fragrance from the cedars, lhickly sci
With pale blue berries. In these peaceful shades:
Peaceful, unpruned, immea>urably old
My thoughts go up the long dim path OF years,
Back 10 the earliest days OF liberty
aOh, FREEDoM thou art not, as Poets dream,
A fair young girl, with light and delicate limbs
And wavv tresscs gushing from the cap
With which the Roman master crowned his slav:
When he took of the gives. A bearded man,
Armed 10 the teeth, arl thou; one mailed hand
Grasps the broad shield, and one the sword; thy
brow,
Glorious in beauty though il be, is scared
With tokens Of old wars; thy massive limbs
Are strong with struggling. Power at thee ha,
launched
His bolts, and with his ligbtnings smitten thee;
They could not quench the life thou hast from
Heaven.
Mercess Power has dug Thy dungeon deep,
And his swart armorers, by thousand fires,
Have forged thy chain yel, while he deems Thee
bound,
The links are shivered, and the prison walls
Fall outward; terribly thou sprngest forth,
As springs the flame above burning pile,
And shoutesl 10 the nations, who return
Thy shoulinss while the pale oppressor llies.
sThy brlhrisht was not given BY human hands:
Thou vert wn-born with man. In pleasant
fields,
While vet our race was few, thou satst with him,
To tend the quiet flock and watch the stars,
And teach the reed TO utter simple airs.
Thou BY his side, amid The tangled wood,
Did'st war upon the panther and the wolf,
His only foes; and thou with him did'st draw
The earliest tnrrows on the mountain side,
Soft with the dcuge. Tyranny himself,
The enemy, although Of reverend look,
Hoary with many years, and far obeyed,
Is laler born than thou; and as he meet,
The crave defiance of thine elder eye,
The usurper trembes in his fas,ness.
"Thou shalt wax stronger with The lapse Of
years,
But he shall fade into feebler age
Fecber, yet sutrler. He shall weave his snsres,
And spring them on thy careless steps, and clap
His wilhered hands, and from their ambush cal
His hordes to fall upon thee. He shall send
Quaint makers, forms of fair and gallant mien,
To catch thy gaze, and uttcring graceful word,
To charm thy ear; while his imps, By stealth,
Irvine round thee threads Of steel, light thread on
thread,
That grow 10 letters or bind down Thy arms
With chains concealed in chapleis. Oh! not yet
May's thou Embrace thy cors'el, nor lay by
Thy sword: nor vet, Oh, Freedom! close Thy his
In sumber; for thine enemy never sleeps,
And thon must watch and combat ill the day
OF the new Garth and heaven. But, wouldst ihoa
rest
Awhile from tumult and the frauds Of men,
These old and friendly solitudes invite
Thy visit. They, while vet the forest trees
Were young upon the unviolated earth;
And yet The moss stains on The rock were new
Beheld thy glorious childhood, and rejoiced."
There are lessons taught in these powerful lines
which ought not 10 be lightly banished from me.
mory. 1t was overwcening confidence that can-ei
nations 10 lose their freedom; monopoly, ne
most insdious form Of tyranny, is ever on lte
watch TO avail itself OF unguarled movements
and there is As much necessity for vigilance "
preserve freedom, as for courage 10 achieve IT,