Our Country,—whether bounded by the St. John’s and the Sabine, or however otherwise bounded1 or described, and be the measurements more or less,—still our Country, to be cherished in all our hearts, to be defended by all our hands.
ATTRIBUTION:
Toast at Faneuil Hall on the Fourth of July, 1845.
Note 1. Toast offered by Stephen Decatur (1779–1820) at a public dinner at Norfolk, Va., April, 1816: Our country! in her intercourse with foreign nations may she always be in the right; but our country, right or wrong.
The same idea, called forth by the Mexican War, was expressed by John J. Crittenden of Kentucky: I hope to find my country in the right: however, I will stand by her, right or wrong. [back]
