" In his lofty sentences the old heroes seemed to pass again
in review before us, and the daily life of that heroic band, when
Congress sat inactive and careless of its needs until the camp rose in
mutiny, happily checked, however, by the great commander in a single
sentence. It will be remembered that Washington began to read his
manuscript without glasses, but was compelled to stop, and, as he
adjusted them to his eyes, he said, "You see, gentlemen, that I have
not only grown gray, but blind, in your service." It is needless to
say that the "anonymously called" meeting was not held.
He quelled the half-paid mutineers,
And bound them closer to the cause;
His presence turned their wrath to tears,
Their muttered threats to loud applause.
The great Republic had its birth
That hour beneath the army's wing,
Whose leader taught by native worth
The man is grander than the king.
* * *
We hear the anthem once again,--
"No king but God!"--to guide our way,
Like that of old--"Good-will to men"--
Unto the shrine where freedom lay.
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