Fair science her gates to thy sons shall unbar, And the east see the morn hide the beams of her star. New bards, and new sages, unrivalled shall soar To fame unextinguished, when time is no more; To thee, the last refuge of virtue designed, Shall fly from all nations the best of mankind; Here, grateful to heaven, with transport shall bring Their incense, more fragrant than odors of spring, Nor less shall thy fair ones to glory ascend, And genius and beauty in harmony blend; The graces of form shall awake pure desire, And the charms of the soul ever cherish the fire; Their sweetness unmingled, their manners refined, And virtue's bright image, instamped on the mind, With peace and soft rapture shall teach life to glow, And light up a smile in the aspect of woe. Thy fleets to all regions thy power shall display, The nations admire and the ocean obey; Each shore to thy glory its tribute unfold, And the east and the south yield their spices and gold. As the day-spring unbounded, thy splendor shall flow, And earth's little kingdoms before thee shall bow; While the ensigns of union, in triumph unfurled, Hush the tumult of war and give peace to the world. Thus, as down a lone valley, with cedars o'er-spread, From war's dread confusion I pensively strayed, The gloom from the face of fair heaven retired; The winds ceased to murmur; the thunders expired; Perfumes as of Eden flowed sweetly along, And a voice as of angels, enchantingly sung: "Columbia, Columbia, to glory arise, The queen of the world, and the child of the skies." TIMOTHY DWIGHT. CHAPTER V THE FIRST CAMPAIGN News of the Declaration of Independence was accompanied over the country by that of a brilliant success at the South. Early in June, the British, under Sir Peter Parker, Sir Henry Clinton, and Lord Cornwallis, prepared to capture Charleston, S. C. To oppose them there was practically nothing but a fort of palmetto logs built on Sullivan's Island in Charleston harbor by Colonel William Moultrie. On June 28, 1776, the British advanced to the attack, but were beaten off with heavy loss. THE BOASTING OF SIR PETER PARKER [June 28, 1776] 'Twas the proud Sir Peter Parker came sailing in from the sea, With his serried ships-of-line a-port, and his ships-of-line a-lee; _A little lead for a cure_, he said, _for these rebel sires and sons_! And the folk on the Charleston roof-tops heard the roar of the shotted guns; They heard the roar of the guns off shore, but they marked, with a hopeful smile, The answering ire of a storm of fire from Sullivan's sandy isle.