Chapter C: W. Thompson & Company, Boston, for "The Unfurling of the Flag," (3)

A good teacher is able to read well "O Captain, My Captain," and she reads it often to her pupils. Ultimately the children will get the spirit of the poem and some will be able to read it well or give it from memory. The various poems herein mentioned are worthy of similar treatment.

As the Gettysburg Speech is studied, so should the Civil War songs be studied. The "Battle Hymn of the Republic" should be sung with all the feeling which its meaning is capable of conveying. As much should be done with "Tenting on the Old Camp Ground." The allusion here is very impressive. The sentiment is the song, the tune is a mode of expression.

Each school in the state should have a picture of Lincoln. It should be hung by the pupils where it can be seen by the youngest as well as the oldest. A child does well in having a definite acquaintance with the rugged, kindly face of Lincoln. A look at this picture should give renewed emphasis to his standards of living and the great principles which he established. Not long since a teacher said to me, "When I have a case of discipline where the pupil has difficulty in getting the right point of view I often say to the boy, especially if he be of the upper grades, 'Go out into the hall and look for a few minutes at the fatherly face of the great Lincoln and then come back to me and tell me what you think he would say in this case.'" Such procedure is extremely effective, particularly when the pupil is acquainted with Lincoln's sayings and the great principles for which he stood. Marshall's "Lincoln" is a fine portrait for schools.

The decoration of the classroom will present demands for drawing and handwork activities such as picture frames, draperies, red, white and blue chains, and flag decorations. Much can be done in the making of posters with water colors and crayons, in the artistic ornamentation of Lincoln picture mounts on drawing paper, and in the lettering and decoration of Lincoln acrostics. The use of Lincoln picture cutouts; the drawing or painting of flags, the state seal and shields, the American eagle; perspective drawings of the log cabin, the White House and the Capitol are suggested activities. Postage stamps containing Lincoln's picture may be used in connection with handwork and drawing activities. Booklets for acrostics, anecdotes, quotations, brief biography or history incidents, with appropriate cover design, initial letters and simple illustrations will afford attractive and profitable projects.

Many other ways and means of presenting the life of Lincoln will suggest themselves to the active, thinking teacher. The whole object is to help boys and girls to know Lincoln as he lived, to make his life function in making their lives better and more worth while through his great thoughts, high ideals and indefatigable spirit of work.

The following programs, selections, suggestions and bibliography are intended to make available some selected material which in many cases may not be accessible.

ASSEMBLY PROGRAM

=Organization of School for exercises=

1. School orchestra
2. Two color bearers at each entrance to auditorium
3. One color bearer with honorary guard of two at each side of platform
4. Color bearer for flag salute--center of platform

=Program=

Salute flag draped over Lincoln portrait
Song, "America"
Story of Lincoln's life told by pupil[D]
Reading "Gettysburg Address" by teacher
Solo "When The Boys Come Home"
Reading Civil War letter
Solo, "Star Spangled Banner," school joining in chorus
Talk by Civil War veteran
Chorus sung by school, "Keep the Home Fires Burning"
Salute
Formal dismissal in keeping with assembly

[D] It would be well to have several pupils take part in this, each presenting a period in Lincoln's life.

GENERAL PROGRAM FOR CLASSROOM

Place in front of the room the picture of Lincoln veiled with the American Flag

Unveil picture

Pupils stand in saluting posture ten seconds

Quote in concert, verse from Ida Vose Woodbury's "Lincoln's Birthday"

Song, "Battle Hymn of the Republic"

Brief story of life of Lincoln (compare autobiography). (Told by an older pupil--not longer than five minutes)

At least three incidents from Lincoln's life given by intermediate pupils

Damage to borrowed book

Returning of right change

Lincoln and the pig

Long walk to school

Wood chopping for log house

Lincoln and his sums

Illustrate on sand table Lincoln's log house and the clearing of forest land

Recitation, "Gettysburg Speech"

"O Captain, My Captain" read by teacher

Song, "My Country 'Tis of Thee"

Salute flag and give pledge: "I pledge allegiance to my flag, and to the republic for which it stands; one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all"

INTERMEDIATE GRADE PROGRAM

Reading of acrostics, using letters of Lincoln's name

Make Lincoln booklets

Conversational lesson in which each child contributes what he knows or was able to find about Lincoln, the teacher adding interesting items

Lincoln's Gettysburg Speech recited by one child

Civil War newspaper articles read

Patriotic songs chosen by children sung

Pledge--"I pledge allegiance to my flag, and to the republic for which it stands; one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all"

PRIMARY PROGRAM

Picture of Lincoln in front of room

Salute and pledge

Song, "America"

Stories about Lincoln selected and read by children from books brought from home or library

Recitation, "A Prayer for our Soldiers and Sailors," by Oriola Johnson

Marching and military exercises with flags

Lincoln's early boyhood told by pupil. A few readings of sketches written by pupils. Request that each child take his composition home and read it to his parents

Song

KINDERGARTEN OBSERVANCE

=1. Morning Circle=

Singing

Tone plays about flag, etc.

