And what of fair Columbia,
The honored land of our birth,
Does she prize the gracious gift from Heaven
Of peace and good will upon earth?
The honored land of our birth,
Does she prize the gracious gift from Heaven
Of peace and good will upon earth?
We crowd and we trample each other,
God's gift we have thrown away;
What fools—what base ingratitude;
But—'tis dollars or death today.
God's gift we have thrown away;
What fools—what base ingratitude;
But—'tis dollars or death today.
Is there peace in the home of the drunkard?
Sweet peace in the prison cell,
Where a man with a youthful haggard face
Is waiting to hear death's knell?
Sweet peace in the prison cell,
Where a man with a youthful haggard face
Is waiting to hear death's knell?
He remembers nothing, they tell him
He murdered his child and his wife.
We sold him the drink that made him a brute
And now make him forfeit his life.
He murdered his child and his wife.
We sold him the drink that made him a brute
And now make him forfeit his life.
If the angels that sang in Judea
To herald our Savior and King,
Are singing to night that wonderful song;
Methinks they must weep as they sing.
To herald our Savior and King,
Are singing to night that wonderful song;
Methinks they must weep as they sing.
Christmas 1895
56
