not mind it if "Columbi-_ay_" and "Ameri-_kay_"
were not exactly classic orthoepy.

"HAIL COLUMBIA."

This was written (1798) by Judge Joseph Hopkinson, born, in
Philadelphia, 1770, and died there, 1843. He wrote it for a friend in
that city who was a theatre singer, and wanted a song for Independence
Day. The music (to which it is still sung) was "The President's March,"
by a composer named Fyles, near the end of the 18th century.

There is nothing hymn-like in the words, which are largely a
glorification of Gen. Washington, but the tune, a concerted piece better
for band than voices, has the drum-and-anvil chorus quality suitable for
vociferous mass singing--and a zealous Salvation Army corps on field
nights could even fit a processional song to it with gospel words.

OLD "CHESTER."

Let tyrants shake their iron rod,
And slavery clank her galling chains:
We'll fear them not; we trust in God;
New England's God forever reigns.

Old "Chester," both words and tune the work of William Billings, is
another of the provincial freedom songs of the Revolutionary period, and
of the days when the Republic was young. Billings was a zealous patriot,
and (says a writer in Moore's _Cyclopedia of Music_) "one secret, no
doubt, of the vast popularity his works obtained was the patriotic ardor
they breathed. The words above quoted are an example, and 'Chester,' it
is said, was frequently heard from every fife in the New England ranks.
The spirit of the Revolution was also manifest in his 'Lamentation over
Boston,' his 'Retrospect,' his 'Independence,' his 'Columbia,' and many
other pieces."

William Billings was born, in Boston, Oct. 7, 1746. He was a man of
little education, but his genius for music spurred him to study the
tuneful art, and enabled him to learn all that could be learned without
a master. He began to make tunes and publish them, and his first book,
the _New England Psalm-singer_ was a curiosity of youthful crudity and
confidence, but in considerable numbers it was sold, and sung--and
laughed at. He went on studying and composing, and compiled another
work, which was so much of an improvement that it got the name of
_Billings' Best_. A third singing-book followed, and finally a fourth
entitled the _Psalm Singer's Amusement_, both of which were popular in
their day. His "Majesty" has tremendous capabilities of sound, and its
movement is fully up to the requirements of Nahum Tate's verses,-