SLAVERY.
"Slavery is a dark shade on the Map of the United States."
La Fayette.
WRITTEN FOR THE CELEBRATION OF THE FOURTH OF JULY.
We have a goodly clime,
Broad vales and streams we boast,
Our mountain frontiers frown sublime,
Old Ocean guards our coast;
Suns bless our harvest fair,
With fervid smile serene,
But a dark shade is gathering there—
What can its blackness mean?
We have a birth-right proud,
For our young sons to claim,
An eagle soaring o'er the cloud,
In freedom and in fame;
We have a scutcheon bright,
By our dead fathers bought,
A fearful blot distains its white—
Who hath such evil wrought?
Our banner o'er the sea
Looks forth with starry eye,
Emblazoned glorious, bold and free,
A letter on the sky,
