The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1882-1884, 1883-08-02

We give thy natal day to hope.
o country of our land and prayer,
The way is down no fatal slope,
But up to freer sun and air.
Tried IS by turnace-fres, and yet
By Gods grace only stronger made,
To meet new tasks before thee set,
Thou shalt not lack the old-time aid.
The fathers sleep: but men remain
As wise. as true. and brave as they,
Why count the loss and not The gain?
The bes, is that We have to-day.
Whate'er of folly, shame. or crime
Within thy mighty bounds trahspires,
With speed defying. space and time
Comes to US on the accusing wires:
While of thy wealth of noble deeds,
Thy homes of peace. thy votes unsold,
The love that pleads for human needs,
The wrong redressed. but half is told
Each poor wretch. in his prison cell
Or gallows moose, is interviewed;
We know the single sinner we'll,
And not the nine and ninety good.
Yet, If on daily scandals fed,
We seem at times to doubt thy worth,
We know thee still, when all is said,
The best and dearest spot on earth.
From the warm Mexic Gulf, or where,
+ Belted with flowers. Los Angeles
Basks in the semi-tropic air,
To where Katahdin's cedar trees q
Are dwarfed and bent by Northern winds,
Thy plenty's horn is yearly filled;
Alone, the rounding century finds
Thy liberal soil by free hands titled.
A refuge 'or the wronged and poor,
Thy generous heart has borne the blame
That, with them, through thy open door.
The Old Worlds evil outcasts came.
But. with thy just and equal rule,
And labOr's need and breadth of lands,
Free press and rostrum, church and school,
Thy sure, if slow, Transforming hands
Shall mould even them to thy design,
Making blessing of the ban;
And Freedoms chemistry combine
The alien element of man.
The power that broke their prison bar
And set the dusky millions free.
And welded in the fame of war
The Union fast to Liberty.
Shall it not deal with other ills,
Redress the red mans grievance, break
The Cireean cup with shames and kills.
And Labor full requital make?
Alone to such as titly 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 here,
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,
maintained
| 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
Well have thy later years made good
Thy 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 it turn to thee,
And read upon thy flag unfurled
The prohecies of destiny.
The great world-lesson all shall learn,
The nations in thy school shall SIT,
Earth's farthest mountain-tops shall bur,
With wa.ch-fires from thy own uplit.
Great without seeking to be great
By fraud or conquest, rich in gold,
But richer in the large estate
Of virtue which thy children hold.
!. With peace that comes of purity.
And strength to simple justice due,
!. So runs our loyal dream of thee:
Il God of our fathers !-make it truei
/, y Land OF lands to thee we give
our prayers, our hopes. our service free
For thee thy sons shall nobly live,
And 1T thy need shall die for thee.
!, LETTER FROM GEN. COX.
J! bADEN-BADEN, July I'd, 1883.
We have recently visited some o
the most .mportant places and inter
testing parts Of Germany. This coun
try abounds IN iron and coal, and y,
, we're surprised 70 End 90 many feun
diaries in successful operation. Sh'
also possesses many other valuabl,
minerals, as we'll - mines Of precioul