Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1850-1854, 1852-12-17
THE TWO INCENDIARIEs.
By REV. JOHN PIERPoIST.

The fire alarm the cry of q Fire p
Swells on the night wind, higher. higher -
Touched by the lightning, every bell
Swings in its tower, the tale to tell.
Forth rush the tiremen, one and all,
AT duty's or at dangers call,
The peril and the praise to share
Their engines rush, their torches fare;
The light of the devouring fire,
Reflected from the church spre,
Piercing the clouds with ruddy glow, "
Tells of the ruin wrought below.
Why sound that midnight tocsin dread
Why towers that column black and red,
That, leaning TO the leward, shows
The way that the destroyer goes
Let your Imagination stretch,
And You shall see bastard wretch,
Skulking away from human sight,
And wrapt up in the cloak of night,
Putting loco foco match
Where he is sure the flame will catch,
That, when the crowd is thither drawn,
lie may, before 'the peep of dawn,
With his light fingers force loan,
From others pockets to his own.
What are to him the larum bell,
The blazing roof, the fearful yell
Of horses toasting in their stalls,
Of firemen, crushed by falling walls
What are to him the crash and din
OF states and rafters falling in;
The shrieks of houScless women fying,
The feeble gasp of infants dying,
And the loud walings of despair
That load the suffocating air
What are all these things to him? His turn
BY them is served let others burn!
What is all this to him WHY, sir,
He wakes up people, and they str;
And if they catch the villain, he
Is tried, and hanged-or used to be:
Laws may, but justice does not, alter:
He escapes, tho he deserves the halter;
And were he doomed to it again,
The people would all say, Amen p
And yet now cody let's inquire
What does this villain set on fire? bic, j"
Boards, shingles, timber-"wood, hav stub
The body's life, an 'empty bubble; ;"
A vapor, that is seen day
Or hour; " then vanisheth away :"
That's all. The incendiarv fclon
Does nothing more we need to tell on.
But he that fills his neighbours cup
With liquid fire, is burning up,
Not cditicc framed of wood,
Not princely mansions, fair and good,
But that for which such mansions rise;
The heir apparent of the skies:
lldn; who from heaven derives his birth,
Man, Gods viccgercnt here on earth,
A house that only God can build,
A temple, with His Spirit filled
\ tenement indeed, of clay,
That holds its dwelcr, for his dav
house that falls, in time, in dust,
AS other earthly matter must
But one that holdS-itf not Jum dotcn,
The heir of an immortal crown.
But let the fire that fills the cup,
Be- in that house well kindIcd up,
And strength, and peace, and pure desire,
And manly purpose feel the fire
And reason stumblcs on and gropes,
Darkling, mid smothered joys and hopes
And faith, and every upward aim,
And heavenward impulse feeds the fame
And virtue falls, and courage flags
And childhood roamS i'll tattered rags,
And haggerd Want makes earth his bed,
And homeless Hunger begs his bread,
And scottish Dulncss mOpcS along
And maniac Mrth brawls out his song,
And Frenzy stands with vacant stare,
And madness rends his matted hair
And Murder stabS his weeping bride
Then, dies, himself, 4 suicide
And yet, what is all this to him
Who fills up, to its sparkling brim,
The glowing mass of liquid fire,
Drowned in whose poisonous depths, expire
Wit, wisdom, common manhood even,
All earthly joy; all hope of heaven
"Ay;" to his mmost self, says he,
"What is the consequence to me
What is, to ne, the depth of woe,
That follows where my liquors flow?
SO long as the match can get,
SO long as | the fire can set,
SO long as | can have my way,
SO long as those who drink, can pay,
So long as they will serve my turn,
What is't TO me how much they burn
These two incenliarics stand
Before YOU, ncghborS, torch in hand =
Both ply their trade, both fill their purses
Tell mc-which, of the two, the worse is