Hail to the flag (Gaynor)

=2. Morning talk about Lincoln=

Get from the children what they know about Lincoln. Add to this until they know something of his life, laying emphasis on his kindness, obedience, thoughtfulness, bravery. Hint as to how these much admired qualities may be used by little children

=3. Table Work=

Gift period

Make soldier hats from squares of newspaper. Build Lincoln log house

=4. Games=

(a) "Soldier Boy, where are you going?"

(b) Parade for Lincoln's Birthday

Choice by children of best kindergarten soldiers to carry the flags in parade; use drum

=5. Table Work=

Occupation period

Make crayoneine frame around picture of Lincoln

Take picture home

=6. Sing "America," at least one verse=

GETTYSBURG SPEECH

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of it as the final resting-place of those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate--we cannot consecrate--we cannot hallow--this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us, the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us--that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion; that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom; and that the government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

_Abraham Lincoln_

SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS

[Lincoln's ideas respecting the injustice of the principles of slavery and the honesty of purpose in waging the Civil War are set forth in the Second Inaugural Speech. This passage is probably the most beautiful, the most chaste, the most profound, the grandest, ever uttered by an American.]

Fellow-countrymen: At this second appearing to take the oath of the presidential office, there is less occasion for an extended address than there was at the first. Then a statement somewhat in detail, of a course to be pursued, seemed fitting and proper. Now, at the expiration of four years, during which public declarations have been constantly called forth on every point and phase of the great contest which still absorbs the attention and engrosses the energies of the nation, little that is new could be presented.

The progress of our arms, upon which all else chiefly depends, is as well known to the public as to myself; and it is, I trust, reasonably satisfactory and encouraging to all. With high hope for the future, no prediction in regard to it is ventured.

On the occasion corresponding to this, four years ago, all thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending civil war. All dreaded it; all sought to avert it. While the inaugural address was being delivered from this place, devoted altogether to saving the Union without war, insurgent agents were in the city seeking to destroy it without war--seeking to dissolve the Union, and divide effects, by negotiation.

Both parties deprecated war; but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive, and the other would accept war rather than let it perish. And the war came.

The prayer of both could not be answered--those of neither have been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes. "Woe unto the world because of offenses! for it must needs be that offenses come; but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh."

If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of those offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to North and South this terrible war as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a living God always ascribe to Him?

Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may soon pass away.

Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn by the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said, "The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether."

With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and for his orphan; to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves, and with all nations.

_Abraham Lincoln_

ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY

The following autobiography was written by Mr. Lincoln's own hand at the request J. W. Fell, of Springfield, Illinois, December 20, 1859. In the note which accompanied it the writer says: "Herewith is a little sketch, as you requested. There is not much of it, for the reason, I suppose, that there is not much of me."

I was born February 12, 1809, in Hardin County, Kentucky. My parents were both born in Virginia, of undistinguished families--second families, perhaps I should say. My mother, who died in my tenth year, was of a family of the name of Hanks, some of whom now reside in Adams County, and others in Mason County, Illinois. My paternal grand-father, Abraham Lincoln, emigrated from Rockingham County, Virginia, to Kentucky, about 1781 or 1782, where, a year or two later, he was killed by Indians, not in battle, but by stealth, when he was laboring to open a farm in the forest. His ancestors, who were Quakers, went to Virginia from Berks County, Pennsylvania. An effort to identify them with the New England family of the same name ended in nothing more definite than a similarity of Christian names in both families, such as Enoch, Levi, Mordecai, Solomon, Abraham, and the like.

My father, at the death of his father, was but six years of age, and grew up literally without any education. He removed from Kentucky to what is now Spencer County, Indiana, in my eighth year. We reached our new home about the time the state came into the Union. It was a wild region, with many bears and other wild animals still in the woods. There I grew up. There were some schools, so called, but no qualification was ever required of a teacher beyond readin', writin' and cipherin' to the rule of three. If a straggler, supposed to understand Latin, happened to sojourn in the neighborhood, he was looked upon as a wizard. There was absolutely nothing to excite ambition for education. Of course, when I came of age I did not know much. Still, somehow, I could read, write, and cipher to the rule of three, but that was all. I have not been to school since. The little advance I now have upon this store of education I have picked up from time to time under the pressure of necessity.

