APT""' Y X""X TV T 
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 LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF 
 CALIFORNIA 
 
 SAN DIEGO 
 
 V.

 
 AN ESSAY 
 
 OX THE 
 
 STAR SPANGLED BANNER 
 
 NATIONAL SONGS 
 
 BY STEPHEN SALISBURY, 
 
 Member cftke America* Antiquarian Society, *e^ Jtc. 
 
 bcfort tix 9mmcan antuptarian Sortrtg. at fljrir amroal flUtting, dofctt 21, 1872. 
 
 WITH ADDITIOXAI, HOTES ASD 8OSGS. 
 
 WORCK8TKR, MAPS. 
 
 PBIXTKD BT CBARLES HAMILTON. 
 1873.
 
 With the respects of the writer. 
 
 PRIVATELY PRINTED.
 
 THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER AND 
 NATIONAL SONGS. 
 
 As a slight cloak of propriety, if not of dignity, for a 
 snbject that may be considered of little importance, to 
 which I will invite the attention of the society, for a few 
 minutes, I will offer a familiar quotation from Andrew 
 Fletcher, of Saltonn, a quotation of some value to 
 Fletcher, for it has given him his best hold on the memory 
 of modern times. He writes : " I knew a very wise man 
 who believed that if a man were permitted to make all the 
 ballads, he need not care who should make the laws of 
 a nation." If this should be thought to be exaggeration, it 
 will not be doubted that national songs, in some degree, 
 form and indicate the character of a people, and are there- 
 fore worthy of historical notice. I am not aware that there 
 is more important proof of this power of the Muses than 
 is found in the influence of the song entitled "The Star 
 Spangled Banner" during the struggles for the life of our 
 nation in the last twelve years. In the efforts and suffer- 
 ings of the camp, the battle-field and the prison, and in the 
 discouragements and sacrifices of those who upheld the 
 national arm at home, the untiring repetition of its inspir- 
 ing strains, and the "marching on" of a .more humble and 
 more energetic chorus, kept up the strength and enthusiasm
 
 of confident hope. Thus the "Star Spangled Banner" has 
 become a favorite of our people. It is well known that it 
 was written by Francis Scott Key, a young lawyer of Bal- 
 timore, in September, 1814, and it was begun on board of 
 a ship of the British fleet lying near Fort McHenry, to 
 which he had gone to negotiate an exchange of prisoners. 
 To prevent his giving intelligence to his countrymen of 
 the intention to make a combined attack by sea and land 
 on Baltimore, he was detained as a prisoner of war. There 
 he anxiously watched the flag of his country floating over 
 the fort through the day, and in the darkness of the night 
 caught occasional glimpses of it, in the explosion of the 
 shells and rockets by which it was assailed ; and when 
 morning dawned, he saw with thrilling delight that the 
 beautiful ensign still waved over its brave defenders. This 
 scene and the emotions that it excited, he has painted and 
 expressed in this pathetic and inspiring song. The origin 
 of the appropriate tune, that gives strength and deeper 
 feeling to the words, is not so well known. Every one can 
 readily say, that the tune is taken from the old English 
 song, entitled " To Anacreon in Heaven." But I have 
 inquired in vain of the most learned belles lettres scholars 
 and musicians that I know or could approach, for the author 
 of the words or the music, or the date of either. The song 
 as printed in the "Universal Songster," published in Lon- 
 don from 1825 to 1834, has the name of Ralph Tomlinson 
 as the author. Multiplied inquiries and research in all bio- 
 graphies and indexes that I can consult, have not discovered 
 the name ; yet the song has grace, beauty and wit, and is 
 enriched with happy classical ornaments, and it seems to be 
 a thing that could not be disowned or forgotten. It existed
 
 to be the model of the song by Robert Treat Paine, Jr., 
 called "Adams and Liberty," at the period when Thomas 
 Moore was first known as a poet, and it is almost worthy of 
 his pen, but it has never been attributed to him. It is 
 commonly called an old English song, but the earliest im- 
 print of it that I have seen, is in my copy of " The Vocal 
 Companion," published in Philadelphia, by Matthew Carey, 
 in 1796. The Nightingale, printed in Boston in 1804, has 
 the words and the music, but not the name of the author. 
 It seems then to be a case in which the best evidence must 
 be obtained from the party on trial, and the song must 
 speak for itself. Its first words are : 
 
 " To Anacreon in heaven, where he sat in full glee, 
 A few sons of harmony sent their petition," 
 
 and the last line and the chorus are : 
 
 " May our club flourish happy, united and free ; 
 And long may the Sons of Anacreon entwine 
 The Myrtle of Venus with Bacchus' Vine." 
 
