William McCarty, comp. The American National Song Book. 1842.
On General WashingtonW
Was call’d from the earth to the regions above,
The fetters grim Tyranny twist from his hand,
And with Rapine and Murder usurp’d the command;
While Peace, lovely maiden, was scared from the plains,
And Liberty, captive, sat wailing in chains:
Her once gallant offspring lay bleeding around,
Nor, on earth, could a champion to save her be found.
On a world so accursed from his crystalline throne;
Then open’d the book, in whose mystical page
Were enrolled the heroes of each future age;
Read of Brutus and Sidney, who dared to be free,
Of their virtues approved, and confirm’d the decree:
Then turn’d to the annals of that happy age,
When Washington’s glories illumined the page.
To establish her empire in each distant land,
A chief shall arise, in Columbia’s defence,
To whom the just gods shall their favours dispense,
Triumphant as Mars in the glorious field,
While Minerva shall lend him her wisdom and shield,
And Liberty, freed from her shackles, shall own
Great Washington’s claim as her favourite son.”