The Set Time, by John Holland
At length -- O glorious hope! the time is set,
When the longshackled slave shall go forth Free;
When the great year of Negro Jubilee
Shall cancel -- and for ever, that foul debt,
Of which, O shame! shame! shame! Britannia held --
For centuries held, the bloody mortgage deeds:
Haste Freedom's year, for Mercy's bosom bleeds,
Till this unrighteous strife with Heaven be quelled.
The time is set -- Philanthropy unites
With Piety, that coming day to greet,
When the freed Black, at his Redeemer's feet,
Shall with the white man kneel: sight of all sights
Desired so long: how bright the glimpse appears,
To saints' and patriots' eye through intervening years!
John Holland.
Sheffield.