THE CONTEST: A POEM. By GKKORG-E IP. .. . U CHIC-A-G-O : P. L. HANSCOM, PuBLiSHEii. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1866, by P. L. HANSCOX, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United State*, for the Northern District of Illinois. Printed bv P. L. HANBCOM, Book 4 Job Printer, 134 Df.rborn Street. Chicago, 111. PS 1 C To EUGEJfE . CJtfffi, Jlfaj or- General United States Volunteers, and Brevet Colonel 5th United States Cavalry, this volume is respectfully dedicated by ' 550018 THE CONTEST. CANTO FIRST. Goddess of ancient fame ! Thou who did'st teach Thine infant Orpheus the enchanting strains, Which, penetrating rocks and trees, did reach Their inmost parts, ~and breathed thro' their dull veins The force of motion ! Still thy power maintains, Unharmed, undimmed by age, its former sway O'er human hearts, and thy blest influence reigns, The ills of earth and fortune to allay, And breathe the power of song thro' our aspiring clay. Child of Mnemosyne! Tliy footsteps roam Far from thy place of birth. Lot not thy feet Tread the bright vales that guard thy native homo, Till all earth's conquered nations shall complete The grandeur of thy triumph. Sad and sweet Thy numbers \vakM the vales of Italy ; And Albion's sons \vith song thy coming greet ; Wilt thou not, too, Columbia's patron be, And cheer with thy glad songs the land of Liberty V iii. \Ve otter thoo a land of fruits and flowers. Of hills, vales, .mountains, forests, lakes, and streams, And birds of beauty, in elysian bowers, Shall sing thro to sweet slumber, and thy dreams .Shall bring from thoughts' dark caves the gems whose gleams Arc brightest, and from gardens of the past Cull rarest flowers: the while thy future beams Crowned with bright laurels, and the formless vast Changed at thy touch, shall be in shapes of beauty 1 1 1 K CO N T i: S 1 . I sing the loan, who, in this latter time, Rivalled the virtues of an earlier age : Abraham Lincoln, ami his deeds sublime, Shall stand emblazoned upon history's page, With earth's most mighty heroes. He to wage War tor a nation's safety was foredoomed, And gave his life an offering, to assuage The wrath of Heaven. While now he lies entombed, Shrouded 'neath Fate's dark veil, the nation sits engloomed. v. Horn in the Western wilds, Ids early life Was passed 'mid scenes of rural industry ; His youth, ambitious, joined the arduous strife Where heroes seek the wreaths of victory : His manhood dared the slippery paths to try Where Fame's proud vot'ries seek her temple high, And gained its portals : thence triumphantly His name, on Death's dark wings, soared to the sky. And shines a .planet fixed, whose brilliance shall not die. T II K C O X T K S I' . Called to the Chair of State when treason's seed, Sprung from the truitful soil in blades of steel, Threatened the nation's life ; he was decreed By (rod, and by a nation's stern appeal, T' uproot the noxious weeds, and to reveal Her growth, triumphant o'er the deadly shade Threatening to hide her lovely form. His heel Crushed the foul serpent, and, by Heaven's aid, His j >ower the storms of war in gentle peace allayed. VII. His was the genius, his the cunning art That raised the vast machinery of war, And, when completed in its every part, Made the grand structure his triumphal car To ride to victory. He hurled afar The swift avenging bolt, whose deadly blow Blasted the upas tree. He was the star Who ruled men's destinies, and, to and fro, The puppets of his will, his chieftains come and '-co. THE rON'TKST. As Jove, enthroned upon Olympus high, Rules the obedient heavens in majesty, Calm and unruffled, while the lower sky. Moaning in pain, and tossing fretfully, Gives birth to Tempest, child o' th' wind ; so he Guided war's storms; as calm, when, by their hoarse And taunting voices vexed, the hostile sea Threatened to whelm the Capitol by its force, , As when, abashed in fear, it rolled its backward course. Though not apparent in each shifting scene That marks the play, he was the guiding star Of war's wide theatre. Calm and serene, Mid all war's changing scenes ; near and afar, He ruled its destinies : his fame to mar, Inspired the hope of treason's every blow : His death closed the dark drama of the war, And sorrowing millions mourn, with heartfelt woe, The hero whose high worth his Godlike actions show. 10 THE CON I K ST. I siim; rlic chiefs wh<> at his high holiest, Lcavinjj: tlit' soft delights of luxury, (lathered from North and South, from East and West, Their loyal legions and by land and sea. Guided their way to glorious victory, Or to heroic death. Many a field Well fought attests their skill and bravery More forcibly than words, and they revealed The power which Freedom's arm in danger's hour can wield. x i. I sing the noble sons of honest toil, .The men of sturdy frame and sweaty brow, And the proud masters of a fruitful soil, Who left the bench, the anvil, and the plow, And with a courage danger could not cow, Went forth to fight for truth and liberty ; Free sons of patriot sires, they miirht not bow Before the traitor's armed power, nor b'e Ruled by their haughtv foes, the lords of slaverv. 