Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1845-11-14
Ra14aF.
From the Beacon Of Liberty.
.uE MEETING OF THE BIRDS.


80 q. From the Beacon Of Liberty.
THE MEETING OF THE BIRDS.
Thu birds had q meeting, a few days ago,
To settle some matters Of state
And withal, to consider their friends in limbo,
who long had been pining in want and in wo,
With few TO mourn over their fate.
In oapes Of wire, and cages OF wood,
They were hanging all over the land,.
And there made to sing all day for their food,
And dreamed all night, in their dark solitude,
or the groves by the free zephyrs famed.
The Crow called the meeting to order-caw,
cav!
For he he had a far reaching ken
Tho eagle was scribe. He was skilled in
the law,
And knew where twas safest to put in his
claw;
And he too, was great with the pen.
The Pigeon was there, 70 carry the news,
For Birddom was waiting TO hear.
The most part were anxious to get their
friends loose,
And break all the cages and traps that they
use,
Those Bird catehers, year after year.
The Linnet was foremost to open the cause;
For the dropping wing'd captives he spoke.
His kindred they were, and he thought that
it was
A sin against God, and the old forest laws,
To bring them thus under the yoke.
The Canary arose with a tear in his cen,
Al HE ,ouotoa1 vOioa ohnGad with nriaf
This caging his kindred, he thought it was
mean,
The wickedest thing that ever was seem
And he called the bird holder a Mis.
Hold! hold! says the Owl, not so fast, my
young spark
And he opened his eyes in a maze,
There's a difference between them old ca
gers-(now bark!
] see it as plain as a chick in the dark,)
And those that hold birds in these days.,
The fathers transgress'd the old law, it is
true,
1t was bad for the captive birds, quite;
But that's not our fault-we follow the new;
What the many call right, it is proper to do,
And therefore bird-holding is right.
Twas a clear case, he thought, and his log
ic was prime;
But the Gold6nch was not quite so clear.
He could not but think it as much OF a crime
To catch a bird nop as it was in old time.
Sin was sin, the anne now as last year.
Then up got the Raven, and bowed as he
spoke -.
The case seemed to him very plain.
The fathers who put the birds under the
yoke,-- -,
1t was they who the great law of liberty
broke,
Sure, we cannot break it again.
The Sparrow was grieved at such logic. he
said,
They might bring us all into the wires,
And lay all the sin and the blame on the
head
OF some old transgressor a thousand years
dead
'Twould excuse all the robbers and liars.
A sweet little bird, with his wings tipped
with gold,
(The chairman did not know his name.)
Said, the wrongs of the captives could new
er be told,
Their sufferings now were like those of old.
Then, why not bird-holding the same!
O quit, said the Wren, you're as blind as a
bat;
They may suffer, and long to be free;
But the master has nothing to do with all
that,
He sticks to the law-that's what he is at.
What the laws says,-that's right-don't
you sect
The Redwing retorted, in fiery mood,
You talk about law! You merauder!
You'd be a bird-holder, yourself, if you could,
I wish your whole tribe driven out of the
wood
But the chairman here called him TO order.
Next the Ostrich got up, by courtesy there,
And the meeting most gravely addressed:
His opinion he said he was free to declare,
That the birds Of themselves who could not
take care,
Were meant to be slaves to the rest.
The Woodpecker reused up, and gave him
a scowl,
As if he would peck out his eyes.
Avaunt! who sent you hither old fowll
Go, hatch your own eggs-"Order!" said
the Owl,
Keep cool-you are more nice than wise.
But now it grew dark, and twas thought to
be best
At least, by the Owl and such sages,
To vote that bird-holding was proper, unless
The treatment was bad. Then, each to his
nest,
And left the poor slaves in their cages.
MISCELLANEOUS.