I photocopied this from a broadside in Oldham library. No tune was suggested. It speaks to me even now CHARTIST HYMN The feathered songsters of the grove From bough to bough unfettered rove, The prowling wolf, the timid hare, Alike the sweets of Freedom share. The Lion with majestic mane, scours freely o'er the desert plain; Search nature through her works we find 'Tis man alone enslaves his kind. But this is not high heaven's decree It wills that all should happy be,- Birds, beasts, sun, moon, earth, sea & air, All, all the glorious truth declare, God ne'er ordained such useless things As silly queens, or tyrant kings A nation trembling at their nod Can never be the will of God. Then let us from our slumbers wake, Our manacles assunder (sic) break, Nor rest till we our Charter gain, And all our long lost rights obtain. O'CONNOR still our cause sustains, Still struggles to remove our chains. Come aid him in the glorious cause, Of Equal Rights and Equal Laws. Our Charter gained, we will rejoice, And with one loud spontaneous voice, Swell the glad sound from sea to sea Our country and her sons are free.
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