A SALUTE to the Fourteenth Anniversary of AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE

All hail to thy return, O! ever blest auspicious morn, By mercy's author giv'n: See! to greet the happy day Sol expands his brightest ray, And not a cloud obscures his way, Nor shades the face of heav'n. More sweet this day, the cannons martial roar, Than all the dulcet sounds which music's soul can pour; For ev'ry gale that o'er Columbia flies Bids on its balmy wings some Paean rise, Some song of Liberty; And ev'ry peal that mounts the skies, In solemn tones of grandeur cries, "AMERICA IS FREE!" Sound, O Fame! thy clarion strong, Bear the golden notes along, Let Gallia hear the song; Beat each heart with pleasure high, Flush each cheek with purest joy, Let rapture glitter in each eye, And tune each grateful tongue. Hail! O land!—long may old time behold Freedom o'er thee her standard wide unfold, While ages shall roll on, 'Till to a chaos sinks again this ball, 'Till worlds to primogenial nothing fall, And quench'd thy blaze, O sun!