I was raised to farm work, at which I continued till I was twenty-two. At twenty-one I came to Illinois, and passed the first year in Macon County. Then I got to New Salem, at that time in Sangamon, now Menard County, where I remained a year as a sort of clerk in a store. Then came the Black Hawk War, and I was elected a captain of volunteers--a success which gave me more pleasure than any I have had since. I went into the campaign, was elected, ran for the Legislature the same year (1832), and was beaten--the only time I have ever been beaten by the people. The next and three succeeding biennial elections I was elected to the Legislature. I was not a candidate afterward. During the legislative period I had studied law, and removed to Springfield, to practice it. In 1846 I was elected to the Lower House of Congress. Was not a candidate for reelection. From 1849 to 1854, both inclusive, practiced law more assiduously than ever before. Always a Whig in politics, and generally on the Whig electoral ticket, making active canvasses. I was losing interest in politics when the repeal of the Missouri Compromise aroused me again. What I have done since then is pretty well known.

If any personal description of me is thought desirable, it may be said I am in height six feet four inches, nearly; lean in flesh, weighing, on an average, one hundred and eighty pounds; dark complexion, with coarse black hair and gray eyes--no other marks or brands recollected.

THE BIXBY LETTER

Executive Mansion, Washington, November 21, 1864

Dear Madam:

I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant-General of Massachusetts, that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering to you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they have died to save. I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.

Yours, very sincerely and respectfully

Abraham Lincoln

To Mrs. Bixby
Boston, Massachusetts

SAYINGS FROM LINCOLN'S SPEECHES

Let us have faith that right makes might; and in that faith let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it.

I intend no modification of my oft-expressed wish that all men everywhere should be free.

A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free.

I take the official oath today with no mental reservation and with no purpose to construe the constitution by any hypercritical rules.

You can have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the government; while I shall have the most solemn one to "preserve, protect and defend" it.

The mystic chords of memory stretching from every battle-field and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.

In giving freedom to the slaves we assure freedom to the free--honorable alike in what we give and what we preserve.

Do not swap horses in the middle of the stream.

You can fool part of the people all of the time, and all of the people part of the time; but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.

I do not think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday.

The leading rule for the man of every calling is diligence; never put off until tomorrow what you can do today.

I never let an idea escape, but write it on a piece of paper and put it in a drawer. In this way I sometimes save my best thoughts on a subject.

Wealth is a superfluity of what we do not need.

Come what will, I will keep faith with friend and foe.

Faith in God is indispensable to successful statesmanship.

God bless my mother; all I am or hope to be I owe to her.

I will study and get ready and maybe my chance will come.

Be sure you put your feet in the right place and then stand firm.

And having thus chosen our course, without guile and with pure purpose, let us renew our trust in God, and go forward without fear and with manly hearts.

Nothing valuable can be lost by taking time.

It is all in that one word--thorough.

Let us strive on to finish the work we are in.

When you can't remove an obstacle plow around it.

The way for a young man to rise is to improve every way he can, never suspecting that anybody wishes to hinder him.

To add brightness to the sun or glory to the name of Washington is alike impossible. Let none attempt it. In solemn awe pronounce the name and in its naked deathless splendor leave it shining on.

O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN!

O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done;
The ship has weather'd every rack, the prize we sought is won;
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring.
But O heart! heart! heart!
O the bleeding drops of red,
Where on the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.

O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up--for you the flag is flung--for you the bugle trills;
For you bouquets and ribbon'd wreaths--for you the shores a-crowding;
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning.
Here, Captain! dear father!
This arm beneath your head!
It is some dream that on the deck,
You've fallen cold and dead.

My Captain does not answer; his lips are pale and still;
My father does not feel my arm; he has no pulse nor will.
The ship is anchor'd safe and sound, its voyage closed and done;
From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won.
Exult, O shores, and ring, O bells!
But I with mournful tread,
Walk the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.

_Walt Whitman_

THE UNFINISHED WORK

The crowd was gone, and to the side
Of Borglum's Lincoln, deep in awe,
I crept. It seemed a mighty tide
Within those aching eyes I saw.

"Great heart," I said, "why grieve alway?
The battle's ended, and the shout
Shall ring forever and a day--
Why sorrow yet, or darkly doubt?"

"Freedom," I plead, "so nobly won
For all mankind, and equal right,
Shall with the ages travel on
Till time shall cease, and day be night."

No answer--then; but up the slope
With broken gait, and hands in clench,
A toiler came, bereft of hope,
And sank beside him on the bench.

_Joseph Fulford Folsom_

ACROSTIC

(Written by a fifth grade child)

L is for Lincoln, brave and true
I is for the Iron nerve which helped him through
N is for Nation whose tongue sings his praise
C is for Colors on his birthday we raise
O is for Oration or speech he gave
L is for Liberty given the slave
N is his Name which ever we'll save

In front of Court House, Newark]

THE BOY THAT HUNGERED FOR KNOWLEDGE

In his eagerness to acquire knowledge, young Lincoln had borrowed of Mr. Crawford, a neighboring farmer, a copy of Weems' Life of Washington--the only one known to be in existence in that section of the country. Before he had finished reading the book, it had been left, by a not unnatural oversight, in a window. Meantime, a rain storm came on, and the book was so thoroughly wet as to make it nearly worthless. This mishap caused him much pain; but he went, in all honesty, to Mr. Crawford with the ruined book, explained the calamity that had happened through his neglect, and offered, not having sufficient money, to "work out" the value of the book.

