d peace, may the heaven rescued land
Praise the power that has made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, for 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!

II. AMERICA

"And there's a nice youngster of excellent pith;
Fate tried to conceal him by naming him Smith!
But he shouted a song for the brave and the free--
Just read on his medal, 'My Country of Thee.'"

In these lines of his famous Reunion Poem, "The Boys," Dr. Oliver
Wendell Holmes commemorated his old friend and college-mate, Dr. Samuel
Francis Smith, author of "America."

Samuel Francis Smith was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on October 21,
1808. He attended the Latin School in his native city, and it is said
that when only twelve years old he could "talk Latin." He entered
Harvard College, Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1825, and graduated in
the famous class of 1829, of which Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, James
Freeman Clarke, William E. Channing, and other celebrated Americans
were members.

Dr. Smith, like so many other noted men, "worked his way through
college." He did this principally by coaching other students, and by
making translations from the German "Conversations-Lexicon" for the
"American Cyclopedia."

After graduating from Harvard, he immediately entered Andover
Theological Seminary. Three years later, in 1832, he wrote, among
others, his most famous hymn, "America," of which the "National
Cyclopedia of American Biography" says, "It has found its way wherever
an American heart beats or the English language is spoken, and has
probably proved useful in stirring the patriotic spirit of the American
people."

Dr. Smith himself often said that he had heard "America" sung "halfway
round the world, under the earth in the caverns of Manitou, Colorado,
and almost above the earth near the top of Pike's Peak."

The hymn, as every child knows, is sung to the air of the national
anthem of England,--"God Save the King." The author came upon it in a
book of German music, and by it was inspired to write the words of
"America," a work which he accomplished in half an hour. Many years
after, referring to its impromptu composition, he wrote: "If I had
anticipated the future of it, doubtless I should have taken more pains
with it. Such as it is, I am glad to have contributed this mi