HYMN OF FREEDOM.
I.
God of peace! before thee,
Peaceful, here we kneel,
Humbly to implore thee
For a nation's weal;
Calm her sons' dissensions,
Bid their discord cease,
End their mad contentions—
Hear us, God of Peace!
II.
God of Love! low bending
To thy throne we turn—
Let thy rays descending
Through our island burn;
Let no strife divide us,
But, from Heaven above,
Look on us and guide us—
Hear us, God of Love!
III.
God of Battles! aid us;
Let no despot's might
Trample or degrade us,
Seeking this our right!
Arm us for the danger;
Keep all craven fear
To our breasts a stranger—
God of Battles! hear.
IV.
God of Right! preserve us
Just—as we are strong;
Let no passion swerve us
To one act of wrong—
Let no thought, unholy,
Come our cause to blight—
Thus we pray thee, lowly—
Hear us, God of Right!
V.
God of Vengeance! smite us
With thy shaft sublime,
If one bond unite us
Forged in fraud or crime!
But if humbly kneeling,
We implore thine ear,
For our rights appealing—
God of Nations! hear.