Hurrah for New England! | Page 4

wave To seek this shore; They left
behind the coward slave To welter in his living grave; With hearts
unbent, and spirits brave, They sternly bore Such toils as meaner souls
had quelled; But souls like these such toils impelled To soar.
"Hail to the morn when first they stood On Bunker's height, And,
fearless, stemmed the invading flood, And wrote our dearest rights in

blood, And mowed in ranks the hireling brood, In desperate fight! O,
'twas a proud, exulting day, For e'en our fallen fortunes lay In light!
"There is no other land like thee, No dearer shore; Thou art the shelter
of the free; The home, the port, of liberty Thou hast been, and shall for
ever be, Till time is o'er. Ere I forget to think upon My land, shall
mother curse the son She bore.
"Thou art the firm, unshaken rock On which we rest; And, rising from
thy hardy stock, Thy sons the tyrant's power shall mock, And slavery's
galling chains unlock, And free the oppressed; All who the wreath of
freedom twine Beneath the shadow of their vine Are blest.
"We love thy rude and rocky shore, And here we stand. Let foreign
navies hasten o'er, And on our heads their fury pour, And peal their
cannon's loudest roar, And storm our land; They still shall find our
lives are given To die for home,--and leant on heaven Our hand."
Did you think that a real Yankee could be so proud of living out of
Virginia? I am sure those we have seen appear to be half ashamed of
their country,--and to be sure it is not as good as ours; but I could not
help liking this boy's warm, honest love of his native soil. Even
Clarendon admired it, and, when he had done repeating his favorite
lines, handed him a silver dollar, saying,--"There! buy yourself a book
of just such poetry, if you choose, and if you can find any in praise of
the Old Dominion, read it for my sake."
I knew that brother meant to do a gracious thing; but still there was
something about David's appearance which would have made me afraid
to give him money, and I was not surprised at the indignant flush which
rose to his cheek, or the scornful way in which he threw the poor dollar
over the rock into the sea.
"I am Captain Cobb's son, Sir," he said very proudly, "and must tell you,
that, though a New England boy is not ashamed of earning money in
any honest way, he never takes it as a gift from strangers. I should have
pocketed your silver with great pleasure if I had sold you its worth in
fish, or taken you out in the skiff for a day's excursion; but my mother

would scorn me if I had taken alms like a beggar-boy."
I never saw Clarendon more confused than he was at this speech; yet he
has so much pride himself, that he could not help liking the boy's
honest love of independence. His curiosity was so much excited, that
he prolonged the conversation, and discovered that David was the son
of the captain of the Go-Ahead, the very schooner in which we are to
sail to-morrow for Newfoundland. It will he the fourth of July, and the
sailors were at first averse to going out upon that day, but concluded to
celebrate it on shore in the morning, and depart in the afternoon. David
is going to accompany his father on the trip, having studied a little too
hard at school, and it being the custom here to intersperse study with
seasons of labor.
"You see," he said, "that I am rigged already sailor-fashion"; and he
pointed to his wide trousers, round jacket, and tarpaulin.
"O brother! can't I have just such clothes?" I asked. "They would be so
comfortable, and I should have no fears of hurting them, as I should
these I have on."
"You got yours for economy, did you not, boy?" said brother to David.
"Not altogether, Sir. They are the only ones proper for fishing. Of
course, if you are going to work, you will get some of the same kind;
for that finery of yours would be very much out of place."
Finery! Could you have heard David's tone of contempt, and seen his
glance at brother's last Paris suit, you would have laughed as I did.
I think Clarendon is getting more patient already; for a few weeks since
nothing could have saved a boy from a flogging that had dared to give
him such a glance; but his good-sense is getting uppermost. "Well,
Master David," he said, good-humoredly, "since you don't like our
clothes, you must come to-morrow to our lodgings, and show Pidgie