  I Blest is thy land, fair Georgia; From the mountains to the sea. The purpose of whose founders was The opprest from wrongs to free. Refrain: Then hail to thee, our Georgia! For of the "Old Thirteen" No brighter star shone ever, Or ever shall be seen. II "Not for themselves, but others," Was the way their motto ran; And in the path of mercy Did they early lead the van. III Our fathers sought the "new world," With a motive grand and high, And faith in God hath ever Led our hopes unto the sky. IV And so on strong foundations, We see stately columns rise, As symbols of those virtues, That our Georgia people prize. V A soldier guards the portals While a sunburst from above, Illumines arch and pillars With God's all protecting love. VI God grant our solons Wisdom, Let strict Justice hold the scale And Moderation guide the hand, That must make the law prevail. —By J. T. Derry. Many of the states have a state song for the school children. Georgia has never yet had one. There are efforts being made to supply this deficiency. The founders of the colony of Georgia had a threefold purpose: First—To provide a home for the honest debtor class of Great Britain, so that in the new world they might have a new chance. Second—To offer to persecuted sects of Europe a refuge from oppression. Third—To oppose a barrier against Spanish aggression upon the colony of South Carolina. The raising of silk and indigo were to be the chief industries of the new colony. The trustees were to make for themselves no profit out of their enterprises. Hence on one side of the seal adopted for the colony of Georgia by the trustees was a representation of silk worms busy at their work and the motto was: "Non sibi, Sed Aliis," which means, "Not for themselves, but for others." When Georgia became a state a seal was adopted on the front side of which are represented three columns, marked: "Wisdom, Justice, Moderation," which support the arch of the constitution. On arch and pillar shine the rays of the rising sun. A soldier with drawn sword guards the approaches. With these two seals, one of the colony and the other of the state as the inspiration, the above song has been suggested, the words being by Professor J. T. Derry and the music by Mrs. Albert T. Spalding, both of Atlanta, Ga. |
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