afar,
Like rainbows on the cloud of war,
The harbingers of victory!

Flag of the brave! thy folds shall fly,
The sign of hope and triumph high!
When speaks the signal trumpet tone,
And the long line comes gleaming on,
Ere yet the lifeblood, warm and wet,
Has dimmed the glistening bayonet,
Each soldier's eye shall brightly turn
To where thy sky-born glories burn,
And, as his springing steps advance,
Catch war and vengeance from the glance.
And when the cannon mouthings loud
Heave in wild wreaths the battle shroud,
And gory sabers rise and fall,
Like shoots of flame on midnight's pall,
Then shall thy meteor glances glow,
And cowering foes shall sink beneath
Each gallant arm, that strikes below
That lovely messenger of death.

Flag of the seas! on ocean's wave
Thy stars shall glitter o'er the brave;
When death careering on the gale,
Sweeps darkly round the bellied sail,
And frighted waves rush wildly back,
Before the broadside's reeling rack,
Each dying wanderer of the sea
Shall look at once to heaven and thee,
And smile to see thy splendors fly
In triumph o'er his closing eye.

Flag of the free heart's hope and home,
By angel hands to valor given,
Thy stars have lit the welkin dome,
And all thy hues were born in heaven.
Forever float that standard sheet!
Where breathes the foe but falls before us,
With Freedom's soil beneath our feet,
And Freedom's banner streaming o'er us?

XXI. IRONICAL EULOGY ON DEBT. (121)

Debt is of the very highest antiquity. The first debt in the history of
man is the debt of nature, and the first instinct is to put off the
payment of it to the last moment. Many persons, it will be observed,
following the natural procedure, would die before they would pay their
debts.

Society is composed of two classes, debtors and creditors. The creditor
class has been erroneously supposed the more enviable. Never was there a
greater misconception; and the hold it yet maintains upon opinion is a
remarkable example of the obstinacy of error, notwithstanding the plainest
lessons of experience. The debtor has the sympathies of mankind. He is
seldom spoken of but with expressions of tenderness and compassion--"the
poor debtor!"--and "the unfortunate debtor!" On the other hand, "harsh"
and "hard-hearted" are the epithets allotted to the creditor. Who ever
heard the "poor creditor," the "unfortunate creditor" spoken of? No, the
creditor never becomes the object of pity, unless h