day-school children of
Boston. Its patriotic ring, rather than its literary merit, renders it
sweet to the ear of every American. Wherever it is sung, the feeble
treble of age will join as enthusiastically as the joyous note of youth
in rendering the inspiring strains of

AMERICA

My country, 'tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing,
Land where my fathers died,
Land of the pilgrim's pride,
From every mountain side,
Let freedom ring.

My native country, thee,
Land of the noble, free,
Thy name I love;
I love thy rocks and rills,
Thy woods and templed hills,--
My heart with rapture thrills,
Like that above.

Let music swell the breeze,
And ring from all the trees
Sweet freedom's song;
Let mortal tongues awake,
Let all that breathe partake,
Let rocks their silence break,
The sound prolong.

Our fathers' God, to Thee,
Author of Liberty,
To Thee we sing;
Long may our land be bright
With freedom's holy light,--
Protect us by thy might,
Great God, our King.

III. THE BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC

"No single influence," says United States Senator George F. Hoar of
Massachusetts, "has had so much to do with shaping the destiny of a
nation--as nothing more surely expresses national character--than what
is known as the national anthem."

There is some difference of opinion as to which of our patriotic hymns
or songs is distinctively the national anthem of America. Senator Hoar
seems to have made up his mind in favor of "The Battle Hymn of the
Republic." Writing of its author, Julia Ward Howe, in 1903, he said:
"We waited eighty years for our American national anthem. At last God
inspired an illustrious and noble woman to utter in undying verse the
thought which we hope is forever to animate the soldier of the
republic:--

"'In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea
With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me;
As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,
While God is marching on.'"

Mrs. Julia Ward Howe is as widely known for her learning and literary
and poetic achievements as she is for her work as a philanthropist and
reformer.

She was born in New York City, in a stately mansion near the Bowling
Green, on May 27, 1819. From her birth she was fortunate in possessing
the advantages that wealth and high social position bestow. Her father,
Samuel