"Well, Abe," said Mr. Crawford, after due deliberation, "as it's you, I won't be hard on you. Just come over and pull fodder for me for two days, and we will call our accounts even."

The offer was readily accepted, and the engagement literally fulfilled. As a boy, no less than since, Abraham Lincoln had an honorable conscientiousness, integrity, industry, and an ardent love of knowledge.

ABE LINCOLN'S HONESTY

Lincoln could not rest for an instant under the consciousness that he had, even unwittingly, defrauded anybody. On one occasion, while clerking in Offutt's store, at New Salem, Illinois, he sold a woman a little bill of goods, amounting in value by the reckoning, to two dollars six and a quarter cents. He received the money, and the woman went away. On adding the items of the bill again, to make sure of its correctness, he found that, he had taken six and a quarter cents too much. It was night and closing and locking the store, he started out on foot, a distance of two or three miles, for the house of his defrauded customer, and, delivering over to her the sum whose possession had so much troubled him, went home satisfied.

On another occasion, just as he was closing the store for the night, a woman entered, and asked for a half pound of tea. The tea was weighed out and paid for, and the store was left for the night. The next morning, Lincoln entered to begin the duties of the day, when he discovered a four-ounce weight on the scales. He saw at once that he had made a mistake, and, shutting the store, he took a long walk before breakfast to deliver the remainder of the tea. These are very humble incidents, but they illustrate the man's perfect conscientiousness--his sensitive honesty--better perhaps than they would if they were of greater moment.

YOUNG LINCOLN'S KINDNESS OF HEART

An instance of young Lincoln's practical humanity at an early period of his life is recorded, as follows:

One evening, while returning from a "raising" in his wide neighborhood, with a number of companions, he discovered a straying horse, with saddle and bridle upon him. The horse was recognized as belonging to a man who was accustomed to excess in drink, and it was suspected at once that the owner was not far off. A short search only was necessary to confirm the suspicions of the young men.

The poor drunkard was found in a perfectly helpless condition, upon the chilly ground. Abraham's companions urged the cowardly policy of leaving him to his fate, but young Lincoln would not hear to the proposition. At his request, the miserable sot was lifted to his shoulders, and he actually carried him eighty rods to the nearest house. Sending word to his father that he should not be back that night, with the reason for his absence, he attended and nursed the man until the morning, and had the pleasure of believing that he had saved his life.

A BIT OF HUMOR FROM THE BUSY LIFE OF LINCOLN

Two persons who had been arguing with each other how long a man's legs should be in proportion to his body, stepped into Lincoln's office and asked him to settle the dispute.

To them he replied: "After much thought and consideration, not to mention mental worry and anxiety, it is my opinion, all side issues being swept aside, that a man's lower limbs, in order to preserve harmony of proportion, should be at least long enough to reach from his body to the ground."

HOW LINCOLN AND JUDGE B. ... SWAPPED HORSES

When Abraham Lincoln was a lawyer in Illinois, he and a certain judge once got to bantering each other about trading horses, and it was agreed that the next morning at nine o'clock they should make a trade, the horses to be unseen up to that hour, and no backing out, under a forfeiture of $25.

At the hour appointed the Judge came up, leading the sorriest-looking specimen of a horse ever seen in those parts. In a few minutes Mr. Lincoln was seen approaching with a wooden sawhorse upon his shoulders. Great were the shouts and the laughter of the crowd, and both were greatly increased when Mr. Lincoln, on surveying the Judge's animal, set down his sawhorse, and exclaimed: "Well, Judge, this is the first time I ever got the worst of it in a horse trade."

The following paragraphs are quoted from a small pamphlet of Mr. Judd Stewart of Plainfield, New Jersey, entitled "Suggestions for a Text Book for Students of English." Mr. Stewart is a profound student of Lincoln, and without doubt has the largest private collection of Lincolnia in the United States.

It was recently suggested to me by a lieutenant in the navy, a graduate of Annapolis, that in teaching English the writings and speeches of Lincoln would be a very proper text-book. This appeals to me most forcefully because all school children know who Lincoln was, know something of his Gettysburg Address, know him as the Emancipator of the Slaves and probably a majority of them admire him. Therefore, it seems to me that a text-book based upon, or rather made up from Lincoln's speeches and letters would be of great interest to the majority of children, and by having such a text-book they would learn history and good expressive English at the same time and in a most interesting way.

The suggested text-book would consist of: The House Divided Against Itself Speech, in 1858; The First Debate with Douglas Speech in 1858; The Cooper Institute Speech, 1860; The First Inaugural, 1861; The First Message to Congress, 1861; The Emancipation Proclamation, 1863; The Gettysburg Address, 1863; The Letter to Mrs. Bixby, 1864; The Second Inaugural, 1865.