1 1 Some rest in the bright " hind of sun and flowers," Some 'neath the ocean's wave serenely sleep, Some drag in torturing pain life's lengthening hours Shattered and maimed, and some, more happy, reap In pride their \vell-won honors. Let us weep Tlie dead and praise the living. Though their names. Who died are lost, nor flaunting histories keep Their fame \vho live, their noble daring claims Our love and admiration. They are fame's Noblest, and bravest children, for they fought Not as the hero fights, who hopes for power, Place and emoluments ; they were not bought By stern ambition for a promised dower Of honors and renown ; but in the hour" Of darkness and of danger they went forth, And fearless braved the battle's leaden shower, To prove the strength and courage of the North, And save from trait'rous foes the country of their birth. ]-2 THE CONTEST. Sumpter i< fallen ! On th' encircling wires, Which srird tin- earth withtho't, the message streamM, IJy liirhtniiiir borne, and in its subtle tires, Far through the Northern sky defiant gleamed. A Hash ! a pause ! then the report. It seemed, Not that tlie spark was sent by mortal hand; But they who heard the message, might have deemed A thunderbolt had fallen, at Heaven's command, To rouse to ire and war the too long slumbering land. Treason, for many a year, in halls of state, Had shown his front unto the gaping crowd Defiantly ; and men who would be great, Espoused his dastard cause, with mouthings loud Of feigned abuses. Slavery's minions proud, Prated of liberty in speeches grand, l r ntil the rabble, by their speech endowed NVith boldness, raised its parricidal hand To strike with war and death our free and happy land. THE CON TEST. 13 Then came the call " to arms ;" and from the fields Where plenteous stores the culturing hand await, And from the busy shops where labor yields The golden harvests which her servants sate, From halls of science, and from halls of state, From the bright homes where peaceful trade lias shed Her golden showers, the high, the low, the great, Roused into action by the signal dread, Marched to the field of war, with firm, unflinch- ing tread. Sons left their father's homes ; husbands their wives ; Brothers from sisters did unkindly start, And he, who owned the sacred flame which gives A tinge of heaven to life's cold, vennl mart, Dared from the charms of life and love to part, Laid as a sacrifice, with steady hand, Th' uprooted tendrils of a bleeding heart Upon the altar of his native land, And took in her defense his sword and battle-brand. u One proud and brave in that devoted band, A city's idol, and a nation's pride ; \Vas doomed to fall by the ussasin's hand, In the first flush of hope. His promised bride Mourns the lost life so near with her's allied ; His comrades weep for him they loved so well ; His country owns his memory, far and wide, With martial honors, and a funeral knell IliniiT o'er the sorrowing land when gallant Ells- worth fell. X i X . As rivers, fed by the- converging rills, Kach from its separate spring, its fountain head, Themselves converging, leave their native hills, And still increasing in their onward tread, Seek the broad plains by all earth's waters fed, Where hoary Neptune, 'neath the placid deep, Reigns on his coral throne in splendor dread, While faithful sentinels their vigils keep Over the caverns dark where wind and tempest sleep: THE CONTEST. 15 So rushed the tide of men ; and as the sea, Tempest and wind let loose, in anger wide Riseth sublime, and dasheth fretfully Against the shores, with wind and wave allied Threat'ning destruction ; so the living tide, Swayed by the gusts of passion, which so high Can raise the human soul, that in 'its pride' It scorneth death and danger, rushed to try Its prowess 'gainst the foe, and vengeance was the cry. And as old Neptune, in his marble halls Lying at ease reclined, with lordly mien, Calm, and unruffled, sendeth and recalls The sprites who vent in awful storms his spleen Upon the upper waves, his realms serene; So Truth, the heavenly angel who presides O'er the world's destinies, sitteth unseen, Ruling for her own ends the stormy tides Of human passion, and her time in silence bides. 16 TUB CONTEST. XXII. Oh Truth ! Bright offspring of the Infinite ! Ansel most radiant of th' immortal band ! Clothed in celestial beauty, thou dost sit. Guiding the loom which weave's time's woof fore- planned Into th' infinite warp, with thine own hand ; Charmed, meanwhile, by music of the spheres Rolling in harmony ; thy works shall stand Gainincr in brightness, through the blood, the tears, And all the sorrows dark which cloud the rolling rears. Empires have fallen ; nations sunk in night, And blighted races passed from earth away. Thou call'st new governments, new realms to light, Freed from the elements of their decay, That they may better serve thine ends. Their sway, Improved by Reason and bv Libertv, Heralds the coming of thy brighter day, And shadows forth the time when there shall be A nobler race of men, in soul, in body free. T II E C O X T K S T . 17 Doctrines, forms, systems pass away : but Truth Still cheers with her glad form the human soul, And bright in hues of everlasting youth, Smiles with a beauty Fate may not control. Her power increases as the ages roll Their dying years into the buried past, And when our age and race are but a scroll, Her priests shall still unfold her myst'ries vast, And worship at her shrine while earth and time shall last. And now, the mass with proper arms supplied, And subdivided in its various bands, Tlf appointed leaders to their posts divide To teach the art of war and its commands. Stern discipline, although thy rough demands Suit not lessons of our peaceful days, He must be led by thine unerring hands, Who 'mid the iron hail and cannon's blaze, On death or victory unmoved would fix his gaze. IS I 1 1 1 ; < < > N T K S T . X XVI. Tlu 1 army lay about the Capitol, Gaining in strength and discipline each day : lint still impatient, longing for the call, Which to war's stirring scenes should guide its way : It came heart-thrilling; but, ere he essay A forward move in force, the chief whose hand On battle-field this cumbrous mass must sway, Gathering the whole array in concourse grand, In pomp of martial pride reviews his new command. XXVII. Grand are the scenes of earth : Its boundless sea, Dark caves, and mounts with misty summits gray. Forests and plains which boundless seem to be, Have each some separate grandeur to display; Hut grander far than these is the array Of armed men, when bursting on the sight, While the files scream, drums beat, and trumpets bray. They march into the field, with banners bright, The while their burnished arms reflect the morning light. THE CONTEST. 