Excerpt from Souvenir and Official Programme of the Centennial Celebration of George Washington's Inauguration as First President of the United States The Constitution. i. Tyrant winter's icy fetters, wherewith Alpine heights are belted, Under God's free summer sunshine fall away. Slowly, surely as the season comes, his massive chains are melted, And a single drop is born of every ray; Then confluent in their currents sing the little brooklets hurrying To unite and form a torrent in its power, Rushing headlong down the mountain, every opposition burying, Growing stronger and yet stronger hour by hour, Till at last their force is gathered in the broad and placid river Flowing noiselessly and steadily along, Messenger of peace and plenty from the glorious All-giver, Though it moves without a roar, without a song. II. So, in genesis of nations swells the human tide forever Of resistance to the wrongs on which men brood, Trickling first, then drop by drop of individual endeavor, Finding volume till there falls a mighty flood. Strong enough to move a thousand mills if Titans could but store it, Making chasms out of each and every crack, Sweeping many an ancient barrier from the course that lies before it, Leaving chaos - but a pathway - in its track; Then its violence is swallowed in a People's peaceful yearning For respect which only dignity can draw, And the Freedom-loving spirit, noisy effervescence spurning, Finds its triumph in the fixed domain of Law. III. Fitly we commemorate with stirring songs of exultation Revolution's call to arms, our bells all ring, Peal of cannon, burst of fireworks, brings to mind the Declaration, Which renounced allegiance to Britain's King, But the birth of statehood in our peerless written Constitution Calls for heartfelt paeans of deeper music now. That we see in it the final unimpeached and sure solution Of the governmental problem, all allow. Thence arose the system under which a proud and fearless nation Swears to guarantee the weakest in his right; Hymns of praise unto Jehovah dedicate our celebration, The centennial of a dawn that has no night! J. A. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.