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Hymn
Though few, with noble purpose came
Our fathers to this distant wild;
A Commonwealth they sought to frame,
From country, and from friends exiled.
Our fathers to this distant wild;
A Commonwealth they sought to frame,
From country, and from friends exiled.
Religious freedom here they sought,
In their own land to them denied;
With courage, and with faith they wrought,
Nor monarch feared, nor prelate's pride.
In their own land to them denied;
With courage, and with faith they wrought,
Nor monarch feared, nor prelate's pride.
That Commonwealth to power has grown,
Religious liberty is ours;
What now we reap their hands have sown,
And changed the wild to garden bowers.
Religious liberty is ours;
What now we reap their hands have sown,
And changed the wild to garden bowers.
The trees they planted year by year
Still yield their precious fruit, and shade;
Fair Learning's gifts still flourish here,
And Law man's rights has sacred made.
Still yield their precious fruit, and shade;
Fair Learning's gifts still flourish here,
And Law man's rights has sacred made.
521
They from their labors long have ceased,
On the green hill-sides saintly rest;
Their sons, in wealth, and power increased,
Have by their fathers' God been blest.
On the green hill-sides saintly rest;
Their sons, in wealth, and power increased,
Have by their fathers' God been blest.
Their noble deeds our souls inspire,
Be ours their faith, and courage still;
Keep pure the home, the altar's fire,
And thus their cherished hopes fulfil.
Be ours their faith, and courage still;
Keep pure the home, the altar's fire,
And thus their cherished hopes fulfil.
Poem No. 94–706; c. 18 September 1878
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