19 So thought the chief, as o'er the living mass He cast his eye, and took th' alloted stand Upon the plain, where in his sight should pass For his review the whole assembly grand ; The army stands in line : then, at command, Quick wheeling into column passes by The place where sits the chief. Each separate band Seeks the proud favor of his haughty eye, And longs in battle's strife its prowess good to try. And it is beautiful : The band's array, Whose music soothes the soldier's fond regrets, The waving plumes, swords bright, and banners gay, And prancing charger that impatient frets, Have each their charm. The lines of bayonets Pass by with steady tramp, and now appear The well-trained " dogs of war," the general's pets, The band, who, on the field where cowards fear, Discourse the music sweet which warriors love to hear. 21) THE CONTEST. XXX. v But couklst thou look with the far-seeing eyes Which through the mists of sense, with clearer light, SIT the dark portent that reflected lies rpon the picture from the future's night, Thou wouldst not deem it beautiful. Their sight Reveals the gulf before that grand array ; The grinning Death behind each banner bright ; Above, the vulture waiting for his prey ; Below, the graves where soon their bodies shall decay. X XXI. Seest thou yon brilliant youth in gay attire. Witli golden locks, and cheeks as roses fair, Where sit hope's radiant smiles; checking the tire Of the wild steed that owns his guiding care ? Snuii shall a youthful bride in sorrow wear Mourning for him whose beauty could not save, A mother weep for him in wild despair : While choking grass, and noxious weeds shall wave In rank luxuriance o'er his undiscovered grave. 21 And no\v the march begins : A well-trained band, Courageous lead the advance, a c-hosen few ; Behind, in order by their loader planned, The different arms of service. Could thy view, From some commanding point at once look through Tn its full length and shape this various throng, 'T would seem a serpent vast, of varied hue, That from the coil unfolds its sinews strong, And o'er th' unwilling earth " drags its slow length along/ 1 Days pass ! 'tis night ! and slumber rules the host On earth's protecting bosom lying low, Save where the sentinel upon his post Walks his unwelcome beat with footsteps slow, Straining his sight for sign of lurking foe, And thinks of home and friends : anon his eye Discerns an object flitting to and fro Amid the slumbering host. Is it a spy ? In vain its- semblance .strange he seeketh to descry. 22 THE CONTEST. X X XIV. Spell bound he gazes, as with stealthy tread It threads the slumbering host ; \vith what design ? Sometimes erect, bending sometimes its head Over a slumbering group, as 'twould divine Their thoughts and characters. Tracing a sign Of mystic meaning over one, it saith A mystic word. And now 'twould cross his line. " Halt ! Halt !" A freezing chill that took his breath, It vanished from his sight. It was the spectre Death, XXX V. Who, rambling o'er the field with purpose dark, In that curst hour, with his all-blighting wand, Upon his victims" brows had set his mark ; That he in battle's hour might know the brand, And take them to himself. Who e're his hand Has touched ; that touch the bound of life defines, And for the members of that sleeping band O'er whom his wand hath traced those mystic lines, To-morrow's rising sun shall be the last that shines. THE CONTEST. 23 XXXVI. Now, rising from his couch mid Orient hills, The god of day in state begins his rounds, The lark her morning song in rapture trills, Soaring aloft toward th' ethereal bounds, And drums beat loudly. Thrilling now resounds The reveille ; and now the vast array Is all astir. And now " the General " sounds, And now " to arms " the brazen trumpets bray : Now " forward " is the call, and now we are away XXXVII. Upon our onward march, and soon we pass, At Sudley's well known ford, a lovely stream Bordered by fields of waving grain. Alas ! Is there the soul so cowardly, could dream Of death 'mid such a scene ? The sky's bright gleam, The stream, air, birds, the herd whose tinkling bell Sounds like the echoes of a fairy dream ; A gleam of light ! A crash ! A screaming shell, A sheet of flame and smoke, as though the depths of hell _>4 TI1K COX TEST. XXXVIII. Had yawned before us, showed us that the fray Sought for so many days was now begun. liurnside commands the advance, and takes his way, Driving the rebel lines ; while lEeint/lemann, And Hunter hold the ground which he has won. < )Yr StonebridgCi on the road from Warrentou To Centrevillc, now rolls the war cloud dun, And Sherman's guns upon the left, anon, An- heard, the foe falls hack, the field is almost won. New England's sons have bntvely stormed the height Where blackest lowers the battle's sable pall ; Put, from the pits and breastworks on their right, The leaden showers their purposes forestall, And. tiling to the left, they backward fall Slowly and stubborn. An exulting cry Hursts from the foe, as Smith, heeding their call For help, upon the field they now descry, A\ ith fresh, exultant troops our bleeding ranks to try. TT! K rONTEST. >2 .5 X I. . Then came the shook of war : As when the sen Rusheth impetuous Vainst the firmest shores In anger, and retiring stubbornly. Again liis backward tiJt; THE CONTEST. X L I I . Where is the bright array which on the morn, Burniiiij with martial pride and courage high, Beiran the fatal day ? Their banners torn, And trampled on; their arms thrown down; they fly Pallid with fear, and each excited eye Suspicious sees th' avenging death concealed Behind each rock, each tree ; each weight thrown by, With straining limbs they shun the fatal field, And 'gainst the dreaded foe their swiftness is their shield. XLII I. Iii vain McDowell seeks to check the rout, And Heintzlemann to stem the ebbing tide ; Tyler essays in vain, his sabre out, To stop the fugitives. Their martial pride, Their discipline are gone. Each threat defied, Wretched they fly; and mid the crash, the jar Of struggling thousands, in disorder wide, Upon the tic-Ids and roads, near and afar, Wrecked and dismantled lie the implements of war. THE CONTEST. 