Is there anything in our history to awaken patriotic pride? Yes, a great deal; our origin, and the deeds of our ancestors. Our history is rich in heroes. The most substantial glory of a country is in its virtuous great men; its prosperity will depend on its docility to learn from their example. That nation is fated to ignominy and servitude for which such men have lived in vain. -Fisher Ames. To Next in purity and meekness to the thanksgivings which we owe to the God who gave, and guided, and sustained them, is the feeling of grateful reverence we should ever cherish toward those who are the instruments of his goodness. the claims of our great men, of every age and time, of every sect and party, let us then be faithful. Let history transmit to other generations the story of their lives; let the canvas and the marble perpetuate the image of their forms; let poetry and music breathe forth their names in hymns and harmonies; let the united voice of their countrymen echo their praises to the remotest shores, so that wherever an American foot shall tread, or a lover of American liberty be found, there, too, the memory of their greatness shall abide, a beauty and an excellence, the joy of all the earth! In the war of the Revolution, when it was thought the cause was lost, men became inspired at the very mention of the name of George Washington. In 1812, when we succeeded once more against the mother country, men were looking for a hero, and there rose before them that rugged, grim, indepen dent old hero, Andrew Jackson. In the last and greatest of all wars an independent and tender-hearted man was raised up by Providence to guide the helm of state through that great crisis, and men confidingly placed the destinies of this great land in the hands of Abraham Lincoln. In the annals of our country, we find no man whose training had been so peaceful, whose heart was so gentle, whose nature was so tender, and yet who was called upon to marshal the hosts of the masses of the people during four years of remorseless and bloody and unrelenting fratricidal war. Horace Porter. It cannot be that men who are the seed Of Washington should miss fame's true applause; Time's challenge coming, Lincoln gave it pause, And dying left them whole, the crowning deed. Such was the fathering race that made all fast, And built for man this refuge from his past, Unkinged, unchurched, unsoldiered; shamed were we, Failing the stature that such sires forecast. - George E. Woodberry. A nation is to be congratulated when it has many illustrious men in its history, to whom the people may look back with reverential love. Happy the people possessing among their dead a Washington and a Lincoln! Each such name helps to hold the passing generations, with all their new prob lems and revolutionary impulses, in allegiance to the ideals of the past. One must believe that Westminster Abbey is a perpetual incentive to true patriotism; that beneath the constant influence of its noble monuments demagogues could not flourish. As one walks beneath those arches and reads the records of heroes who have died in various climes for England and mankind, of the statesmen and authors who have for so many centuries been making the English language and ideas the most precious literary heritage of the world, one gets a profound impression of the solidity of English institutions, a firm confidence that widespread, deeply penetrating roots will keep the English oak green for centuries to come. How can we cultivate our Patriotism? By becoming acquainted with our country, studying its inspiring history, familiarizing ourselves with its institutions, and by taking an active interest in its affairs. A visit to the national capital, to some striking scene like Niagara Falls, the great prairies, the Yellowstone Park, the Yosemite Valley, or to some noted battlefield; the singing of national songs, or the reading of patriotic utterances, cannot fail to arouse love and admiration for our country. Patriotism is one of the positive lessons to be taught in every school. Everything learned should be flavored with a genuine love of country. Every glorious fact in the nation's history should be emphasized, and lovingly dwelt upon. The names of her illustrious citizens should be treasured in the memory. Every child should feel that he is entitled to a share, not only in the blessings conferred by a free government, but also in the rich memories and glorious achievements of his country. Richard Edwards. The school is the one force, is the only force, that can unify all classes and conditions of society. Here we have the children of the nation in their entirety, and we can, if we will, teach them in the schools so much of the grandeur of our possessions, of the heroic in our history, of the brilliant in our prosperity, of the fascinating in our traditions, that the fathers of the future will be willing to vote for, and die, if need be, for the American idea; that the mothers of the future will teach their sons to develop our resources by industry, to honor the historic heroism of our sires, to project the brilliancy of our prosperity into the future, to cherish, with unwavering devotion, the traditions of the land. - Albert E. Winship. And how is the spirit of a free people to be formed and animated and cheered, but out of the storehouse of its historic recollections? Are we to be eternally ringing the changes upon Marathon and Thermopylae; and going back to read in obscure texts of Greek and Latin of the exemplars of patriotic virtue? I thank God that we can find them nearer home, in our own country, on our own soil; that strains of the noblest sentiment that ever swelled in the breast of man, are breathing to us out of every page of our country's history, in the native eloquence of our native tongue; that the colonial and provincial councils of America exhibit to us models of the spirit and character which gave Greece and Rome their name and their praise among the nations. Here we may go for our instruction; the lesson is plain, it is clear, it is applicable. Edward Everett. Look at the mighty Mississippi, the Father of Waters. It rises in the nameless snows of North America, runs through twenty-three degrees of latitude, all our own soil, and washes the sides of ten young, flourishing, and powerful states. Its tributaries drain the rains that fall in sight of the Atlantic, and meet the streams that flow into the Pacific upon 'the summit of the Rocky Mountains. Its broad tides bear on their buoyant bosom the clothing of half the world, and the fertile valleys which spread out from its ample banks are capable of producing food for the whole population of the earth for a thousand years to come. - Matthew W. Ransom. As the American youth, for uncounted centuries, shall visit the capital of his country, strongest, richest, freest, happiest of the nations of the earth, from the stormy coast of New England, from the luxurious regions of the Gulf, from the prairie and the plain, from the Golden Gate, from far Alaska, he will admire the evidences of its grandeur and the monuments of its historic glory. He will find there, rich libraries and vast museums, which show the product of that matchless inventive genius of America, which has multiplied a thousandfold the wealth and comfort of human life. He will see the simple and modest portal through which the great line of the Republic's chief magistrates have passed, at the call of their country, to assume an honor surpassing that of emperors and kings, and through which they have returned, in obedience to her laws, to take their place again as equals in the ranks of their fellow-citizens. He will stand by the matchless PAT. CIT.-3 |