Page:Poems of home and country (IA poemsofhomecount01smit).pdf/17

 O heavenly gift of poesy!

And beautiful, when it doth bless,

As thine hath done, its fellow-man

In its embracing tenderness.

As oft a harp will murmur on

When the sweet song we sang is o'er,

And charm us with its memories when

The hand that swept it is no more,—

So will remembrance of thy life,

1ts four-score years of song and cheer,

Like music, linger when we miss

Thy presence from the pathways here.

A letter from Rev. W. E. Towson, dated Osaka, Japan, March 13, 1895, was received April 8, just as these pages were going to press. He wrote that "the native Christians of Japan have adopted the music of 'America,' to be sung with words equivalent to 'God save our Native Land,' on all national days;" and that "selections from Beacon Lights of Patriotism' have. been translated and distributed, in tract form, to the Japanese army." IIe also desired that Dr. Sinith be advised of the following: "On a recent visit of two American lady missionaries to one of our men-of-war, after eight years of isolation in the interior of India. and Japan, they heard the band play 'America.' At the welcome sound of our national hynn, one wept for joy, the other fainted."

The author's immediate response is given on the following page.