OUR NATIONAL BANNER

By Edward Everett



All hail to our glorious ensign! courage to the heart and

strength to the hand, to which, in all time, it shall be

intrusted! May it ever wave first in honor, in unsullied glory

and patriotic hope, on the dome of the Capitol, on the country's

stronghold, on the tented plain, on the wave-rocked topmast.



Wheresoever, on the earth's surface, the eye of the American

shall behold it, may he have reason to bless it! On whatsoever

spot it is planted, there may freedom have a foothold, humanity a

brave champion, and religion an altar. Though stained with blood

in a righteous cause, may it never, in any cause, be stained with shame.



Alike when its gorgeous folds shall wanton in lazy holiday

triumphs on the summer breeze, and its tattered fragments be

dimly seen through the clouds of war, may it be the joy and pride

of the American heart. First raised in the cause of right and

liberty, in that cause alone may it forever spread out its

streaming blazonry to the battle and the storm. Having been borne

victoriously across a mighty continent, and floating in triumph

on every sea, may virtue, and freedom, and peace, forever follow

where it leads the way!

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