In his last will Washington ordered the emancipation of his slaves; so also did John Randolph. Patrick Henry declared, that the principle of slavery is "as repugnant to humanity, as it is inconsistent with the Bible, and destructive to liberty." Mr. Jefferson said in his Notes on Virginia, in reference to the holding of slaves, "I tremble for my country, when I remember, that God is just!" If the leading minds of the South should adopt the sentiments of these illustrious Virginians, it will next be their proper business to devise and execute the best method for giving to their slaves the blessings of freedom.
[Sonnet 27.] Dr. Cotton Mather of Boston, published in Boston 141 years ago a new Version of the Psalms from the Hebrew into English blank verse,—so called from the absence of rhyme,—the measure of the lines being adapted to the music in vogue. Melancthon said of the Psalms, "It is the most elegant work extant in the world." Jewell wrote to Peter Martyr in 1560, that 6,000 people sung the Psalms together at St. Paul's Cross in London. The following is his version of the 23d Psalm:
"1.My shepherd is the Eternal God;
I shall not be in (any) want:
2.In pastures of a tender grass
He (ever) makes me to lie down:
To waters of tranquillities
He gently carries me (along.)
3.My feeble and my wandering soul