Lord, While for All Mankind We Pray
by John Wreford (1800-1881)
Lord, while for all mankind we pray
Of every clime and coast,
O hear us for our native land,
The land we love the most.
O guard our shores from every foe;
With peace our borders bless;
With prosp'rous times our cities crown,
Our fields with plenteousness.
Unite us in the sacred love
Of knowledge, truth and Thee,
And let our hills and valleys shout
The songs of liberty.
Lord of the nations, thus to Thee
Our country we commend;
|Be Thou our refuge and our trust,
Her everlasting friend.
(from One Nation Under God: an
anthology for Americans by Robert Gordon Smith)