Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1894-03-25
The Death of the First Born.

| with worse ana worse Jt0ONdn = CURSE
Had hedgcd His peoples path,
| And day by day had seemed to nurse
| The fury Of his wrath.
| The death watch held In keeping
| The doomed of Egypt sleeping.
| Til midway 'twixt the twilight gone
| And lifting gates of morrow's dawn
| Deaths angel came
| Through all Mizraim
| With blow as unexpected,
AZ when from cloudless sky
| The lightning bolts detected.
And the thunder-peal rolls by,
with wrath as void Of pity
For Egypt's hope and pride,
As for Campanian city
Vesuvius' molten tide
or for the cities of the plain
The yengeful clouds Of sulphur rain.
The pestilence. walking in darkness,
Came down in its fury and might,
And victim lay cold in his starknes-
In each home on that terrible night.
Menephthah slept with vigils kept
by miniOn and magician,
But nought awaited TO intercept
His Nemesis eCminiSs IN
He woke in fright-a brief respite
Delayed his own off-taking;
But stony hearts grieve in attempt Z
The horrors OF that waking.
From all the deep illusion.
From all the fond delusicn
or slumber's sweet Seclusion,
With its dreams OF pride and glory
In Egypts past renown,
And visions Of her story.
Through coming ages down.
From earthly powers summit.
From honor's topmOst round,
| To depths no fancy's plummet
Has e'er essayed 10 sound.
From here-from there
From everywhere
| ArOund-abOut,
| Within, without,
Burst out upon the midnight an
| The shriekings of a wild despair,
| OF a pitilesS GRIEF,
| HeVond reach of relief,
with helpless, hopeless wailing
| His waking ears assailing.
| There was death in every household;
| There was death in every sheep-fold-
| At eve i'm manly Vigor,
N midnight in deaths rigor,
| His own first born lay cold.
| His grief was lost In trembling,
| Round his guilty soul assembling
| Came trooping thoughts resembling
| The flashing and the gnashing
| OF the pit Internal,
| And the wrath eternal.
| The hardened heart. all blunted
| BY long. persistent ScornlnS,
| With patient Christening hunted
| In oft-repeated warning,
| Awoke at last confronted
| With dies irae morning.
| Memories thronged ccc using.
| RcmOrselessly refusing
| Evasion, or eXcusing,
| And conscience with its singing
| In his quickened ears WAS ringing,
| approximately bringing
| In doleful repetition
| The Gods MT admonition
Tcmpestuous passions surging.
| Racking heart and brain.
| Unanimously were urging
| In clCmOrOus refrain,
| Above the moaning and the groanina
| OF his people in their woe
| With the Hebrews deep intoning
| Oh. let my people 50.
| What then, TO him the sceptrc
| O'er realm of AFFECT slaves
| Before the CHASTITY spectre
| OF a thousand opening graves.
| with every living mourner
| Above his newly dead,
| Invoking retribution
| Upon one culprit head:
| And every corpse revealing
| A present angry God.
| with red right-hand uplifted
| TO smite him with his rod?
| The Prophet had fore'oll him
| He should ne'er again behold him.
In his day.
| What would he not have given
| II 'gainst the seer lac had not striven
| And In futile anger driven
| Him away?
| All snenced then his proud defiance;
| Al crushed To earth his self-reliance,
| The Pharaoh. humblrd and subdued.
! Abased 10 suppiant attitude.
His heart Oerwhelmed WIN drsa1'
| In frantic cropping for RELIEF,
| His miniOns 10 the Hebrew chiei
Ia hurried mission sped; ,,,
| Ten Moses" said the aflrighted King
III / had but the power TO bring
Again the days now ned,
III gladly all my path retrace.
And from the book OF Fate efface
Ail wrong I'VE done to Israsis race;
And though ] may not now retract'
BY penitential word or act,
The fruitage of Accomplished lact
, Yet, It's my will and my decree
TO get your murmuring people Tree
From bondage, grant them full release,
And speed their going hence IN peace
Forgiving then the lately past.
Bid them arise and gather fast
Their fiocks and herds from near ana TAI
And wait not till the morning star
Shall usher In the opening DAY;
But let its earliest beams afar
Salute them on their pilgrim way;
Then ere the dawn
| BE up and gone,
And you and yours.
While time endur;s.
Go worship where we VIII;
But. Prophet, pray
Your God TO stay
The vengeful wrath
That round my path
Had wrought such fearful Ill.
And pity, pity In my woe.
And bless-oh. bless me ere you go.
LIZ
Unhappy king-e'en in that hour
OF wasting strength and waning power,
Had this deferred relenting
Been true, sincere repenting,
With purpose OF redressing
The wrong before inflicted.
That prayer for parting blessing
Had not been contradicted.
And VINO can tell,
In earth or hell
What might have been
The outcome OF forgiven sin,
Or how thy name
And Egypts fame
Throughout Redemption's story
Had dotted their crown Of guilt an
shame,
To share its cross Of glory? -,
-B. II. w.