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A poem by John Greenleaf Whittier |
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The Rendition |
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Title: The Rendition Author: John Greenleaf Whittier [More Titles by Whittier] On the 2d of June, 1854, Anthony Burns, a fugitive slave from Virginia, after being under arrest for ten days in the Boston Court House, was remanded to slavery under the Fugitive Slave Act, and taken down State Street to a steamer chartered by the United States Government, under guard of United States troops and artillery, Massachusetts militia and Boston police. Public excitement ran high, a futile attempt to rescue Burns having been made during his confinement, and the streets were crowded with tens of thousands of people, of whom many came from other towns and cities of the State to witness the humiliating spectacle. I HEARD the train's shrill whistle call, And, as I thought of Liberty I felt a sense of bitter loss,-- All love of home, all pride of place, Down on my native hills of June, And Law, an unloosed maniac, strong, "O Mother, from thy memories proud, "Mother of Freedom, wise and brave,
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