The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1870-08-20


Which all OF us so we'll know u
He rises up to speak; he joys
The Presidential elbow.
Good friends, he says, you resp q fiels
l soved in self-deuiaL sf III
For liberation had its eriefs
q And charity its trial.
"Great grace, as saith Sir Thomas Moro
To him must needs be given e
Who heareth heresy and leaves
The hereto to Heaven! !
hear again the snuf1ed tones, -
see in dreary vision =
Dyspeptic dreamers, spiritual bores
ndprophets with q mission. ASE
each zealot thrust before my eyes
His Scripture -garbled label; $50
All ereeds were shouted in my ears
& As with the tongues of Babel.
"Scourged at one cart-tail ch denied
The hope Of every other; t
Each martyr shook his branded fist
At the conscience of his brother.
"ln rustled Madam Hutchinson,
Loud-voiced for rights of woman;
And Carton led his saints elect,
Who held all things in common.
g Their robes trailed in ditch and swamp
And, torn by thorn and thicket,
The dancing girls of Merry Mount
Came dragging to my wicket.
Shrill Anabaptlsts, shorn of ears;
Gray witch wives, hobbling slowly;
And Antinomans, grown so pnre
Sheir very sins were holy.
"Hoarss ranters, Graz d Fifth Monarchists
a hf,,. H. r..
Pale Churchmeu, singed rubics snatched
From puritanc faggots.
md, last not least, the Quakers came,
With tongues still sore from burning,
The Bay States dust from off the feet
Before my threshold spurning.
IA motely host, the lords debris,
Faiths odds and ends together;
Well mi ht shrink from guests with lungs
Tough as their breeches Leather!
IF, when the hangmen at their heels
Come, rope in hand, 10 catch them,
I took the hunted outcasts in,
And never sent to fetch them.
"Unasked they came. l never sought
A Mas sachusetts Quaker, % ~
To pitch q tune for Baptist threats
was my own rhyme-maker.
fed, but spared them not a whit;
! gave TO all who walked in,
Not clans and succotash alone,
But stronger meat Of doctrine.
proved the prophet false, pricked
the bubble of perfection,
And clapped upon their inner light
The snutferS OF election.
"Aud, looking backward on my times
One thing, at least, L m proud for;
keep each 'sectary's dish apart,
AMI made no spiritual chowder.
Where now the blending signs of sect
Would puzzle their assorter,
The dry-shod Quaker kept the land,
The Baptist held the water.
A common coat now serves for both,
The hats no more fixture;
And which was wet and which was dry
Who knows in such a mixture ?
"Well He who fashioned Peters dream
To bless them all is able
And bird, and beast, and creeping thing
Make clean upon his table f!
al walked by my own light; but, when
The ways of faith divided,
Was to force unwilling feet
To tread the path that did.
touched the garment-hem of truth,
Yet saw not all its splendor
knew enough of doubt to feel
For every conscience tender.
God left men free Of choice, as when
His Eden-trees were planted;
Because they choose amiss. should
Deny the gift He granted
So with a common sense of need,
- Our common weakness feeling,
left them with myself to God
And His all-gracious dealing
81 kept His plan whose rain and sun
To tare and wheat are given
And, if the ways to He IL were free,
] left them free to .Heaveni"
Take heart with us, o man of old,
Soul treedom's brave confessor,
To love Of God and man wax strong,
e Let sect and creed be lesser.
The jarring discords of thy day
In ours one hymn are swelling
Ihe wandering feet, the severed paths,
szzssAll seek our Fathers dwelling.
And slowly learns the world the truth
That makes US all thy debtor
That holy life is more than rite,
And spirit mo re than letter.
That they who differ pole-wide serve
Perchsnce the common Master,
And other sheep He hath than they
Who Craze one narrow pasture.
Co-workers in the fields of God.
We share this restful no0uing;
The Baptist with the Quaker here .-
Believes in close communing!
Forgive, dear saint, the playful tone,
Foo Light for they deser ing;
Thanks for thy generous faith in man,
Thy trust in God answering.
Still echo in the hearts of men
The words chat thou hast spoken;
No forge of He'll can weld again
The tet.ers thou hast broken.
The pilgrim needs a pass no more,
From Roman or Genevan;
Thou2 ht-fres, no ghostIy tollman keeps
Henceforth the road to Heaven!