William McCarty, comp. The American National Song Book. 1842.
National MaturityF
Provoked into combat by insolent wrong:
If Europe will doubt it, invading this shore,
We’ll act as our fathers have acted before.
Most solidly built on the fair “Rights of Man!”
Deaf alike to tyrannical menace or lure,
Their arm was exalted, their system was pure.
Privation and hazard to stagger the bold;
They paused at no danger, well counting the cost,
Nor tamper’d with peril till safety was lost:
Cause cowards to falter, and traitors to aid:
A chief and his heroes, all staunch in the cause,
Defeated the foe, and establish’d our laws.
That soon as the child Independence was born,
He rose a young Hercules, stronger by strife,
And strangled the snakes that attempted his life!
When gristle alone braced the national child:
Now the stout bone of union connects every joint,
Their sons can maintain at the bayonet’s point.