’Twas Science that impelled the first rude bark
E’er launched upon the bosom of the Main;
Stood at the helm of Noah’s wave-tried Ark
Against which Neptune waged his war in vain;
And still ’tis hers to light the rugged way
Thro’ labyrinths of darkness into day.

Science hath spanned broad seas with iron bars,
Linked with the cable the grand Hemisphres;
Pointed the way to undiscovered stars—
And patient waits whilst each bright orb appears;
Born ere the Years began, her destiny
Is co-existent with Eternity.

’Twas she that grasped the slender inert wire,
And to it fettered subtle human Thought;
And Man stood awed when the electric fire
Flashed the first message: See what God hath wrought!
Ah! in this veiled Presence who shall dare
Aught but His power and wisdom declare?

Throughout the vast creation’s utmost bound,
She is the fixed, unerring, Polar Star,
Which guides the ship that speeds the joyful sound
Of Peace, good will to men, to lands afar,
While the idol’trous islands of the sea
Join the glad refrain: Salvation’s free!

The Railroad, Cable, Telegraph and Press,
Are instruments within the Father’s hands,
To send the Gospel thro’ earth’s wilderness,
From the Antarctic to the Arctic lands;
When Earth was young and Man’s an infant race,
He needed not these winged means of grace.

When for God’s glory Man would penetrate
The ice-bound fields around the Northern Pole,
Me thinks no obstacle will be too great
Before the Gospel tread to backward roll;
For Science and the Gospel hold the key
To every door of every land and sea.

And tho’ e’en thousands perish by the way,
The work of these twin sisters will go on;
Benighted lands shall see the Gospel Day,
Alike ’mid Arctic snows, ’neath tropic sun;
The Banner of the Cross remain unfurled
While it stands written, Into all the world!

Lou Sin­gle­ta­ry Bed­ford
Gathered Leaves, 1888