Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1885-01-06

-
its cargo q plea ures and
pr IftI'is we dare not say WHITTIER
Through ctssng Of weather. aud
cline,
Toward the far shores of the future,
Tossed on the pillows of Time.
Let US turn to the year that is passing,
Inspecting its annals with care,
And weave into story its lessons,
And see what Its chronicles are.
A war-cry hath startled the nations,
Albion hath marshaEed its host
By the flow of the Nile, where its
waters
In the trend of the desert are lost.
And away in the distant Pacific,
The Lilies now wave in the breeze,
And France with her squadron be-
The queen of the Pagan seas.
But out from this smoke of the battle,
The heart of the world is at peace !;
Active lifc's looms and its shuttles,
Abundant the yearly increase.
Expanding, the spirits Progressive,
In science, in learning, in art.
Now summons new forces to action,
To Life new powers impart.
Look out to the Icy-bound Arctic,
There glaciers imprisoned fleet,
But the courage of heroes hath res
cuGd,
Success from impending defeat.
Behold the New World, the Queen
Regnant
OF beauty, of sunshine and storm,
Fair science with a girdlc OF water,
Is folding her delicate form.
Look out to the Land that is dusky
With shadows of Ebony Life,
Where the waves of the Congo for
ages
Were red with the carnage of strife.
The eye of the world is upon it,
The nations now vie for command,
Soon Commerce will lift the dark
shadows,
That brood o'er that ill-favored
land.
Look out to the plains by the Ganges,
And hills that envelop it's source,
The Native is guiding the plough
share,
And grain fields encircle its course.
See the steamers of Britain are swarm
ing
The line of that sinuous course,
The Rulers of commerce and ocean,
By strength of its maritime host.
Still locked in the fetters of Treaty,
Accepting the law of award,
In lieu OF the verdict of battle,
The Nations now reap the reward.
For the limits OF trade are expanding,
The sunshine of Peace is restored, ,
And the world is relieved Of the
horrors,
That follow the reign OF the sword.
And here within our own fair Land,
The year has not been spent lin vain
For right has risen to command.
The days of old have come again.
For two decades the hand of Might
Had swayed the sceptre as its own
But Truth expoused the cause OF
Right,
And drove the despot from its
throne.
That reign of terror, thrice accursed-
OF theft, corruption, and of force
Its shameful record is the worst,
That ever told a party's course.
The People gave it power to thrust
An evil from this land of ours
1t ruthlessIY betrayed its trust
O'er-leaped the limitso ofits powers.
With Sword and Treasure at its will.
Itplaccd the one beside the polls,
And used the other, but to swell
The number on its party rolls.
1t trampIed on our chartered rights
4 Destroyed the sanction of the laws
Eand on pretensiou's moral heights
| Espoused its own unholy cause.
And governed by that higher law
Than that By which our Father:
built
The ship of State, it ne.er foresaw
The Peoples verdict of its guilt.
That verdict, just recorded, stands
An earnest now of better times;
OF power reposed in honest hands,
With nerve and willto punish crime,
! D.
land thus. within the dawning year,
The old regime will come again
With Truth and Justice ruling here,
The monarehs of our vast domain.