.<^^ ^^^XV <^9^ .-?> * ^^^ ^^ ^: V^ ^' .0 ^^ .^ ' ^^^ V ^ o ~ o .9) V \^ SONGS OF THE FREE, AND HYMNS OF CHRISTIAN FREEDOM Suited lo such as visit at the shrine of serious Liberty. — Percival. BOSTON : ISAAC KNAPP, WASHINGTON STREET. MDCCCXXXVI. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1836, by Isaac Knapp, in the Clerk's office of the District Court of Massachusetts. i rf / JTi" / r^ TO THE DEVOTED FRIENDS OF 3F m ]1 n ® © sy3 , EVERY WHERE, THIS BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED. M. W. C. EDITOR'S ADVERTISEMENT. Those who are laboring for the freedom of the American slave, have felt their need of aid which has ever been sought by those in all ages who have striven for the good of their race ; — the encour- agement, consolation and strength afforded by poetry and music. This generally expressed feel- ing was the origin of the present book of hymtis with the accompanying strain of poetry ; hardly less elevated, though more ornamented and diffuse than is allowed by the severe beauty and sublimi- ty which should model the Christian Lyric. They feel that the spiritual warfare in which they are engaged, requires the exercise of all the faculties ; and they cannot allow the opponents of their principles the selection of the moral and in- tellectual powers with which it shall be carried on, VITI ADVERTISEMENT. — no, though this free use of their own souls should occasion men to call them agitators and fanatics. In giving man imagination and affections, God has furnished him with the powers that en- able him to follow the dictates of reason and rev- elation ; and he should not do otherwise than cul- tivate and sanctify all the faculties, subduing them to the obedience that is in Christ Jesus, by gladly acknowledging through them all, the frater- nity of the whole human race. [The machinery of metres, names of tunes, numerals, and charac- ters, has been omitted, because they are useless to those who are unable to sing, and because the spirit and the understanding are a sufficient directory to those who can.'] z. REGINALD HEBER. The Lord will come! the earth shall quake, The hills their fixed seat forsake ; And, withering, from the vault of night The stars withdraw their feeble light. KEBLE. Awake — again the Gospel-trump is blown — From year to year it swells with louder tone, From year to year the signs of wrath Are gathering round the Judge's path. Strange words fulfill'd, and mighty works achiev'd. And truth in all the world both hated and believ'd. Awake ! why linger in the gorgeous town. Sworn liegemen of the Cross and thorny crown 1 Up from your beds of sloth for shame. Speed to the eastern mount like flame. Nor wonder, should ye find your king in tears. Even with the loud Hosanna ringing in his ears. Alas ! no need to rouse them ; long ago They are gone forth to swell Messiah's show: 10 Advent of Christ. The Lord will come ! but not the same As once in lowly form he came, A silent lamb to slaughter led, The bruised, the suffering, and the dead. The Lord will come ! a dreadful form, With wreath of flame and robe of storm : Master and slave alike shall find An equal judge of human kind. With glittering robes and garlands sweet They strew the ground beneath his feet : All but your hearts are there — O doom'd to prove The arrows wing'd iu Heaven for Faith that will not love! Meanwhile He passes through the adoring crowd, Calm as the march of some majestic cloud. That o'er wild scenes of ocean-war Holds its still course in heaven afar : Even so, heart-searching Lord, as years roll on, Thou keepest silent watch from thy triumphal throne: Even so, the world is thronging round to gaze On the dread vision of the latter days, Constrain'd to own Thee, but iu heart Prepar'd to take Barabbas' part: • Hosanna ' now, lo morrow • crucify,' The changeful burden still of their rude lawless cry. Yet in that throng of selfish hearts untrue Thy sad eye rests upon thy faithful few. Children and childlike souls are there. Blind Bartimeus' humble prayer, Advent of Christ. 