Missouri

BY MISS E. R. SNOW.

What aileth thee, Oh! Missouri! that thy face should gather blackness, and why are thy features so terribly distorted?

Rottenness has seized upon thy vitals-corruption is preying upon thy inward parts, and the breath of thy lips is full of destructive contagion.

What meaneth thy shaking, and why art thou terrified? Thou hast become like Belshazzar. Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin,' is indeed written against thee; but it is the work of thine own hand-the characters upon thy wall, are of thine own inscription, and wherefore dost thou tremble?

Wouldst thou know the interpretation thereof? Hast thou sought for a Daniel to declare it unto thee? Verily, one greater than a Daniel was in thy midst; but thou hast butchered the saints, and hast hunted the prophets like Ahab of old.

Thou hast extinguished the light of thy own glory-thou hast plucked from thy head the crown of honor-thou hast divested thyself of the robe of respectability-thou hast thrust from thine own bosom, the veins that flowed with virtue and integrity.

Thou hast violated the laws of our sacred constitution-thou hast unsheathed the sword against thy dearest national rights, by rising up against thine own citizens, and moistening thy soil with the blood of those that legally inherited it.

When thou hadst torn from helpless innocence its rightful protectors, thou didst pollute the holy sanctuary of female virtue, and barbarously trample upon the most sacred gems of domestic felicity!

Therefore, the daughters of Columbia count thee a reproach, and blush with indignation at the mention of thy name.

Thou hast become an ignominious stain on the escutcheon of a noble, free and independent Republic-thou art a stink in the nostrils of the Goddess of Liberty.

Thou art fallen-thou art fallen beneath the weight of thine own unhallowed deeds, and thine iniquities are pressing as a heavy load upon thee.

But although thy glory has departed-though thou hast gone down like a star that is set forever; thy memory will not be erased-thou wilt be had in remembrance even until the saints of God shall forget that the way to the celestial kingdom is 'through great tribulation.'

Though thou shouldst be severed from the body of the union, like a mortified member-though the lion from the thicket should devour thee up; thy doings will be perpetuated; mention will be made of them by the generations to come.

Thou art already associated with Herod, Nero and the 'bloody Inquisition'-thy name has become synonymous with oppression, cruelty, treachery and murder.

Thou wilt rank high with the haters of righteousness and the shedders of innocent blood-the hosts of tyrants are waiting beneath to meet thee at thy coming.

O ye wise legislators! Ye executives of the nation! Ye distributors of justice! Ye advocates of equal rights! Arise and redress the wrongs of an innocent people, and redeem the cause of insulted liberty.

Let not the contagious spirit of corruption wither the sacred wreath that encircles you, and spread a cloud of darkness over the glory of your star spangled banner.

Lest the monarchs of the earth should have you in derision-lest you should be weighed in the balance with the heathen nations, and should be found wanting.

Lest the arm of the Lord should be revealed in judgment against you-lest an arrow of vengeance from the Almighty should pierce the rotten fabric of a once sheltering constitution, and your boasted confidence become like an oak dismembered of its branches, whose shattered trunk is torn piecemeal by the uprising of the tempest.

For the cries of the widow and fatherless-the groans of the oppressed, and the prayers of the suffering exile, have come up before the Lord God of Hosts, who brought our pilgrim fathers across the boisterous ocean, and raised up a Washington to break the yoke of foreign oppression.

Morely Settlement, Jan. 1844