 We have here the fact that the song was written for a 
 musical club, called the Sons of Anacreon. Of this club I 
 can find no other mention. With a general resemblance to 
 the poetry of Moore, there are sentences that have not his 
 choice English, as for instance, the line above, "May our 
 club flourish happy, united and free," which is more like the 
 language of the republican cotemporaries of Robert Treat 
 Paine, than the verses of the wits of the earlier time of the 
 first Georges or of Queen Anne, to whom the song has 
 vaguely been attributed. 
 
 The Historical Magazine, vol. 3, p. 23, states that the 
 tune was originally set to the song " To Anacreon in heaven,"
 
 by Dr. Arnold. Many notices of Dr. Samuel Arnold, who 
 lived from 1739 to 1802, do not support this statement, 
 though they mention inferior music. The accompaniment 
 is more remarkable than the poetry. Its character is strong 
 and decided, yet it is graceful and flexible, and adapts 
 itself with equal success to the sport of the revellers, to 
 the anxious thoughts of the patriot prisoner, and to the 
 exulting tones of national strength. 
 
 As an apology for this research of much length and little 
 fruit, it may be remembered that the successful investiga- 
 tion of authorship of subjects for intellectual entertainment 
 is not a waste of time for idle curiosity. The enjoyment of 
 the works of our greatest favorites is increased by a sense 
 of personal gratitude.* 
 
 * By the kindness of Hon. Charles K. Tuckernian, late U. S. Minister to 
 Greece, a letter from William Chappell, Esq., F. S. A., dated at Heather Down, 
 Ascot, Berkshire, G. B., Jan. 6, 1873, has been obtained, which gives all that 
 can be desired, about the origin of " To Anacreon in heaven" from very high 
 English authority in the history and the art of Music. Mr. Chappell writes that 
 he " made a former correspondent a present of my original copy and retained 
 only a transcript of the heading, which is as follows : ' The Anacreontic Song 
 as sung at the Crown and Anchor Tavern in the Strand, the words by Ralph 
 Tomlinson, Esq., late President of the Society. Price 6d;' with the tune, which 
 was composed by John Stafford Smith. The latter published ' The Anacreontic 
 Song,' harmonized by the author at page 33 ' of A hfth book of canzonets, 
 catches, &c., sprightly and plaintive, * * dedicated by permission to Viscount 
 Dudley and Ward, by John Stafford Smith, gent, of his Majesty's Chapel Royal, 
 author * * and of the Anacreontic and other popular songs.' * * I did not take 
 note of the date of first publication, but the song was sufficiently popular to 
 be pirated in Scotland in 1786, it being included, with the music, in the Musi- 
 cal Miscellany of that year, and again in 1788, in Calliope, or the Musical Mis- 
 cellany, Edinburgh. 1788. 8vo. J. Stafford Smith is said to have been born in 
 Gloucester about 1750. The Anacreontic Club, of which Mr. Tomlinson was 
 first (?) president, was a jovial musical society for singing choral and part-music, 
 catches, canons, and so on. I transcribe a few musical notes at the foot for 
 identification." 
 
 The replies to the inquiries extensively made for these facts, shew that the 
 above extracts will be read with great interest by scholars and musicians in 
 this country, and the generous courtesy of Mr. Chappell will be appreciated by 
 many who know his name and his works. The Biographical Dictionaries give 
 the time of John Stafford Smith, from about 1750 to 1836, and mention his
 
 The song "To Anacreon" is always admired on first ac- 
 quaintance, but it has not gained a place among verses 
 which make men stronger and happier in remembering 
 them. Though it is free from grossness,* it is a bacchana- 
 lian song, and, like its subject, it must be a transient pleas- 
 ure at the best. It is said that in the first flush of popu- 
 larity, its rhythm and music- were used for poetical efforts 
 more short-lived than itself. I do not discover that it was 
 a favorite when Robert Treat Paine, Jr., used its measure 
 in his spirited song, entitled "Adams and Liberty," which 
 was written for and first sung at the anniversary of the 
 Massachusetts Charitable Fire Society in Boston, on June 
 1, 1798. - 
 