11 Can this be he who wont to stray A pilgrim on the world's highway ; By power oppressed, and mocked by pride ? Oh God 1 is this the crucified 1 Go, tyrants ! to the rocks complain ! Go, seek the mountain's cleft in vain : But faith, victorious o'er the tomb, Shall sing for joy — the Lord is come I And Lazarus waken'd from his four days' sleep, Enduring life again, that Passover to keep. And fast beside the olive-border'd way •Stands the blest home, where Jesus deign'd to stay, The peaceful home, to Zeal sincere And heavenly Contemplation dear. Where Martha lov'd to wait with reverence meet. And wiser Mary linger'd at thy sacred feet. Still through decaying ages as they glide. Thou lov'st thy chosen remnant to divide ; Sprinkled along the waste of years Full many a soft green isle appears: Pause where we may upon the desert road, JSoniG shelter is in sight, some sacred, safe abode. Ilra^rt for Wini^ittual EoU^ XI. ELIZABETH M. CHANDLER. Oh Father, when the softened heart Is lifted up in prayer to thee, When earthly thoughts awhile depart, And leave the mounting spirit free — Then teach us that our love, like thine, O'er all the realms of earth should flow, A shoreless stream, a flood divine, To bathe and heal the heart of wo. Then shall the bondman hear no more The tyrant's, in the christian's name, Nor tears of wasting anguish pour, Uupitied o'er his life of shame. But taught to love thee, by the love That bids his long-worn fetters break, He too shall lift his soul above. And serve thee for thy mercy's sake* Sons of ti&e ilttietmetr* III. MOxNTGOMERY. SiXG we the song of those who stand Around the eternal throne, 0( every kindred, clime and land, A multitude unknown. Life's poor distinctions vanish here ; To day the young, the old, Our Saviour and his flock appear One Shepherd and one fold. Toil, trial, suffering still await On earth the pilgrim's throng, Yet learn we in our low estate The church triumphant's song. Worthy the Lamb for sinners slain, Cry the redeemed above, Blessing and honor to obtain, And everlasting love. Worthy the Lamb, on eartli we sing, Who died our souls to save ; Henceforth, O Death ! where is thy sting ! Thy victory, O Grave ! 2 14 Prayer of the Enslaved American. Then hallelujah ! power and praise To God in Christ be given ; May all who now this anthem raise Renew the song in heaven. m^mt tif tfjt iHit.?ilabctr American. IV. BERNARD BARTON. Oh, Father of the human race I The white, the black, the bond, the ft>ee ;* Thanks for thy gift of heavenly grace, Vouchsafed through Jesus Christ to me. This, 'mid oppression's every wrong, Has borne my sinking spirit up ; Made sorrow joyful,— weakness strong, And sweetened slavery's bitter cup. *— and hath made of one blood all nations of men.. Acts xvii. 2Q, What a glorious, what a beneficent doctrine! how magnificent- rei g.on It rebukes selttshness. It declares to each, that the ob- ject of d.sregard, hatred, or contempt, i. a man; and m n a b o he It knows nothmg u will hear nothing of the thousand pretension ; up for the grat.fication of vanity, and the indulgence^of ma gnWy Wkat prejudices kave be«n akeady beaten do.^ by it, aud 1'; Prayer of the Enslaved American. 15 Hath not a Saviour's dying hour Made e'en the yoke of thraldom hght? Hath not thy Holy Spirit's power Made bondage freedom, — darkness bright ? Thanks, then. Oh, father ! for the gift, Which through thy gospel thou hast given ; Which thus from bonds and earth, can lift The soul to liberty and heaven. But not the less, I mourn their shame, Who mindless of thy gracious will,, Call on a Father's — Saviour's name. Yet keep their brethren bondsmen still ! Forgive them. Lord ! for Jesus' sake. And when the slave thou hast unbound, — The chains which bind the oppressor break! And be thy love's last triumph crowned 1 many prejudices yet exist to which it is opposed, and which it shall yet beat down ! That there are in the world different races, with such disparity that it is for some to be luxurious lords of creation, and others, their saleable, fettered, tasked, Ijeaten and Ijranded beasts of burden ; that a man's clan ov country has exclusive title to his affections, exertions, duties, concentrating every thing witliin that circle, except a pitiless hostility to all of human kind J)eyoiid its narrow boundary ; — these were and these are under the various modifications produced by ancient and present modes of thinking, evils which the gospel was given to mitigate and to annihilate; with which its spirit maintains everlasting warfare; against which it ap- pealin to our piety, our benevolence, our justice, our consciousness. IV. J. Fox. WATTS. Lord ! if thou dost not soon appear^ Virtue and truth will flee away; A faithful man among us here Will scarce be found if thou delay. The whole discourse, when neighbors meet. Is filled with trifles loose and vain ; Their lips are flattery and deceit, And their proud language is profane. But lips that with deceit abound, Shall not maintain their triumph long ; The God of vengeance will confound Their flattering and blaspheming tongue. The Lord, who sees the poor oppressed. And hears the oppressor's haughty strain. Will rise to give his children rest. Nor shall they trust his word in vain. Restoration of Israel. 