```Sung low in the dim mysterious aisle.= ```"' Take thy banner. May it wave ```Proudly o'er the good and brave, ```When the battle's distant wail ```Breaks the Sabbath of our vale; ```When the clarion's music thrills ```To the hearts of these lone hills; ```When the spear in conflict, shakes, ```And the strong lanee, shivering, breaks.= ```"' Take thy banner; and, beneath ```The war-cloud's encircling wreath, ```Guard it--till our homes are free-- ```Guard it--God will prosper thee! ```In the dark and trying hour, ```In the breaking forth of pow'r, ```In the rush of steeds and men, ```His right hand will shield thee then.= ```"' Take thy banner. But, when night ```Closes round the ghastly fight, ```If the vanquish'd warrior bow, ```Spare him--by our holy vow; ```By our prayers and many tears; ```By the merey that endears; ```Spare him--he our love hath shared; ```Spare him--as thou wouldst be spared.= ```"'Take thy banner; and, if e'er ```Thou should'st press the soldier's bier, ```And the muffled drum should beat ```To the tread of mournful feet, ```Then this crimson flag shall be ```Martial cloak and shroud for thee.' ```And the warrior took that banner proud, ```And it was his martial cloak and shroud."= Pulaski received the banner with grateful acknowledgments, and bore it gallantly through many a martial scene, until he fell in conflict at Savannah in the autumn of 1779. His banner was saved by his first lieutenant (who received fourteen wounds), and delivered to Captain Bentalon, who, on retiring from the army, took the banner home with him to Baltimore. * When oppression began to awaken a spirit of general resistance throughout the colonies, "Baltimore towne" was not behind its sister communities in zeal and action. A meeting [[ a May 27.]] was held there in 1774, ** ( a ) when the people generally agreed to support non-[[ November 12]]intercourse measures. Afterward they elected a _Committee of Observation_ *** (b) and also appointed a committee of correspondence. **** These committees were exceedingly vigilant and active in watching the disaffected, giving information of importance to their brethren abroad, and in passing intelligence between the patriots of the North and the South. They were no respecter of persons, and Loyalists of every grade came under their surveil-