There was once at least, however, when he waited for no such self-criticism, when the spirit moved him so strongly that it swept away all but the emotion it kindled in his heart—there was once, at least, that it was “easy writing” for him so far as the flowing of his pen was concerned, which could not go fast enough to keep pace with the rush of his thoughts—although, no doubt, he paid by days of headache for the all but involuntary toil of his spirit. It was when he wrote his paean for the passage through Congress of the Constitutional Amendment abolishing slavery.
That morning the poet came home from the Fifth Day (Thursday) meeting of the Friends, his eyes large with excitement—as one who saw him told the writer—and, as if the thought in his heart and the words on his lips were too overwhelming to be true, he cried:
“What are the bells ringing for? The flags are up—and away up!”
Then when there was no longer question as to the meaning of the flags and the bells, he sat down at his desk and wrote like one inspired—as, indeed, he was. I think his biographer tells, as did also one in the house, that there was no walking back and forth in the room, as was often the case when he was writing, but the words flowed upon the paper as fast as his pen could move.
When the poem was written, it was sent to the publisher with scarcely a revision.
Meanwhile, in his own town, as people with moist eyes and glad hearts listened to the bells of freedom, they said one to another:
Whittier is writing a poem!
Thus was “Laus Deo!” born.
XXII
When George MacDonald came to America upon his lecture tour and brought with him his wife and son, he consented to give his lecture in Amesbury, although the lecture committee there could by no means pay him his price. But the fact that Whittier had invited him while in Amesbury to be his guest more than compensated for the meagerness of financial rewards. In truth, it was often the case that the hospitality of the poet compensated for the poverty of the lecture bureau, and the Amesbury lyceum had speakers of far higher ability than its own funds could have supplied.