The Aged Negro, by J. W. H. Pritchard
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Intended to express the feelings of a Christian Slave, on finding that the period fixed for complete Emancipation was too distant for him to expect to participate in its benefits.
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The dream of Liberty is past!
The vision bright is o'er!
And long as feeble life shall last,
I now must hope no more
To seize the boon, I claim by right,
And break the chain of bondage quite.
Father of Spirits! though oppressed,
To Thee I bow resigned,
And calm the anguish of my breast --
The fever of my mind.
For Thou with pitying eye dost see,
The smarting Negro's agony.
'Tis not on Thee I charge the wrong;
Thy justice I revere;
Nor shall reproach e'er from my tongue
Reach e'en th' oppressor's ear;
For Thou hast taught me how to bear
The hardest lot that waits me here.
Thanks to Thy name! Thy love has wrought
Salvation for the Slave:
Thy Son has full redemption bought,
And died, my soul to save
From sin's worse bondage, and the chains
Of death, and hell's eternal pains.
Then let me not repine again,
As though I were not free,
For though the brand may yet remain,
A Slave I will not be.
A Slave! and all my fetters riven!
A Child! a Son! an Heir of Heaven!
Oh! now a brighter vision breaks
Through Truth's resplendent beam,
Th' emancipated spirit wakes,
And finds it not a dream;
And sings exulting, joyful, freed,
"Whom Christ makes free is free indeed!"
J. W. H. Pritchard.
Attercliffe.