Builders Of The State

"If when he sees the sword coming upon the land,
he blows the trumpet and warns the people"
Ezekiel 33:3

Who builds the state? Not he whose power

Rooted in wrong, in gold intrenched,

Makes him the regent of the hour;

The eternal light cannot be quenched:

This shall outlive his little span;

Shine fierce upon each tainted scheme;

Shall show where shame blots all the plan;

The treachery in the dazzling dream.

He builds the state who builds on truth,-

Not he who, crushing toward his aim,

Strikes conscience from the throne, and ruth,

To win a dark, unpiteous fame.

He builds the state who to that task

Brings strong, clean hands, and purpose pure;

Who wears not virtue as a mask;

He builds the state that shall endure-

The state wherein each loyal son

Holds as a birthright from true sires

Treasures of honor, nobly won,

And freedom's never-dying fires.

Election Day

November 6, 2018

"Builders of the State"

Richard Watson Gilder

(1844-1909)

American author and editor

Veteran of the American Civil War