124

Fifteenth Psalm of David.

The man that walks in pious ways,
And works with righteous hands,
That trusts his Maker's promises,
And follows his commands.

He speaks the meaning of his heart,
Nor slanders with his tongue;
Will scarce believe an ill report,
Nor do his neighbor wrong.

The wealthy sinner he contemns,
Loves all that fear the Lord;
And though, to his own hurt he swears,
Still he performs his word.

His hands disdain a golden bribe,

And never gripe the poor;

This man shall dwell with God on earth,
And find his heaven secure.

I've seen thee, too, in playful mood,
When words of magic spell
Dropped from thy lips like fairy gems,
That sparkled as they fell.

Still great and good in every change!
Magnificent and mild!

As if a seraph's godlike power

Dwelt in a little child!

Ye are the Salt of the Earth.'

LXXVI.

ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD.

SALT of the earth! ye virtuous few,

Who season human kind;

Lights of the world! whose cheering ray
Illumes the realms of mind;

To Benjamin Lundy.

WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON.

Self taught, unaided, poor, reviled, contemned-
Beset with enemies, by friends betrayed;

As madman and fanatic oft condemned,

Yet in thy noble cause still undismayed;

*' In every age of the world, there have been some, salt of the earth,who have been true alike to God and man: and there is such a sprinkling in every community; men who in the equal love of their Father and their brethren, learn how to purpose and act; and purpose and act according to their convictions. Society would have been dissolved ages ago in every civilized country, but for the rectitude of the few who have thought for themselves, and acted to God, instead of yielding to, or augmenting the force, by which the mass would otherwise have been whirled away from the eternal principles on which its security depends. These few have constituted the centripetal force by which the centrifugal has been checked Theirs has been a glorious lot on earth, and they must hold some of the highest places in heaven. Though their human affections must have been often lacerated here, there must have been an incessant healing, by an effusion from their divine sympathies; and, if they now look down upon the abodes of mortals, they cannot but gloriously remember that their own blood and tears are the bond by which men are united in families and citizenship.'-Harriet Martineau.

126 Ye are the Salt of the Earth.

Where misery spreads her deepest shade,
Your strong compassion glows;
From your blest lips the balın proceeds,
That softens human woes.

By dying beds, in prison glooms
Your frequent steps are found :-
Angels of love! you hover near
To bind the stranger's wound.

You wash with tears the bloody page
That human crimes deform,

When vengeance threats, your prayers ascend
To break the threatening storm.

Leonidas thy courage could not boast;

Less numerous were his foes, his band more strong: Alone unto a more than Persian host

Thou hast undauntedly given battle long.

Nor shalt thou singly wage the unequal strife;
Unto thy aid with spear and shield I rush,

And freely do I offer up my life,

And bid my heart's blood find a wound to gush!

New volunteers are trooping to the field

To die we are prepared-but not an inch to yield.

To the Victim of Tyranny.

WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON.

Prisoner! within these narrow walls close pent,-
Guiltless of horrid crime or trivial wrong,-

Bear nobly up against thy punishment,

And in thy innocence be tall and strong!

Ye are the Salt of the Earth.

As down the summer stream of woe
The thoughtless many glide;
Upward ye steer your steady bark,
And stem the rushing tide.

Where guilt her foul contagion breathes,
And golden spoils allure,
Unspotted still your garments shine,
Your hands are ever pure.

When'er you touch the poet's lyre
A loftier strain is heard ;-
Each ardent thought is yours alone,
And every burning word.

Yours is the large expansive thought,

The high heroic deed;
Exile and chains to you are dear,
To you 't is sweet to bleed.

Perchance thy fault was love to all mankind;
Thou did'st oppose some vile, oppressive law;
Or strive all human fetters to unbind;

Or would'st not bear the implements of war:
What then? Dost thou so soon repent the deed?
A martyr's crown is richer than a king's!
Think it an honor with thy Lord to bleed,

And glory midst the intensest sufferings !
Though beat-imprisoned-put to open shame-
Time shall embalm and magnify thy name.

127

128

Ye are the Salt of the Earth.

You lift on high the warning voice
When public ills prevail;
Yours is the writing on the wall
That turns the tyrant pale.

The dogs of hell your steps pursue
With scoff, and shame, and loss,
The hemlock bowl 't is yours to drain,
To taste the bitter cross.

The Free Mind.

WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON.

High walls and huge, the body may confine,
And iron gates obstruct the prisoner's gaze,
And massy bolts may baffle his design,

And vigilant keepers watch his devious ways:
Yet scorns the immortal mind this base control!
No chains can bind it, and no cell enclose :
Swifter than light, it flies from pole to pole,

And in a flash from earth to heaven it goes!
It leaps from mount to mount-from vale to vale
It wanders, plucking honeyed fruits and flowers;
It visits home, to hear the fire-side tale,

Or in sweet converse pass the joyous hours.
"Tis up before the sun, roaming afar,
And in its watches wearies every star!