Page:Littell's Living Age - Volume 132.djvu/198

Again the hills are gold and red
With shocks and sheaves on every hand,
For all the fields are harvested,
And there is plenty in the land.
Plenty and peace, for God again
Has smiled and blessed the hands of men.

2.

And now, where once the wigwam stood,
Upon the Schuylkill's banks of green,
Where reddening vines and tangled wood
Hemmed in the fair but dang'rous scene,
Behold! a palace, fit for kings,
Lifts its fair head unto the skies,
And all the land her tribute brings,
And shouts aloud, 'Friends, all, arise,
This day, this hour, this place must be,
Made sacred to men's liberty.'

3.

And here, where all have met to see
The earth's united rivalry,
In all that is, or yet may be,
They reached their hands to each, and said,
This is the tribute to our dead,
This is the ring with which we wed
The twice-born bride, Columbia,
And this the oath, new-sworn to thee,
Land of our hopes and destiny.

4.

Again the old time-honored scroll,
Whereon the new world's faith was writ,
Was shown to men, and every soul
Thanked God, and wept, at sight of it.
Thanked God, and wept — it was a sight
Such as men see but once in life.
I saw it then, I saw its birth —
What more can one then want of earth?"

1.

He ceased his music, and the lyre,
Full-toned, fell at the singer's feet:
Gone was the light, the hope, the fire,
Finished the song he sang so sweet.
We bore him to the deck above,
Where soft winds kissed his brow and lip;
In vain, sweet winds, no breath of love
Could wake the poet of the ship.
In freedom's faith his life had passed,
His noblest, sweetest song, his last.

2.

All night our ship sped on its way,
Along a moonlit, starlit sea,
And, when the red sun brought the day,
The sailors shouted "Land," and we
Looked to the west, and, smiling there,
Lay the low hills of Delaware.
Loud boomed the guns, the ship-bells rung,
It Was the land the poet sung.

3.

Land of the West, our Fatherland,
We bow and greet thee, here at sea,
We bare our heads, and meekly stand,
And pray that God in his right hand,
May ever keep thee great, and free.
May ever keep thee great, and when
Th' oppressed shall cry for liberty
Thy stars and stripes shall answer then,
Lo! here all men, all men, are free.

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The Silver Market. — The Economist observes: The silver market will in future, like all other markets, have to secure its stability by keeping a "stock on hand." Dealers will hold for what they think a good price, which will usually prevent an extreme fall of price, and get rid of more or less of this accumulation when there is an unusual demand, which will commonly prevent an extreme rise. But a great number of causes as yet prevent the dealers from doing so. The rise in the price of silver which has just taken place is as local as the fall which preceded it. The great mass of prices in the countries using silver as a money are wholly unaffected by it. Indeed, such perturbations as a rise of 20 per cent, and then a fall to the old level, during a single year in the general prices of great countries, would have been economical phenomena such as the world has never seen, and such as would have caused a vast derangement of transactions. The silver market must settle down into its normal condition before we shall know what will be the normal price of silver in relation to gold or to commodities. The disturbing forces, with which we have had so long to deal, must first pass away. And until they have so passed it will be desirable that no government shall involve itself in a currency change, depending on the relative relations of silver and gold, which has not begun one already. Unless in case of vital necessity, such currency changes should be made at the time when the circumstances attendant on them can be best foreseen, and that is when the course of trade is most regular, and the markets most important in the matter most in their normal condition.