17 Thy word, O Lord, though often tried, Void of deceit shall still appear ; Nor silver, seven times purified From dross and mixture, shines so clear, Thy grace shall, in the darkest hour, Defend the holy soul from harm ; Though when the vilest men have power, On every side will sinners swarm. l^cstcration of XscacL VI. MONTGOMERY. Daughter of Zion, from the dust Exalt thy fallen head ; Again in thy Redeemer trust, He calls thee from the dead. CROLY. King of the dead ! how long shall sweep Thy wrath ! how long thy outcasts weep ! Two thousand agonizing years Has Afric steeped her bread in tears; The vial on her head been poured — Flight, famine, ehame, the scourge, the sword ! 2* 18 Restoration of hrael. Awake, awake, put on thy strength, Thy beautiful array ; The day of freedom dawns at length, The Lord's appointed day. 'T is done ! Has breathed thy trumpet blast ; The tribes at length have wept their last ! On rolls the host ! From land and wave The earth sends up the unransomed slave ! There rides no glittering chivalry. No banner purples in the sky ; The world within their hearts has died; Two thousand years have slain their pride ! The look of pale remorse is there, The lip's involuntary prayer; The form still marked with many a stain — Brand of the soil, the scourge, the chain ; The serf of Afric's fiery ground; The slave, by Southern suns embrowned ; The weary drudges of the oar, By the swart Arab's poisoned shore. The gatherings of earth's wildest tract On bursts the living cataract ! What strength of man can check its speed 1 They come — ihe nation of \he freed! Who leads their march ? Bcncarli His wheel Back rolls llip sea, the moi'niains ipcl ! Before their trea.l His trump i- bl,,\vn, Who speaks in thunder, and 'tis done ! King of the dead ! Oh, n.it in vain Was thy long pilgriniHge of pain; Oh not in \ain arose tin praver. When piessed the thorn thy temples bare; Oh, nut in vain the voice that cried, 'i\> ipare lliy maddened bumicidc ! Redemption of Israel. 19 Rebuild thy walls, thy bounds enlarge, And send thy heralds forth ; Say to the south, ' Give up thy charge, And keep not back, O north ! ' They come, they come ; — thine exiled bands Where'er they rest or roam, Have heard thy voice in distant lands, And hasten to their home. Even for this hour thy heart's blood streamed ! They come ! — the host of the redeemed ! What flames upon the distant sky 1 'T is not the comet's sanguine dye, 'T is not the lightning's quivering spire, 'T is not the sun's ascending fire. And now, as nearer speeds their march Expands the rainbow's mighty arch ; Though there has burst no thundercloud. No flash of death the soil has ploughed. And still ascends before their gaze, Arch upon arch, the lovely blaze; Still as the gorgeous clouds unfold. Rise towers and domes, immortal mould. Whose city this % What potentate Sits there the King of Time and Fate, Whom glory covers with a robe. Whose sceptre shakes the solid globe. To whom archangels bow the knee ?-*- The weeper of Geihsemane ! Down in the dust ! ay, Christian kneel ! For now thy whithered heart must feel ! Ay, let thy wan cheek burn like flame; There sits thy glory and thy shame ! * What mean ye that ye beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poorl saiththe Lord God of hosiB.'— Isaiah. Vll. E. L. FOLLEN. What mean ye that ye bruise and bind My people, saith the Lord, And starve your craving brother's mind, That asks to hear my word ? What mean ye that ye make them toil Through long and dreary years, And shed like rain upon your soil Their blood and bitter tears ? What mean ye that ye dare to rend The tender mother's heart ; Brothers from sisters, friend from friend. How dare you bid them part ? What mean ye, when God's bounteous hand To you so much has given, That from the slave who tills your land You keep both earth and heaven ? Prayer for Emancipation . When at the judgment God shall call, Where is thy brotlier ? say, What mean ye to the Judge of all. To answer on that day ? jHontljls OTonccrt of J^rasct* Cor iHman: cipation- VIII. M. W. CHAPMAN. Oh, God of Freedom ! bless, this night,* The steadfast hearts that toil as one, Till thy sure law of truth and right, Alike in heaven and earth, be done. A piercing voice of grief and wrong, Goes upward from the groaning earth ! Oh true and holy Lord ! how long ? In majesty and might come forth ! Yet, Lord, remeobering mercy too, Behold the oppressor in his sin ; Make all his actions just and true, Renew his wayward heart within. ♦ The last Monday night of every month. 