A Christmas Greeting

(From a Northern Star-Group to a Southern. 1889⁠–⁠90)

Welcome, Brazilian brother⁠—thy ample place is ready; A loving hand⁠—a smile from the north⁠—a sunny instant hail! (Let the future care for itself, where it reveals its troubles, impedimentas, Ours, ours the present throe, the democratic aim, the acceptance and the faith;) To thee to-day our reaching arm, our turning neck⁠—to thee from us the expectant eye, Thou cluster free! thou brilliant lustrous one! thou, learning well, The true lesson of a nation’s light in the sky, (More shining than the Cross, more than the Crown,) The height to be superb humanity.

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