Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1876-02-19
For the Chronicle.
HAIL COLUMBIA %
BY T. j. DUNCAN.

Well wife, my heart is sad to day. sad as il
| well can be,
And who will hear SO tenderly my tale ol
woe as thee?
Columbia's bright and sunny shore, Gland
of the Free" they say,
With all her wants, her hopes, her fears,
lies on my heart to-day.
From earliest recollections fond, up to the
present hour,
I've learned to love my native land, her
greatness, and her power.
I thought her greatness to consist in equity
and love;
Her power subduing everything "with
peace-branch from above -
Her officers true patriots, who sought their
country's veal,
Gave peace at home, sent joy abroad, and
strove her wounds to heal.
Her yeomen all to me appeared intent
upon her good.
With votes and voices ever lent to save a
nations blood;
Her wealth the first fruits of her fields.
where honest sons of toll,
Mid sultry suns and manly strokes, have
bathed with sweet her soil;
But now, dear wife, "a change comes DER
the spirit of my Dreams
Corruption sends it's poison out along ten
thousand streams
The president, with crimson sword, bathed
in his brothers blood,
Drawn o'er the bowed, defenceless heads of
his own brotherhood,
Shouts from his mansion every year, sThls
is thanksgiving day;
For blessings passed, and good to come let
christians thank and pray"
Great God! Is this our certain doom and
are we still secure?
Shall such a fount send forth a stream
grateful, devout and purel
Just look what horrid management in
courts of civil law;
Fair ustice hides her blushing face, while
lawyers ''pick q flaw"
Rewards against the innocent they every
where receive
And every energy is bent the jury to de-
ceive.
And he who has no cash to pay, can ne'er
get justice here;
But must, with patience, writhe beneath
penalty severe.
And yet the time will surely come, when
Gods eternal Son
Shall set in strictest judgment on the case
of every one.
In that dread hour the upright man, alike
the rich and poor,
Passing beneath omniscient gaze, shall
enter through the door.
Then every man with unclean hands and
wicked so ul shall be,
From all that's good forever hurled to all
eternity.
The government, for revenue to fill her
Golfers well,
Permits a crime which daily sends unnum-
bered souls to hell
nations blot, nations curse, foe to
God and man
River of death that bears away hell
bound caravan.
And yet these vendors seem to think that
they must have place
Among the best society, in spite of their
disgrace;
That their money gives position, no matter
how tits gained,
And they must be respectable though deep
their hands are stained.
Some times they seek the church of God,
to hide their sinful blot,
Just think. dear wife, a child of God ~
draws whisky for sot!
See with one hand he'd hold the throne,
the other damn his race
For such man. in that bright world, can
there be found place?
"Let go! Let goT' the spirit cries, ''Taint
not the cause of God,
Lest He who bled and died for thee shall
smite thee with His rod.
Let go! for in Gods blessed Word an awful
woe is found,
Pronounced upon the head of him in such
posture found"
No man, because of legal right, can such
poison sell, r-e
And reach the shining shore himself-his
neighbor send to hell.
From bars, dark cellars and saloons, from
drunkard's stenched breath,
From money taken in exchange for ever
lasting death,
Who dare aspire unto seat where God Is
all in all
Where saints and angels shout his praise,
and on His bosom fall e?
But now my sluggish pencil drags, ere fair
ly I've begun
To tell to you the hundredth part that
clouds Columbia's sun.
Beneath that sun our girls and boys must
meet life's duties all,
Their earthly happiness depends upon its
rise or fall,
To God with prayerful hearts. dear wife.
and humble trust we'll go,
And surely He will shelter us, while dwell
ing here below.