The Brookhaven ledger. (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1876-08-10
VOL. 5.
The Myumdredtla Birthday.

Thank God This smiling dawn is peac
A century blossoms here to-day
Its hundredth years bring glad increase,
Before nations feet to lay.
Flung out upon the summer air,
The flag of stars above us hies,
The beacon of nations prayer,
The splendor of eternal skies.
And bending from their homes above,
The patriot sires of patriot sons
| Nav see the banner of their love,
And hear the anthem of the guns,
Which usher in thy day of birth,
Thy natal day, 0 glorious land!
God keep thee, sacred spot of earth,
Within the Hollow of His hand!
Not vainly were thy battles fought!
On every hill, in every glen,
To-day We see what God hath wrought,
And wro,e upon the heart of men.
To-day above the true and brave,
Unstained by wrong, unsoiled by tears
The banner of the Free may wave,
To crown a nations hundred years.
The flag the patriot fathers bore,
A cloud by day, by night a fame,
Still journeying ever on before,
And followed by nations fame,
A newborn nation, then, but now
Its birth -pangs o'er, its perils past,
With glory written on its brow,
And union circling it at last
o gallant men! who fought and bled,
Aud sleep to-day in freedoms soil!
The nations honored, glorious dead,
Sweet be your rest from strife and toll!
AS looking from your home on high,
Ye see the gilt that ye have given,
1t seems as each immortal eye
Grew brighter in the light of Heaven.
Illustrious shades. to-day return
This birthday, dulled with no alloy
And here where freedoms watch fires burn
Rejoice with an exceeding joy!
Your phantom ranks are on each plain,
Your phantom files are with us still,
Your phantom tents are pitched again
From Yorktown bank to Bunker Hill.
Rejoice with usl Upon the blast
Our flag floats out from sea to sea;
And still it holds a people free.
Far as our wide dominions sweep,
Across our valleys and our plains,
No bondmen at their labor5 weep,
No ear can catch the cianks of chains.
All men are free-the black and white;
Aud qs the circling centuries roll,
All men are equal in His sight,
Who colors not human soul.
This is our boast, as here to-day
We see the skies above us shine,
And pause, our sacred debt to pay,
At Freedoms and al Heavens shrine.
Thus. as we greet these opening years,
No doubts annoy, no cares obtrude-
The shadow of no coming fears
Rises to cloud our gratitude.
He made us free; His hands shall keep,
And firmly through the cycles hold;
He is the Shepherd, we the sheep
That He has folded in His fold.
The fold of Freedom, Bright the stars
That ever burn across her sky,
And, scanned by countless battle scars,
Make great the glory of July.
O happy Fourth! each heart to-day
| Gives thee new welcome TO the earth
And in the light Of Freedoms ray,
Uera Ids anew thy deathless birth,
To-day a century's honors crown
The land for which our prayers are giver
And endless honors pouring down
| Shall bless it in the sight of Heaven;
So millions yet unborn shall rise
To hail the hour which now we hail,
It's glory sparkling in their eyes
When we have passed beyond the vale
Here shallth Old Worlds children see
And find shelter for their woes,
And in these valleys, check by cheek,
The lion and the lamb reprose.
And He shall lead them, for His peace
Forever rests upon the land;
The marvel of its sure increase
Is but the movement of His hand.
Land of our love, Gods circling arm
Enfold and guard thee in thy way,
His blessing shelter thee from harm,
A nd keep thee glorious as to-day!
While through the centuries coming hour
Thy cities spring, nor ever cease,
Thy blossoms ripen into flowers,
And crown thee with perpetual peace!