The Red Cloud chief., 1884-02-08
THE LATE OLIVER r. NORTON.

THE LATE OLIVER F. NORTON.
IA monument to the late oliver p. Morton
vas recently unveiled 1t Indianapolis. Sew
, eral addresses commemorative of the dead
Senator we're delivered. and the following
SOem by Prof. John c. RidpHth, OF De Pauw
University, was read by its authorl:
When LincOln's hand was thrust into the night,
And strained to touch some pillar OF support,
When through the darkness shot no ray Of
And Slavery had Freedom for his sport;
When no star shOne to guide our ship to
port,
And bale-iires blazed across the solitude;
When like LAGOON in woeful sort
b Nation writhed, and crimson streaks OF
Flashed up the sky. then Morton rose and
Dark was the night, and star by star went out,
And men CROPPED blindly, and no way was
And Freedom fell and Treason raised a shout,
And feeble folk with napkins rushed be-
To mend the earthquake. n the Dragons
Mocked their endeavor! All men waited for
That presence whose inspiring voice and
Should mark him for the coming leader. nor
Wa any found like ours, the Great War Gov
ernOr.
The people saw him as he lifted high
His arm of iron! In his wariike face
Was seen the fire Of conflict, and his eye
Shonc with a quenchless light, while from
He Numbered forth his challenge; and the
race
That served the times, and doubted. and stood
I still,
While men were bleeding and the black dis
grace
Still wrapt its coils about us, felt the thrill,
And rose. and stood, and went to battle at his
will
How great he was in that heroic time!
How dOubly great when round about him
The treacherous bands whose garments
dripped with crime!
How shall this hour speak gentle words of
Who in that hour were the Nations foes?
Lo, all night long, while other men were sleep
Morton kept vigil, knowing not repose.
Piercing the dark, the far horizon sweeping,
Where homes were deSOlate and women sat
a-weeping.
On every field where soldiers fought and fell,
On every field of triumph or dismay,
On every field where men did duty well,
There, in the darkness of the gathering night,
Where thousands living with dead thousands
lay,
And grasped a friendly hand, and rose and
blessed the sight!
| For there was seen the shadow of a form
That all men knew-was heard a loving
| That all men recognized. and then the warm.
Strong arms of Morton were entwined
The dying soldier, and his bleeding wound
Was stanched, and in his breaking brain
rh The pulse s 81 life; . re,u ,ha S, with g sd bound S,s
While tears of deathless love were mingled
with the rain.
He saw the Black Man in his letters bound,
Upon his back the slave-whip's hOrrid scar:
He felt in his broad. generous breast a wound
Until what time was drawn the sword of
Then other blood was poured as waters are
Poured from the thunder-clOud in summer
Two hundred fields were red as cinnabar.
Till earth was purged OF that so sickening
And Slavery fell dow dead. and Afric rose
sublime
He rose sublime, and trembled as he rose,
Patient and black; but Morton. too. was
The Negroes champion, frowning on his foes:
His face grew dark as night; he said: Be
This is q Man-now touch him If you dare."
And they who would reslave the human burst
No more bind on the manacles, or bear
The flaming ire of him who braved their worst
ZAAAo iAiiC q WhCht INC oSuCu
and cursed.
The Commonwealth beheld mis- rising star
And babe him onward till he stood among
The Nations great, and there renewed the
war.
The battle of the weak man with the strong
The endless strife of right against the wrong.
There: side by side with Sumner. he threw
down
The mortal challenge to the sullen throng
That scowled upon him with the slaver's
And sought to set again their plume in free
dOm's crown.
o Morton! dead, but still not dead at all!
Arise from out the shadows! We are here!
Behold our Offering and heed our call!
For six years thou hast spoken not! Come
And speak once more! We stand and wait
to hear.
As in the days that tried us as by fire
We gather round thee to applaud and cheer!
Answer our cry, and feel our hearts desire
While here before thy feet we fling the sword
n Tyre!
No monument can blazOn such a life;
No brief eulOgium add unto his fame!
Born to be great-a leader in that strife
In which were blent our glory and our
He stood the foremost! At his magic name
Freedom set up a shout on all the fields
where our starred banner was the orr
And patriot soldiers, until freedom yields
That banner up, will write his name upon their
shields.
This stone may crumble. but the fame of him
Who stands sublimely in this form of art
will brighten history when the age grows dim,
And of the future be q deattless part!
No time can tarnish what the human heart
Haj made immortal. Not till Hood and fire,
And hail and tempest, and the ice-king's
dart
Have wasted nature. and tho ages tire,
Shall MortOn's cherished name and glorious
deeds expire!
Forward or Backward.
There are among those most inclined