The original of this poem bearing the date of July 4th, 1823
was captured by a soldier in the Army of the Potomac at Yorktown, Va.
May 5, 1862 which leads us to believe that all enemies are not bad men......
Thou to the Mercy seat our souls,
Doth gather to do out duty unto the, our Father.
To whom all praises, all honor should be given
For thou art the great God, who art in heaven,
Thou, by thy wisdom, rulest the world's whole fame.
Forever, therefore hallowed by the name.
Let nevermore delays divide us from the glorous grace.
But let thy kingdom come.
Let thy commands opposed be by none,
But thy good pleasures and thy will be done.
And let our promptness to obey be ever thy very same
Then for our souls, our Lord we also pray thou wouldst
Be pleased. Give us this day the food of life
Wherewith our souls are fed.
Sufficient raimentandour daily bread.
With every needful thing thou relieve us,
And of thou mercy, pity and forgive us,
All our misdeeds for Him whom thou didst please,
To make an offering for our tresspasses
And for as much, O Lord, as we believe that thou wilt
Pardon us as we forgive,
Let that love teach, Herewith
Thou dost cquaint us to pardon all.
Those who trespess against us
And though sometimes thou findest
?We have forgot this love for The, yet help and
Lead us not, through soul and body
Wants to in desperation.
Not let earth's gain drive us into temptation
Let not the soul of any true believer
Fall in time of toil, But deliver
Yea, save them from the malice of the devil.
.
And both in life and death keep us from evil,
Thus pray we, Lord, For that of thee,
From whom this may be had.
For thine is the kingdom
This world is of thy work
Its wonderous story, to the belongs,
The Power and the glory,
And all the wonderous works have ended never, but will remain,
Forever and forever, thus we
Poor creatures would confess again
And thus will pay eternally.
..................