stolen money of the nation shall be refunded; when hostile artillery
shall be with-drawn from the lower banks of the Mississippi; when the
flag of thirteen stripes and thirty-four stars shall float again over
Sumter, over New Orleans, over every arsenal that has seen it insulted,
over Mount Vernon and the American dust of Washington, over every State
Capitol and along the whole coast and border line of Texas; when every
man within the present limits of the immense republic shall have
restored to him the right of pride in the American Navy, and of
representation on common terms in the National Capitol, and of
citizenship on the whole continent; when leading traitors shall have
been punished, and the Constitution vindicated in its unsectional
beneficence, and the doctrine of secession be stabbed with two hundred
thousand bayonet wounds, and trampled to rise no more, - then the debate
between Mr. Calhoun and Mr. Webster will be completed, the swarthy
spirit of the great defender of the Constitution will triumph, and a
restored, peaceful, majestic, irresistible America will dignify and
consecrate his name forever."

"A restored, peaceful, majestic, irresistible America," - this was the
vision that nerved King to herculean labor, to a most real martyrdom.
Condemned to the slow suicide of over-work, he gave his life a conscious
offering to freedom. "What a year to live in," he writes, "worth all
other times ever known in our history or any other." Again, - "I should
be broken down if I had time to think how I feel. I am beginning to look
old, and shall break before my prime."

Why is the song so sweet, and why does it move us so strangely? The
singer's heart is breaking. Why is the word so effective? It is laden
with love and winged with sacrifice. A man is dying that others may live
in verity, not longer in shadow; a hero is suffering crucifixion that