22 Prayer of the Liberator, From thee let righteous purpose flow, And find in every heart its home. Till truth and judgment reign below, And here, on earth, thy kingdom come. 33rasrr of tje Hitierator* WESLEY. Steel me to shame, reproach, disgrace ; Arm me with all thine armor now ; Set like a flint my steady face, Harden to adamant my brow. Bold may I wax, exceeding bold. My high commission to perform. Nor shrink the harshest truths to unfold. But more than meet the gathering storm. Adverse to earth's rebellious throng, Still may I turn my fearless face ; Stand as an iron pillar, strong, And steadfast through thy strength'ning grace. Give me thy might, thou God of power, Then, let or men or fiends assail, Strong in thy strength, I'll stand, a tower, Till light and hberty prevail. z. G. W. DOANE. The shades of night are flitting fast, The golden east is streak'd with day, And now O Lord of Hfe and hght, With thankful hearts to thee we pray. KEBLI7. Oh! timely happy, timely wise, Hearts that with rising morn arise !' Eyes that ilie beam celestial view. Which evermore makes all things new ! New every morning is the love Our Widvening and uprising prove; Througli sleep and darkness safely brought. Restored to life, and power, and thought. New mercies, each returning day. Hover around us while we pray ; New perils past, new sins forgiven, New thoughts of God, new hopes of heaven. If on our daily course our mind Be set to hallow all we find, New treasures still, of countless price, God will provide for eucrilicc. 24 Morning, Sinners we are, yet hear us, Lord, And send us freedom, joy and peace; Thy patience to the slave afford, And bid each sin and sorrow cease. Old friends, old scenes, will lovelier be. As more of heaven in each we see: Some softening gleam of love and prayer Shall dawn on every cross and care. Such is the bliss of souls serene, When they have sworn, and steadfast mean, Counting the cost, in all to espy Their God, in all themselves deny. O could we learn that sacrifice. What lights would all around us rise ! How would our hearts with wisdom talk Along life's dullest dreariest walk ! We need not bid, for cloister'd cell. Our neighbor and our work farewell. Nor strive to wind ourselves too high. For sinful man beneath the sky : The trivial round, the common task. Would furnish all we ought to ask ; Room to deny ourselves ; a road To bring us, daily, nearer God. Seek we no more ; content with these. Let present rapture, comfort, ease. As Heaven shall bid them, come and go :— The secret this of reel below. Morning, 25 Grant it eternal Trinity, The Father, Son, and Spirit blessed, Whose glory is, and still shall be, Through all the world with joy confessed. Only, O Lord, in thy dear lore Fit us for perfect rest above ; And help us, this and every day. To live more nearly as we pray. 3 X^vai^tt tot ti)t cSlalJt. XI. WESLEY. O Let the prisoners' mournful sighs, As incense in thy sight appear ! Their humble vvailings pierce the skies, If haply they may feel thee near. The captive exiles make their moans. From sin impatient to be free : Call home, call home thy banished ones ! Lead captive their captivity 1 Out of the deep regard their cries. The fallen raise, the mourners cheer ; O Son of Righteousness arise, And scatter all their doubt and fear ! Stand by them in the fiery hour, Their feebleness of mind defend ; And in their weakness show thy power, And make them patient to the end. Relieve the souls whose cross we bear, For whom thy suffering members mourn: Answer our faitli's effectual prayer ; And break the yoke so meekly borne J Kf)t starcfj for STrutfj- XZI; S. G. BULFINCH. Oh, darkly on the path of life The pilgrim holds his course in strife ; His wandering vision strives in vain The distant prospect to attain ; And Prejudice will rise between, And Doubt's dark clouds enfold the scene. Father of lights ! to thee we pray To chase those clouds of doubt away, Bid lingering Prejudice depart That long has shadowed o'er the heart, And cause thy Truth with ray divine, Upon thy servants' path to shine. Thus when thy sun in glory springs, With morning on his golden wings, The shades retire, the mists of night Recede, and nature smiles in light. And hill and vale, and earth, and sea. Breathe forth their matin song to thee. Prejudice against color is the stone covering the well of the waters of life; and never can they be given freely to the nations until it be removed. — George Thompson. J^atrititisnt antr c^smj)atf)2>* XIIZ. E. M. CHANDLER. Think of our country's glory, All dimm'd with Afric's tears — Her broad flag stained and gory, With the hoarded guilt