Lincoln spent 49 years of his life in preparation, six years in the accomplishment of his work. The study of his life is commended and commends itself to all thinking people.

Why should we not teach his thoughts, his modes of speech, his simplicity of expression to those who with their children and descendants for ages will remember Abraham Lincoln, the Emancipator, the Martyr, the Greatest American?

Attention should be given to the great statue of Lincoln before the Court House in Newark, New Jersey. It presents our most admired statesman seated on a bench absorbed in thought. The statue is a wonderful work of art. From every angle it is unique, beautiful, and a masterpiece. At all times of day passersby may see the children of the city sitting in his arm, lovingly admiring the fatherly face. On his knees and on the bench they gather, children of all races, rejoicing in the freedom which he gave to mankind.

The statue was conceived and made by the Sculptor Gutzon Borglum, for Amos H. VanHorn, the donor. It was presented to the Lincoln Post on May 30, 1911, by Chancellor Mahlon Pitney. Colonel Theodore Roosevelt received it in behalf of the Post, and Mayor Husaling made the speech of acceptance.

Pass on, thou that hast overcome. Your sorrows, O people, are his peace. Your bells and bands and muffled drums sound triumph in his ear. Wail and weep here; God made it echo joy and triumph there. Pass on.

Four years ago, O Illinois, we took from your midst an untried man, and from amongst the people. We return him to you a mighty conqueror. Not thine any more, but the Nation's; not ours, but the world's. Give him place, O ye prairies. In the midst of this great continent his dust shall rest, a sacred treasure to myriads who shall pilgrim to that shrine to kindle anew their zeal and patriotism. Ye winds that move over the mighty places of the West, chant his requiem. Ye people, behold a martyr whose blood as so many articulate words, pleads for fidelity, for law, for liberty.

_Henry Ward Beecher_

BIBLIOGRAPHY

See Bibliography at end of monograph.

WASHINGTON'S BIRTHDAY

February 22

It was almost unconsciously that men learned to cling to Washington with a trust and faith such as few other men have won, and to regard him with a reverence which still hushes us in presence of his memory.

_Green_

WASHINGTON'S BIRTHDAY

HENRY W. FOSTER, SUPERVISING PRINCIPAL, SOUTH ORANGE

February is the greatest month for the teaching of patriotism. The national heroes, Washington and Lincoln, whose birthdays we celebrate, give distinction to two of its days. The time falls happily in midyear, when pupils and teachers alike need inspiration for a new period of sustained effort requiring determination and vigor.

It has been shown very clearly that through its schools a nation can be trained in ideals which will govern national life and conduct. Neither Washington nor Lincoln, however, owed his heroic quality to schools; but they did owe it to the very same ideals for which our schools stand. Indeed, their greatest service to mankind is the fact that they incarnated those ideals.

It is not so easy to venerate abstract principles and to submit one's life to them as it is to imitate great personalities whose deeds have embodied those principles.

Because we love our national heroes and venerate them personally, they still live and work through us. The principles of democracy are established eternally in their deeds and in ours.

The child who writes an appreciation of Washington, or recites from his addresses, or renders a poem commemorating him, or dramatizes something from his life, enters into his spirit, and in the child Washington lives again.

The Declaration of Independence asserts the lofty principle of equality in liberty. All men are created free, and equal in the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It is a declaration of rights, not of duties. Each person has a right to _his_ life, _his_ liberty, the pursuit of _his_ happiness. The deeds of Washington embodied not only these principles, but emphasized the duty of service. In our time our country has fully justified a new statement of political faith, which Washington lived. All men are born equal in the right to opportunity--each to make the best of himself--so that he may render the best service.

Think not of the reward! On the whole, service is requited according to its worth. Too many want to do what they can't do, and won't do what they can do! It may be pride, or it may be looking for an undeserved reward. The school should train for service, and teach self-respect in doing the best that one can in the thing for which he is best fitted. Washington sought no reward; but he commands the undying veneration, not only of his countrymen, but of all mankind. Speaking of the retirement of Washington, at a time when party spirit against the policy of the great founder and preserver of the Republic was calculated to arouse bitterness in a less noble man, Knight, in his "History of England," says: "Had his nature been different, had his ambition been less under the control of his virtue, he might have taken up his sword and, sweeping away his enemy, have raised himself to supreme power upon the ruins of his country's liberty. He retired to his estate at Mount Vernon to pass the rest of his days as a private citizen.... Washington's scheme of glory was realized. He had been a ruler of free men, ruling by the power of law. He laid down his authority when he had done the work to which he was called, most happy in this, that ambitions of a selfish order could never be justified by his example."

Washington's point of view as a ruler of men was unique at that period in the world's history.

We need to teach from the life of Washington that same respect for English ideals of government which he maintained and defended, even by revolting against the English king. Too many of our people have grown up in hatred of England, through the story of the Revolution and the War of 1812, and the unfortunate attitude of aristocratic England in our Civil War.

