to follerin' where the Prophets beckoned,
An', fust you knowed on, back come Charles the Second;
Now wut I want's to hev all _we_ gain stick,
An' not to start Millennium too quick;
We hain't to punish only, but to keep,
An' the cure's gut to go a cent'ry deep."--
"Wal, milk-an'-water ain't a good cement,"
Sez he, "an' so you 'll find it in th' event;
Ef reshness venters sunthin', shilly-shally
Loses ez often wut's ten times the vally.
Thet exe of ourn, when Charles's neck gut split,
Opened a gap thet ain't bridged over yit:
Slav'ry's your Charles, the Lord hez gin the exe,"--
"Our Charles," sez I, "hez gut eight million necks.
The hardest question ain't the black man's right,--
The trouble is to'mancipate the white;
One's chained in body an' can be sot free,--
The other's chained in soul to an idee:
It's a long job, but we shall worry thru it;
Ef bag'nets fail, the spellin'-book must do it."--
"Hosee," sez he, "I think you 're goin' to fail:
The rettlesnake ain't dangerous in the tail;
This 'ere rebellion's nothin' but the rettle,--
You 'll stomp on thet an' think you 've won the bettle;
It's Slavery thet's the fangs an' thinkin' head,
An' ef you want selvation, cresh it dead,--
An' crash it suddin, or you 'll larn by waitin'
Thet Chance wun't stop to listen to debatin'!"--
"God's truth!" sez I,--"an' ef _I_ held the club,
An' knowed jes' where to strike,--but there's the rub!"--
"Strike soon," sez he, "or you 'll be deadly ailin',--
Folks thet's afeared to fail are sure o' failin';
God hates your sneakin' creturs thet believe
He 'II settle things they run away an' leave!"
He brought his foot down fercely, ez he spoke,
An' give me sech a startle thet I woke.

End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 9, No. 56,
June, 1862, by Various

*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ATLANTIC MONTHLY, NO. 56 ***

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