Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1866-02-14
THE TWO INCENDIARIEs.
BY REV. JOIN PIERPoNr.

A Ere alarm! The CRY of ''FireP
SwelIs on the midnight air. higher, higher
Touched by the lightning, every bell
Swings in its tower. the tale to tell.
Forth rush the firemen, one and all,
At duty's or at dangers call,
The peril and the danger to share;
Their engines play. their torches glare;
The light of the deVouring fire,
Reelected from the church's spire,
Piercing the clouds with ruddy glow,
Tells of the ruin wrought below.
Why sounds that midnight toesin dread2
Why towers that column black and red,
That, leaning to the leeward. shows
The way that the destroyer gOes2
Let your Imagination stretch,
And you shall see a bastard wretch.
Skulking away from human sight,
And, wrapped up in the cloak Of night,
Putting LoeoJoeo match
Where he is sure the blaze will catch,
That when the crowd is hither drawn,
He may, before tho peep O. dawn"
With his light fingers, force loan
From Others pockets to his own.
What are to him the larum bell.
The fire wrapped roof, the dreadful yell !
- Of horses, roasting In their stalls,
Of iremen, crushed by tumbling Walls2
What are to him the crash, the din
of states and rafters falling in,
The shrieks of houseless females flying.
The feeble gasp of children dying,
And the loud wailings of despair,
That load the suffocating air?
What are all these to him ?-his turn
By them is served: SO let ,em burn"
What is all this to him? Why, sir.
He wakes up people, and they stir,
And if they catch the william, he
Is tried and hanged; or used to be.
Laws may, but justice does not alter;
He 'scapes, though he deserves the halter;
And were he doomed to it again,
The.people would a say-"Amenp 70
And yet-now cody let's inquire
What does this villain set on FIRE?
Boards, shingles, timber, wood, hay, stubble,
The body's life, an empty bubble.
"A vapor that appears" day.
Or hour, then vanishes away
That's all. TIL incendiary felon
Does nothing else we need to dwell on.
But he that fills his neighbor's cup
With liquid fire. is burning,
n Not edifces framed of wood,
Not princely mansions, fair and good,
But that for which such mansions rise
The heir apparent of the skies
MAN, who from heaven derives his BIRTH
NAN, Gods vicegerent here on earth;
A house that only God can build.
A temple with his spirit filed,
That holds its dweller for his day,
A house that falls in time to dust,
As other earthly dwellings must,
But one that holds, # not burRfdO1cR
The heir of an immortal crown.
But let the fire that fills the cup,
Be, in that house, well kindled up,
And strength, and peace. and pure desire,
And manly purpose feel the fire,
And Reason stumbles on and gropes
Darkling mid smouldering joys and hopes,
And Faith, and every upward aim,
And heavenward impulse feed the fame;
And Childhood roams in tattered rags,
And Virtue falls, and Courage flags,
And haggard Want makes Earth his bed,
And homeless Hunger begs his bread.
And scottish Dizziness mopes along,
And maniac Mirth bawls out his song,
And Frenzy stands with ghasIly stare,
And Madness Tends his matted hair,
And Murder stabs his weeping bride,
Then dies himself, suicide!
And yet what is all this to him,
Who fills up to its sparkling brim,
The glass that glows with liquid fire.
Drowned in whore poisonous depths expire
Wit, Wisdom, common Manhood even,
All earthly JOY, all hopes of heaven? =
Az, to his inmost self says he,
well, what of that whats that to me?
What is to me the depths of woe,
That follows where my liquors flow?
So long as the match can get,
So long as the fire may set,
So long as may have my way,
So long as those who drink will pay,
So long as they will serve my turn,
What is it to me how much they burn?
So long as they with bank notes cram
Ny pockets. l don't care damn;
So long as they my Golfers swell,
Let the poor devils go to HE'LL"
These two Incendiaries stand
Before you. neighbors, torch in hand;
Each plies his trade. each fills his purse,
Tell me Which Of them Is the tcOrsez