27 But let us not forget before they fly, E'er overpowered our legions backward sway, The deeds of daring and of courage high, Which, through the mists of that disastrous day, Shine with a light whose brilliance doth allay The darkness of its loss. Many a brave And true heart perished there. Nor can we say That they are lost whose valor could not save, Their names shall stand redeemed triumphant o'er the irrave. There perished Haggerty ; there Slocum fell ; And there, cut down untimely, died Ballon ; And thou brave Cameron : thy funeral knell Shall shroud with gloom the Capitol, and bow Its proudest heads in grief. Much honored, thou Hadst hoped a brilliant future. But the grave Knows no distinctions. Nor the lordly brow, Nor friends, nor rank, nor honors high can save The fated bark of life from Death's all whelming wave. Sherman! Thou, too. wast there. Did thy proud soul Share in the irlooni which from that fatal lield Spread o'er the sorro \viiiij land ? Did its control Make thee despondent? Or was there revealed A forethought of the time when thon shonldst wield. Victorious, freedom's sword? When, led by thee, A coiHpieriii'j; host, thy courage for its shield. Should march triumphant to the Bounding sea. And plant upon its shores the banner of the free. Who knows the moral of this dreadful day, This halt in freedom's proor ri 'ss '? What the harms. The hidden springs, the causes deep that lay Under its revelations dark. What charms Weakened our strength, and paralyzed our arms ? AVas't the toes strong battalions? Xo ! Their power Aided, but did not cause the dire alarms, Which in the bud nipped the new opening flower Of blooming victory in that disastrous hour. THE CONTEST. Oft times a spirit stirring in the air, Th' unseen, but potent fear, whose -urli disasters? Mu-t the stars still shine In future, as ill past, on the red wine Crushed from the press of passion ? Has his crime Deserved such punishment? Doth all combine T" augment his misery ' J . This truth sublime, SYines thro' the lines of blood that mar the book of Time. 35 LX . Man is but finite ; truth is infinite ; Progressive he; but she for aye the same: The temple she farshining from the height, Ile-bu^the pilgrim, who would write his name Among her vot'ries, and, should foeman's aim Obstruct his upward path; rather than give The heights already gained, fearless his frame Must risk the mortal combat: yea must strive E'en to the bloody death ; that they who yet shall live, Still pressing on toward the shining goal, Gaining at length the glittering summit's height, May drink from Truth's pure fountains, and the soul May bask forever in the sacred light That floods her palaces. Not lost the tight, Though thou fall in th" ascent, thy closing eyes See but the portals ; but upon their sight Who follow thee, shall break with glad surprise Its inner glories, and the myst'ries of the skies. Nor art thou unrewarded : while our eyes \Yccp sorrowing tears above tliy moldVing clay:' Tliy soul, ex-aping to its kindred skies, Freed from earth's prison house, shall take its way Thro' trackless fields of thought : sublime shall sway The hidden powers of wisdom, and its o-aze See chaos turned to shape by truth's bright ray: The while it tunes its notes of endless praise To th' all-creative One, through everlasting days. And though this earthly fabric may decay, The victim doomed of death's destroying ire, tiered particles shall still obey The laws of nature. Still shall they aspire, Instinctive, toward the all-pervading fire, That flashed its infinite glimpses on thine eyes. And toward that truth, whose all-enchanting lyre Echoed of hidden mysfries ; till thou rise, And take again thy course rejoicing toward the skies. T FIE CONTEST. 37 When, iii the cycle of the centuries, The elements which thy decay doth yield To th* unthinking clod, again shall rise, By life's pervading fires once more annealed ; To their expanded slight shall be revealed The truths, which in those centuries struggling thought Has wrested from the infinite. Concealed No more, the things so eagerly now sought, Common as "household words " shall everywhere be taught. Then shall a nobler race, with loftier powers, More holy, worship at a brighter shrine, Whose light, more fixed, concent'red more than ours, Shall shine into the soul with more divine, And clearer radiance ; nor shall creeds define The color of its beams ; nor shall the sword Tinge the priest's vestments, but his hands shall twine The wreaths of friendship. With a common word, A common brotherhood shall praise a common Lord. :',s THE <' ON TEST. I. XVI. Xi'.xt dav t!>e sympathizing skies in gloom Wept pitying tears upon the sorrowing earth ; Men trembling, told with pallid lips the doom Of friends an 1 comrades fallen, and a dearth Of hope and confidence spread with the birth Of the sad tidings. Treason waved on high His bloody sword ; while Freedom, sunk to earth, Seemed struggling for her life, and Tyranny Kxultant clanked his chains, and laughed defiantly. And still, as pass the days, the circling wires Tell fresh distasers. In the West, Lyon, Too brave, has fallen, and his force retires, l>y overwhelming numbers overthrown. After a gallant conflict, Lexington Is fallen, Jx-lmont lost ; The air is rife With rumors. Uaker, in the East, anon. Daring the foe in an unequal strife, O'erpowered, has lost at once, his army and his life. THE CONTEST. 3 I. X v I 1 1 . Lyon and Baker ! Two more gallant names Are not inscribed upon the glowing page Of the world's history. Their valor shames The daring high of the heroic age : Years shall increase their fame : their acts engage Undying honors. Conquerors o'er the grave Triumphant they. At fate they cast the gage, Bright as at dawn, their setting sun shall save Their sacred mem'ries from oblivion's whelmin wave. Was he, the chief, despondent ? No ! his eye, Prophetic, through the clouds of that dark day Beheld the gleaming of the brighter sky That lay beyond ; when, by that fatal fray, The humbled nation being taught to weigh More certainly the purpose, and the power, The hate, and venom, and the strong array Of foemen ; better from that penitent hour Should rise triumphant and its foes should over- power. 