 Its first words 
 
 Ye sons of Columbia, who bravely have fought 
 
 For those rights, which unstained from your sires have descended ; 
 
 And the energetic chorus 
 
 For the sons of Columbia will never be slaves, 
 While the earth bears a plant or the sea rolls its waves- 
 eminence as a musical composer; The Free Public Library of Worcester has 
 an odd volume of Calliope, (the second), which does not contain the song. 
 
 In a subsequent publication, of the substance of his letter in Notes and Que- 
 ries, 4 s. vol. 11, Mr. Chappell adds the interesting statement that the club " is 
 now the Whittington Club; but in the last century it was frequented by such 
 men as Dr. Johnson, Boswell, Sir Joshua Reynolds, and Dr. Percy, especially 
 to sup there." The name "Whittington," commemorates him of the cat, whose 
 obedience to the voice of the chimes, " Turn again, Whittington, thrice Lord 
 Mayor of London," has long been held up to encourage boys to stay at home. 
 Richard Whittington's cat, his inseparable companion and the founder of bis 
 fortune, is a dangerous subject to handle, as Notes and Queries, and other 
 books will show. The easiest way of disposing of the question is to adopt the 
 explanation of an authority free from antiquarian partialities, Sam. Foote, who, 
 in the comedy entitled the " Nabobs," gives an address of Sir Matthew Mite to 
 the Society of Antiquaries, in which he maintains that the Cat was a kind of 
 lighter, in which coal was brought to the London market, and he is sustained 
 by the dictionaries. 
 
 * The character of the club and the tastes of the time being considered.
 
 8 
 
 Will bring to mind its high sentiments and swelling sound, 
 well suited for musical expression and enthusiastic effect. 
 Though it was brought out in a time of great party bitter- 
 ness, and it was exclusively claimed by one of the parties, 
 it has nothing but the language of the broadest patriotism. 
 With all its merits, it was never universally accepted as a 
 national song, and the recent "Library of Poetry and Song," 
 published under the sanction of the honored name of Wil- 
 liam Cullen Bryant, has rescued from oblivion " Sally in our 
 Alley," but has no room for the Sons of Columbia. Some 
 reasons for this failure may be briefly stated. The name 
 of the wise patriot at the head of the government, which 
 was a part of the title of the song, did not recommend it. 
 The broad waves of democracy, which had begun to carry 
 Mr. Jefferson to the highest place, for a time submerged 
 the merits of Mr. Adams and his federal associates, and 
 federal sentiments and federal songs lost their popular pre- 
 eminence. This political movement, though partially un- 
 just, was not wholly injurious, since it severed the last rope 
 that bound our nation to the fast-anchored isle, from which 
 it had been launched. Moreover, there was a felt, though 
 unacknowledged, incongruity between the chorus and the 
 condition of an increasing portion of our inhabitants, and 
 the thoughts and feelings of the song are peculiar to the 
 recent struggle and the escape from national peril ; and 
 the ideas of strength, prosperity and progress are not set 
 forth as they should be in a national song.* 
 
 *Mr. Paine made other less successful efforts to produce national songs, of which 
 the most worthy of notice is his contribution of a song entitled Spain, set to the 
 music of "To Anacreon," for a Boston festival in honor of the Spanish patriots, 
 on January 24, 1809. The most respected of the 33,000 inhabitants of the good 
 old town honored the occasion with their presence, and were regaled by eight
 
 After sixteen years, in which the tune of the Anacreontic 
 song was seldom heard in this country or in Europe, it was 
 applied to the pathetic verses of Mr. Key. A few words 
 may be permitted concerning the questioned right to use 
 this rhythm and music for an American song. Notes and 
 Queries (2d S. V. 6, 429) quotes from "amusing letters 
 from America," this passage. "The air of 'The Star Span- 
 gled Banner,' which our cousins, with their customary im- 
 pudence of assertion, claim as their own, is almost note 
 for note that of the fine old English song, 'When Vulcan 
 forged the bolts of Jove.'" That the song "When Vulcan 
 forged" <fcc., written by Thomas Dibdin, "is very little, if 
 at all, older than the Star Spangled Banner," and its verses 
 are not fitted to the same tune, are, to an amusing writer, 
 facts "of no consequence." The quoted passage is a missile 
 that has so often been thrown across the water, that it is 
 worth while to pick it up and examine it for a moment. 
 
