The following stanzas, written by a friend some time since, on the fourth of July, exhibit these contrasts so forcibly, that we cannot do better than insert them here:-- Loud peal of bells and beat of drums Salute approaching dawn; And the deep cannon's fearful bursts Announce a nation's morn. Imposing ranks of freemen stand And claim their proud birthright; Impostors, rather! thus to brand A name they hold so bright. Let the day see the pageant show; Float, banners, to the breeze! Shout Liberty's great name throughout Columbia's lands and seas! Give open sunlight to the free; But for Truth's equal sake, When night sinks down upon the land, Proclaim dead Freedom's wake! Beat, muffled drums! Toll, funeral bell Nail every flag half-mast; For though we fought the battle well, We're traitors at the last. Let the whole nation join in one Procession to appear; We and our sons lead on the front, Our slaves bring up the rear. America is rocked within Thy cradle, Liberty, By Africa's poor, palsied hand-- Strange inconsistency! We've dug one grave as deep as Death, For Tyranny's black sin; And dug another at its side To thrust our brother in. We challenge all the world aloud,-- "Lo, Tyranny's deep grave!" And all the world points back and cries, "Thou fool! Behold thy slave!" Yes, rally, brave America, Thy noble hearts and free Around the Eagle, as he soars Upward in majesty. One half thy emblem is the bird, Out-facing thus the day; But wouldst thou make him wholly thine,-- _Give him a helpless prey!_ This should be sung in Charleston at nine o'clock in the evening, when the drums are heard proclaiming "dead Freedom's wake," as they summon to their homes, or to the custody of the police, every human being with a black skin who is found walking without a pass from a white. Or it might have been sung to advantage the night after Charleston had shown her independence and care of domestic institutions by expulsion of the venerable envoy of Massachusetts! Its expression would seem even more forcible than now, when sung so near the facts, when the eagle soars so close above his prey.