40 THE CONTEST. LXX. Trusting the workings of that sacred fire, Which waked the tiaiaes of Freedom's dawning light, And which, transmitted from each patriot sire Unto each loyal son, now burns as bright, As radiant as then. He told aright Our danger, and its cure ; and made his call For men to save the land. They, for the right, 'Xeath tin- Republic's standard ventured all, Resolved to conquer, or in its defense to fall. LXXI . As Moses smote the gushing rock ; so He Opened the people's hearts, and they poured forth Their choicest treasures, and unsparingly Resolved on victory ; the loyal Xorth Sent forth her sons to battle, pledged their worth, To wage relentless war; each heart, each hand, Nerved with a firm resolve that nought on earth Should swerve them from the cause, till every band Of foes should be overthrown, and saved their native land. THE CONTEST. 41 L X X I 1 . Saw ye the deadly foe of Liberty ? The bearded Lion ? Me, the beast of prey, Who holds no man, who is, or dares be free, In all the varied climes that own his s\vay. Th.e form crouched for the spring, the armed array Of claws distended, and the eye intent ; But now, our cause triumphant, with dismay, In slavish fear and adulation bent, He licks the feet of her, whose form he would have rent. * ' t L X X 1 1 1 . Yes haughty Albion, in thy friendships cold, And purely selfish in thine every aim, Lending to tyranny thy power and gold : Though many fear, and all respect thy name ; But tew can love thee, for, unto thy shame Let it be spoken, thou hast used thy power To crush, mid not to raise. When Freedom came To wed Columbia, thou gav'st for dower Thy curse, and strewdst with shot and shell her bridal bower. 4'_' T Hi: r O XT E ST. I. X X I V. And when, in later years, her form matured, \Vith death was threatened by the impious band Of her rebellious sons, they were assured Of . thy firm friendship. Thou didst shake the hand Red \vitli its mother's r which our fathers fought ? and shall there be Noplace of rest for him who would be free:' Shall impious hands destroy the happy home Which freedom found beyond a dangerous sea. And traitors rule in liberty's fair dome, While through the scornful earth her exiled children roam ' J . In vain hath Freedom reared her sacred fane. And built with careful hand its varied parts, And placed its altars, it' she have- not lain Its firm foundations in the people's hearts: Fise shall the demagogues 1 insidious ; J T H K C O N T E S T . u And strive with wicked xe:d, and without cause, By argument, and by incentive speech, To set those free, whom God and human laws Have placed in bondage. They would seek to preach A word of disobedience, and to teach Rebellion to the servant, and incite In his obedient mind a wish to reach Forbidden wisdom, and by treach'rous flight, To seek the unholy shrine of freedom's baneful light. " \Vc give to Lincoln men and arms to wage A fratricidal war. Let us beware, Lest, in the heat of conflict, he assuage His hate by loosing from its sullen lair The monster insurrection, and the air Vibrate the shrieks of babes and women slain By servile hands, and to our eyes the glare Of blazing hamlets shall appeal in vain, To save a shuddering land from terror's blighting reign. THE CONTEST. 53 XIX. " And, when accustomed to these scenes of blood, And strong in men and dictatorial power, May not some Caesar, of ambitious mood, Found by the bondsmen's willing aid the tower Of an imperial sway, and make the hour That tells the subjugation of the foe, The birth-hour of a tyrant, who shall lower Alike on him and us, and overthrow Our freedom, and no law save his own interest know ? " Through the dim vista of the battle's smoke, I see in future years a throne uprise, Whose occupant with iron hand shall choke Each breath of liberty. The tyrant's spies Shall lurk in every home, and fraud, and lies, Bring wealth and honors, and a servile horde, Black as their lord's affections, shall chastise Each word of freedom with th' uplifted sword, And decked in power and gold obey his every word ! 54 THE CONTEST. " Let this fierce talk of war and discord cease : Let hostile words and actions be suspended : Let friendship, and the olive-branch of peace, To our misguided brothers be extended, ' With promises of full protection blended. So shall they peaceful to the fold return : So shall the government be best defended : So shall the fires of discord cease to burn ; Nor the avenging sword brother 'gainst brother turn." Then, in the Senate, Breckenridge arose, A noble type of Southern chivalry, Whom for his eloquence Kentucky chose Her champion in the war of words to be, Which, 'twixt the advocates of slavery And freedom, long had raged. Fit advocate Of the select and chosen few was he Whose ranks he honored. Skillful in debate, And versed in ancient lore, in mind and learning great. THE CONTEST. 