Page:Poems written during the progress of the abolition question in the United States.djvu/62



'The patriarchal institution of slavery.'—Gov.

of Carolina!—hail! Last champion of Oppression's battle! Lord of rice-tierce and cotton-bale! Of sugar-box and human cattle! Around thy temples, green and dark, Thy own tobacco-wreath reposes— Thyself, a brother Patriarch Of Isaac, Abraham, and Moses! Why not?—Their household rule is thine— Like theirs, thy bondmen feel its rigor; And thine, perchance, as concubine, Some swarthy prototype of Hagar. Why not?—Like those good men of old, The priesthood is thy chosen station; Like them thou payest thy rites to gold— And Aaron's calf of Nullification.