 original odes and songs from well known and favorite poets. These are fully 
 reported in a pamphlet entitled "Spain," with copyright secured in behalf of 
 Mr. Paine, preserved in the American Antiquarian Library, and elsewhere. It 
 would not be expected that the great city, from its present extent and resources, 
 could set forth such an abundant treat. The first in the book and in popular 
 favor at the time, is Mr. Paine's song, which Is overloaded with absurd rhodo- 
 montade, and a sad failure as a whole. But it has some pleasant fancies, and 
 the 7th verse is offered as the most favorable specimen : 
 
 O, to Spain let thy gratitude redolent burn; 
 
 First thy freedom to own, first thy shores to discover. 
 Hark! Her patriots with pride tell the tyrant they spurn, 
 That the new world she found, and the old will recover. 
 For commerce and thee 
 She unbosomed the sea. 
 
 And demands that the gates of the ocean be free. 
 Then swear from pollution, like Spain, thou wilt save 
 Thy flag and thy altars, thy home and thy grave. 
 
 Rev. Dr. J. S. J. Gardiner is mentioned by tradition as one of the authors, but 
 it is difficult to conjecture which poem is most worthy of his well deserved repu- 
 tation for elegant scholarship. A song, called the "Vicar of Bray," is said to 
 be the work of Mr. Buxton, an Englishman, who was noted for humorous wit. 
 
 2
 
 10 
 
 The English language and its treasures are the property of 
 those who emigrated from the parent country and of those 
 who remained there. And the emigrants have not been 
 wanting in successful efforts to add something to the com- 
 mon store. When frauds are perpetrated against the indi- 
 vidual producer's right to honor or profit, as has occurred 
 on both sides, let the offenders be punished severely, as 
 they will be, by shame and loss. But, in this case, there 
 was no fraud and no injury. A musical composition, little 
 regarded, was openly taken up as a neglected estra\, and 
 attached to verses, with which it was more effective than 
 with the original words. An advantageous use gives a 
 better right of property than a profitless discovery or in- 
 vention. No one reproaches the Protestants of England 
 that they took possession of an obscure French tune, 
 and by a change in its movement adapted it to their 
 taste, and their religious comfort and edification, as "Old 
 Hundred." 
 
 It will not be regretted by friends, that the five other poets have not been 
 discovered. 
 
 It is not inappropriate to add that our associate, J. Hammond Trumbull, LL.D. 
 mentions a patriotic offshoot of the Anacreontic song, per'iaps as good as any 
 other commonly known before 1814, which he finds in "The New York Remem- 
 brancer, or the Songster's Magazine,'' printed in Albany in 1802. This is a 
 song " full of ' anti-Gallicanism,' and inspired perhaps, by Adams' Message of 
 1797, or by the abrogation of the treaty with France in 1798." It begins 
 
 "To the Gods, who preside o'er the nations below, 
 
 On Olympus' high summit convened in full session, 
 America's Genius, with laurel-wreathed brow, 
 To her noble constituents preferred this petition : 
 Let Columbia be free ! 
 To confirm this decree, 
 Be their charter of freedom intrusted to me; 
 Still combine in firm union the Eagle and Dove, 
 The trident of Neptune, the thunder of Jove." 
 
 But these graceful words had no power to gain popular favor, or to preserve 
 the remembrance of their author.
 
 10 
 
 The English language and its treasures are the property of 
 those who emigrated from the parent country and of those 
 who remained there. And the emigrants have not been 
 wanting in successful efforts to add something to the com- 
 mon store. When frauds are perpetrated against the indi- 
 vidual producer's right to honor or profit, as has occurred 
 on both sides, let the offenders be punished severely, as 
 they will be, by shame and loss. But, in this case, there 
 was no fraud and no injury. A musical composition, little 
 regarded, was openly taken up as a neglected estra^, and 
 attached to verses, with which it was more effective than 
 with the original words. An advantageous use gives a 
 better right of property than a profitless discovery or in- 
 vention. No one reproaches the Protestants of England 
 that they took possession of an obscure French tune, 
 and by a change in its movement adapted it to their 
 taste, and their religious comfort and edification, as "Old 
 Hundred." 
 