5o But in his every thought and action proud, And haughty in his bearing : Holding light The praise or censure of the changing crowd Whom he despised ; he kept alone in sight The power, the interests, and the vested right Of the patrician few, who held in chains The laboring millions whom their craft and might Had sunk in abject bondage, and whose gains, Wrought 'neath th' uplifted lash, from the South's fruitful plains, Enriched the haughty master who, at ease, Enjoyed the products of their daily toil, And in each changing mood, as he might please, Scourged or embraced, and made the helpless spoil Of lust or hatred. To them nor the soil, Nor laws, nor people of a foreign state, Afforded an asylum that might foil Pursuit and apprehension ; or abate The punishment devised by a pursuer's hate : 56 THE COXTEST. x x v . " Ye seek," he said, " to give th' approving seal Of your most reverend wisdom, unto deeds Begot of hatred, and fanatic zeal, And dark ambition. Having sown the seeds Of civil strife, and discord, Lincoln needs Your favor and assistance to fulfill The destined purposes for which he leads His armies forth, to conquer and to kill, And shed the blood of those \vho disobey his will. " He seeks your grave approval to make valid His base infractions of the Constitution : Having, against its prohibitions, rallied An armed force to mete out retribution To those who sought a peaceful dissolution, He trusts in you, the odium to efface Of damning guilt ; and, by your base collusion, Hopes on the ruins of their arms to base His power, and freedom give to a detested race. THE CONTEST. " Can your approval confer sanctity On acts of lawlessness and usurpation ? Or lawful make the action by which he, Despite the Constitution's limitation Of his high powers, decrees the subjugation Of a free race, and seeks by force to bind Unwilling states to a confederation Whose laws they loathe and hate, and who com- bined, By separation seek their sacred rights to find. " No ! let us rather say unto our brothers, ' Go ye in peace, 1 and unto him who seeks By crafty argument to gain from others The approval of his bloody deeds, and speaks Of freedom while upon their heads he wreaks, His malice and his lust of power, and strive- To gain a dictatorial sway, and ekes Out, as his own, a nation's gold and lives, While on oui wasted strength his dark ambition thrives : 58 THE CONTEST. '" To him,' I say, ' mete out the punishment Th' o'erflowing measure of his crime demands ; Restrain the will on blood and slaughter bent; Nor give the men and arms into his hands, \Vliich in their cunning grasp shall be but wands To raise, as if by magic, from the earth A servile race, who, loosened from their bands, Frenzied with rage, and drunk with brutal mirth, To scenes of fire, and blood, and horror shall give birth. " Th' unauthorized increase of men and arms, The reign of martial law, our ports blockaded, Defenceless citizens for fancied harms, Untried, by felon's punishments degraded, Each right denied, each call for help evaded, These base infractions of each vested right, By any shade of justice yet unaided, Portend the time when Freedom's waning light Shall perish in the gloom of tyranny's dark night. THE CONTEST. 59 " But speech is all in vain : the time is come When justice, law, and argument have run Their course, and are.no more. The fife and drum Are heard instead : sword, bayonet and gun Are ministers of freedom. I have done : I only pray that in this bloody fight, If gloriously lost, or basely won, The hard won, priceless boon of private right Survive the rabble's hate, and 'scape the tyrant's mio-ht." From out the galleries loud applause resounded : Then on the chamber such a silence fell, As when a troop by unseen foes surrounded Waits the arousing signal which shall tell The fight begun, and break the powerful spell Of unknown danger ; as, against their foes Revealed, they rise, and boldly fight, and well ; So from his seat the gallant Baker rose, The traitorous harangue by reason to oppose. 60 A man of powerful frame, whose silvery locks The snows of many a winter's storms retained ; He, in his manhood prime, had felt the shocks Of struggling hosts, and in the contests gained That martial tire and valor which remained Within his aged veins : These words he spoke, In whose defence his life blood since has stained Virginia's soil, when 'neath the traitor's stroke, He found that peaceful rest, by war, nor discord broke. XXXIV. '* Most ill, O Senators, would it become One whom a free, a loyal people chose To guard their rights and freedom, to be dumb, When, in the nation's Capitol, her foes Are vindicated and their friends oppose Each measure to defend her sacred life '(Gainst their advancing arms, and from the woes Of dissolution "neath the traitor's knife, Her sacred form to save by quick and manly strife. T IT E C O X TEST. 61 " What had been said, if, in a government Republican, in a more martial age, A Roman Senator his speech had lent Unto their aid who sought with hostile rage His country's Capitol, resolved to wage Relentless war, and raised his voice to mock His country's brave defenders, and assuage Their righteous anger ? From Tarpeia's rock . Headlong had he been hurled to meet the deadly shock. " 111 fares it with the land, when treason's voice Sounds unrebuked within the sacred halls Of government, and traitors may rejoice Unmindful of the stern rebuke that falls In the dark shade of those majestic walls, From out whose classic niches in anger frown, From the cold marble which their life enthrals, The men of mighty power, and high renown, Who formed this government, and sent it down TUK CONTEST. "To us, their children, as a heritage To be preserved and referenced. Me, for one, Not the array of armies, nor the rage Of hostile rabble backed by sword and gun ; Nor all the embattled nations "neath the sun ; Nor apprehensive treason's warning screams, Shall swerve from my allegiance, while run Within these aged veins the circling streams Whose every separate drop with love and reverence teems " For that bright emblem of our liberty, The sacred flag 'neath which our father's fought, Which cheered their labors, as by land and sea, From the Ufe-melting fires of war they wrought The fabric of onr government, and taught Submission to the tyrant. Its bright stars Shall still by pilgrims from afar be sought, And to dishonored graves, and shameful scars Its stripes shall welcome those who seek by civil wars THE CONTEST. 