Shall sever no more from human-kind. Toil, brothers, toil, till the world is free, The time has come when kingly crown Toil, brothers, toil, till the world is free, The time shall come when earth shall be A garden of joy, from sea to sea, When the slaughterous sword is drawn no more, And goodness exults from shore to shore. Toil, brothers, toil, till the world is free, THE BARONS BOLD WILLIAM JOHNSON FOX THE Chartists were not satisfied with the measure of representation accorded the people by the Reform Act of 1832 and demanded manhood suffrage. On April 6, 1848, twenty-five thousand men assembled on Kennington Common, south of the Thames, determined to carry to the House of Commons a monster petition that the Charter should immediately be granted. The magistrates were greatly alarmed and made elaborate preparations for the defence of the city. The Chartists were unarmed and dared not meet the troops, so the great demonstration came to nothing. But suffrage has since been given to every householder in town and country alike, and the people have to-day sufficient influence in the House of Commons to carry any measure for which they make a united demand. The Barons bold on Runnymede By union won their charter; True men were they, prepar'd to bleed, And they prov'd that freedom's cause The memory Of those Barons brave united; And like their band, Join hand to hand: Our wrongs shall soon be righted. The Commons brave, in Charles's time, Then honour we The memory Of those Commons brave, united; And like their band, Join hand to hand: Our wrongs shall soon be righted. The People firm, from Court and Peers, By union won Reform, sirs, And, union safe, the nation steers Through sunshine and through storm, sirs: Shall prevail o'er lordlings' words, The victory Of the people brave, united; Join hearts and hands: Our wrongs shall all be righted. THE CRY OF THE CHILDREN ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING THE invention of machinery and the building of great factories made the employment of children profitable, and many a father sent his boys and girls to work before they were old enough to endure the strain. There was at first no limit set to the number of hours the children might be kept at work or to the tasks that might be required of them. The suffering of the factory operatives was finally brought to the attention of Parliament, and laws for the protection of women and children were passed. Mrs. Browning's poem did much to rouse public feeling in behalf of the little toilers. Do ye hear the children weeping, O my brothers, They are leaning their young heads against their mothers, And that cannot stop their tears. The young lambs are bleating in the meadows, The young fawns are playing with the shadows, They are weeping in the playtime of the others, Do you question the young children in the sorrow, The old man may weep for his to-morrow The old tree is leafless in the forest, Weeping sore before the bosoms of their mothers, They look up with their pale and sunken faces, For the man's hoary anguish draws and presses "Your old earth," they say, "is very dreary; Ask the aged why they weep, and not the children; And we young ones stand without, in our bewildering, And the graves are for the old. "True," say the children, "it may happen. Little Alice died last year- her grave is shapen We looked into the pit prepared to take her. If you listen by that grave, in sun and shower, With your ear down, little Alice never cries. Could we see her face, be sure we should not know her, For the smile has time for growing in her eyes. And merry go her moments, lulled and stilled in The shroud by the kirk-chime! It is good when it happens," say the children, Alas, alas, the children! they are seeking They are binding up their hearts away from breaking, Go out, children, from the mine and from the city, |