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THE DAY OF SMALL THINGS.

BY JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL.

'Sometime afterward, it was reported to me by the city officers, that they had ferreted out the paper and its editor. His office was an obscure hole; his only visible auxiliary a negro boy; and his supporters a few very insignificant persons, of all colors.' - LETTER OF HON. H. G. OTIS.

In a small chamber, friendless and unseen,

Toiled o'er his types one poor, unlearned young man ;
The place was dark, unfurnitured and mean,

Yet there the freedom of a race began.

Help came but slowly; surely, no man yet

Put lever to the heavy world with less;

What need of help? - He knew how types were set,
He had a dauntless spirit and a press.

Such earnest natures are the fiery pith,

The compact nucleus round which systems grow;
Mass after mass becomes inspired therewith,
And whirls impregnate with the central glow.

O Truth! O Freedom! how are ye still born
In the rude stable, in the manger nursed!
What humble hands unbar those gates of morn,
Through which the splendors of the new day burst!

What! shall one monk, scarce known beyond his cell,
Front Rome's far-reaching bolts, and scorn her frown?
Brave LUTHER answered, Yes! - that thunder's swell
Rocked Europe, and discharmed the triple crown.

'Whatever can be known of earth, we know,'

Sneered Europe's wise men, in their snail-shells curled;

No! said one man in Genoa; and that No
Out of the dark created this New World.

Who is it will not dare himself to trust?

Who is it hath not strength to stand alone?
Who is it thwarts and bilks the inward must?

He and his works like sand from earth are blown.

Men of a thousand shifts and wiles, look here !
See one straight-forward conscience put in pawn
To win a world! See the obedient sphere,
By bravery's simple gravitation drawn!

Shall we not heed the lesson taught of old,
And by the Present's lips repeated still,
In our own single manhood to be bold,
Fortressed in conscience and impregnable will?

We stride the river daily at its spring,
Nor in our childish thoughtlessness foresee
What myriad vassal streams shall tribute bring,
How like an equal it shall greet the sea.

O small beginnings, ye are great and strong,
Based on a faithful heart and weariless brain;
Ye build the future fair, ye conquer wrong,

Ye earn the crown, and wear it not in vain!

TO WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON.

BY JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER.

CHAMPION of those who groan beneath

Oppression's iron hand,

In view of penury, hate and death,

I see thee fearless stand;

Still bearing up thy lofty brow,

In the steadfast strength of truth,

In manhood sealing well the vow
And promise of thy youth.

Go on!- for thou hast chosen well;
On in the strength of God!
Long as one human heart shall swell

Beneath the tyrant's rod.

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TO WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON.

BY THOMAS W. HIGGINSON.

"T is not that deeds like thine need my poor praise,
When, though commending not each word of strife,
I yet would thank thee for thy manly life,
Thou rugged LUTHER of these latter days!
O! when will men look through thine ardent phrase
To the true depth of that devoted heart,
Where selfish hope or fear had never part

To swerve thee, with the crowd, from Truth's plain ways!
When that day comes, thy brothers, wiser grown,

Shall reverence struggling man's true friend in thee,

Thy life of stern devotion shall atone

For some few words that seemed too rough to be,

And they shall grave upon thy funeral stone,

THIS MAN SPOKE TRUTH, AND HELPED US TO GROW FREE! '

Cambridge, Massachusetts.

TO WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON.

BY ALONZO LEWIS.

THY God has cast thee in a noble mould,
And poured thy fabric full of living soul,
That fills, informs, and animates the whole,

As if we saw a visioned form unrolled!
And thou go'st forward with Ithuriel's spear,
To combat with the evils of the world;
And thy keen falchion-shafts on high are hurled,
To fill Oppression with a deadly fear,

And drive him from his hold in Freedom's land,
Where he has marshalled forth a mail-clad band,
Armed with the scourge of torture. Like a knight
Who battled for the Cross in days of old,
With Truth thy shield, go forward, and be bold,
And may God aid thee in the glorious fight!

SELECTIONS

FROM THE WRITINGS OF

WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON.

Exposure of the American Colonization Society.

IN attacking the system of slavery, I clearly foresaw all that has happened to me. I knew, at the commencement, that my motives would be impeached, my warnings ridiculed, my person persecuted, my sanity doubted, my life jeoparded but the clank of the prisoner's chains broke upon my ear-it entered deeply into my soul-I looked up to Heaven for strength to sustain me in the perilous work of emancipation-and my resolution was taken.

In opposing the American Colonization Society, I have also counted the cost, and as clearly foreseen the formidable opposition which will be arrayed against me. Many of the clergy are enlisted in its support: their influence is powerful. Men of wealth and elevated station are among its contributors: wealth and station are almost omnipotent. The press has been seduced into its support: the press is a potent engine. Moreover, the Society is artfully based upon and defended by popular prejudice; it takes advantage

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