"As good as fair; it seemed her joy
To comfort and to give;
My poor, sick wife, and cripple boy,
Will bless her while they live!"
The tremor in the driver's tone
His manhood did not shame
"I dare say, sir, you may have known"--
He named a well-known name.
Then sank the pyramidal mounds,
The blue lake fled away;
For mountain-scope a parlor's bounds,
A lighted hearth for day!
From lonely years and weary miles
The shadows fell apart;
Kind voices cheered, sweet human smiles
Shone warm into my heart.
We journeyed on; but earth and sky
Had power to charm no more;
Still dreamed my inward-turning eye
The dream of memory o'er.
Ah! human kindness, human love,--
To few who seek denied;
Too late we learn to prize above
The whole round world beside!
1850
ELLIOTT.
Ebenezer Elliott was to the artisans of England what Burns was to
the peasantry of Scotland. His Corn-law Rhymes contributed not a
little to that overwhelming tide of popular opinion and feeling
which resulted in the repeal of the tax on bread. Well has the
eloquent author of The Reforms and Reformers of Great Britain said
of him, "Not corn-law repealers alone, but all Britons who moisten
their scanty bread with the sweat of the brow, are largely indebted
to his inspiring lay, for the mighty bound which the laboring mind
of England has taken in our day.
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