When sermon, song and prayer were wont to hold
And guide the fathers, pioneers of old;
The men who held the truth with steadfast grip—
Thine own appeal to God from heart and lip,
Inspired by earnest men, who ne’er cajoled,
Who sang their hymns within that saintly fold,
With all their worship free from vulgar slip.
Old Ship, the Church, that made the ship of State,
Who trained aright thy maidens and thy lads,
And lived thy simple life, all free from fads,