Arizona republican., 1905-07-17
A PHOENIX SCHOOL GIRL
An Essay on the Subject of National
 Hymns.

bella Forbes, a member of the High school graduating class, at the late commencement exercises. and there have been frequent requests for it's publication. l. is 2 work of thought. Q credit to the High school girl. and a credit to the High school itself. The topic of Miss Forbes was National Airs" and is as follows:
 Land of song!" said the warrior
 bard,
 Though all the world betray thee. One sword at least thy rights shall
 guard,
 One faithful harp shall praise thee.
 The sacred fire which has burned on the altar of patriotism has famed into many priceless songs, some of which will forever reign among the most potent influences known to the great nations of the world. Songs accepted by the people as expressions of na- tIonal sentiment have a far greater influence than the statutes enacted to carry out given political doctrines or purposes. There is no higher human power than music. It will move mems souls when the mightiest of orators fail. There has never been a country on earth so poor that it did not have at least one simple ballad dear to the common heart. which served as a source of inspiration in time of peril. It is of the greatest of these songs of which I wish to speak
 In the war lyrics of Germany we meet with flashing songs and fierce epics which read like the rush of torrent of blood amid the groans of the dying, formulating battle hymns no less dominant than those among the Norsemen. If We take a retrospect of German life, we will find the people of that country most prone, perhaps, of all modern races to outbursts of song. 4 Spaniard or a Frenchman sings as if he could not help it; a German sings as if he would not help it if he could.
 It was in 1S40 that Max Schnecken- burger, then 21 years old, wrote his potent and wonderful Watch on the Rhine.' He was not a poet but an everyday man of affairs From his soul, as from a flint leaped the spark which made Germany one flame of patriotism. When he saw the left bank of the Rhine threatened by the French. his heart was more than ever warmed with love of home and country and in a moment he con ceived the poem. The power of this was so great that it was afterward seized by four. eminent composers- the greatest of whom, Carl William of Schmalkden, gave the melody to the words. It is now the national song Of Germany.
 Schneckenburger died long before his song became famous. Later it be- came the song of the mfghtiest army of Europe. and nothing could resist the song of the Rhine in the defense of that country against the attacks of France. It was in the lyric of Schneckenburger that German pa triotism reached its continuation
 The French have produced some of the most entrancing hymns the world has ever heard. The French is singing nation; they sing as they fight. and we are told that to the sound of songs the monarchy fell to pieces at the close of the eighteenth century.
 The writer of their national air was Rouget de Lisle. The mayor of Stras- burg became acquainted with him on the 24th of April, 1792, and invited the young man to dine with him. Know ing that he had a talent for music and poetry, he asked him to write a mar
 
 of 600 volunteers who had been called to join the army of the Rhine. Ex- cited by this honor and fattered by the courtesy of his distinguished host, De Isisle, who was intensely fiery and emotional, produced before daylight the next morning what Uubach calls "The eternal poem of the apogee. of the revolution" There was an un- conscious conjunction of the hour and the man, and in an outburst of patri- otic frenzy, the immortal song of France was born.
 De Ltsle named his production "The War Song of the Army of the Rhine," but in 8 few months it found it's way to Marseilles and other cities in France, where it was extensively used lF the enthusiastic revolutionists. The farisians called it the Song of the Marseillaise," and as such it became the official hymn of the republic Of France.
 During the Crimean war Cbefore Se- bastopoD a body of French troops were detached to storm the Malakoff. The line was formed and at a signal they moved to the charge. The Rus sians met them and hurled them back Seven times the5' advanced and seven times the thnned and feeble ranks were driven before the Russians. Then the inspiring strains of the Marseillaise rose over the bloody field. The French shouted and madly rushed through the showers of shot and shell, but louder than the storm of battle rang the i'm mortal song of France Men leaped the trenches and, inspired by the song. which dispelled all fear, thcI plunged into the furnace of fire and death, hn and the Malakoff was won.
 Equal in importance to the Marseil- laise of France is Great Britain's na- tional anthem. God Save the King" Its words are few and simple, but there is a power in them not possessed by many national songs. Its great uess is measured by its influence upon forty millions of people, by the love Of country it inspires, and by its uni VeTsal use among the inhabitants of fife United Kingdom. It would seem