The National tribune., 1881-11-19
1.-THE SAXON GRrT.U
REV. ROBERT C0LLYEE.


1.-THE Saxon Grit--which in New England as in OIL
England has made a of men to be honored fearee
and respected II is as positive the earth Is firm
Worn with the battle by Stamford town,
Fighting the Norman, by Hastings Bay,
Harold. the Saxon's sun, went down,
While the were falling, one autumn DAY.
Then the Norman said: 81 am lord OF the lana;
By tenor of conquest here sit;
will rule you with the iron hand;
But he had not thought of the Saxon grit.
He took the land and he took the men.
And burnt the bomesteads from Trent to Tyne,
Made the freemen serfs by the stroke of the pen,
Ate up the corn and drank the wine,
And said to the maiden, pure and fair,
"You shall be my leman, as is most fit
Your Saxon churl may rot in his lair"
But he had not measured the Saxon grit.
To the merry green wood went bold Robin Hood
With his strong hearted yeomanry ripe for the fray,
Driving the arrow into the marrow,
OF all the proud Normans who came in his way,
Soornng the fetter, fearless and free.
Winning by valor, foiling by wit,
Dear to Saxon folk ever is he,
This merry old rogue, with the Saxon grit
And Kett, the tanner whipt out his knife,
And Watt the smith, his hammer brought down,
For Ruth the maid he loved better than life,
And by breaking a head, made a hole In the crown.
"Our life shall not be by the kings permit;
We will fight for the right want no more
Then the Norman found the Saxon grit.
For slow and sure the oaks had grown
From the acorns falling that autumn day,
So the Saxon manhood in thorpe and town
To a nobler stature grew Away.
Winning by inches, holding by cnches
Standing by law and the human right,
Many times failing, never once quaiiing,
So then dayc
Then rising sfar in the Western sea,
new world stood in the morn of the day,
Ready to welcome the brave and the free,
Who could wrench out the heart and march away
From the narrow, contracted, dear old land,
Where the poor held by a cruel bit,
To ampler spaces for heart and hand
And here was a chance for the Saxon grit
Steadily steering, eagerly peering
Trusting in God, your fathers came,
Pilgrims and strangers, fronting all dangers,
CooI-headed Saxons, with hearts afiame.
Bound by the letter but free from the fetter.
And hiding their freedom in Holy Writ,
They gave Deuteronomy hints in economy,
And made a new Moses of Saxon grit.
They whitfield and waded through forest and fen,
Fearless as of what might befal;
Pouring out life for the nurture of men;
In faith that by manhood the world wins all.
Tnventing baked beans and end of machines;
Great with the rife and great with the ak
Sending their notions over the oceans
To fill empty stomachs and straighten bent backs.
Swift to take chances that end in the dollar,
Yet open of hand when the dollar is made
Maintaining the meetin', exalting the scholar,
But a little too anxious about a good trade;
This is young Jonathan, of old Jon,
Positive, peaceful, firm in the right,
Saxon men all of US, may We be one.
Steady for freedom, and strong i'll her might,
Then slow and sure, the oaks have grown
From the acorns that fell on that old dim day,
- this new manhood in city and town,
To a nobler stature will grow Away;
Winning by inches, holding by clinches,
Slow TO contention, and slower to quit;
Now and then failing, but never once quailing-
Let Us thank God for the Saxon grit