How does England, the heart and brain of England, regard us? If we know that she sympathizes with our ideals and her heart has been with us all the time, shall we not feel safe with her, and find in Englishmen brothers with whom we may work for the good of the world?

English historians have an appreciation of Washington which we cannot surpass. Writing English history for the instruction of English boys and girls, and men and women, they justify our Revolution and laud our national hero as a world hero. No American orator has ever magnified Washington in more laudatory terms than are to be found in Green's "History of England." Green says: "Washington more than any of his fellow colonists represented the clinging of the Virginia land owner to the Mother Country, and his acceptance of the command proved that even the most moderate of them had no hope now save in arms."

Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y.]

For the future we shall need a better understanding of our English brothers. This cannot better be attained than by knowing well that our ideals are held in the same regard by them as by ourselves.

There was one man who was the chief instrument in the hands of Providence for conducting the war, by his energy, prudence, and constancy, to that triumphant assertion of Independence which has built up the great North American republic. To Washington the historian naturally turns, as to the grandest object of contemplation, when he laid aside his victorious sword--that sword which, with those he had worn in his earlier career, he bequeathed to his nephews with words characteristic of his nobleness: "These swords are accompanied with an injunction not to unsheathe them for the purpose of shedding blood, except it be for self-defence, or in defence of their Country and its rights, and in the latter case to keep them unsheathed, and prefer falling with them in their hands to the relinquishment thereof."

The United Colonies in America had such a man as Washington to control the destinies of our country in the making. The new nation had such a man for a leader during the early years of trial and promise. The nation today has the records, accomplishments and deeds of the national hero, Washington, to ever honor, venerate and imitate. The school children of the great state of New Jersey should be happy to learn from the life of this great man lessons of service, respect for law and order, truthfulness and patriotism.

QUOTATIONS

According to Captain Mercer, the following describes Washington when he took his seat in the House of Burgesses in 1759:

"He is as straight as an Indian, measuring six feet two inches in his stockings, and weighing one hundred and seventy-five pounds. His head is well shaped, though not large, and is gracefully poised on a superb neck, with a large, and straight rather than prominent nose; blue-gray penetrating eyes, which are widely separated and overhung by heavy brows. A pleasing, benevolent, though commanding countenance, dark-brown hair, features regular and placid, with all the muscles under control, with a large mouth, generally firmly closed."

Houdon's bust accords with this description.

* * * * *

To the man of all men for whom his manly heart felt most tenderness, to Lafayette, it is that he wrote the beautiful letter of February 1, 1784, unaware that his rest was only temporary, and that he was to become the first President of the country he had given life to:

"At length, my dear marquis, I am become a private citizen on the banks of the Potomac, and under the shadow of my own vine and my own fig-tree, free from the bustle of a camp and the busy scenes of public life, I am solacing myself with those tranquil enjoyments of which the soldier who is ever in pursuit of fame, the statesman whose watchful days and sleepless nights are spent in devising schemes to promote the welfare of his own, perhaps the ruin of other countries, as if the globe was insufficient for us all ... can have very little conception. I have not only retired from all public employments, but I am retiring within myself, and shall be able to view the solitary walk of private life with heart-felt satisfaction. Envious of none, I am determined to be pleased with all; and this, my dear friend, being the order for my march, I will move gently down the stream of life until I sleep with my fathers."

_J. J. Jusserand_

Among these men whose union in purpose and action made the strength and stability of the republic, Washington was first, not only in the largeness of his nature, the loftiness of his desires, and the vigor of his will, but also in that representative quality which makes a man able to stand as the true hero of a great people. He had an instinctive power to divine, amid the confusions of rival interests and the cries of factional strife, the new aims and hopes, the vital needs and aspirations, which were the common inspiration of the people's cause and the creative forces of the American nation. The power to understand this, the faith to believe in it, and the unselfish courage to live for it, was the central factor of Washington's life, the heart and fountain of his splendid Americanism.

_Henry van Dyke_

"How did George Washington look?" asked Nell;
"What was he like? Won't you please to tell?"
Thus I answered: "A courtly man,
Wearing his honors as heroes can.
Erect and tall, with his six feet two;
Knee-breeches, buckles, frills and queue;
Powdered brown hair; blue eyes, far apart;
Strong-limbed and fearless, with gentle heart;
Gracious in manner toward every one--
Such, my Nellie, was Washington."

Washington one day came across a small band of soldiers working very hard at raising some military works, under command of a pompous little officer, who was issuing his orders in a peremptory style indeed.

Washington, seeing the very arduous task of the men, dismounted from his horse, lent a helping hand, perspiring freely, till the weight at which they were working was raised.

Then, turning to the officer, he inquired why he, too, had not helped, and received the indignant reply: "Don't you know I'm the corporal?"

