Semi-weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1853-18??, 1855-03-28
Extracts from Poem 0y the Hon. w. J. GRxYsoN
of South Carolina

ali religion
Extracts from q Poem 6y the HoN. w. ]. GR4YsoN
of South Carolina.
THE HIREL1NG AND THE SLAVE
Where hreling millions toll in doubt and fear,
For food and clothing, all the weary year,
Content and grateful, If their masters give
The boon they humbly beg-to work and live;
While dreamers task their idle wits to find
A short hand method to enrich mankind;
And Fourers scheme, and Ovens deep device,
The dropping hearts of listning crowds entice
With rising wages, and decreasing toll,
With bounteous crops from i'll attended soil !;
If while the anxious multitudes appear,
Now glad with hope, now yielding to despair,
A seraph form, descending from the skies,
In mercy sent should meet their wondering eyes,
And, smiling, prom Use all the good they crave,
The homes, the food, the clothing of the slave;
Restraint from vice, exemption from the cares
The pauper hireling ever feels or fears;
And, at their death, these blessings to renew,
That wives and children may enjoy them too;
That when disease age their strength mpairs,
Subsistence and home should still be theirs;
What wonder would the promised boon impart,
What grateful rapture swell the PEASANTS heart;
How freely would the hungry list'ners give
4 life long labor thus secure to live!
And vet the life, unassaled by care,
Sc blest with moderate work, with ample fare;
" it'll all the good the pauper hireling needs
The happier slave each plantation leads;
Safe from harrassing doubts and annual fears,
lie breads no famine in unfruitful years;
If harvests fail, from inauspcious skies,
The masters providence his food supplies;
No paupers perish here for want of bread,
Or lingering live, by foreign bounty fed;
No exiied trails of homeless peasants go
In distant chimes to tell their tale of woe;
Far other fortune, free from care and strife
For work Of bread, attends the ncSroS life;
And Christian slaves may challenge as their OVID,
The blessings claimed i'll tabled States alone
The cabin home, not comfortless, though rude
Light daily labor and abundant food,
The sturdy health that temperate habits yield,
The cheerful song that rings in every field;
The long, loud laugh that ireemen seldom share,
Heavens boon to bosoms unapproaebed by care,
And boisterous jest and humor uRrehned,
That leave, though, no painful sting behind;
While, nesting near to bless their humble lot,
Warm social joys surround the negroes cot;
The evening dance its merriment ilnpar;S,
Love, with his raptare, fills their youthful hearts,
And placid age, the task of labor done,
Enjoys the summer shade, the winter sun;
And, through life, no pauper want he knows,
LamentS no poorhouSc peDance at Its close.
His too the Christian privilege to share
The weekly festival of praise and prayer;
For him the Sabbath shines with hoier light,
The air is balmer and the 81 y more bright;
Winters brief suns with warmer radiance glow,
With softer breath the gales of autumn blow;
Spring with new flowers more richly streTs the
ground,
And summer spreads freshcr verdure round;
The early shower is past; the joyous breeze
Shakes patering randrops from the rustling trees,
From Natures censers to the bounteous skies.
With cheerful aspect, in his best array,
To the far forest CHI, oh he takes his way;
With kind salute the passing neighbor meets,
With awkward grace the morning traveller greets;
And joined by crowds, that gather as he goes,
Seeks the calm joy the Sabbath morn bestows.
There proud temples to devotion rise,
With marble domes that emulate the skies;
But bosomed in primeval trees that spread
Their limbs DER Wondering mansions Of the dead,
Moss cinctured oaks and solemn pines between,
OF modest wood, the house of God is seen,
BY shaded springs, that from the sloping land
Bubble and sparkle through the silver sand;
Where high DER arching laurel blossoms blow,
Where fragrant bays breathe kindred sweets below;
And elm and ashe their blended arms entwine
With the bright foliage of the mantling vine;
In quiet chat before the hour of prayer,
Masters and slaves in scattered groups appear;
LooSed from the carriage, in the shades around,
Impatient horses neigh and paw the ground;
No city discords break the silence here,
No sounds unmeet offend the listeners ear;
But rural melodies of focks and Birds
The lowing, far and faint, of distant herds;
The mocking- bird, with minstrel pride elate,
The partridge whistling for its absent mate;
The thrush's soft, solitary notes prolong,
Bold, merry blackbrds swell the general song;
And cautious crows their harsher voices join,
In concert cawing, from the lofticst pine.
When now the pastor lifts his earnest eyes,
And hands outstretched, suppliant to the skies;
No rites of pomp pride beguile the soul,
No organs peal, no clouds of incense roll.
But, line by line, untutored voices raise,
Like the wild birds, their simple notes of praise;
And hearts of love, with true devotion bring,
Incense more pure to Heavens eternal King;
On glorious themes their humble thoughts employ,
And rise transported with no earthly joy;
The blessing said, the service DER, again
Their swelling voices raise the sacred strain;
Lingering, they love to sing of Jordans shore,
Where sorrows cease and toll is known no more.