CHARLES MACKAY.

Otago Witness, Issue 1926, 15 January 1891, Page 33

CHARLES MACKAY.

POET-JOUBNALIST In a lonely domicile on the southern shore of the Firth of Forth, near the little fishing village of Newhaven, Charles Mackay, journalist and po«t, was born in 1812. In a career extending over a little more than the "allotted span" his trenchant pen was soarcely aver Idl«. When a boy he was passionately fond of fairy tales ; but with advancing years he evinced a taste for poetry and mathematics. When only 30 years of age he published his first volume of poetry. With this literary effort the editor of the Morning Chronicle was so delighted that he invited Maokay to jrfn his staff. This he was pleased to do, and worked on that journal nine years, one of his confreres being Charles Dickens. It was during this period he published many charming poetical effusions. The fine— perhaps the finestpoem given to the world at that time was entitled " Eternal Justice " :— The man is thought a knave or fool, Or bigot, blotting crime, Who, for the advancement of his kind, Is wiser than his time. For him the hemlock shall distil — For him the axe be bared— For him the gibbet shall be built, For him the stake prepared I Him shall the scorn and wrath of man Pursue with deadly aim, And malice, envy, spite, and lies Shall desecrate his name ; But truth shall conquer at the last, As round and round we run — The right shall yet come uppermost, And justice shall be done. Face through thy cell, old Socrates, Cheerily to and fro ; Trust to the impulse of thy soul, And let the poison flow. They may shatter to earth the lamp of clay That holds a light divine, But they cannot quench the fire of thought By any such deadly wine. They oannot blot tby spoken wordo From the memory of 'man, By all the poison ever was brew'd Since time its course began ; To-day abhorred, to-morrow adored, So round and round we run, And ever the truth comes uppermost. And ever is justice done. Plod in thy cave, grey anchorite, Be wiser than thy peers, Augument the range of human power, And trust to coming years. They may call thee wizurd, and monk accursed, And load thee with dispraise ; Tbow wert born five hundred years too soon For the comfort of thy days ; But not too soon for humankind, Time hath reward instore, And the demons of our sires become The saints that we adore. The blind can see, the slave is lord, So round and round we run, And ever the wrong is proved to be wrong;, And ever is justioe done. Keep, Galileo, to tby thought, And nerve thy soul to bear ; They may gloat o'er the senseless words they wring From the pangs of thy despair ; They may veil their eyes, but they oannot hide The sun's meridian glow ; The heel of a priest may tread thee down, And a tryant work thee woe ; But never a truth has been desfcroy'd, They may curse it and call it a crime; Pervert and betray, or slander and slay, Its teachers for a time ; But the sunshine, aye, shall light the sky, Ai round and round we run, And the truth shall ever come uppermost, And justice shall be done, And live there now such men as these — With thoughts like the great of old ? Many have died in their misery. And left their thought untold ; And many live, and are rnnk'd as mad, And placed in the cold world's fcan For sending their bright fRr-seeing souls Three centuries in the van. They toil in penury and grief, Unknown, if not malign'd 1 Forlorn, forlorn, hearing the scorn Of the meanest of mankind 1 But yet the world goes round and round, And the genial seasons run, And ever the truth comes uppermost, And ever is justice done. Such honest, vigorous, soul-stirring words have yet have to be surpassed. They are born from the soul to the soul, filling it with healthful vigour. The watchward of Mackay was the betterment of the condition of the oppressed, in whose behalf he valiantly fought with the nen, believing it to be mightier than the sword. From his earliest years he had a profound hatred of oppression and injustice and a kindly sympathy with good— a characteristic that distinguished the whole of his after career, whioh terminated in 1889. To make life appear worth living to those who felt weary of 16 was the mission he nobly performed. The poet-journalist has greatly enriobed our literature. " He being dead yet apeaketh." — Hmil S., in the Leeds Mercury.