"Ah, well," said Washington, "next time your men are raising so heavy a weight, send for your commander-in-chief." And he strode off, leaving the corporal dumbfounded.

An American sailor landing in England shortly after the close of the War of the Revolution took a first-class seat in a stage coach, but was told to get out, as such seats were reserved for gentlemen. "I am a gentleman," said the sailor. "Who made gentlemen out of fellows like you?" asked the coach guard. "George Washington," said the sailor; and he kept his seat.

* * * * *

No nobler figure ever stood in the forefront of a nation's life. Washington was grave and courteous in address; his manners were simple and unpretending, his silence and the serene calmness of his temper spoke of a perfect self-mastery; but there was little in his outer bearing to reveal the grandeur of soul which lifts his figure, with all the simple majesty of an ancient statue, out of the smaller passions, the meaner impulses of the world around him. What recommended him for command was simply his weight among his fellow landowners of Virginia, and the experience of war which he had gained by service in border contests with the French and the Indians, as well as in Braddock's luckless expedition against Fort Duquesne. It was only as the weary fight went on that the colonists learned little by little the greatness of their leader, his clear judgment, his heroic endurance, his silence under difficulties, his calmness in the hour of danger or defeat, the patience with which he waited, the quickness and hardness with which he struck, the lofty and serene sense of duty that never swerved from its task through resentment or jealousy, that never through war or peace felt the touch of a meaner ambition, that knew no aim save that of guarding the freedom of his fellow countrymen, and no personal longing save that of returning to his own fireside when their freedom was secured. It was almost unconsciously that men learned to cling to Washington with a trust and faith such as few other men have won, and to regard him with a reverence which still hushes us in presence of his memory. Even America hardly recognized his real greatness till death set its seal on "the man first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his fellow countrymen."

_J. R. Green_

Washington is the mightiest name on earth, long since mightiest in the cause of civil liberty, still mightiest in moral reformation. On that name a eulogy is expected. It cannot be. To add brightness to the sun or glory to the name of Washington is alike impossible. Let none attempt it. In solemn awe pronounce the name, and in its naked, deathless splendor leave it shining on.

_Abraham Lincoln_

LIFE OF WASHINGTON[E]

[E] Reprinted by permission from "The Book of Holidays," by J. W. McSpadden. Copyright 1917 by Thomas Y. Crowell Company.

The story of George Washington's life has been often told, but it is worth repeating. It was an active, busy life from his earliest days, beginning as it did away back in Colonial times when the country was wild and unsettled. Washington was born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, in 1732. There is no reliable record of his early education, but it has been supposed that the first school he ever attended was a little old field school kept by one of his father's tenants, named Hobby, who was both sexton and schoolmaster. Even at this early age George was fond of playing at war. He used to divide his playmates into parties and armies. One of them was called the French and the other American. A big boy named William Bustle commanded the French, and George commanded the Americans. Every day, with cornstalks for muskets and gourds for drums, the two armies would turn out and march and fight.

George was not remarkable as a scholar, but he had a liking for mathematics. He was of a more serious turn of mind than most boys of his age. His last two years at school were devoted to engineering, geometry, trigonometry, and surveying, and at sixteen years of age he was appointed a public surveyor. His new employment brought him a handsome salary, and well it might; for it took him into the perils and hardships of the wilderness, often meeting savage chieftains, or fording swollen streams, climbing rugged mountains, breasting furious storms, wading through snowdrifts, sleeping in the open air, and living upon the coarse food of hunters and of Indians. But everywhere he gained the admiration of the backwoodsmen and the Indians by his manly bearing and his wonderful endurance.

In the year 1751 the frontiers of the colony of Virginia were constantly being attacked by the French and the Indians, so it was decided to divide the colony into military districts under a major; and when he was but nineteen, George Washington received one of these appointments. Two years later he was sent to the French, who were becoming threatening, to find out their intentions and to warn them against invading Virginian territory. This important mission made it necessary for him to journey six hundred miles through the wilderness; but he carried out his instructions successfully, and traveled the whole distance without an escort....

In 1755 George Washington served under the British officer, General Braddock, showing great bravery under fire at the battle of Monongahela, against the French and Indians, which would probably not have been lost if the general had taken Washington's advice.

In 1759 Washington married a widow named Martha Custis, with two children, John and Martha Parke Custis. He was a great favorite with the two youngsters, and used to order toys, dolls, and gingerbreads for them from London. Mrs. Custis had a large estate and so had Washington, and the management cf them took up all of his time.

When the disputes between England and the American colonies were at their height, in 1774, he became a member of the First Continental Congress, and the following year was chosen by that body Commander-in-Chief of the Continental army. For this position his training and his surveying experiences had thoroughly fitted him. He took command of the troops at Cambridge, Massachusetts, on July 3, 1775; but it was a poor army that he found under him. It was in want of arms, ammunition, and general equipment. Washington, however, kept it together with patience and skill during the trying years of the Revolution. The war lasted six years and ended with the surrender of the British commander, Cornwallis, at Yorktown, Virginia, in 1781. During all this time Washington had had to contend with the greatest difficulties. The troops were poorly paid or equipped; often there were disputes among the officers, and Congress did not know the army's needs; but the General always kept the confidence of his men until victory was assured....

