University of Virginia Library


729

UNDER THE CROSS.

Armed with the old and awful sign, that tells
A story such as never else was told,
Arise and conquer for the sacred fold,
The spirits chained by sin's accursèd spells;
Go forth, and face the misery that dwells
In dens of shame and palaces of gold,
And where voluptous vice its kingdom swells,
Proclaim the Love that never waxes old.
Beneath the Cross and its red banner stand,
Uplift the Gospel that is in thy breast,
And take the trumpet of the Truth in hand;
Give no uncertain sound to those opprest
By sin's sore burden, and then leave the rest
To Him who makes and breaks the heaviest band.