63 " To mar its beauty. When again its folds Float o'er each city, and each wilderness That owned their sway, and unto him who holds Their standard, though alone and powerless, Thousands of loving hearts and helping hands shall press ; Or trait'rous hordes, sullen with secret hate, Trembling in abject fear, his sway confess: Then, and not till then, be it soon or late, Shall our embattled hosts their onward march abate. " Till then let countless armies tread the earth, And whitening sails discolor the blue deep : Let, until then, the people's lives and worth Be at our chiefs command ; that he may keep Well-filled the ranks of workmen, who shall reap This harvest of rebellion : Though the North Be clothed in mourning, and the South may weep ; Better the funeral pall, and desolate hearth, Than a disgraceful peace with joy and festal mirth. 64 THE roxTKST. XL I. Then, when the paean of our victory From ocean swells triumphant unto ocean. Let him who bravely fought for Liberty Seek the fair idol of his heart's devotion, And whisper in her ear the fond emotion That warms his veins, and let the brave dead sleep Until their time ; since death is but a potion, Which he who drinketh but forgets to weep, Xor bides from misspent youth the ills of age to reap."' X L I I . Then in the Senate Johnson rose. A man Of powerful mind and iervid eloquence, And fearless in his bearing, he began His course at fortune's lowest round, and thence By his own toil had gained the eminence Of senatorial power. Since, he obtained The nation's second post of honor, whence, At Lincoln's death, the summit he attained, And o'er a rescued land wisely and firmly reigned. THE CONTEST. " A sacred impulse bids me rise," he said, " To lift my voice in Freedom's holy cause, And in the name of our illustrious dead. To vindicate the government and laws For which they fought, against his speech who draws Pretext of danger from each measure taken For their defense, and covets the applause Of those who have her sheltering nag forsaken, And seeks in loyal minds distrust and fear to 'waken. " When Freedom, driven from Britania's isle, Loosed her frail bark upon the ocean's foam, From the cold tyrant's hate, and cunning guile, Resolved, afar, to other lands to roam, She found a place of refuge, and a home, In fair Columbia's stately solitudes, Built on its granite rocks her lasting dome, And, 'mid its smiling vales and verdant woods, Fixed on the fruitful soil her children's firm abodes." 06 THE CONTEST. X L A' . " A savage foe attacked her habitation, Her children's arms his pride and power effaced, The British Lion sought in exultation Her new found home, and her fair form menaced With ships and armies : conquered and disgraced, His armies captives, and his arms a spoil, Howling he fled across the watery waste Back to his home, and left to honest toil, Untaxed by tyranny, her rich and fruitful soil. X L V I . " And when a band of baffled demagogues, Powerless to rule by right her fair domain, Powerless to stop by governmental clogs Th' advancing wheels of reason, or to chain The consciences of men, and to restrain By fraud or force the onward march of thought, Seek her destruction ; shall she not maintain 'The freedom which by patriot blood was bought, And shall not trait'rous foes her mighty power be taught ? THE CONTEST. 67 X L A' I I . " This contest was not of the people's seeking, They had no ills to cure, no wrongs to right ; But baffled demagogues, in vengeance wreaking 'Gainst Liberty their ineffectual spite, Cheat their deluded victims by the sight Of Freedom's robe, which hides the ghastly form Of Tyranny, who leads them on to tight, And .we must fearless meet the trait'rous swarm, Though at their deadly stings may flow the life blood warm. " This is a sacred contest : Treason rears His hateful form and aims the deadly stroke At that Republic, which, through the bright years Since first her radiant form in gladness broke, A shape of beauty, from the battles' smoke, Has been a sacred refuge to th' oppressed Of every clime and nation, and which woke The flames of Liberty whose light has blest Freedom in other lands by doubts and fears op- pressed. tfS THE CONTKST. u It*, through our negligence, by force of arms Overthrown, she falls, she will not fall alone ; But through the shuddering earth shall dire alarms Seize freedom's champions, and at the groan That tells her dissolution, every throne Shall join to spurn her image from the earth, Freedom no more throughout the world be known, While at our vauntings of its sacred worth, Statesmen and kinirs shall laugh in most unholy mirth. " But she shall never fall: though traitVous hordes Rise from the earth like locusts' fabled swarms : Though unsheathed bayonets and naked swords Gleam in each wood and glade, and leaden storms Deluge the earth, the loyal blood which warms The veins of sons begot of patriot sires Knows not the fear of traitors, and our forms Shall fearless brave the battle's wasting tires, And comrades fill his place, Avho in the tight ex- pires : THE CONTEST. 69 LI. " Till our victorious legions sweep from earth Each vestige of the traitor's boasted power, And show the government's inherent worth To guard as well its rights in the dark hour Of civil insurrection, as when lower The clouds of foreign war, and to secure To every sovereign State the promised dower Of a free government, which shall endure In earth's tyrannic night, a light steadfast and sure. L I I . " Above war's lurid clouds and fitful flashes, Where many a hearth and heart in rum lies, Like Phoenix, bright from the decaying ashes, I see a great, a happy nation rise, Governed by laws benevolent and wise Which a free people reverently obey ; Where men of every race beneath the skies, Each subject of contention cast away, In common trust and love shall own a common sway." T II E C O X T E S T . The throng has passed away, and silence reigns Where late the sound of loud debate was heard ; The spirit echo of the place maintains Unbroken silence now, no longer stirred To mock'ry by the ire-provoking word Of question or reply. A stern repose Rests on the vacant halls, where late occurred The clash of hostile factions*, and arose The windy war of words twixt firm but peaceful foes. In legislative halls no ory spots, With tales of bloody death and horror fraught, Offend the eye : no loathsome carrion rots Win HO once loved form by anxious friends is sought : Vet