In 1783 Washington bade farewell to his army, and for the next six years lived the simple life of a country gentleman on his estate at Mount Vernon, attending to the affairs of his homestead and property.

In 1789 he was again called from private life, to become first president of the United States. Congress was sitting at New York, for which city he started, in April. He disliked fuss and ceremony, but the people could not be restrained from showing their love and admiration. His progress through New Jersey was amid constant cheering, ringing of bells, and the booming of cannon. At Elizabethtown he embarked on a splendid barge, followed by other barges and boats, making a long water procession up the Bay of New York, the ships in the harbor being decorated with colors, and firing salutes as it passed. The inauguration took place on April 30, 1789, at the old City Hall, in Wall Street, Broad Street being crowded with thousands of people as far as the eye could reach. In 1793, he was re-elected for a second term of four years, after which he bade farewell to the people and retired into private life. On the 12th of December, 1799, he caught a severe cold in making the round of his plantations and died two days later, in his sixty-eighth year. In number of years he had not lived a long life, but how much was crowded into it!

Most of the portraits of Washington show him as a serious-looking gentleman in a wig, and the earliest biographies of him would lead us to believe that he was always on his dignity. But our first president was, in fact, a very genial man, with a hearty laugh, who enjoyed going to the theater, was fond of fox-hunting and was a thorough sportsman, and, as he himself admitted, had a hot temper. Towards young people and children he was always very gracious and kind....

Like Lincoln, Washington was very athletic. Both of our two great presidents were tall men: Washington was six feet two inches; Lincoln was six feet four. When he first visited the Natural Bridge, in Virginia, Washington threw a stone to the top, a distance of about two hundred feet, and, climbing the rocks, carved his name far above all others....

In all the positions which he was called upon to fill, in his remarkable life, whether as host at his home, as surveyor, as general, or as president, Washington showed the same desire to give the best that was in him for his people, his country, and for humanity at large. He endeared himself to the lowly and he gained the admiration of the great. He was never influenced by mean motives, and those who were under him loved him. Thus it was that among Americans he came to be regarded as "First in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of his countrymen;" and when his death became known on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, the armies of Napoleon in France, and the fleet of Great Britain, his former enemy, did homage to his memory.

Washington's birthday was celebrated even during his lifetime, and he had the satisfaction of receiving the congratulations of his fellow-citizens many times upon the return of this day, frequently being a guest at banquets given in honor of the occasion. In fact, after the Revolution, Washington's birthday practically took the place of the birthday of the various crowned heads of Great Britain, which had always been celebrated with enthusiasm during colonial times. When independence was established, all these royal birthdays were cast aside, and the birthday of Washington naturally became one of the most widely celebrated of American holidays....

Let us not forget what we owe to Washington, or make him merely a name--an excuse for a holiday. Let us remember him as a real, flesh and blood man--one of the greatest known to history.

He gave us a nation to make it immortal;
He laid down for Freedom the sword that he drew;
And his faith leads us on through the uplifting portal
Of the glories of peace and our destinies new.

_J. Walker McSpadden_

SELECTIONS FROM THE RULES OF CIVILITY

(_Copied by Washington at the age of fourteen from an old translation of a French book of 1595._)

Show not yourself glad at the misfortune of another, though he were your enemy.

When you see a crime punished you may be inwardly pleased; but always show pity to the suffering offender.

Superfluous compliments and all affectation of ceremony are to be avoided; yet, where due, they are not to be neglected.

When a man does all he can, though it succeed not well, blame not him that did it.

Be not hasty to believe flying reports to the disparagement of any.

In your apparel be modest, and endeavor to accommodate Nature, rather than to procure admiration; keep to the fashion of your equals.

Associate yourself with men of good quality, if you esteem your own reputation; for 'tis better to be alone than in bad company.

Speak not injurious words neither in jest nor in earnest; scoff at none, although they give occasion.

Gaze not at the marks or blemishes of others, and ask not how they came. What you may speak in secret to your friend, deliver not before others.

Nothing but harmony, honest industry, and frugality are necessary to make us a great people. First impressions are generally the most lasting. It is therefore absolutely necessary, if you mean to make any figure upon the stage, that you should take the first steps right.

There is a destiny which has the control of our actions not to be resisted by the strongest efforts of Human Nature.

Let your heart feel for the afflictions and distresses of everyone, and let your hand give in proportion to your purse; remembering always the widow's mite, but that it is not everyone who asketh that deserveth charity; all, however, are worthy the inquiry, or the deserving may suffer.