This is the more remarkable, as it
was originally composed by an Englishman, and, as it is so intimately
connected with Americanism, I shall, perhaps, be excused for introducing
here what may be termed its history.
In the attacks made upon the French posts in America, in 1755, those
against Niagara and Frontenac were made by Governor Shirley, of
Massachusetts, and General Jackson, of New York. Their army during the
summer lay on the eastern bank of the Hudson, a little south of Albany.
Early in June, the troops of the eastern provinces began to pour in
company after company, and such an assemblage never before thronged
together on such an occasion. "It would have relaxed the gravity of an
anchorite," says the historian, "to see the descendants of the Puritans
marching through the streets of the ancient city, and taking their
stations on the left of the British army--some with long coats, and
others with no coats at all, and with colours as various as the rainbow;
some with their hair cropped like the army of Cromwell, and others with
wigs, the locks of which floated with grace round their shoulders.
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