There's a Star in the West

1. THERE'S a star in the West that shall never go down Till the records of Valour decay ;

We must worship its light, though it is not our own, For liberty burst in its ray.

Shall the name of a Washington ever be heard By a freeman and thrill not his breast ?

Is there one out of bondage that hails not the word, As the Bethlehem Star of the West ?

2. " War, war to the knife ! be enthralled or ye die," Was the echo that woke in his land ;

But it was not his voice that promoted the cry ; Nor his madness that kindled the brand.

He raised not his arm, he defied not his foes, While a leaf of the olive remained ;

Till goaded with insult, his spirit arose, Like a long-baited lion unchained.

3. He struck with firm courage the blow of the brave, But sighed o'er the carnage that spread :

He indignantly trampled the yoke of the slave, But wept for the thousands that bled.

Though he threw back the fetters and headed the strife Till Man's charter was fairly restored ;

Yet he prayed for the moment when Freedom and Life Would no longer be pressed by the sword.

4. Oh, his laurels were pure ; and his patriot name In the page of the Future shall dwell ;

And be seen in all annals, the foremost in fame, By the side of a Hofer and Tell.

The truthful and honest, the wise and the good, Among Britons have nobly confessed

That his was the glory and ours was the blood Of the deeply-stained field of the West.