Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-07-19
At DUNBAR.
rwR1TTEN FOR THE D1sPAToH.

WRITTEN FOR THE D1sPAToH..
These the thoughts that came to me.
In my quiet room at eve
Thoughts of miners starved or dead.
Thoughts of wives that sob and grisys.
Thoughts of group of stalwart men
Meath . lanterns scanty light,
Meath smithy's sooty roof,
At the mirk and noon Of night:
Is IL wrong to man or State,
That they there deliberatef
Nay, tits deeds the best of earth
To their words give blessed birth;
For, said Christ the Son of God,
When this sinful earth he trod,
Greater love hath no man than
He who gives his life for man.
Where the cannon sweep the plain,
Where the hot blood fires the brain
Mid the rush and cheers Of men
Life is ever counted naught,
So the valiant deed Is wrought.
Grander was their courage who,
With no selfish end in view,
In the silence of the mine,
Braved the FIRE damp's deadly breath:
Only Duty's voice to cheer
Where each pick stroke might bring deathI
Tears for weeping orphans, mothers;
Tears for stricken child and wives,
But for noble miners cheers
Taking in their hands their lives:
Comrades in the burning mine,
In the face of sudden death,
Seeking, in a love divine.
All, it was brave endeavor,
Worthy praise of tongue or pen;
All, it was grand unfolding
OF the inner heart of menI
For, as through the clouds Of night
Sudden CLEANS radiant star,
Through the clouds of greed and Self
Comes the story of Dunbar
Story of devotion shown
Night by night, and day by day,
Hewing through the slate and stone.
Toiling through the coal and clay.
Thinking, with each sturdy stroke,
Mid the choke damp, fire and smoke.
But of child and widows moan,
But of comrades, starved or dead,
But of children wanting bread,
But of reaching prisoned brothers;
Not of Self. but still of othersl
Telling in the soul of man
Spite the fight for gold and bread,
Till the better nature swoons,
Love OF man for man seems dead;
Spite the deluge wild of Self
That mans higher nature lives;
OF broader life to be,
Cheering hope and promise gives;
Telling, though they rescued not,
In the noble lesson taught,
That the labor was not wasted,
Brave endeavor all for naughti
o, for weeping orphans made
Where the deadly death damps arel
o, for hearts that, breaking, mourn
Dear ones dead In sad Dunbarl
But to self-devotion hail!
Given for their neighbors' needs.
Hail! the blossom fair of Hope
Springing from those noble deeds.
o. for wrongs that fill the earth
In the carnIvals Of sin;
o. for mountains huge of Self
That our nobler selves pen in.
Hail the years that coming are
When those noDler lives will be;
When the love of man for man
Sets our better natures free!
We can see their breaking dawn
Through the night of Self steal in,
In the sweeter Charity
For a brothers fault, or sin;
In the fuller comprehension
OF the duties wealth attend,
In the noble work of woman
In the noble deeds of men!
Giving wealth with gen'rous hand
Where the suffering need relief,
When distress pervades the land;
In the broadening Christian creeds.
All! for men who, wrapped in greed,
Care not for their neighbours need
Have no broader horizon
Than the muck-hill they rake on;
Nor see in tale of Dunbar's mine
Words Of Christ personifedl
Self for man was crucified
In the creed of love divine.
Be their names with chaplets hung
Who that lesson bravely taught
Be their names with praises sung
Who that brave endeavor wrought
GEORGE HENRY THURsToN.
TTsBURG, July IL, 1890.