“Men die, but principles can know no death,
No last extinguishment of mortal breath.
We fought for what our fathers held in trust;
It did not fall forever in the dust.”
Hardly less noted at the time of publication than “Maryland, My Maryland,” was the poem “There’s Life in the Old Land Yet.”
In a late paper from Columbus, Ohio, we find the following from Atherton Hastings:
“It was my good fortune to meet recently in New Orleans Mr. James Ryder Randall, the author of ‘Maryland, My Maryland.’ He is an old man now, but vigorous in mind and body. He talked freely and without prejudice of the one-time sectional differences. Individually, he had no apologies for the part he played in the great conflict. His sentiments on the basic principles that once divided the South from the North were perhaps mellowed by age, but not materially changed. I could scarcely realize that this mild-mannered old man, with the soft Southern voice, was the same who, nearly half a century ago, lighted and held aloft the wildly flaming torch of Southern patriotism.”
Modestly and with quiet dignity Mr. Randall still pursues his editorial work, publishing in New Orleans, The Morning Star, a paper of great purity and strong high purpose. Shall we wait, holding silently our alabaster boxes of love and praise till the green sod covers the author of “Maryland, My Maryland,” the song which, Atherton Hastings says, “did more to unite the Confederate States than any other one force?”
The state of Maryland is thinking of having a homecoming of her sons and daughters, and will ask James Ryder Randall to be her guest of honor. Why should not the writer of “Maryland, My Maryland” be thus honored by all our Southern states at various reunions? Colonel J. Frank Supplee, of Baltimore, says he has “never found any section of this country in which this noble song is unknown.” We can in no better way instill love of country into the hearts of our young people than through our national songs, and we should see to it that “Maryland, My Maryland” be sung, and that the memory of its author be kept fresh and green in the heart of every child.
