Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1876-07-07
CENTENNIAL POgW.
Written for, and read at the CelebTou
at Jefferson, Ohio, July fth, 1875.
ny PaoF. H. U. Johnson. OF ORWELL.

OLN AGfAAAA LO2 H
written for, and read at the Celebration
at Jefferson, Ohio, July sth, iS76
BY PROF. H. U. JOHNSON, OF ORWELL
Scarce has appeared the frst bright morning
And niss,;t,ss sweet visions have not stoleaway,
When on tie nrfezl nom Aozt1 q r3Outl aiar,
The SoonliIig sounds thar mot One hee.t can
mar a, -, 80. - ne i,s,Iass
Bidding reeeive nation's newborn year.
Those sounds bespeak the sOul-pervadibg JOY,
Here bursting from all hearts WitnOnf alloy
For 1t Is now a day Of days with ali,
And fOrty million hearts obey the call
- A hundred years. each echo seems 10 sa u
a hundred years Columbia counts to-day.
From the broad Lakes to where the bright
From the gray East to where the West un-
Her grandeur, dressed in Natures sweet at
tire,
scol1mbia's blessing on each tOiler's head,
Her homes bright comforts ever round him
Peace and sIcsi eointentlnent be his common dow
cOnrdihs hope and faith his daily tower"
The busy thoughts that yearn in every breast
Find in this welcome day pleasing rest.
The early morn behOlds the vast array
or busy FEET! The thoughtful and the gay
W
And ere the suns descending rays ART gonss
Mid gaudy trappings and the stern array
OF wars fierce charms in innocent display,
The tongue Of elOquenee hath breathed a
or depeer fire than ever thrilling came
From ancient lips. wherein are on retold
The deeds and darings Of our streS Of 0id;
The deeds and darings of their offspring
brave,
Barring their breasts our heritage TO save;
tIur earnest efforts early 10 secure
The biOftine out OF errors time alone can cure.
These, and far more than these, do all con-
To send aloft the patriotic fire
Above ten thousand cOnsecrated shrines,
Where love Of country most resplendent
And Freedoms purest aspirations rise.
And echo their clear thnndeFs to the skies,
Praelaiming iOud that peace unDroken reigns,
That severed are the bondsmen's clanking
That A1t and science with Religion stand s
As guardians OF this heaven-favored land,
To lift and mold; eliminate the base,
Suppress tBa ayile. give nOblest manhood
PAo' at uE lr {
From North to South, from East to West
Why Should we fail to celebrate this day?
Behold our fields where waves the golden
The tail spired,city andthe viIlaged plain;
The forest-feeis that decks the oceans tide,
THE palaces that DER our rivers glide.
Our fakes all garnished with the wealth un-
That daily to and from the West is rolled.
And the fRr greater wealth that silent shines
In the recesses OF our unwrought mines,
And the expanding thought, that, seorning
The lishtning tames. obedient for the race:
AIid.then bethfnk few short years ago
How Ger these fields sped the wild wolf and
That in the city laired the beast ofprey.
And o'er the ocean held the petrol sway:
That bark canoes the rivers waters broke;l 1
Lakes rufiled only at the oarsman's strokes
That not a lonely mustang grazed the plain
iWhere now ths IRON steed sweeps with MS
How the dark savage, while his whOops re-
warred, waiting for the spirits hunting
All these are changed as in dream of night,
And on this joyful day behold the sight
And wealth and ease reposi-lg on her breast;
See all men stand before the law as peers, is
As God works out the problem OF the years. 4
Where noble Penn first met the forest child,
There meets to-day. in universal guild, 81
From every cline, and race, and brogue Of
OF which the pen has spoke or poets sung. "A
The Dortly Briton and The 1.-THE Alpine, a
The swarthy SpaniaTd. Germans from the
The polished Frenchman, the Hibernian
The thoughtful scotchman, and the fiery
The tlrbaned Turk, Celestials, and the Jap, 9
Sons of the tOrrid cline, the frozen Lapp,
The Negro and the white Gircassian, all,
Responding 70 our Centenary call,
Have come, and with them brought from ev-
cry land ~
The products Of the soil, OF mind and hand.
There we behold the antique with the new;
The way our fathers wrought with ours we
view;
There see the rare appliances power,
Meeting the wants Of each recurring hour Il
And as the thousands daily wend their way
Amid this q Tsb Centen DEaI disEilaS, 20
The rich meet with ne poor itsle btgh the
And crowned heads beside our peasants GO
As the Great Peoples vie in honOring one
Who from the bosom OF them all has sprung;
And tine award on every hand is seen,
:. .Golumbia Of all the Lands b Queeh.hff
And now ne may, with every hsart made
As we sisssf We're IN prophetic vestments clad.
Turn from the things that are and that have
passed,
The sun bears daily as he sinks to rest,
Some new gem to bedeek the gaudy West
Wherin developed beauties are displayed4
The workman's hand, the worth Of every
For her broad valleys and her mountains
tenn,
with joyouslife, whilst every lake and stream
Reflects afar the cradles Of success, "a
Which in themselves the wholesome truth
confess
And bids on every green her temples rise,
AS experimenting the Redeemer's plan,
To Olsen thrall the nObler parts Of man.
The thronging cities on our western main,
The suns last rays upon the Rocky ChainI 4
Behold, floating the Stars and Stripes IN
Bright 6eacOns they, prOclaiming to the
world ~
That far. beyond our west, wild, wsve-wash-
Shall fredom i seek home forever more. ,.,
The Sandwich, Feejee and the JavRn Isles
May check her onward progress for q. little
while. AfitNA iit.1h q -illtf 4
But over those choral lands her light shall
And highest culture on their children shed. !.
And she shall sweep over China's tea-green
plains. -''i-i
And where the Ganges rolls to Hindoo strains,
The Tarter and the Arab bow the knee;
Then Africis sable sons respond in glee;
And Europe's mOnarchs last shall yield their
Feeling to rule is less than to obey.
Then shap We bear from every nation,
As onward speed the sweeping wings of time,
Loud hallelujas to this day Of days,
Which first received feeble nations praise.
Let all this come in Heavens peaceful way,
Breathes every patriot prayer, yet must we
ID Be 70 the, world, this ponsummation thine;
Free iRstif Htions refund thine alters twine,
For il shall take some hundred yet of years
Treasures and blood, mingled with many