Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1882-06-29
New Series-Vol. %. No. 25

Not from God, for you have blasphem-
ed His laws!
Not from the people, for you stand
baptized in their bloOdl
Here you turn, and loi gibbetl
There, and scaffOld stares you in the
facel
All around you-death-but nowhere
pityl
Now, executioners of the human race,
kneel down-kneel down upon the saw
dust of the scaffOld; lay your perfumed
heads upon the block; bless the axe as
it falls-the axe you sharpened for the
the poor mans neckl
Such is the message of that Declara-
tion to Man, to the Kings of the world
And shall we falter nol0s And shall
we start back appalled, when our feet
press the very threshold of Freedom?
Do you see quailing faces around you
when our wives have been butehered,
when the hearthssones of our land are
red with the blood of little children?
What are there shrinking hearts or
faltering voices here, when the very
dead of our battle-felds arise, and call
upon US to sign that Parchment or be
accursed fOreverl
SIGN! if the next moment the gibbet's
rope is round your necki SIGNl if the
next moment this hall rings with the
echo of the falling axel Signl by all
your hopes in life or death as husbands
-fathers-as men-sign your names to
the Parchment or be accursed foreverl
Sign-not only for yourselves, but for
all ages. For that Parchment will be
the textbook of Freedom-the Bible Of
the Rights of Man fOreverl
Sign-for that Declaration will go
forth to American hearts forever, and
speak to those hearts like the voice of
Godl And its work will not be done,
until throughout this wide continent
not a single inch of ground owns the
sway of British King.
Nay, do not start and whisper with
surprise! 1t is truth, your own hearts
witness it-God proclairs it-this con-
tinent is the property of free people,
and their property alone. God, / say,
proclaims it, Look at this strange his
tory of band of exiles and outcasts
suddenly transformed into PEOPLE
look at this wonderful exodus of the Old
World into the New, where they came,
weak in arms, but mighty in GOd-like
faith-nay, look at the history of your
Bunker Hill-yOur Lexington-wherea
band of plain farmers Knocked and
trampled down the panOply of British
arms, and then tell me, If you can, that
God has not given Amefiea to the free!
1t is not given to our poor human in
tellect to climb the skies, to pierce the
counsels of the Almighty One. But me-
thinks 1 stand among the awful clouds
which veil the brightness of JehOvah's
throne. Methinks i see fhe Recording
Angel-pale as an angel is pale, weep
ing as an angel Can weep-eOme trem-
bling up to that Throne, and speak his
dread message:
'Fatherl The Old World is baptized in
blood! Fatherl it is drenched with the
blood of millions, butchered in war, In
persecution, in slow and grinding op-
pressionl Father-look with one glance
of Thine Eternal Eye, look over Europe,
Asia, Africa, and behold overmore, that
terrible sight, man trodden down be
meath the oppressor's feet-nati0ns lost
in blood-murder and superstition walk
ing hand in hand over the graves OF
their victims, and not single voice to
whisper, Hope to man.
He stands there, the Angel, his hand
trembling with the black record or hu-
man guilt. But harkl The voice of Je-
hoyah speaks out from the awful cloud
Let there be light again. Let there
be New World. Tell my people-the
poor-the down trodden millions. to go
out from the Old World. Tell them to
90 out from wrong, oppression and
blood-tell them to go out from the Old
World-tO build up my altar IN the New
As God lives. my friends, L believe
that to be His vOicel Yes,were my soul
trembling on the wing of Eternity. were
this hand freezing in death, were the
voice choking with the last struggle,
would still, with the last wave Of that
hand, with the last gasp of that voice,
implore you to remember the truth-God
has given America to the FREEl Yes, as
| sank down into the gloomy shadows
of the grave, with my last gasp, would
beg you to sign that Parchment IN the
name of the One who made the Savior,
who redeemed you in the name of the
millions whose very breath is now
hushed, in intense expectation, as they
look up to you for the awful words
You ARE FREEp
o, many, many years have gone since
that hour-the speaker, his brethren, all,
have crumbled into dust, but 1t would
require an angels pen to picture the
magic of that speakers look, the deep,
| terrible mphasis of his vOice,the proph-
et-like beckoning of his hand. the mag
netic flame which, shooting from his
eyes, soon fired every heart throughout
the hall
He fell exhausted in his seat, but the
work was done. A wild murmur thrills
through the hall. Sign? Hal There
is no doubt now. LOoki How they
rush forward d-stout-hearted John Han
cock has scarcely time to sign his bold
name, before the pen is grasped BY an
other-another and anOtherl Look how
their names blaze on the Parchment
Adams and Lee and Jefferson and Car
roll, and now Roger Sherman, the shoe
maker.
And here comes good old stephen Hop
kins-yes, trembling with palsy, he tot
ters forward-quivering from head to
foot, with his shaking hand he selZes
the pen, he scratches his patriot name.
Then comes Benjamin Franklin, the
printer, and now the tall man in the red
cloak advances, the man who made the
fiery speech q moment ago--the same
hand that waved in such fiery Sc0rn, Ee
writes his name PATRICK HENRY!
And now the Parchment is signed;
and now let word go forth t) the people
in the streets to the homes of Ameri
cato the camp of Mister Washington
and the palace of George, the idiot
king--le. word go out to all the earth
And, old man in the steeple, now bare
your arm, and grasp the iron tongue, and
let the bell speak out the great truth;
.Fifty-six Traders and Farmers and
Mechanics have this day shook the
shackles of the WorldP
Harkl bark to the toll of that bell!
Is there not music in the sound, thas
raminds Yon of those awful tones when