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A Centennial Ode
In response to a call from the proprietors of the Globe for a Centennial Ode, thirty-seven were sent in to them. These were submitted to the Judges, whose award is as follows: --
To the Proprietors of the St. John Globe:
Gentlement, -- We have examined the Centennial Odes submitted by you to us, and we decide in favour of No. 31, signed “Forsitan.”
B. Lester Peters,
G. J. Chubb,
D. MacRae.
St. John, N. B.
16th May, A. D. 1883.
The following is the Ode: --
Ode for 18th May, A. D. 1883.
Out from the lovely land that gave them birth,
From pleasant homes that generous charms displayed,
From sacred altars, and the hallowed earth
Where their forefathers slept, in honour laid,
Our grandsires passed, -- a brave, determined band,
Driven by hard Fate—
As men were driven of old,
Whose story hath been told
In lofty epic strain –
To plant, with toil and pain,
Upon a distant shore, and in a strange, wild land
A new and glorious State.
Now, on this festal day,
Wake the proud spirit they
Gave to their sons:
Still warm within our veins,
Pure still from falsehood’s stains,
Their true blood runs.
Though on their way no cloudy column of fire
Shielded from harm, and lit the gloomy night,
Led by the light which noble thoughts inspire,
With calm resolve to firmly do the right,
They left the rest to Him whose will doth reign
In Earth and Heaven; --
In all whose works they saw
The Order, Truth and Law
They sought to keep
Fixed as foundations deep,
That should their Faith and State and Liberty sustain,
Where’er new homes were given.
Nor were their labours vain:
Here shall their Faith remain,
Spotless and free;
Here wise and equal laws
Still shall uphold the cause
Of Truth and Liberty.
‘Mid savage scenes, and in the forests wild,
Our fathers toiled with patient, manly hearts,
Till stubborn rocks and lonely wild-woods smiled
With golden harvest-fruits, and happy arts
Of Peace and Industry enriched the land
With bounteous store:
Brave wives and daughters cheered
All that was dark, nor feared
With ready hands to bear
In each sore task a share,
Till large, and bright and fair, --
A goodly heritage – they saw their country stand,
Far along hill and dale and sounding above.
Nor want nor eliminate cold
Chilled the breasts strong and bold,
Loyal and true,
Which pain and weariness, --
All forms of dire distress, --
Failed to subdue.
Where once unbroken, pathless forests stood,
Where savage men and beasts alone held away,
While shadowy streams flowed on their silent way,
Now Commerce spreads her fertilizing flood,
And crowds with busy life each river, port and bay,
Cities and towns and temples fair,
Thousands of happy homes stand where,
Driven by the stern decree of Fate,
And by the burning hate
Of brothers armed in an unnatural war,
Our Loyalists, an hundred years ago,
Led by the pale North Star,
Founded the free young State
We as our own New Brunswick know.
And now, forgetting all the fratricidal strife,
Forgiving all the wrongs their sires endured,
The Sons of Loyalists, enjoying the large life
By Toil and Hope and Faith and Love secured,
Welcome with open hands and heart,
Welcome with Friendship real and true
Each man who bears his honest part,
And does what Duty bids him do,
No matter what his nation’s name,
No matter whence or when he came –
Welcome give all, for their dear sake
Who fortunes, hopes, lives put at stake,
That all mankind might know
From what a mighty race they sprung,
Our Sires, who here to Duty clung
An hundred years ago.
Wide over hill and plain
Sound the triumphant strain
That hymns their praise:
High in the free, glad air
The grand old banner bear,
They loved to raise.
Still as its ample folds,
Where’er unfurled,
Float in the sky,
There sacred Freedom holds,
In front of the world,
Her standard high!