 It will not be regretted by friends, that the five other poets have not been 
 discovered. 
 
 It is not inappropriate to add that our associate, J. Hammond Trumbull, LL.D. 
 mentions a patriotic offshoot of the Anacreontic song, per'iaps as good as any 
 other commonly known before 1814, which he finds in "The New York Remem- 
 
 An editorial of the BOSTON DAILY ADVERTISER of May 1, 1873, states 
 that the song referred to by Mr. Trumbull, was written for the celebration of 
 the birthday of President Adams, by Jonathan Mitchell Sewall, of Portsmouth, 
 N. H., (born 1745, died 1808) who made a figure at the bar of Massachusetts and 
 New Hampshire. This song was very successful at the time and encouraged 
 Mr. Sewall to try again in the same measure and with greater fervor on the 
 President's next birthday. He published other poetry, of which very clever 
 versions of the poems of Ossian were popular. But his work for all time, is 
 this often quoted couplet from his epilogue to the Tragedy of Cato. written for 
 the opening of a theatre in Portsmouth, N. H., in 1778: 
 
 "No pent up Utica contracts your powers, 
 But the whole boundless continent is yours."
 
 11 
 
 For a time the words of the Star Spangled Banner were 
 occasionally sung by the cultivated and refined, but they 
 were too sad for the spirit of a strong and ambitious 
 people. But after forty years a cloud of anxiety and peril 
 came over our land, that was faintly shadowed in the night 
 watch of Mr. Key. Then strength and endurance were 
 gladly sought in sympathy with the devoted patriotism and 
 confident hope that he has so strongly expressed. That 
 darkness has now passed, and the music, that cheered it, 
 will not be heard above the loud and joyful tones of pros- 
 perity and ambition. The instrumental accompaniment and 
 the thrilling chorus, worthy of the most beautiful national 
 flag on the earth, will be a constant and untiring gratifica- 
 tion to the ear and the heart of an American. But the 
 words now in use will not be accepted as a permanent 
 national song. 
 
 The distinction of being the undisputed and most approved 
 American national song is conceded to "Hail Columbia," 
 which was written in 1798, by Joseph Hopkinson, LL.D., 
 of Philadelphia, for the benefit of an actor named Fox. 
 The Columbian Centinel, of May 2, 1798, on the shelves of 
 your library, gives the verses as we have them, and states 
 that "it has been sung on the boards of Philadelphia." 
 The Historical Magazine, vol. 5, page 282, on authority of 
 William McKoy, of Philadelphia, in Poulson's Advertiser 
 of 1829, mentions that this song was set to the music oi 
 "The President's March" by Johannes Roth, a German 
 music teacher in that city. And the Historical Magazine, 
 vol. 3, page 23, quotes from the Baltimore Clipper of 
 1841, that "The President's March" was composed by 
 Professor Phyla, of Philadelphia, and was played at Tren-
 
 12 
 
 ton in 1789, -when Washington passed over to New York 
 to be inaugurated, as it was stated by a son of Professor 
 Phyla, who was one of the performers. The thoughts 
 of "Hail Columbia" are elevated and refined, but they 
 are peculiar to the circumstances of its origin. They are 
 directed to the conflict that has just ceased, the efforts 
 necessary to secure its fruits, and the possibility of future 
 peril, with a just tribute to Washington and the other 
 heroes and statesmen on whom the nation relies. With 
 these qualities it has never satisfied the demand for a 
 national patriotic song, and as time goes on, it is called for, 
 in the absence of a better, with increasing infrequency. 
 
 "Yankee Doodle" is a national property, but it is not 
 a treasure of the highest value. It has some antiquarian 
 claims, for which its warmest friends do not care. It can- 
 not be disowned, and it will not be disused. In its own 
 older words, 
 
 " It suits for feasts, it suits for fun, 
 And just as well for fighting." 
 
