Of old it was thy boast that men were free
To think, to speak, to meet, to come and go.
What meaneth then the gibbet and the gag
Held up to Labour’s sons who would not see
Fair Freedom but a mask—a hollow show?
Oct. 7, 1887.
TO THE PRISONERS OF LIBERTY
JOHN BURNS AND R. B. CUNNINGHAM GRAHAM, WHO SUFFERED FOR A BRAVE ATTEMPT TO MAINTAIN THE RIGHT OF FREE SPEECH AND PUBLIC MEETING IN TRAFALGAR SQUARE.
WHAT robe of honour doth the prison hide,