The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1905-02-05
Leads all North Carolina Daes i'm News and Circulation

equally powerful.-religion and pa
triotism, their influence; and
that influence was frresistihly felt:
pious tears were seen hanging on
many cheek furrowed by age or
adorned with youthful bloom.
Bishop MadisOn's Prayer.
O God, Parent Almighty, VINO.
though unseen upholdest this ponder
Gus ball, and, breathing through the
immensely Of space, filleSt with stu
pendous life all which il inhabit;
Spirit invisible, God of our forefathers.
TO thee we raise the voice of praise
and thanksgiving; oh, hear us. and
deign to accept this our imperfect
homage. Thou great and glorious
being, who, according to the plans
of thy wisdom, didst first inspire our
forefathers with the elevated idea of
seeking an asylum for man in this
Western world; thou, who badcst the
terrors of death to retire from their
hearts, the remorseless billows of the
deep TO be at rest, and the horrors of
the bowling wilderness no longer to
alarm OH, hear, and, on this eventfu
day, suffer us To pour forth, from the
fullness OF our souls, the tide of rever-
entail affection, of joy, and OF graft
tude; suffer us, the descendants and
the heirs of those mighty men whose
footsteps under thy gracious provi-
denco. here We're the first impressed
to approach thy divine Majesty, to de-
clare the wondrous things which thou
hast done for us. and TO inplore thy
continued protection.
assembled in thy sight. we now
PROSTATE ourselves before thee, upon
that ground which thou, o God, didst
choose Whereupon to rest the wearied
feet of our progenitors. Twice one
hundred times hath this earth, in
obedience to thy command, perform
ed it's faithful revolution around the
fountain of light, since thy providen-
tial goodness was here testified by our
with heartfelt songs Of
gratitude and praise. The stream OF
time hath swept before thee the gen
erations which since have arisen and
passed away; but we, upon whom this
day hath fallen. will rejoice in thy
presence, and, with q sincere and ar
dent gratitude, will recall to vivid
memory thy former and thy present
mercies.
Hallowed be the place where thou
didst particularly manifest thy good
nesS TO our forefathers, and where the
heavenly plan for spreading wide the
blessings of social rights first beamed
forth. 1t is here, O God, it was on
this chosen ground that thou did
first lay the sure foundations Of politi-
cal happiness. Here didst thou say to
our forefathers, who, under thy guild
ancc, had defied the perils of an I'M
tried ocean, Here fix your abode; here
shall the great work of political saliva
ton commence: here | will strike deep
the roots of an everlasting empire
where justice and liberty and peace
shall flourish in immortal vigour. TO
the glory of my name and the happi-
ness of man. Here ye shall sleep; but
your sons and your daughters shall
possess the land which stretched wide
before you; shall convert the wilder
ness and solitary place into fields
smiling with plenty; shall. in ages yet
10 come. exceed the sands upon she
in number; shall, when two
hundred years are accomplished. here
resort, here recall to your mind your
valour and your sufferings, and here
touched with a lively sense of the
blessings vouchsafed to them, they
shall exalt and adore my name and
that the mightincss of
my arm and the overshadowing of my
Spirit hath dore those great and excel
lent things for them
Such, o God. was thy will To thy
now before thee has been
given the high boon of living to see
he light Of that day, and of acknowl-
3dging that thy promises are az stead
fast as the everlasting hills. TO us has
oefn given the triumph which this day
lffords. 1t was thy providence which
'eared the tender plant that here took
'oot. and which nourished it with the
Jews of heaven until its branches have
cast their shade from ocean to ocean.
t was thy providence, gracious Bene-
factor of man. which awoke in our
breasts a just sense of the inapprecia-
Die value of our rights. and in
used that indomitable spirit which ef-
,ected revolution the most important
n the annals of time. and which led
% the establishment Of civil govern
nents throughout this rising empire
lpon the broad and firm basis OF
equal laws. 1t was thy providence |
which inspired that wisdom which |
lath guarded us against the horrors of |
var. and which, amidst the dread con- /
'ulsions. that agitate the Old World, |
lath still irradiated this thy chosen /
and with the blessings of peace. Tot
hee, O God we ascribe, as is most due,
hat never-ceasing current of national
which has daily increased |
nd which, under thy auspices, we
rust. will continue to increase, until
is waters, spreading throughout every
egion of the earth, shall gladden., with
heir salubrious streams, nations
Which are now the victims of ambition.
nd thence diffuse peace and goodwill
mong the whole family of mankind.
Contrast this scene in the minds
We with q. hundred thousand soldiery,
thousand men-of-war, ten thousand
merchant ships, mammoth structures
t modern architecture and million
eople or the shore. the whole illum-
ned by hundreds of powerful search
ghts and myriads of subaqueous in
and you have before YOU
he progress of a century.