How goodly and bright were its links at the first!
How loathly and foul, in their usage accurst!
We had worn it in pride while it honor'd the brave,
But we rend it, when only grown fit for the slave.

[1] The reader will place the accent on the _ante-penultimate_, which
affords not only the most musical, but the correct pronunciation.




The Oath of Freedom.

By James Barron Hope.



_"Liberty is always won where there exists the unconquerable will to be
free."_

Born free, thus we resolve to live:
By Heaven we will be free!
By all the stars which burn on high--
By the green earth--the mighty sea--
By God's unshaken majesty,
We will be free or die!
Then let the drums all roll!
Let all the trumpets blow!
Mind, heart, and soul,