Volume Vi Part 29 (2/2)
And still with years and seas between, To one fond hope he clung-- To see once more, as he had seen, The home he loved when young.
His youthful brow was touch'd with thought, And life had lost its morn, When glad again the wanderer sought The soil where he was born.
Alas! that long expected sh.o.r.e Denied the wonted joy, And the man felt not, as of yore Had felt the happier boy.
For formal friends scarce grasp'd his hand-- The friends he knew of old; What cared he for a sunny land, If human hearts were cold?
Again he cast his alter'd lot 'Mid alien tribes to roam; And fail'd to find another spot So foreign as his home.
His heavy grief no bosom shared, No eye would weep his fall; What matter if _his_ life were spared, Who lived unloved by all!
And when had ceased his earthly toil Upon that distant sh.o.r.e, His bones were gather'd to the soil-- His heart had died before.
JOHN BATHURST d.i.c.kSON.
An able theologian and accomplished writer of verses, John Bathurst d.i.c.kson was born on the 25th December 1823, in the town of Kelso, Roxburghs.h.i.+re. His father was a respectable writer or attorney in that place. Having studied at the University of Edinburgh, and pa.s.sed through a theological curriculum at the New College of that city, he became, in 1851, a licentiate of the Free Church. In June 1852, he was ordained to the ministerial charge of the Free High Church, Paisley.
During the period of his attendance at college, Mr d.i.c.kson was an extensive contributor to _Tait's Magazine_, and different religious periodicals. In 1855, he published ”Theodoxia; or, Glory to G.o.d an Evidence for the Truth of Christianity;” and in 1857 appeared from his pen ”The Temple Lamp,” a periodical publication. He has written verses on a variety of topics. His song, ”The American Flag,” has been widely published in the United States.
THE AMERICAN FLAG.
Float forth, thou flag of the free; Flash far over land and sea, Proud ensign of Liberty-- Hail, hail to thee!
The blue of the heavens is thine, The stars on thy canvas s.h.i.+ne; Thy heraldry tells thee divine-- Hail, hail to thee!
Thy white proclaims thee unstain'd, Thy crimson thy love unfeign'd To man, by despots enchain'd-- Hail, hail to thee!
Under thy G.o.d-given light Our fathers went forth to fight 'Gainst sceptred wrong for the right-- Hail, hail to thee!
The Lion of England no more 'Gainst thy proud Eagle shall roar: Peace strideth from sh.o.r.e to sh.o.r.e-- Hail, hail to thee!
Float forth, thou flag of the free-- Flash far over land and sea, Till the world shout, Liberty-- Hail, hail to thee!
EVAN M'COLL.
A writer both of English and Gaelic songs, Evan M'Coll was born in 1808, at Kenmore, Lochfineside, Argylls.h.i.+re. His father, Dugald M'Coll, followed an industrial occupation, but contrived to afford his son a somewhat liberal education. The leisure hours of the youthful poet were ardently devoted to literary culture. In 1837, he became a contributor of Gaelic poetry to a Glasgow periodical, and his compositions began to excite an interest in the Highlands. Two influential Highland gentlemen secured him an appointment in the Customs at Liverpool. He subsequently emigrated to America, and is now resident at Kingston.
Besides many fugitive pieces, Mr M'Coll has published a volume of lyrics, ent.i.tled ”The Mountain Minstrel,” and a volume of Gaelic poetry.
A specimen of his Gaelic minstrelsy will be found among the translations at the end of the present volume.
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