Ere man has ceased to think and toil.
A thousand cities now we show,
And eighty million freemen rule,
Where but four hundred years ago,
There was no house, or church, or school,
And not a white man yet had trod
The fairest portion of the earth,
The land where all may worship God,
Where liberty was given birth.
In seventeen hundred seventy-six,
The brave forefathers of this land,
Tired of tyrannic laws and tricks,
Resolved to take a noble stand;
So on the fourth day of July
They said this country must be free,
And pledged themselves to win or die,
In fighting for its liberty.
Then thirteen states together joined
And declared themselves a nation,
And prouder names were never coined
Than endorsed that declaration.
Our country now must have a flag,
To be praised in song and story,
No silly or unmeaning rag,
But an emblem of our glory.
Flags are made of various types,
Our Congress chose for us the best,
And with our handsome stars and stripes,
We do not care for all the rest;
With seven red and six white bars,
A corner field of pretty blue,
In which to set the coming stars,
Now counting three and forty-two.
Each star a state does represent,
A powerful aggregation,
And each one has a government,
For its local regulation;
So great we’ve grown in width and length,
The truth can hardly be believed;
We do not boast of size or strength,
But of the work we have achieved.
We sixty thousand schools maintain
For the children of our nation,
Where free of cost they can obtain
A liberal education;
And sixty thousand churches, too,
Where people freely worship God,
Learn how to love, be good and true,
For that’s the style on freedom’s sod.
We make ships go ’gainst wind and tide,
Our steamers sail to ev’ry shore,
And on our railroads one can ride
Two hundred thousand miles and more;
Our Franklin brought the lightning down,
Morse made it talk thru miles of wire,
And Edison has gained renown,
By using it for light and fire.
We now can hear a thousand miles,
The ever welcome voice of friends,
And on our little waxen files
Preserve it till life’s journey ends;
The sweetest music in the world
Is sung and played for all mankind,
The notes are caught and then unfurled,
And lift man’s heart and cheer his mind.
With gratitude our hearts are filled
For the triumphs of our nation,
We’ll not forget good blood was spilled
In fighting for its salvation;
We love our country and our flag,
And know not how to amend it,
And when it calls we will not lag
In rallying to defend it.
O how it inspires one to hear,
When passing by upon the street,
The children sing in school house near,
“Forever float that standard sheet,”
And changing time to music true
“The star spangled banner shall wave,”
Following with “Red, white and blue,”
And cheers for the flag of the brave.
In many nations of the earth,
Where kings and other tyrants rule,
The people’s rights are little worth,
Until they learn from freedom’s school;
But monarchs now are growing wise,
And hearts rejoice o’er all the world,
As freedom’s fires light the skies,
Where’er our noble flag’s unfurled.
For justice and for liberty,
Our country is the champion,
We’ll advocate humanity,
Where’er man’s rights are trampled on;
In quiet peace we aim to live,
Avoiding war whene’er we can,
But life and gold we’ll freely give
To help our suff’ring fellowman.
There is no nation that we fear
However skilled in war or arts,
We need no standing army here,
Our bulwark’s made of human hearts;
We have no lords, no king to crown,
But mindful of the bitter past,
We’ve anchored all our virtues down,
And nailed our banner to the mast.
Respected now o’er all the earth,
In ev’ry country great and small,
The flag that crowned our nation’s birth,
Floats proudly with the best of all:
And now from school house top it flies,
And on all ships we send to sea,
The grandest flag beneath the skies,
The glorious flag of liberty.
THE FLAG OF HOBSON’S CHOICE.
A SONG.
Written June 10th, 1898, to commemorate in verse the great achievement of Richard P. Hobson and his crew of seven men, in sinking the steamer “Merrimac,” in the mouth of Santiago harbor, island of Cuba, under orders of Admiral Sampson.
When Hobson saw his country’s need,
Demanded human sacrifice,
He asked that he might do the deed,
And