So he grew up, a destined work to do,
And lived to do it; four long-suffering years'
Ill-fate, ill-feeling, ill-report lived through,
And then he heard the hisses change to cheers,
The taunts to tribute, the abuse to praise,
And took both with the same unwavering mood:
Till, as he came on light from darkling days
And seemed to touch the goal from where he stood,
A felon hand, between the goal and him,
Reached from behind his back, a trigger prest—
And those perplexed and patient eyes were dim,
Those gaunt, long-laboring limbs were laid to rest.
The words of mercy were upon his lips,
Forgiveness in his heart and on his pen,
When this vile murderer brought swift eclipse
To thoughts of peace on earth, good will to men.
The Old World and the New, from sea to sea,
Utter one voice of sympathy and shame!
Sore heart, so stopped when it at last beat high,
Sad life, cut short just as its triumph came.
A deed accurst! Strokes have been struck before
By the assassin's hand, whereof men doubt
If more of horror or disgrace they bore;
But thy foul crime, like Cain's, stands darkly out.
Vile hand, that brandest murder on a strife,
Whate'er its grounds, stoutly and nobly striven;
And with the martyr's crown crownest a life
With much to praise, little to be forgiven!
From that time forward Punch took seriously to heart the lesson he had taught himself, and his relations with Brother Jonathan were thereafter of a very different and a far more cordial kind. of a very different and a far more cordial kind.
That these verses made a profound impression in the United States is undoubted. It has even been opined that they were largely instrumental in preventing an imminent war between Great Britain and the United States.
Perhaps the effect would have been less if we on this side had known how grudgingly the amende was offered. Mr. A. H. Layard in his recent "Life of Shirley Brooks" has invited us to take a peep behind the Punch curtain. He shows that the editorial staff of the paper was divided in the matter, Shirley Brooks leading the opposition against the publication of the poem. In Brooks' diary Mr. Layard discovered the following entry:—