(@3Manila, May 1-August 13, 1898.@1) God of our fathers! guard his ways Who bore the strain through many days; Who held within a single hand The honor of his native land; Whose ward ceased not with tropic light, Whose thoughts engarrisoned the night, Whose vigilance forestalled the dawn And still patrolled each unknown morn; Who stood alone and unafraid, And the aggressive nations stayed With tact more potent than the might That took an empire in a night. What but the hollow of Thy hand O'ershadowed him in that far land, When error meant a name defamed, Imperiled cause, a country shamed? |