 And its easy utterance and fearless and frolicsome 
 humor make its accompaniment welcome on fit occasions, 
 and preserve its popularity. It exists now as an "instru- 
 mental, and not as a vocal performance. Its words are 
 never heard, and I think would not be acceptable in 
 America for public or private entertainments. And its 
 music must be silent when serious purposes are enter- 
 tained and men's hearts are moved to high efforts and 
 great sacrifices. As a song Yankee Doodle has not a 
 national character. 
 
 To give an account of the Sapphic ode called " The Amer-
 
 13 
 
 lean Hero," written by Hon. and Rev. Nathan Niles, and 
 very popular in Connecticut during the revolutionary war, 
 and to describe other abortive attempts to furnish a national 
 song, would suit the patience of the study of an antiquary 
 better than the small share that I can claim of this brief 
 session. But I cannot omit to say a few words on the 
 recent efforts to obtain a national song by transplanting the 
 old English anthem God save the King. The most accept- 
 able of these is the anthem called America, beginning, 
 " My country 'tis of thee," and following the air and metre, 
 of its original. The author is Rev. Dr. Samuel Francis 
 Smith, a professor in Colby University, and an eminent man 
 for learning and character in the distinguished class that 
 graduated from Harvard University in 1829. The anthem 
 has much merit of thought and expression, but when it is 
 sung it excites little enthusiasm, and it is easy to see that 
 it is received with the limited satisfaction, with which a man 
 might wear a coat that was borrowed and altered. Such 
 imitations will never be recognized as national songs. 
 There is much evidence that the tune has, in some degree, 
 the character of national music in Prussia at the suggestion 
 or with the sanction of royal authority before the establish- 
 ment of the Empire. But it cannot be believed that this 
 importation will be permitted to have a place above or at 
 the side of the peculiar national songs of which Fatherland 
 is proud. The English anthem must be welcome there, as 
 in France and in this country, for its excellent music and 
 appropriate words. But a national patriotic song must be 
 partial and exclusive, for it is designed to excite loyalty, 
 and not to cultivate good will among nations.
 
 14 
 
 * The weight of evidence is in favor of the claims of 
 Henry Carey, Mus. D., who lived from 1692 to 1743, to 
 the authorship of the poetry and music of "God Save the 
 King." Of Dr. Carey, his friend Jean Frederic Lampe 
 said : " His musical instruction did not enable him to put a 
 bass to his own ballads." This noble anthem was made for 
 the honor of George the Second, who otherwise received 
 little honor from his subjects and their posterity. Such is 
 the strange origin of the grandest patriotic song in the 
 English language. We may learn what our American 
 national song should be, by observing what the ancient 
 model is in its several parts. The notes are emphatic as a 
 chant, easily learned and distinctly sounded by many, so 
 that the singers hear and are moved by the very words of 
 their companions ; and this effect is aided by the shortness 
 of the words. Though the air is simple, it is fitted to rise 
 with the strength of feeling. It appeals with power to 
 loyalty, which in a monarchy is devotion to the king, his 
 crown and dignity. It is suited to all the changes of 
 national life, to joy or grief, to peace or war, to anxiety or 
 triumph. It has enough of the progressive and aggressive 
 character to gratify the Anglo-Saxon temper, and the 
 attractive spice of party spirit is not wanting. And it is 
 pervaded with an expression of religious trust that is more 
 grateful to the mind of man than our philosophers are 
 
 * Notes and Queries, 3d s. Vol. 10, page 301. Georgian Era, vol. 4, page 241, 
 and Chambers' Encyclopaedia. Mr. William Chappell, alluding to songs sup- 
 posed to be the original of the English anthem, which cannot be sung to the 
 well known tune, writes in a note in 7th vol. of 2d s. Notes and Queries, page 
 227, that " all that have hitherto been traced to a period earlier than the reign 
 of George II. are of this class." There is a general acquiescence in the decision 
 of Mr. Chappell, in 2d vol. of Popular Music of the Olden Time, that Dr. Henry 
 Carey is the author of the anthem, and other authorities concur.
 
 15 
 
 willing to admit. A patriotic song equally well adapted to 
 our institutions would be an ornament and a strength to 
 our nation, and an untiring enjoyment to our people.
 
