Contents -Volume INDEX -AUTHOR INDEX -BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

Stedman and Hutchinson, comps. A Library of American Literature:
An Anthology in Eleven Volumes. 1891.
Vols. IX–XI: Literature of the Republic, Part IV., 1861–1889

Liberty for All

By William Lloyd Garrison (1805–1879)

THEY tell me, Liberty! that in thy name

I may not plead for all the human race,

That some are born to bondage and disgrace,—

So, to a heritage of woe and shame,—

And some to power supreme, and glorious fame:

With my whole soul I spurn the doctrine base

And, as an equal brotherhood, embrace

All people, and for all fair freedom claim!

Know this, O man! whate’er thy earthly fate—

God never made a tyrant nor a slave:

Woe, then, to those who dare to desecrate

His glorious image—for to all He gave

Eternal rights which none may violate;

And by a mighty hand the oppressed He yet shall save!