before us,
With Freedom's soil beneath our feet,
And Freedom's banner streaming o'er us?

THE FLAG OF OUR COUNTRY

ROBERT C. WINTHROP

There is the national flag. He must be cold indeed who can look upon its
folds, rippling in the breeze, without pride of country. If he be in a
foreign land, the flag is companionship and country itself, with all its
endearments. Its highest beauty is in what it symbolizes. It is because
it represents all, that all gaze at it with delight and reverence.

It is a piece of bunting lifted in the air; but it speaks sublimely,
and every part has a voice. Its stripes of alternate red and white
proclaim the original union of thirteen States to maintain the
Declaration of Independence. Its stars of white on a field of blue
proclaim that union of States constituting our national constellation,
which receives a new star with every new State. The two together
signify union past and present.

The very colors have a language which was officially recognized by our
fathers. White is for purity, red for valor, blue for justice; and
altogether, bunting, stripes, stars, and colors blazing in the sky,
make the flag of our country to be cherished by all our hearts, to be
upheld by all our hands.

AMERICA

SAMUEL FRANCIS SMITH

My country, 'tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing;
Land where my fathers died,
Land of the pilgrims' 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.

INDEX

Albany, reached by the Dutch, 2.

"Albany Plan," 18-19.

Alexandria, 61.

Alfred, the, the first American man-of-war, 35-38.

Algiers, the Dey of, yields to America, 58.

America, 3, 18, 25, 34, 46, 52;
overpowers the Dey of Algiers, 58.

"Ancient flag," the, 3.

Anderson, G