Long have we lived in misery and woe;

Long have we suffered from "kindness" cold as snow;

Long has pernicious influence been kept

Hovering 'round our misery, while in dungeons we have slept.

Long have we suffered from want of human care:

Long have we been bearded as the tiger in his lair:

Long have we went hungry for want of proper food,

And felt the sting of th' master's lash, as o'er our task we stood.

As the dark and gloomy cloud, that hovered o'er our past,

Has been wafted off by humane hands—'tis swept away at last.

We now emerge from darkness into a welcome light,

And live in brighter future hopes—a day made out of night.

We hail you, noble, honest men, whose hearts beat five as one,

Thus far in your prison work your duty you have done;

Eternal God will always right the brutal wrongs of man,

And therefore He did send you here to do the best you can.

A Cherrington, for the chairman, is a master stroke, you know.

And a Rose is always welcome, 'cause virtue he will sow;

A McConica, of democrat fame, is a power behind the throne,

While a Hoffman, sent from Cleveland, is a father to the home;

A Muscroft from old "Cincy" is a rattler for the place;

They all do join their hands and thoughts and duty bravely face,

While a McAdow records their acts with a gentlemanly grace.

They issue mandates right and left and order what is just;

They raise poor fallen, helpless man to a place of welcome trust;

They seek to lead him on the way to a nobler, better life,

And restore him to his children and his broken hearted wife.

Their Coffin always sits close by to lend a helping hand,

And faithfully their trust does keep—a leader of their band.

Well they know the awful fruitage of each harsh and brutal plan

Is to rouse the lurking tiger in the breast of erring man.

Now they rule, whose every impulse ripened by enlightened thought,

And it leads to many actions that with highest good is fraught.

And they use with great discretion measures that are just and kind,

Hoping to reform the erring through the agency of mind.

They have learned the useful lesson taught men from the power above,

That the greatest force in nature is the power of inspired love.

They have learned that rank dissension from all evil nature flows,

And they deem that man the greatest who can ease most mortal woes.

Let us ever sing enchanting of our now official corps

As they lift us from dark ruin as it has been heretofore.

See! the clouds so lately darkening o'er the prisoner's gloomy past,

Mercy's hand is fast dispelling—Reason takes the reins at last!