commander. That they should have triumphed against such odds furnishes an inference of the same kind as that established by the victories of the European over the semi-civilized hordes of Asia. carious chance that he was thrown in the way of the Spaniards. It is, indeed, one among many examples of the influence of fortune in determining the fate of military 5 operations. The star of Cortés was in the ascendant. Had it been otherwise, not a Spaniard would have survived that day to tell the bloody tale of the battle of Otumba. Yet even here all must not be referred to superior discipline and tactics. For the battle would certainly have been lost, had it not been for the fortunate death of the Indian general. And, although the selec- 10 tion of the victim may be called the result of calculation, yet it was by the most pre From History of the Conquest of EARLY AMERICAN LYRISTS JOSEPH HOPKINSON (1770-1842) The author of 'Hail Columbia' was the son of Francis Hopkinson, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and he was born at Philadelphia and educated at the University of Pennsylvania. His life-work was almost wholly in the field of war and statesmanship. He is known to-day only because of his one stirring patriotic song. An account of the circumstances under which the song was composed may be found in the notes at the end of the volume. HAIL COLUMBIA The writer of the American national song was born in Frederick, Maryland, the son of a veteran of the Revolution. He was educated at St. Johns College, Annapolis, and, like Hopkinson, chose the law as his profession. In later years he removed to Washington, where he became district attorney. He was in no way connected with the army or navy and his being on board the ship of the enemy came about through an attempt to negotiate the release of a prisoner. The full story is told in the notes. Key's lyric, set to the music Anacreon in Heaven,' became instantly popular and it has now won recognition as the American national anthem. THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER O say, can you see, by the dawn's early light, What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming — Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the clouds of the fight, 270 O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming! And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, 5 Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there; O! say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave? On that shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep, Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes, 10 What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep, As it fitfully blows, now conceals, now discloses? Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam, In full glory reflected now shines on the stream; 'Tis the star-spangled banner; O long may it wave 15 O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave! John Pierpont, grandfather of the finan cier, John Pierpont Morgan, a native of Con.necticut, a graduate of Yale, and for twentysix years pastor of the Hollis Street Church, Boston, was for a among the leading poets of America. His generation numbered Airs of Palestine, 1816, sold three editions within two years, and it was long supposed that it held a secure place among the Amer ican classics, but with the rising of the new school of poetry which ruled the middle century he faded from view until to-day along with such other poets contemporaneously famous as Charles Sprague and James Hillhouse and James G. Percival, he is read only by a few students of the history of American literature. His 'Warren's Address' was long a favorite with schoolboy orators. WARREN'S ADDRESS TO THE AMERICAN SOLDIERS STAND! the ground's your own, my braves! Will ye give it up to slaves? Will ye look for greener graves? Hope ye mercy still? What's the mercy despots feel? Fear ye foes who kill for hire? And, before you, see Let their welcome be! In the God of battles trust! Be consigned so well, As where heaven its dews shall shed 5 Richard Henry Dana, father of Richard Henry Dana, Junior, author of Two Years Before the Mast, was a native of Cambridge and a graduate of Harvard College. He was one of the earliest of the Boston group of writers to devote himself to literature as a profession. He was one of the editors of The North American Review when Bryant's 'Thanatopsis' was accepted by that quar terly and published, and he was one of the earliest of American critics to recognize the new English school of poetry headed by Wordsworth and Coleridge. His critical articles, his Idle Man which was published in numbers, and his stories must be considered by the historian of American literature. His best known poem is The Buccaneer, 1827, very popular in its day but now almost wholly forgotten. Born in Ireland, 1789, brought a child to America by his emigrating parents, reared in poverty, but at every step making the most of his opportunities until at last he arose to eminence as a lawyer in New Orleans, Wilde lives among the American poets by virtue of a single pathetic lyric that has secured a permanent place in the American anthology. He was a true poet with a fervid Celtic soul, a lover of art and beauty, and under kindlier conditions might have won a larger place among the poets. |