“What music! The first measures of the anthem have been performed in plaintive preludes, outsighing for years, in tedious time, by the weary bondmen of the cotton-fields. Now comes the bold, loud bass, majestic as the march of the whirlwind, introducing the discord of rattling muskets, and anon the rumbling thunder-roar of artillery and the neighing of war-horses. And hark! for an alto, the striking and flashing of swords, the cheers of the victors, the screams of the wounded, and the groans of the dying! But still the sweet ringing melody sounds on high in octaves of glory, like the trill of a freed bird, and as exultant as the angels’ song over the Bethlehem hills before the day-dawn; soon the chorus-bar shall be reached and crossed, for the Omnipotent beats the time in downward and upward suns; then the mournful minor strains shall cease, the hoarse bass shall be keyed anew for very joy, and the heavenly soprano of peace, sung by angels and sainted choirs above, shall blend with the glad voices of a freed and shouting multitude in one rapturous burst of accord,
‘Sound the loud timbrel o’er Egypt’s dark sea—
Jehovah hath triumphed—his people are free!’
Who will be afraid, since God rules? Only believe, and all will be well.
“Rather let us rejoice aloud and praise the Lord! For now a better day is dawning upon our own dear native land. These sweet summer mornings, with their blessed, balmy breezes, breathe and beam it. The birds warble it. The rain patters it. The flowers nod it. The leaves laugh it. The sun is rising that shall flash it in one blaze of glory the rolling globe around! ‘Be not afraid—only believe.’ ‘Amen; so let it be.’ The infamous slave trade, and the scarcely less infamous institution of American slavery, God is crushing out of this land for ever—thanks be to His name! Soon our poor shall have the gospel preached to them. Soon shall eyes that have looked so long through tears to a tyrant master’s frown, see their prison-bands severed in pieces, to fall in tingling music at their feet. Soon shall the illiterate slave be taught to read, in silent meditation, or aloud to his children, the simple story of a Saviour’s love. Soon shall the hearts that have sickened at the selling of kindred flesh for gold, bound and beat to the welcome, ‘Come, come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.’
“The Almighty Deliverer is working now and, as in the days of his incarnation, there are men now who desire in their hearts that God would leave the country. They think Him unable to pay for the loss of the herds. Men will not believe it; but the Almighty Deliverer works. Glory to God! Underneath our cause are the Everlasting Arms; and side by side with the heroic soldier, as he walks to war, the Lord is marching on! Again and again let it ring—let Southern hills the echo sound,
‘Sound the loud timbrel o’er Egypt’s dark sea—
Jehovah hath triumphed—HIS PEOPLE ARE FREE!’
“Be not afraid to come out, and speak out for freedom. Only believe that the Lord will grant it. Already it comes—the victorious march of the Almighty! The nation’s capital He has freed and blessed, and foundationed on consecrated ground. The very flowers must yield a richer fragrance there. The feathered choristers that hop among the elms in the yards and gardens there, so early in the morning, must strike higher, gladder notes of praise. Now Washington is safe. Let the conquest circle the Republic until the waves of the Gulf and the rippling Rio Grande shall lave the soil of liberty.”