Anti-Slavery Poems and Songs of Labor and Reform, Complete

HYMN

     As children of Thy gracious care,
     We veil the eye, we bend the knee,
     With broken words of praise and prayer,
     Father and God, we come to Thee.

     For Thou hast heard, O God of Right,
     The sighing of the island slave;
     And stretched for him the arm of might,
     Not shortened that it could not save.
     The laborer sits beneath his vine,
     The shackled soul and hand are free;
     Thanksgiving! for the work is Thine!
     Praise! for the blessing is of Thee!

     And oh, we feel Thy presence here,
     Thy awful arm in judgment bare!
     Thine eye bath seen the bondman's tear;
     Thine ear hath heard the bondman's prayer.
     Praise! for the pride of man is low,
     The counsels of the wise are naught,
     The fountains of repentance flow;
     What hath our God in mercy wrought?