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A poem by John Greenleaf Whittier |
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Moloch In State Street |
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Title: Moloch In State Street Author: John Greenleaf Whittier [More Titles by Whittier] In a foot-note of the Report of the Senate of Massachusetts on the case of the arrest and return to bondage of the fugitive slave Thomas Sims it is stated that--"It would have been impossible for the U. S. marshal thus successfully to have resisted the law of the State, without the assistance of the municipal authorities of Boston, and the countenance and support of a numerous, wealthy, and powerful body of citizens. It was in evidence that 1500 of the most wealthy and respectable citizens-merchants, bankers, and others--volunteered their services to aid the marshal on this occasion. . . . No watch was kept upon the doings of the marshal, and while the State officers slept, after the moon had gone down, in the darkest hour before daybreak, the accused was taken out of our jurisdiction by the armed police of the city of Boston." THE moon has set: while yet the dawn On, swift and still! the conscious street The first drawn blood of Freedom's veins Beneath the slowly waning stars What faces frown upon ye, dark Who, dimly beckoning, speed ye on For ready mart or favoring blast Ye make that ancient sacrifice Ye sow to-day; your harvest, scorn Thank God! our mother State can yet Chain Hall and Pulpit, Court and Press, Your hoards are great, your walls are strong, What! know ye not the gains of Crime And still the Pilgrim State remains Nor wholly lost the fallen mart; That brave old blood, quick-flowing yet, Even now, the peal of bell and gun, The long night dies: the welcome gray
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