 Frequent inquiries for the words of the Anacreontic Song 
 and its two most famous offshoots prove that there is more 
 extended interest in them than was expected, and that the 
 songs are not contained in books in common use. They are 
 therefore appended to this paper; and, placed side by side, 
 they will show more distinctly their peculiar beauties and their 
 surprising dissimilarity.
 
 TO ANACREON IN HEAVEN. 
 
 WORDS BY RALPH TOMLIXSON, ESQ., 1775 TO 1836. 
 
 Music by John Stafford Smith, Gent, of His Majesty's Chapel R 
 who lived from 1750 to 1836. 
 
 To Anacreou in heaven, where he sat in full glee, 
 
 A few sons of Harmony sent a petition, 
 That he their inspirer and patron would be, 
 When this answer arrived from the jolly old Grecian : 
 "Voice, fiddle, and flute, 
 " No longer be mute, 
 
 " I'll lend ye my name, and inspire ye to boot : 
 " And besides, I'll instruct you, like me, to entwine 
 " The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine." 
 
 The news through Olympus immediately flew : 
 
 When old Thunder pretended to give himself airs 
 "If these mortals are suffered their scheme to pursue, 
 "The devil a goddess will stay above stairs. 
 " Hark ! already they cry, 
 i( In transports of joy, 
 " Away to the Sons of Anacreon we'll fly, 
 " And there, with good fellows, we'll learn to entwine 
 " The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine. 
 
 " The yellow hair'd god and his nine fusty maids, 
 
 " From Helicon's banks will incontinent flee ; 
 " Idalia will boast of but tenantless shades, 
 " And the biforked hill a mere desert will be ; 
 " My thunder, no fear o'nt, 
 " Shall soon do its errand, 
 
 " And , I'll swinge the ringleaders, I warrant; 
 
 " I'll trim the young dogs, for thus daring to twine 
 " The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine."
 
 19 
 
 Apollo rose up and said, " Pr'ythee ne'er quarrel, 
 
 " Good king of the gods, with my votaries below; 
 " Your thunder is useless ;" then, showing his laurel, 
 Cried, "Sic evitabile fulmen, you know! 
 " Then over each head 
 " My laurel I'll spread, 
 
 " So my sons from your crackers no mischief shall dread, 
 " Whilst snug in their club-room they jovially twine 
 " The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine." 
 
 Next Momus got up, with his risible phiz. 
 
 And swore with Apollo he'd cheerfully join 
 "The full tide of harmony still shall be his, 
 
 " But the song, and the catch, and the laugh, shall be mine. 
 "Then, Jove, be not jealous 
 " Of these honest fellows." 
 
 Cried Jove, " We relent, since the truth you now tell us ; 
 " And swear, by old Styx, that they long shall entwine 
 " The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine." 
 
 Ye sons of Anacreon, then join hand in hand; 
 
 Preserve unanimity, friendship and love. 
 'Tis yours to support what's so happily planned ; 
 You've the sanction of gods and the flat of Jove. 
 While thus we agree, 
 Our toast let it be 
 
 " May our club flourish happy, united and free, 
 "And long may the Sons of Anacreon entwine 
 " The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine."
 
 ADAMS AND LIBERTY. 
 
 WORDS BY ROBERT TREAT PAINE FIRST SONG JUNE 1, 1798. 
 
 Tune of the Anacreontic Song. 
 
 Ye sons of Columbia, who bravely have fought 
 
 For those rights, which unstained from your sires had descended, 
 May you long taste the blessings your valor has bought, 
 And your sons reap the soil, which their fathers defended. 
 'Mid the reign of mild peace, 
 May your nation increase, 
 
 With the glory of Rome, and the wisdom of Greece; 
 And ne'er shall the sons of Columbia be slaves, 
 While the earth bears a plant, or the sea rolls its waves. 
 
 In a clime, whose rich vales feed the marts of the world, 
 
 Whose shores are unshaken by Europe's commotion, 
 The trident of Commerce should never be hurled, 
 To incense the legitimate powers of the ocean 
 But should pirates invade, 
 Though in thunder arrayed, 
 
 Let your cannon declare the free charter of trade. 
 For ne'er shall the sons, &c. 
 
