ENGLAND AND AMERICA.

Greatest twain among the nations,
     Bound, alike, by kindred ties—
Ties that never should be sundered
     While your banners grace the skies—
But, united, stand and labor,

     Side by side, and hand in hand,
Battling with the sword of Freedom,
     For the peace of every land.
Yours the one beloved language,
     Yours the same religious creed,

Yours the glory and the power,
     Great as ever was the meed
Of old Rome, or Greece, or Sparta,
     When their arms victoriously,
Proved their terrible puissance

     Over every land and sea.

Let the Son respect the Sire,
     Let the Father love the Son,
Both unitedly supporting
     All the glories they have won:

Thus in concert nobly wrestling,
     They may work the world’s release,
And when having crushed its tyrants,
     Stand the Sentinels of Peace—
Stand, the mighty twin Colossus’,

     Giants of the latter days, [Page 154]
Straight’ning for the coming kingdom
     All the steep and rugged ways,
Down which many a lofty nation—
     Lofty on the scroll of fame—

Has been swept to righteous judgment,
     Naught remaining but its name.

What! allied to Merrie England,
     Have ye not a noble birth?
Yours, America, her honors,

     Yours her every deed of worth.
Have ye not her Norman courage?
     Wear ye not her Saxon cast?
Boast ye not her love of Freedom?
     Do ye not revere the Past?

When her mighty Men of Genius—
     Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton, Pope,
Glorified that selfsame language,
     Since become your pride and hope?
Do ye not respect the council

     Where her living statesmen sit?
Would ye blot the fame of Walpole?
     Dare ye slight the name of Pitt?

Did not Locke, and Hume, and Smollett,
     All conspire to make thee great

In the priceless pearls of Wisdom
     Which such gifted minds create? [Page 155]
Did not Cranmer suffer for thee?
     Boldly dying at the stake,
When the mitred Roman Pontiff

     Scourged him for his conscience’ sake!
Did not Latimer and Ridley
     Perish for the very creed
Which your free-born sons would fight for
     In the bitter hour of need?

Did not Luther triumph for thee,
     In that dear Religion’s cause?
That strong prop that now supports thee—
     Did not Alfred frame thy Laws?

And not less is thine the glory,

     England, of thy daring son;
Webster, Cooper, Clay, and Irving,
     Thine the fame which they have won;
Thine the fame of Western Genius—
     Bryant, Hoffman, Whittier, Read;

Wisdom’s words by them are garnered,
     They have sown the precious seed
Which thy sons in future ages—
     Thine and theirs—for ye are one—
Shall be proud to reap the fruit of—

     Jewels set in Wisdom’s Sun!
These, where’er thy tongue is spoken,
     Will add splendor to thy name,
And thy wisest tongues pronounce them,
     Worthy of enduring fame. [Page 156]

There will come a time, my Brothers,
     And a dread time it will be,
When your swords will flash together,
     For your Faith in jeopardy.
Not for crowns, or lands, or sceptres,

     Will the fight be fought and won,
Not for fame, or treaties broken,
     But for God, and God alone:
For the mind with which he bless’d us,
     That a false creed would keep down,

Shackle—bind it to its purpose—
     To uphold a falling crown.
See that then ye fail not, Brothers!
     Set the listening skies aglow
With such deeds as live in heaven,

     If your Faith be worth a blow.

Proud, then, of each other’s greatness,
     Ever struggle side by side;
Noble Son! time-honored Parent!
     Let no paltry strife divide

Hearts like yours, that should be mindful
     Only of each others’ worth—
Mindful of your high position
     ’Mongst the powers of the earth.
Mightiest twain among the nations!

     Bound, alike, by kindred ties—
Ties that never should be sundered,
     While your banners grace the skies; [Page 157]
Hearts and dest’nies once united,
     Steadfast to each other prove,

Bind them with enduring fetters—
     Bind them with the Bonds of Love. [Page 158]