The advocate. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1901-1913, 1907-12-26

'F .narp nor cymhal; indeed that ne
was no poet.
| Whitley was wrong as subsequent
developments proved. He WAS made
to be the nnst OF poets. Cod had
destined him to touch the deeper
note; to sing tho grandCr song: in
season lie would tune thN harp and
place it in his kcrpin% Very often
men lie dead IN disappointment
Those OF us whn rNtol their virtues,
unknown and, therefore by the larG-
world, unSunG. cry "llarsh, truNl
and i world unjust" 1t is not al
ways so. More. often than not mon
rebel against their natural Adaptable
pity and prosperity and pursue what
| to them is n meaningless hantom:
their chase is spent. in quest Of an
others bow and boon. while their
own hope and harp lie behind them
mute and motionlcsS. There is the
death OF n promised notc;\ possibly
minor in the Lost ChOrd:T here is
the death Of an ambition that would
/
teachings Of Nature.
When William Lloyd Garrison dis
! covered Whittier. who as a boy OF
tender and inexperienced years. adj
dressed a poem to Garrison's news
| paper at Newburyport. he saw in him
! the promise OF the singer. In the
years since Whittier. in that purSui
Of cap OF purple. had stayed from
the path that leads to glory>1hat
Garrison had pictured the Quaker
| treadins in triumph and song Whit
tier had been,to the legislature. Hav-
ing released the poets glory and his
license. his friends AT lrome:" were
about 10 send him to congress. Be
!orc the necessary turns and tricks
towards that cOnsum nation could be
madet Whittier's Light shone upon
him. Garrison called him the second
time. saying "Whittier in this cause
God is the leader. He calls you'll
Whittier answered in battle cry.
dedicated to Garrison:
meath
Oppression iron hand:
In view Of penury. hate and death
| see thee fearless stand.
/ love thee with a brothers love.
| feel my pulses thrill.
10 mark thy spirit scar above
| feel my pulses thrill.
Ny heart hath leaped to answer thine !
And echo back thy words
AS leaps the warriors at the shine
And flash Of kindred swords
His heart ieaped to answer Garri- |
sons. leaping it escaped from it's |
meaner self and found its certain elc- |
mcnt: lcaping it was kissed by Gods
glory in its flight to flames fair and
eternal borders
Whittier did not so TO congress-.
but see how greater and grandcr
thCnccfUrward WAS his work, Wen
dell Phillips. son of the first family
OF Boston, might have been Il govern
or of Massachusetts. but he chose
rather to be the orator of justice.
Congress and Massachusetts are less
glorious because Of Whitticr's and
Phillips early and constant allegi- |
ancc to the broader freedom. OF
their country, hut sec what a great
CT glory cnShrincs their records, and
thereby, the history which makes us
proud.
When th" poet declared himself
and took his stand OH the mountain
top as the CHER Finger, he closed
his earlier life, and ~blottcd its rec
ord off his memory. TRANSPORTED
and transformed every hour was his
season for song. Now denouncing
now eNpOStulating, cheering today,
waiting tomorrow; rebuking the
h2rtn with this quill. shaminS the
South with that; encouraging the
bondsmen in one breath, urging the
church to it plain and inviting duty
in the next, the Spirit Of the Lord
was his only text. He grew on the
country and on the world Men
everywhere came to look to him for
the inspired word against the damn
aDle system Of slavery, which made
beasts Of one race, and hypocrits
and robbers Of another, and estab-
llshed this country as land Of ira
vial and sorrow and great emptiness
Of speech before the nations Of the
| Earth.
Nhittier's fame, then, must rest
upon his poetica activities agains;
slavery. Resting upon that, it is
| more secure than the fame Of any
other American poet. Indeed. the
fame Of all the great poets of the
| earth is linked with some epoch or
era, the end Of which has. in one
| way or the other. Influenced the his