William McCarty, comp. The American National Song Book. 1842.
American FreedomEdward Rushton (17561814)
Y
Which burst your tyrannical chain;
Which taught the oppress’d how to spurn lawless sway,
And establish’d equality’s reign;
Yes, hail the bless’d moment, when, awfully grand,
Your Congress pronounced the decree
Which told the wide world that your pine-cover’d land,
In spite of coercion, was free.
To the true sons of freedom are dear;
Their deeds the unborn shall rehearse with applause,
And bedew their cold tomb with a tear.
O, cherish their names—let their daring exploits
And their virtues be spread far and wide,
And if fierce-eyed ambition encroach on your rights,
Again shall her schemes be destroy’d.
(While his bosom with gratitude glows)
How your Warren expired—how Montgomery fell,
And how Washington baffled your foes.
With transport his offspring shall catch the glad sound,
And as freedom takes root in each breast,
Their country’s defenders with praise shall be crown’d,
While their plunderers they learn to detest.
By those wrongs which your females endured;
By those blood-sprinkled plains where your warriors expired,
O, preserve what your prowess procured;
And reflect that your rights are the rights of mankind,
That to all they were bounteously given;
And that he who in chains would his fellow-man bind,
Uplifts his proud arm against Heaven.
Who for freedom all perils did brave,
How can you enjoy ease, while one foot of your land
Is disgraced by the toil of a slave?
O, rouse, then, in spite of a merciless few,
And pronounce this immortal decree—
That “whate’er be man’s tenets, his fortune, his hue,
He is man—and shall therefore be free!”