The Centennial Meditation of Columbia. 1776-1876. A Cantata.

Note to the Cantata.






Memorial.



Because I believe that Sidney Lanier was much more than a clever artisan
in rhyme and metre; because he will, I think, take his final rank
with the first princes of American song, I am glad to provide
this slight memorial. There is sufficient material in his letters
for an extremely interesting biography, which could be properly prepared
only by his wife. These pages can give but a sketch of his life and work.

Sidney Lanier was born at Macon, Ga., on the third of February, 1842.
His earliest known ancestor of the name was Jerome Lanier,
a Huguenot refugee, who was attached to the court of Queen Elizabeth,
very likely as a musical composer; and whose son, Nicholas,
was in high favor with James I. and Charles I., as director of music,
painter, and political envoy; and whose grandson, Nicholas,
held a similar position in the court of Charles II. A portrait
of the elder Nicholas Lanier, by his friend Van Dyck, was sold,
with other pictures belonging to Charles I., after his execution.