Freedom's Gathering

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Title:     Freedom's Gathering
Author: John S. Adams [More Titles by Adams]

I SEEMED to live beyond the present time;

Methought it was when all the world was free,
And myriad numbers, from each distant clime,

Came up to hold their annual jubilee.
From distant China, Afric's sunburnt shore,

From Greenland's icebergs, Russia's broad domain,
They came as men whom fetters bound no more,

And trod New England's valley, hill, and plain.
They met to hold a jubilee, for all
Were free from error's chain, and from the oppressor's thrall.
Word had gone forth that slavery's power was done;

The cry like wild-fire through the nations ran;
Russia's tame serf, and Afric's sable son,

Threw off their chains-each felt himself a man.
Thrones that had stood for ages were no more;

Man ceased to suffer; tyrants ceased to reign;
And all throughout the world, from shore to shore,

Were loosed from slavery's fetter and its chain;
And those who once were slaves came up as free,
Unto New England's soil, to keep their jubilee.
New England! 't was a fitting place, for it

Had sent its rays upon them, as a star
Beams from the glorious heaven on slaves who sit

In chains, to lure them where free seraphs are;
The light it had shed on them made them start

From their deep lethargy, then look and see
That they of Freedom's boon might have a part,

Their nation glorious as New England be.
And then like men they struggled till they won,
And Freedom's high-born light shone as a noonday sun.
Men gathered there who were men; nobly they

Had long and faithful fought 'gainst error's night,
And now they saw the sunlight of that day

They long had hoped to see, when truth and right
Should triumph o'er the world, and all should hold

This truth self-evident, that fellow-men,
In God's own image made, should not be sold

Nor stalled as cattle in a market-pen.
Praises they sang, and thanks they gave to God,
That he had loosed the chain, and broke the oppressor's rod.
They gazed o'er all the past; their vision's eye

Beheld how men in former years had groaned,
When Hope's own flame burned dim, and no light nigh

Shone to disperse the darkness; when enthroned
Sat boasting Ignorance, and 'neath its sway

Grim Superstition held its lurid lamp,
That only darkened the obstructed way

In which man groped and wandered, till the damp,
Cold, cheerless gateway of an opening tomb
Met his extended hand, and sealed his final doom.
Perchance one mind, illumined from above,

Did strive to burst the heavy bonds it wore,
Pierce through the clouds of error, and, in love

With its new mission, upward seek to soar.
Upon it shone truth's faintest, feeblest ray;

It would be free; but tyrants saw and crushed
Man's first attempt to cast his chains away,

The first aspirings of his nature hushed.
Thus back from men was Freedom's genius driven,
And Slavery's chains in ten-fold strength were riven.
In gazing o'er the past, 't was this they saw-

How Evil long had triumphed; but to-day
Man bowed to nothing but God's righteous law,

And Truth maintained its undisputed sway.
Right conquered might; and of this they were proud,

As they beheld all nations drawing near,--
Men from all lands, a vast, unnumbered crowd,

While in their eyes full many a sparkling tear
Trembled a while, then from its cell did start,
Witness to the deep joys of an o'erflowing heart.
There came up those who'd crouched beneath the lash,

Had bowed beneath the chains they scarce could bear,
Till Freedom's lightning on their minds did flash,

And roused them as a lion in his lair
Is roused when foes invade it, then, with strength

Near superhuman, one bold effort made
To break their cruel bondage, till at length

Beneath their feet they saw their fetters laid.
'T was then they lifted their freed hands on high,
And peans loud and long resounded through the sky.
Up, up they came, and still the bannered host

Far in the distance met my wondering eye;
On hill and dale, on all New England's coast,

White banners waved beneath a cloudless sky.
The aged sire leaned on his oaken staff,

Manhood stood up in all its strength and pride,
And youth came dancing with a joyous laugh,

With woman, lovely woman, at their side;
Bright eyes, glad hearts, and joyous souls, were there,
Free as the light that shone, unfettered as the air.
The mind, that spark of Deity within

That hath its nurture from a higher world,
No longer bound by tyranny and sin,

Beheld its highest, noblest powers unfurled.
No more did Error bind it to its creed,

Or Superstition strive to blind its sight;
It followed only where God's truth did lead,

And trusted him to guide its course aright.
The inner as the outer man was free,
And both united held this glorious jubilee.
--'T was all a vision, and it passed away,

As dreams depart; yet it did leave behind
Its deep impressions, thoughts that fain would stay

And hold communion with the tireless mind.
I wished that it were real; alas! I heard

The clank of Slavery's fetters rend the air;
And feelings of my heart were deeply stirred,

When I beheld my brethren, who dare
Proclaim all "equal," yet in chains of steel
Bind men, who, like themselves, can pain and pleasure feel.
God in his wisdom meant all should be free,

All equal: each a brother unto man.
Presumptuous mortal! who His great decree

Durst strive to change to suit thy selfish plan!
Know thou that his fixed purpose will be done,

Though thou arrayest all thy puny strength
In war against it! All who feel the sun

Shall own his goodness, and be free at length.
God cares for mortals, though he reigns on high;
Freedom is His own cause, and it shall never die!
My country! if my heart one wish doth hold,

For thee and for thy good, it is that thou
No more permit thy children to be sold!

Forbid that they as slaves to man shall bow!
For them our fathers nobly fought and bled;

For them they poured their life-blood forth as rain;
Shall it in foreign lands of us be said,

We bind our brothers with a galling chain?
While the Old World is struggling to be free,
America! shall this foul charge be laid to thee?
We all may err; may oft be led astray;

Let him who'd free the slave be careful he
Is not a slave himself to some fond way

He would adopt to set his brother free!
All seek one end; for all one good would gain;

Then, on as brothers, hand in hand proceed!
Paths that seem intricate will all be plain,

If we but follow where God's truth would lead.

Trust Him for strength in darkness and in light;
His word will cheer us on,--His presence give us might.

[The end]
John S. Adams's poem: Freedom's Gathering

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