of years. Think of the frantic mother, Lamenting for her child, Till falling lashes smother Her cries of anguish wild ! Think of the prayers ascending. Yet shrieked, alas ! in vain. When heart from heart is rending. Ne'er to be joined again ! Shall we behold unheeding, Life's holiest feelings crush'd ? When woman's heart is bleeding, Shall woman's voice be hush'd ? Oh, no! by every blessing, That heaven to thee may lend — Remember their oppression, Forget not, sister, friend. XIV. It is the wrongs of Afric's sons We feel, — and would our aid extend Unto the injured suffering ones, Who loudly call us to befriend, 33atviotism ant Ssmjiat^i). E. BAILEY. Ye Christians kings and potentates Wliose sacrilegious leagues have twined Oppression's links around your states, Say — do ye idly hope to bind The fearless heart and thinking mindl When ye can hush the tempest of the deep, Make the volcano in its cavern sleep. Or stop the hymning spheres, ye may control. With sceptered hand, the mighty march of soul. But what are ye 1 and whence your power Above the prostrate world to tower, And lord it all alone 1 What god — what fiend has e'er decreed, That one shall reign, while millions bleed To prop the tyrant's throne 1 Gaze on the ocean, ye would sway : — If from its tranquil breast, the day Shine out in beams as bright and fair As if the heavens were resting there, Ye, in its mirror surface, may 3# 30 Patriotism and Sympathy, When their deep groans ascend on high In piercing heart-wrung agony. See that ye are but men ; But should the angry storm-wind pour Its chaiuless surges to the shore, Like Canute, ye may then A fearful lesson learn, ye ne'er would know. The weakness of a tyrant's power — how low His pride is brought, when like that troubled sea, Men rise in chainless might, determined to be free. And they will rise, who lowly kneel, Crushed by oppression's iron heel. Tliey yet will rise — in such a change as sweeps The face of nature, when the lightning leaps From the dark clouds of night. While Heaven's eternal pillars reel afar, As o'er them rolls the thunderer's flaming car; And in the majesty and might That freedom gives, my country, follow thee In thy career of strength and glorious liberty. As fade the rainbow hues of day. Earth's gorgeous pageants pass away ; Its temples, arches, monuments, must fall ; For time's oblivious hand is on them all. The proudest kings will end their toil, To slumber with the humble dead — Earth's conquerors mingle with the soil. That groaned beneath their iron tread. And all the trophies of their power and guilt. Sink to oblivion with the blood they spilt. But still the everlasting voice of Fame Shall swell in anthems to the Patriofs name. Patriotism and Sympathy. 3l Too long, too long in freedom's land Oppression holds her iron sway, — O rescue from the tyrant's hand His feeble, unresisting prey, Until the voice of Liberty Proclaims that all her sons are free. Who toiled — who lived to bless mankind, and hurled Oppression from tlie throne. Where long she swayed, remorseless and alone. Her scorpion sceptre o'er a shrinking world. And though no sculptured marble guard his dust. Nor ' mouldering urn ' received the hallowed trust. For him a prouder mausoleum towers. That time but strengthens with his storms and showers. The Land he Saved, the empire of the Free — Thy broad and steadfast throne, Triumphant Liberty ! ^f}t t)ouv of Jfvttnom. XV. WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON. The hour of freedom ! come it must O, hasten it in mercy, Heaven ! When all who grovel in the dust, Shall stand erect, their fetters riven ! When glorious freedom shall be won ^y every caste, complexion, clime; When tyranny shall be o'erthrown, And color cease to be a crime ! Friend of the poor—long suffering Lord ! This guilty land from ruin save ! Let Justice sheathe her glittering sword, And Mercy rescue from the grave ! And ye who are like cattle sold, And vilely trodden like the earth, And bartered constantly for gold Your souls debased from their high birth Bear meekly still your cruel woes ; Light follows darkness—comfort, pain : So time shall give you sweet repose, And sever every hateful chain. Te Deuin. 33 Not by the sword your liberty Shall be obtained, in human blood ; Not by revolt or treachery, — Revenge did never bring forth good : God's time is best — 't will not delay — E'en now your cause is blossoming, And rich shall be the fruit: — the day Of your redemption loudly sing ! ^t Btum. xirs. PATRICK. O God, we praise thee, and confess That thou the only Lord, And everlasting Father art, By all the earth adored. STfje