Who forgets that while that resistance was first brought to a practical test in New England, at Lexington and Concord and Bunker Hill, Fortune reserved for Yorktown of Virginia the last crowning battle of Independence? Who forgets that while the hand by which the original Declaration of Independence was drafted, was furnished by Virginia, the tongue by which the adoption of that instrument was defended and secured, was furnished by New England,—a bond of common glory, upon which not Death alone seemed to set his seal, but Deity, I had almost said, to affix an immortal sanction, when the spirits by which that hand and voice were moved, were caught up together to the clouds on the same great Day of the Nation’s Jubilee. VI SWEET LAND OF LIBERTY AMERICA[11] BY S. F. SMITH My country, ’tis of Thee, Sweet Land of Liberty Of thee I sing; Land where my fathers died, Land of the pilgrims’ pride, From every mountain side Let Freedom ring. My native country, thee, Land of the noble free, Thy name I love; I love thy rocks and rills, Thy woods and templed hills, My heart with rapture thrills Like that above. Let music swell the breeze, And ring from all the trees Sweet Freedom’s song; Let mortal tongues awake; Let all that breathe partake; Let rocks their silence break, The sound prolong. Our fathers’ God to Thee, Author of Liberty, To thee we sing, Long may our land be bright With Freedom’s holy light, Protect us by thy might Great God, our King. Our glorious Land to-day, ’Neath Education’s sway, Soars upward still. Its halls of learning fair, Whose bounties all may share, Behold them everywhere On vale and hill! Thy safeguard, Liberty, The school shall ever be,— Our Nation’s pride! No tyrant hand shall smite, While with encircling might All here are taught the Right With Truth allied. Beneath Heaven’s gracious will The stars of progress still Our course do sway; In unity sublime To broader heights we climb, Triumphant over Time, God speeds our way! Grand birthright of our sires, Our altars and our fires Keep we still pure! Our starry flag unfurled, The hope of all the world, In Peace and Light impearled, God hold secure! THE REPUBLIC (From “The Building of the Ship.”) BY HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW