The Labor enquirer., 1885-02-07
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Is EaUMnHHs1S HAE0BYs
e C6,einded nom Flsst lhge]
snch b the III aas of the Declaration
6f Man to The kings Of the world. And
Shsll Ne falter now2 And sail we start
back appalled,, when Our feet press the
very threshold Of Freefdom7 Do you see
quailine faces around you, when cur
wives have been butc lered wien the
hearthstones Of our land are red with
the blood Of little chilfred ? What Are
there shrinking hearts or faltering voices
HERE, when the very dead Of our battle
fields arise and call up ,n US to sign that
parchment, or be accul sed.
~Eign If the next moment the glib
bets rope is round your neck. Sign IF
the next moment this hall rings with
the echo of the falling IKE. Signl By
all your hopes in life cr death, as hus-
bands, fathers as MEN sign your names
TO the parchment, pr be accursed
forever!
aSign, not only for yourself, but for all
ages for that parchment will be the
textbook Of freedom the bible of the
rights Of man forever.
Sign, ior the declaration will go forth
to American hearts forever, and speak to
those hearts like the voice of God. And
its work will not be done until through
ont this wide continent not single inch
Of ground owns the esway of privilege or
power.
~Nay, do not start and whisper with
surprise. It is 8 truth. Y our own hearts
witness it.; God proclaims 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, where
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 America to the free.
at is not given to our poor human in
/ tellect to climb the skies, to pierce the
counsels of the Almighty One. But me-
thinks l stand among The awful clouds
which veil the brightness of Jehovah's
throne. Methinks SEE the Recording
Angel-pale as an angel is pale, weeping
as an angel can weep come trembling
up to the throne, and speaking bis dread
message:
hFatber The Old World is baptized
in blood. Fatherl 1t is drenched with
the blood OF millions, butchered in war,
in persecution, in slow and grinding OPP
preston. Father, look With one glance
of thine eternal eye, look over Europe,
Asia, Africa, and behold evermore a ter
rible sight-man trodden down beneath
the oppressors feet, nations lost IN blood,
murder and superstition, walking hand
in hand over<the graves of their victims,
and not a single voice to whisper hope
to man. ..=-
He stands there (the angel, his hand
trembling with the black record OF
human guilt. But, hark The voice of
Jehovah speaks out from the awful
cloud: Let there be light again. Let
there be New World. Tell my people,
the poor, down-trodden millions, to go
out from the Old World. Tell them to
go cut from oppression and blood. Tell
them to go out from ths Old World, to
build up my altar In tns New
@As God lives, my friends I believe
that to be His voice. Yes, were my soul
trembling on the wing of eternity, were
this hand freezing in death, were my
voice choking with the last struggle, l
would still, with the laijt wave of<that
hand, with the last gasp of that voice.
implore you to remember the truth, God
has given America to b. free. Yes. as l
sank down into the gloomy shadows of
the grave, with my last gasp / would
beg you to sign that parchment in the
nameNof the One who made the Saviour,
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 FREEn ..
Many years have gone since that hour
The speaker, his brethren, all, have
crumbled into dust, but the records OF
that, hour still exist, and they tell us
that it would require ar angels pen to
picture the magic Of that speakers look,
the deep, terrible emphasis OF his voice
the prophct-like beckoning OF his hand
the magnetic fame shooting from his
eyes, that fred every heart throughout
the hall. Hefell exhausted In his seat
but the work was DONE A wild murmur
thrills through the hall. Sign? Ha
There ID no doubt now. LOOK how they
rush forward Stout-he arted John Han.
cock has scarcely time to sign his bold
: name before the pen is grasped by an
other, another and another. Look how
their names blaze on the iarchment
Adams and Lee and Jefferson and Car.
roll. and now Roger Sherman the shoe.
maker. And here comes good old