There was manhood's brow, serenely high,
And the fiery heart of youth.

What sought they thus, afar?
Bright jewels of the mine?

The wealth of seas, the spoils of war?
They sought a faith's pure shrine!

Ay, call it holy ground,

The soil where first they trod!

They have left unstained what there they found-
Freedom to worship God!

THE BELL OF LIBERTY.

When the Declaration of Independence was adopted by Congress, the event was announced by ringing the old State-House bell, which bore the inscription, “Proclaim liberty throughout the land, to all the inhabitants thereof!" The old bellman stationed his little grandson at the door of the hall, to await the instructions of the doorkeeper when to ring. At the word, the young patriot rushed out, and, clapping his hands, shouted:-"Ring! RING! RING!"

HERE was a tumult, in the city,

THER

*

In the quaint, old, Quakers' town, S
And the streets, were rife, with people,
Pacing restless up and down-
People gathering at corners,

Where they whispered, each to each,
And the sweat stood, on their templės
With the earnestness of speech..

As the bleak Atlantic currents

Lash the wild Newfoundland shore,
So they beat against the State House,
So they surged against the door;
And the mingling of their voices
Made a harmony profound,
Till the quiet street of Chestnut
Was all turbulent with sound.

* Philadelphia.

"Will they do it?" "Dare they do it?" "Who is speaking?" "What's the news?

"What of Adams?" "What of Sherman?" "Oh, God grant they won't refuse!" $ "Make some way there!" "Let me nearer !" "I am stifling!" "Stifle, then! When a nation's life's at hazard, We've no time to think of men!"

So they beat against the portal,
Man and woman, maid and child;
And the July sun in heaven

On the scene looked down and smiled
The same sun that saw the Spartan

Shed his patriot blood, in vain, Now beheld the soul of freedom, All unconquered, rise again.

See! See! The dense crowd quivers
Through all its lengthy line,
As the boy beside the portal
Looks forth, to give the sign!
With his little hands uplifted,
Breezes, dallying with his hair,
Hark! with deep, clear intonation,
Breaks his young voice, on the air:

Hushed the people's swelling murmur,
List the boy's exultant cry!
Ring!" he shouts, "Ring! grandpa,
Ring! oh, ring for Liberty!"
Quickly, at the given signal.

The old bellman lifts his hand,
Forth he sends the good news, making
Iron music, through the land.

How they shouted! What rejoicing!
How the old bell shook the air,
Till the clang of freedom, ruffled
The calmly gliding Delaware!

How the bonfires and the torches

Lighted up the night's repose,

And, from the flames, like fabled Phoenix,
Our glorious Liberty arose!

That old State-House bell is silent,
Hush'd is now its clamorous tongue;

But the spirit it awaken'd

Still is living

ever young;

And when we greet the smiling sunlight
On the fourth of each July,"

We will ne'er forget the bellman
Who, betwixt the earth and sky,
Rung out, loudly, "Independence;"
Which, please God, shall never die!

THE UNION.

"Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable!"-WEBSTER.

HE Union! The Union! The hope of the free!

THE

Howsoe'er we may differ, in this we agree:

Our glorious banner no traitor shall mar

By effacing a stripe, or destroying a star!

Division! No, never! The Union forever!

And cursed be the hand that our country would sever!

The Union! The Union! 'Twas purchased with blood!

Side by side, to secure it, our forefathers stood:

From the North to the South, through the length of the land, Ran the war-cry which summon'd that patriot band!

Division! No, never! The Union forever!

And cursed be the hand that our country would sever!

The Union! The Union! At Lexington first,
Through the clouds of oppression, its radiance burst:
But at Yorktown roll'd back the last vapory crest,
And, a bright constellation, it blazed in the West!
Division! No, never! The Union forever!

And cursed be the hand that our country would sever!

The Union! The Union! Its heavenly light

Cheers the hearts of the nations who grope in the night—
And, athwart the wide ocean, falls, gilding the tides,

A path to the country where Freedom abides!
Division! No, never! The Union forever!

And cursed be the hand that our country would sever!

The Union! The Union! In God we repose!
We confide in the Power that vanquish'd our foes!
The God of our fathers-oh, still may He be
The strength of the Union, the hope of the free!
Division! No, never! The Union forever!
And cursed be the hand that our country would sever!

T

LINCOLN AT SPRINGFIELD.

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom."

HERE stood a man in the West Countrie,
Slender and tall, and gaunt was he;

His form was not cast in a courtier's mould,
But his eye was bright, and his bearing bold.
A crowd had gather'd to hear him speak,
And the blood surged up in his sunburn'd cheek;
Familiar with toil was his outstretch'd hand,
For a man of the people was he,

Who had learn'd to obey ere call'd to command:
Such men are the pride of the West Countrie.

"My friends-elected by your choice,

From the long-cherish'd home I go,
Endear'd by heaven-permitted joys,
Sacred by heaven-permitted woe.
I go, to take the helm of state,
While loud the waves of faction roar,
And by His aid, supremely great,
Upon whose will all tempests wait,
I hope to steer the bark to shore.

Not since the days when Washington
To battle led our patriots on,

Have clouds so dark above us met,
Have dangers dire so close beset.

"And he had never saved the land
By deeds in human wisdom plann'd,
But that with Christian faith he sought
Guidance and blessing where he ought.
Like him, I seek for aid divine-
His faith, his hope, his trust, are mine.
Pray for me, friends, that God may make
My judgment clear, my duty plain;

For if the Lord no wardship take,

The watchmen mount the towers in vain."

He ceased; and many a manly breast
Panted with strong emotion's swell,
And many a lip the sob suppress'd,
And tears from manly eyelids fell.
And hats came off, and heads were bow'd,
As Lincoln slowly moved away;

And then, heart-spoken, from the crowd,
In accents earnest, clear, and loud,

Came one brief sentence: "We will pray!"

BILL AND JOE.

OME, dear old comrade, you and I

COM

Will steal an hour from days gone by

The shining days when life was new,
And all was bright as morning dew,

The lusty days of long ago,

When you were Bill and I was Joe.

Your name may flaunt a titled trail,
Proud as a cockerel's rainbow tail;
And mine as brief appendix wear
As Tam O'Shanter's luckless mare;