Poems (Odom)/Carrier's Address
CARRIER'S ADDRESS.
FOR A VICKSBURG PAPER, 1875.
Another year has closed upon This half-distracted nation;We look around and view with pain Our fearful situation.Hard times knock loudly at each door; While men who pay the taxesTurn with their bleeding hands the stone For rogues to grind their axes.
High-handed villainy is dressed In ermine robes judicial;And what was termed disgraceful once Is simply, now, "official."The sweat is wrung from honest brows To fill the rascal's pocket;And juries packed by bondless men To clear the felon's docket.
The people rise up in their might, Firm in their deep vexation,Unarmed call on the Sheriff for Good bonds or resignation.This was their right,—their legal right,— No one will dare deny it;And almost hopeless, as they were, They still resolved to try it.
We said they went unarmed, this host Of prudent, cool chastisers;But we admit they thouht to use A board called "Supervisors."This board was old and somewhat frail; A fact, they had forgotten'T was almost black—perhaps with age— In truth, they found it rotten.
Ere they could seize and try its strength,— Oh! wonder never ceases'—Or strike with it one sturdy blow, The whole thing went to pieces.So far it flew, both East and West, Upon the winds of winter, These gallant men stood all aghast, They could not find a splinter.
In times like these, when truth is dead And virtue written non est,'T is said the very best of men Have AMES to be dishonest.The bondless Sheriff did resign, But vowed to take it back soon;Indeed he went on special train That very night to Jackson.
The Governor arose at once, Waived all examinationOf facts, and hurled in hottest haste His lying proclamation.It fell, like burning brand on hay, "Among the county niggers,Whose passions are as quick to fire As guns with easy triggers.
Their Sheriff, too, had called, and they Rushed to the city's border,Equipped with all the weapons known, Except with law and order. They came, these poor deluded ones, By hundreds—more 's the pity—The City Sexton took in those Who came to take the city.
We fought the fight with smaller arms, Nor had much use for cannon;Although the foe made quite a run Upon the banks of Shannon.The Miller took his toll, they say, In quite a large proportion;Indeed we hear it whispered that 'T was almost called extortion.
On one road leading into town, The darkies who appeared thereWere much enraged to find themselves Well shaken by the Beaird there.Some of these weak, misguided men, Of strong, unbridled passions,Were much in-Klein-ed to plead that they Were coming in for rations.
While one who wore across his breast A strip of ragged bunting, Declared he only "fotch his gun," In case he mought go Hunt-ing.These Warren County colored men, With all their lively Capers,Have got their history written up In many leading papers.
The Cros(s)-by which we have been tried Has been a long and sad one;The Hill of justice we would climb Experience proves a bad one.Our Governor is sore perplexed, With no friend to advise him;And while he runs a loyal Leage, A Furlong sorely tries him.
We do not think that he should be So bitterly berated,Because the "so-called" Adelbert Is simply addle-pated.No man of mind would work as he Has done to harvest trouble;Or choose, from all the better grain, A Ded-rick of the stubble.
He stretches every point of law Beyond a lawyer's knowing;By George! he does things up so Brown, A white man has no showing.He sets his little head one side, And after sage reflection,Declares that all this blood has flowed Straight from our last election.
It was a legal battle then, All fair, and square, and quiet;But now, our Governor asserts, It hatched out all this riot.Though he is fond of using gas With slight consideration,This time his Hall was much too dark For clear elucidation.
The end perhaps is not just yet, But we are firm to meet it;And if one lesson fails to teach The truth, we can repeat it.We have an Arm-strong to defend The Wright, with just endeavor; And money, too, if need should be, Our Cash-man is so clever.
Our city only held its own, When foes crept up behind it;And should they seek to come again, A Hard-away they'll find it.And so we 've done the best we could To give you all the news, sirs;Let every man of us unite To keep away the Blues, sirs.