Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1883-07-14
oUR COUNTY,.


We give thy natal day To hone
" country of our love and ,eya,.a,,
ny Wak Is down no fatal slope,
nut up 10 freer sun and airi
Tried as by furnace-flres. sna va,
~ by Gods grace only stronger rna,ie
~ meet new tasks before thee set
'u siialt not lack the old-time aid
The fathers sleep but men rana,,
AS wise, as true, and brave as they.
Why count the loss and the gain
The best is that We have to-day.
nate er OF folly, shame, or crime
,,Wtthln thy mighty bounds transpires-
" YIN In speed defying space and time
NOiies 10 US on the accusing wires:
While ofthy wealth of noble deeds.
MI homes OF peace, thy votes unsold,
ms ms rove that pleads for human need
me wrong redressed, but half is told.
Each poor wretch, in his prison cell
VI glIlows moose, is interviewed:
We knC W the single sinner we'll
AID not the nine and ninety good
Yet, If on daily scandals fed.
We seem at times to doubt thv worth
We know thee still, when all is said.
The best and dearest spot on earth,
Belted with flowers, Los Angeles
Bosks In the semi-tropic air,
10 where Katahdin's cedar trees
Are dwarfed end bent by northern u,inde
my plenty's horn is yearly filed;
Alone, the rounding century finds
my liberal soil by free hands titled.
A refuge for the wronged aud Door.
my generous heart has borne the blame
Illat, with them, through thy open door,
Inc old worlds evil outcasts came.
Bat with thy just ana equal rule,
Andlabor'S need and breadth of lands,
FREE press and rostrum, church and schoo
my sure, If slow, transforming hands
Shall mold even them to thy design.
Making blessing of the ban;
And freedoms chemistry combine
The alien elements of man.
The power that broke their prison bar
And set the dusxy millions free,
And welded in the flame of war
The union fast to liberty,
Shall II not deal with other ills,
Redress the red man S grievance, break
The Cireean cup, which shames and kills,
And labor full requitaI make?
Alone to such as fifty bear
Thy civic honOrS bid them fall,
And call thy daughters forth to share
The rights and duties pledged to all?
No lack was in thy primal stock,
No weakling founders builded mere;
Thine were the men of Plymouth Rock,
The Huguenot and Cavalier.
And they whose firm endurance gained
The freedom of the souls of men,
Whose hands unstained with blood main
tanned
The swOrdless commonwealth of Penn.
And thine shall be the power of all
To do the work which duty bids,
And make the peoples council hall
As lasting as the pyramids
We have thy later years made good
Tiny brave said word century back,
The pledge OF human brotherhood,
The equal claim OF white and black.
That word still echoes round the world,
And all who hear II turn to thee,
And read upon thy flag unfurled
The prophesies of destiny,
The great world-lesSon all shall learn,
The nations in thy school shall sit,
Earth'S farthest mountain tops shall burn
with Watch-fres from thy own uplit.
Great without seeking to be great
By fraud or conquest, rich In gold,
But richer in the large estate
O1Yirtue which thy children hold.
With peace that comes of purity,
And strength to simple justice due;
So runs our loyal dream of thee;
God of our fathers make 1t true!
. land Of lands ! TO thee we give
our prayers, our hopes, our service free;
For thee thy SONS shall nObly live,
And Mt thy need shall die for thee!