Page:The Spirit of the Nation.djvu/34

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I.

'Tis a great day, and glorious, O Public! for you—

This October Fifteenth, Eighteen Forty and Two!

For on this day of days, lo! comes forth,

To commence its career of Wit, Wisdom, and Worth—

To give Genius its due—to do battle with Wrong—

And achieve things undreamed of as yet, save in song,

Then arise! fling aside your dark mantle of slumber,

And welcome in chorus.

II.

Here we are, thanks to Heaven, in an epoch when Mind

Is unfettering our captives and couching our blind;

And the Press with its thunders keeps marring the mirth

Of those tyrants and bigots that curse our fair earth.

Be it ours to stand forth and contend in the van,

Of truth's legions for freedom, that birthright of man,

Shaking off the dull cobwebs that else might encumber

Our weapon—the pen—in.

III.

We announce a New Era—be this our first news—

When the serf-grinding Landlords shall shake in their shoes;

While the ark of a bloodless yet migthy Reform

Shall emerge from the flood of the Popular Storm!

Well we know how the lickspittle panders to Power,

Feel and fear the approach of that death-dealing hour;

But we toss these aside—such vile vagabond lumber

Are but just worth a groan from.

IV.

Though we take not for motto, Nul n'a de l'esprit,

(As they once did in Paris) hors nos bons amis,

We may boast that for first-rate endowments, our band

Form a phalanx unmatched in—or out of—the land.