178 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
MEMORY OF ZEISBERGER.
A poetical tribute by John Milburn
Harding, New Philadel-
phia, Ohio, November 17, 1908.
AT ZEISBERGER'S GRAVE.
[One hundred years after he died.]
There are tombs of the high, there are
graves of the low,
There are sepulchers sacred in story
But the grave hollowed here just a
century ago
Has a halo of unselfish glory.
'Mid the scenes of thy triumphs and
direst defeat,
Near the spring rich in savage tradition.
Here you gave up the ghost and at Jesus'
feet
You implored but a Christian transition.
Sixty years of your life you had headed
the strife
To upbuild in the Indian nation
The Moravian faith in the heavenly life,
And a prosperous civilization.
Whether "vagabond" preacher,
or pris'ner in jail,
Or advisor in savage commotion.
Or guest in the lodge, or a guide on the
trail,
You possessed the sincerest devotion.
Though your labors were vain as to
saving the race,
Yet the souls that were saved numbered
many.
The success of your work on our fair
valleys' face
Has scarcely been equaled by any.
Could you now, brave Zeisberger, return
to this vale
When the church bells on Sabbath are
pealing,
With thy "Brown Brethren" gone,
and the faces all pale,
Would it bring you a sad hearted
feeling?
Still the stars twinkle down, and the
river still flows,
And the flowers bloom in springtime at
Goshen,
Still the sunshine still falls, and the
rains and the snows,
But our life has a greater commotion.
'Twas the strength of the race--the
invincible one-
That o'ercame your high hopes and
ambition,
And that forced the brave Red Man to
follow the sun
Would this be to you now true fruition?