David Zeisberger Centennial. 173
signified his great satisfaction and
comfort when his Indian brethren,
who watched with the dying saint, sang
some of the Delaware hymns
for the dying, which he had rendered
into their vernacular years ago.
And thus on the afternoon of November
17th he fell asleep amid
the prayers of his brethren and the
singing of his converts, after the
benediction had been spoken in the name
of the church.
On the following Sunday, at noon, after
funeral sermons in Eng-
lish and in German, interpreted into the
Delaware vernacular, three of
his Indian brethren and three of his
white brethren bore his body to the
near Goshen God's-Acre, followed by a
large concourse of the inhabi-
tants of the vicinity. There they buried
him, one hundred years ago this
very hour. And to-day his name is more
alive than ever in the memory
and esteem of the people of Ohio, and of
this neighborhood, as every-
where in the world where men value
apostolic love and fidelity to Christ
and to those for whom Christ lived and
died.
GRAVE OF ZEISBERGER.
The following is the Poem written by Judge J. W. Yeagley
and read by Miss Bertha Kelly at the
celebration of the Centen-
nial of the death of Zeisberger at the
New Philadelphia Opera
House, November 20, 1908.
Close by a placid river's shore,
Near where its waters lave
The sylvan banks that fringe a plain,
I saw an ancient grave.
And by it rose a monument,
On which thereon was traced
The name of one who toils endured,
And many dangers faced.
The name of one who came from far,
Who crossed the ocean wave,
That he might be an instrument
The red man's soul to save:
Might make his home in wilderness,
And teach the savage rude
The mission true of human life,
And all it does include:
Might tell him of the loving One,
Who loves his creatures all,
174 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
Who came redeeming all mankind,
Who marks the sparrow's fall.
For SIXTY
YEARS he labored hard,
Braved danger, threat and frown,
In faith sublime that blessings sure
Would all his labor crown.
Vhat toils encountered, perils braved,
What sacrifices made!
What dangers run, what want endured,
What holy zeal displayed!
Ah! who should chronicle and tell
The varied good he wrought?
What savage feuds he stayed and quelled,
And how dissolved the plot?
Zeisberger, rest! thy labor's o'er,
Thy mission nobly done;
Thy battles fought, the triumph gained,
The brightest vict'ry won.
Rest "faithful servant of the
Lord,"
Sweet rest from all thy strife;
Thy name is writ on hist'ry's page,
And in the Book of Life.
And thy red brethren pass'd away,
Who with thee trouble bore,
right jewels in thy crown are they,
And saved forever more.
Oh! sweet the greetings must have been,
In mansions of the blest,
As one by one they gathered in,
And entered into rest.
Zeisberger, rest! thy honored name
Adorns our early age;
Oh! rest secure in noblest fame
Upon our hist'ry's page.