The Emancipation Group

Amidst thy sacred effigies     Of old renown give place,     O city, Freedom-loved! to his     Whose hand unchained a race.     Take the worn frame, that rested not     Save in a martyr's grave;     The care-lined face, that none forgot,     Bent to the kneeling slave.     Let man be free! The mighty word     He spake was not his own;     An impulse from the Highest stirred     These chiselled lips alone.     The cloudy sign, the fiery guide,     Along his pathway ran,     And Nature, through his voice, denied     The ownership of man.     We rest in peace where these sad eyes     Saw peril, strife, and pain;     His was the nation's sacrifice,     And ours the priceless gain.     O symbol of God's will on earth     As it is done above!     Bear witness to the cost and worth     Of justice and of love.     Stand in thy place and testify     To coming ages long,     That truth is stronger than a lie,     And righteousness than wrong