England and America—1863 a machine-readable transcription R. J. Weir Elizabeth Lorang Kristen Treen transcription and encoding Kristen Treen R. J. Weir Elizabeth Lorang nas.18640416.4 cwnewspaperpoetry Scholarly Editing: The Annual of the Association for Documentary Editing
http://www.scholarlyediting.org
Association for Documentary Editing University of Nebraska–Lincoln Center for Digital Research in the Humanities
319 Love Library University of Nebraska–Lincoln Lincoln, NE 68588-4100 http://cdrh.unl.edu
2012

Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/). Derivatives must be credited to R. J. Weir and Elizabeth Lorang, made available non-commercially, and distributed under the same terms.

 Scholarly Editing: The Annual of the Association for Documentary Editing editor Amanda Gailey editor Andrew Jewell 34 2167-1257 Richard Monckton Milnes England and America—1863 National Anti-Slavery Standard 16 April 1864 [4] The microfilm copy used for transcription was loaned by Northwestern University. <imprint> <date sameAs="#issue_date"/> </imprint> </monogr> </biblStruct> </sourceDesc> </fileDesc> <encodingDesc> <p>This electronic text is a semi-diplomatic transcription of the source text. Hyphenation, punctuation, variant spellings, and errors present in the source text have been retained. The transcription does not attempt to capture all aspects of the original formatting or layout.</p> </encodingDesc> <profileDesc> <creation> <persName xml:id="rmm">Milnes, Richard Monckton, Baron Houghton, 1809-1885</persName> <persName xml:id="oj">Johnson, Oliver</persName> <date when="1864">1864</date> </creation> <langUsage> <language ident="en-US">modern American English</language> </langUsage> <textClass> <classCode scheme="http://authorities.loc.gov"> <term>Antislavery movements--Great Britain</term> <term>Antislavery movements--Great Britain--Public opinion--History</term> <term>Confederate States of America--Foreign public opinion, British</term> <term>United States --Foreign relations--1861-1865</term> <term>United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Foreign public opinion</term> </classCode> </textClass> </profileDesc> <revisionDesc> <change when="2013-03-02" who="#el">made copyediting changes</change> <change when="2013-01" who="#el">revised transcription and encoding to address errors and inconsistencies; updated editorial notes</change> <change when="2012-11" who="#awj">added Scholarly Editing info to TEI header</change> <change when="2012-09-21" who="#el">added and encoded editorial notes</change> <change when="2012-09-13" who="#el">checked transcription and encoding</change> <change when="2012-09-11" who="#kt">encoded</change> <change when="2012-06" who="#bw">checked transcription</change> <change when="2012-06" who="#kt">transcribed</change> </revisionDesc> </teiHeader> <facsimile corresp="#issue"> <surface xml:id="pp1"> <graphic url="nas.18640416.pp1.jpg"/> </surface> <surface xml:id="pp2"> <graphic url="nas.18640416.pp2.jpg"/> </surface> <surface xml:id="pp3"> <graphic url="nas.18640416.pp3.jpg"/> </surface> <surface xml:id="pp4"> <graphic url="nas.18640416.pp4.jpg"/> <zone xml:id="pp4_cropped" corresp="#poem"> <graphic url="nas.18640416.pp4_cropped.jpg"/> </zone> </surface> </facsimile> <text corresp="#poem #pp4_cropped"> <body> <lg type="poem"> <head type="main" subtype="authorial" rend="center">ENGLAND AND AMERICA—1863.</head> <note type="newspaper-editorial">[The following high-toned and expressive poem is taken <lb/>from the new volume of poems by Richard Monckton <lb/>Milnes,<note type="editorial" resp="#bw #el">Richard Monckton Milnes, first Baron Houghton (1809–1885). Before Milnes was made Baron Houghton in August 1863, he served as a member of Parliament for Pontefract in West Yorkshire. The "new volume" was <title level="m">Selections from the Poetical Works of Richard Monckton Milnes (1863); "England and America, 1863" appeared under the heading "Occasional Poems." It was also the penultimate piece in Isa Craig's Poems: An Offering to Lancashire (1863), a collection intended to raise funds for the relief of mill workers then suffering as a result of the "cotton famine" caused by the Union blockade of Southern ports during the Civil War. As the amount of raw cotton in Britain fell, cotton mill workers were laid off (James M. McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom: The American Civil War [London: Penguin, 1991], 548). lately elevated to the English peerage under the title of Lord Houghton. He is one of the most respected and beloved noblemen in England, and a man of compre-hensivecomprehensive intellect, exquisite culture and refinement. He is distinguished for the sweetness of his character and the unwearied practical beneficence of his life. His friendship to our country has always been strong and steady.] We only know that in the sultry weather, Men toiled for us as in the steaming room, And in our minds we hardly set together The bondman's penance and the freeman's loom.Milnes presents the Civil War and the cotton famine as interlinked punishments for Anglo-American support for slavery and the slave trade. The British Parliament passed its Act for the Abolition of Slavery throughout the British Colonies (1833) in Milnes's lifetime. "England and America, 1863" suggests that Britain had to pay for its proslavery past—the past that had helped to shape America's Civil War present. We never thought the jealous gods would store For us ill deeds of time-forgotten graves, Nor heeded that the May Flower one day bore A freight of pilgrims, and another slaves. First on the bold upholders of the wrong, And last on us, the heavy-laden years Avenge the cruel triumphs of the strong— Trampled affections, and derided tears. Labor, degraded from her high behest, Cries, "Ye shall know I am the living breath, And not the curse of man. Ye shall have Rest— The rest of Famine and the rest of Death." O, happy distant hours! that shall restore Honor to work, and pleasure to repose, Hasten your steps, just heard above the war Of wildering passions and the crash of foes.