O'er echoing bridges and by dreaming rills,
Passed dewey meadows and passed silent mills;
Passed ghostly houses staring from the hill,
And sleeping hamlets lying calm and still.
On, like a meteor, through the summer night
Spurred Caesar Rodney in his whirlwind flight.
The stars grew pale, the morn dawned bright and fair;
The rising mist dispersed in sultry air;
And still upon that sandy stretch of road
The dust clouds showed where Caesar Rodney rode,
Yet twenty miles away the city lay;
Would freedom speed him on to win the day ?
Hot was the air in Independence hall,
Where our young nation framed her Protocol.
A tremor passed along the waiting crowd —
A murmured terror spoke not aloud ;
For unborn liberty beheld dismayed
The factions, man to man, in tie arrayed.
O, for one voice to shout a ringing note!
One more true patriot to cast his vote!
The states are called, and scarcely men draw breath,
The noisy clamor sinks to hush of death,
For lack of one more champion of its worth,
Can this great declaration fall to earth?'
The crush about the doorway sways and stirs,
As, dust encrusted, and with whip and spurs.
Tossing his bridle to the waiting crowd,
Enters a rider, just as called aloud
Is "Delaware," a voice rings clear and free!
"Here! Caesar Rodney votes for Liberty!"
O ! Let his name resound through all the earth ;
His was the voice that gave our nation birth.
While still Columbia no despot fears,
Let us the tale relate through coming years ;
Speak Caesar Rodney's name with freeman's pride
And give the tribute due his striving ride.
THE PRESBYTERIANS OF PORTLAND.
The First Presbyterian church organized west of the Rocky mountains was the one at Clatsop Plains in Clatsop County, Oregon, looking directly out on the great Pacific ocean. This church was organized by Rev. Lewis Thompson, September 19, 1846.
Previous to the organization of the First Presbyterian church, Presbyterians upon their arrival in Portland found here no church home. The Congregational brethren had preceded them and established a house of worship. The two denominations are not so wide apart in their belief. It is therefore not surprising that Presbyterians affiliated with the Congregational church in Portland's early days.
We find, however, that Presbyterians assisted in the organization of this First Congregational church. The original records of the Congregational church are preserved and are now in the archives of the Oregon Historical Society.