 The fame of our arms, of our laws the mild sway, 
 
 Had justly ennobled our nation in story, 
 Till the dark cloud of faction obscured our young day, 
 And enveloped the sun of American glory. 
 But let traitors be told, 
 Who their country have sold, 
 And bartered their God for his image in gold, 
 That ne'er will the sons, &c.
 
 21 
 
 While France her huge limbs bathes recumbent in blood, 
 
 And Society's base threats with wide dissolution ; 
 May Peace, like the dove who returned from the flood, 
 Find an ark of abode in our mild Constitution. 
 But though Peace is our aim, 
 Ye-t the boon we disclaim 
 
 If bought by our Sov'reignty, Justice or Fame. 
 For ne'er shall the sons, &c. 
 
 "Us the fire of the flint, each American warms ; 
 
 Let Rome's haughty victors beware of collision ; 
 Let them bring all the vassals of Europe in arms, 
 We're a world by ourselves, and disdain a division. 
 While with patriot pride, 
 To our laws we're allied, 
 No foe can subdue us, no faction divide. 
 For ne'er shall the sons, &c. 
 
 Our mountains are crowned with imperial oak, 
 
 Whose roots, like our liberties, ages have nourished; 
 But long ere our nation submits to the yoke, 
 Not a tree shall be left on the field where it flourished. 
 Should invasion impend, 
 Every grove would descend 
 
 From the hill-tops they shaded, our shores to defend. 
 For ne'er shall the sons, &c. 
 
 Let our patriots destroy Anarch's pestilent worm, 
 
 Lest our liberty's growth should be checked by corrosion ; 
 Then let clouds thicken round us we heed not the storm 
 Our realm fears no shock but the earth's own explosion. 
 Foes assail us in vain, 
 Though their fleets bridge the main, 
 For our altars and laws with our lives we'll maintain. 
 For ne'er shall the sons, &c. 
 
 Should the tempest of War overshadow our land, 
 
 Its bolts could ne'er rend Freedom's temple asunder ; 
 For unmoved at its portal, would Washington stand, 
 And repulse with his breast, the assaults of the thunder ! 
 His sword from the sleep 
 Of its scabbard would leap, 
 
 And conduct with its point, every flash to the deep ! 
 For ne'er shall the sons, &c.
 
 22 
 
 Let Fame to the world sound America's voice ; 
 
 No intrigues can her sons from their government sever; 
 Her pride is her Adams ; her laws are his choice, 
 And shall flourish till Liberty slumbers forever. 
 Then unite heart and hand, 
 Like Leonidas' baud, 
 
 And swear to the God of the ocean and land, 
 That ne'er shall the sons of Columbia be slaves, 
 While the earth bears a plant, or the sea rolls its waves.
 
 THE STAR SPANGLED BAXXEIi. 
 
 WRITTEN IN SEPTEMBER, 1814, BY FRANCIS SCOTT KEY. 
 
 Tune of " To the Sons of Anacreon." 
 
 O say, can you see by the dawn's early light, 
 
 What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming? 
 Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight, 
 O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming ! 
 And the rocket's red glare, 
 The bombs bursting in air, 
 
 Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there ; 
 O say, does that star spangled banner yet wave 
 O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave ? 
 
 On that shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep, 
 Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes, 
 What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep, 
 As it fitfully blows, now conceals, now discloses ? 
 Now it catches the gleam 
 Of the morning's first beam 
 
 In full glory reflected now shines on the stream 
 'Tis the star spangled banner! O, lonor may it wave 
 O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave ! 
 
 And where is that band who so vauntingly swore 
 
 That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion 
 A home and a country should leave us no more ? 
 Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution. 
 No refuge could save 
 The hireling and slave 
 
 From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave; 
 And the star spangled banner in triumph doth wave 
 O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave !
 
 24 
 
 O, thus be it ever when freemen shall stand 
 
 Between their loved homes "and the war's desolation ! 
 Blest with victory and peace, may the heaven-rescued laud 
 Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation. 
 Then conquer we must, 
 When our cause it is just, 
 
 And this be our motto " In God is our trust :" 
 And the star spangled banner in triumph shall wave 
 O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave !
 
 it I I I I ; , :, | |: in i| | 
 
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