in their lofty chambers have been fought The nation's mightiest battles. There have stood Freedom's best champions, and they who wrought The chains and manacles, and unsubdued. Yearly have each with each the war of words renew i-d. There dropped Calhoun his words of living fire : There Clay's bright genius glowed with heat intense : There Hayne sent forth his shafts of barbed ire : There Webster hurled those bolts of eloquence Fit for an injured people's strong defense : There Douglas raised his voice in stern appeal : There Jefferson displayed his power immense : And there, with words like blades of polished steel, Proud Randolph dealt the wounds which death alone could heal. They fought life's battle well, and died but hark ! From out the mystic stillness of the walls, From the dim recesses in shadow dark, On the hushed air of the deserted halls A solemn and unearthly whisper falls, And moans, with cadence sad, " in vain," " in vain :" Seek we the light : the spell no more enthralls, 'Twas but the fancy which a wandering brain Caught from the moaning winds that sweep Ma- tt assas' plain. 72 THE CONTEST. L V 1 I . No ! it was not in vain, ye mighty dead : Xot vain your lives with wisdom's lessons fraught ; Not vain your deaths : the pilgrim's reverent tread Sounds o'er the sole reward your fame hath bought, An honored grave ; but for our use ye wrought A fruitful and a lasting heritage, Oases in the boundless waste of thought, Where the worn traveler of life's pilgrimage His soul consuming thirst for wisdom may assuage. L V I I I . And chiefly tliou, whose honored ashes rest In the proud soil of thine adopted State, Thou noble ottering of the queenly West I 'poii the altar of relentless fate ; Xot vain was thine existence: though the hate Of demagogues would mar thy well- won fame, Their darkening malice never can abate The brightness of its lustre, and the name Of Douglas, through all time, shall loving honors claim. THE CONTEST. The brain of mighty power, the eye of fire ; The tongue sharp in attack, smooth in defense; The hand raised in appeal, or clenched in ire ; Lips proud with conscious weight of evidence, Or fiercely cynical with scorn intense ; The firm-set brow, the citadel of thought ; The frame transfused with fervid eloquence : The man from nature's best material wrought, And in the school of toil life's noblest lessons taught, Are senseless dust : The lake's complaining wave Sings to the sorrowing shore thine endless dirge ; . But t'ward the precincts of thy silent grave. Borne on the bosom of the billowy surge, And on the iron bands which to its verge Bind the wide regions of a continent, A multitude of eager pilgrims urge Their willing way, and there in sorrow bent Gaze on thy place of rest, with love and reverence blent. 74 THE CON TEST. LXI. And, though each vestige of thy resting place Be swept from earth, and the unresting wave Of time gulf, and obliterate each trace Of the proud city of thy prouder grave ; The record of thy virtues still shall save Thee from oblivion, and tliou shalt go down To future times, as he, who doubly brave, Wore with mild dignity the victor's crown, And, haughty in defeat, despised the rabbles 1 frown. CANTO THIRD. 'Tis sweet to sail upon the summer sea, When skies are bright, and wind and wave at rest, And sleeps the tempest. It is sweet to be Rocked by its motion to a dreamy rest, And watch the rise and falling of its breast, And think upon its myst'ries. It is sweet The depths with hidden wonders to invest, And think upon the time when we shall meet Once more upon theland, and anxious friends shall greet. So sang the sailors ; as a gallant fleet, Clearing the capes from Chesapeake's broad bay, Its decks well-manned, its armament complete, Stood out to sea, and bravely took its way Majestic toward the South. The breeze whose sway Its sails must own, compel it bravely on, The mariners with jokes and glees allay The weight of passing hours ; the morning sun Cheers with his gladdening smile the journey well begun. 76 T HE f!0 X TEST. Dupont commands the fleet: a man well skilled To rule the sea in calm or tempest mood ; Born near its wave-washed shore, 'twas his to build On the foundation of tlf unstable flood The temple of his honor, which has stood Changeless amid its changes; his to roam Its fields 'mid leaden hail, and showers of blood; To pluck high honors from its fruitful foam, And joy for many years in the glad harvest home. I V. Each vessel bears a hardy, well skilled crew Deep learned in all the lore of sailor's craft, Quick each command and motion t<> go through, Or on forecastle, mid ships, or abaft To gather at command, to build the raft Or man the life-boat: or, while sad skies wee]) In pity, to ascend the dizzy shaft, And while the lightning's flash, and storm winds sweep, To hang suspended high above the yawning deep. THE CONTEST. The fleet also in three divisions bears The troops destined to operate on land : Wright, Viele, Stevens, govern the affairs Respectively of each. The whole command Devolves on Sherman : Nurtured 'mid the grand But barren scenery of the island State, He chose to follow o'er wars treach'rous sand The beacon light of fame, rather than wait For the slow honors which less daring souls might sate. VI . He, in the contest of the Floridas, Had tracked the savage foe through wood and glade, And, where the deadly contest hottest was, Buena Vista saw his flashing blade Dealing destruction, and he had displayed In every post a skill and bravery Which won him rank and honor, and had made Lincoln to deem that he fit chief would be T' assail a dangerous land beyond a dangerous sea. 78 TIIK < ONTKSY. VII. Ami through the whole assemblage there was heard The din of in;iny voices : cries and clieers CYune to us blended with commands 1 stern wnnl. Xot much. I \vt-en. freedom's brave soldier fears Whom rank has placed ahove him : he reveres II i- rank when duty bids, and danger's hour See- none in whom more readiness apjiears : But lie is all untaught to crin