Explore "Expostulation" by John Greenleaf Whittier on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
Dr. Charles Follen, a German patriot, who had come to America for the freedom which was denied him in his native land, allied himself with the abolitionists, and at a convention of delegates from all the anti- slavery organizations in New England, held at Boston in May, 1834, was chairman of a committee to prepare an address to the people of New England. Toward the close of the address occurred the passage which suggested these lines. "The despotism which our fathers could not bear in their native country is expiring, and the sword of justice in her reformed hands has applied its exterminating edge to slavery. Shall the United States -- the free United States, which could not bear the bonds of a king -- cradle the bondage which a king is abolishing? Shall a Republic be less free than a Monarchy? Shall we, in the vigor and buoyancy of our manhood, be less energetic in righteousness than a kingdom in its age? " -- Dr. Follen's Address.
"Genius of America! -- Spirit of our free institutions! -- where art thou? How art thou fallen, O Lucifer! son of the morning, -- how art thou fallen from Heaven! Hell from beneath is moved for thee, to meet thee at thy coming! The kings of the earth cry out to thee, Aha! Aha! Art thou become like unto us? " -- Speech of Samuel J. May.