And stars that gemmed the skies,

"Have left their native spheres to shed
Their radiance o'er the field;
Then while it waves above your head,
To the foeman never yield.

"Bright forms shall hover o'er thee
In the midst of war's alarms;
And in triumph shall restore thee
To a nation's waiting arms.

"Then on to Freedom's stormy height,
Go forth in valour and in might,
And bear aloft this emblem bright,
Amid the battle fray."

Now around their chief they rally,
And with zeal their bosoms glow;
While the hoarse cannon bellows forth
Defiance to the foe.

The battle rages loudly,
A dreadful carnage flows;
When the messenger of victory
The clarion trumpet blows.

Now clap your wings, oh Liberty,
And upward take your flight;
And let the gladsome tidings ring
Throughout the realms of light.

And bid your eagle sound her cry,
Wide o'er the land and sea;
For patriot arms have triumphed,
And the nation still is free.

Once more the song of Victory
Shall spread the earth around,
And the freemen on a thousand hills
Re-echo back the sound.

And a banner long shall wave on high,
And long your children stand,
United, with a sacred tie,
To guard their native land.

[[A song called "Thick Clouds Were Darkly Pending" was popular in
the Civil War years, but has not been located.]]

[Transcriber's Note:

The next several chapters--most of VII-XII, and much of VI and
XIII--are taken from _Alonzo and Melissa_ (see Sources section),
often verbatim.

Substitutions:
Melissa = Alida; Alonzo = Theodore; Beauman = Bonville;
Vincent and Mrs. Vincent = Raymond and Mrs. Raymond;
Melissa's brother Edgar = Alida's brother Albert;
Melissa's aunt has no equivalent, except as a walk-on.
New London and New York are conflated into New York;
the Revolutionary War is changed to the War of 1812.

In _Alonzo and Melissa_, the father is cruel and mercenary; the plot
complications (all seen from Alonzo's point of view) are, as the
title has it, "caused by the barbarity of an unfeeling father".
Melissa's mother is alive throughout the novel, but she is such a
doormat that her existence makes no difference to the plot.]

CHAPTER VI.

And may each day returning, with it bring
That peace that o'er the weary senses fling
A calm content; where no alloy atten