The Lords of Labour.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 402, 14 September 1889, Page 3

The Lords of Labour.

[In a recent speech a,b Newcasble-on-Tyne John Modey- referretl 'tb fclie leaders of the workinprmen who. have , tried to ameliorate the condition of their fellows as Athe plain; r«S3et-coated- captains,' as the X ' lords of labour,' and quoted a. couplet or two from the following fine- poem by James McFarlan, a Scotch vorkingman the soul ofa bard, who died of consumption in London in 1826 after a somewhat erratic and checquered career.] Thoy come! they come in a gloria us march, You can hear their steam steeds neigh. As they dash through skill's triumphal arch, Or plunge mid the dancing spray. Their bale lives blaze in the mighty forge, Their life-pulse throbs in the mill. Their lightnings shiver the gaping gorge, And, their thunders shake the hill. Ho ! these are the Titans of toil and trade— The heroes who \\ ield no sabre ; But mighticrconquesis raipeth the blade That is borne by tho Lords of Labour. Brave hearts like jewels light the sod, Through the mists of commerce shino, And souls flush out like stars of <3od , From the midnight of the'minc. No palace is theirs, no castle great ; No princely, pillared hall ; But they well can laugh at. the roofs of state, 'Neath the heaven -which is over all, Ho ! these are the Titans of toil and trade, etc. Each bares his arm for the ringing strife That marshals the sons of the soil, And the sweat-drops shed in their battle of life Arc gems in the crown of toil : And prouder their well-won wreaths, I trow, Than laurels with life-blood wet, And nobler the arch of a bare bold brow Than the clasp of a coronet. Than hurrah for each hero, althoughhis deed Be unblown by the, trump or tabor; For holier, happier far is the meed That crowneth tho Lords of Labour. "Pall Mall Budget."