I doff

my hat and wave it with a loud ecstatic yell

I love that flag! I love it with a love 'twould dare and die— God bless those glorious stripes and stars flung out against the sky!

I love it as did Francis Key, who penned th' immortal song; I love it with a fervor that can never think it wrong;

I love it for the freedom it has given unto men;

I love it for its beauty, for its gracefulness, and then

I love it with the patriot love that never wonders why,

But sheds hot tears whene'er those folds he sees athwart the

sky;

I love it for the lessons it has taught to men of brag-
But, most of all, I love it just because it is our flag!
-Baltimore American

T

WASHINGTON

D. H. BOLLES

RANSCENDENT man! His mortal part
Has long since passed our ken,

Yet face and form, by painter's art,
Are made to live again.

What majesty imbued that form!
What grandeur marked that brow!
Sure nature never did perform
Her noble work till now.

She lent to it her utmost skill,
Her touch, firm, but elastic,
And, as her crowning act of will,
She used her choicest plastic.

The people leaned on his great arm;
He bade the nation live.

He was their rock in war's alarm,
Their safe alternative.

He moved through scenes of waste and war,
Pitying yet serene;

Heart-wrung was he, but yet needs wore
A firm and steadfast mien.

When peace ensued, the wasted land
Involved e'en greater care;

Th' appalling task made stern demand
For all his wisdom rare.

This nation is an object proof
Of what the man has done;
Of what he was it is enough
To name it, "Washington."

WASHINGTON'S BIRTHDAY

ARTHUR J. BURDICK

LL honor to that day which long ago

A Gave birth to him who Freedom's cause espoused;

Who, by his ardor in the sacred fight, The fire and strength of patriots aroused; Who knew no master, save that One divine

Whose strength was his, who knew no fear, save one— The fear of doing wrong! All hail the day

That gave to Freedom's cause George Washington.

Years come and go, and generations fall
Into the dust. The world its heroes gives.
They step upon the stage, then pass away
And are no more, but Freedom ever lives.
And while it lives, and while its banner bright
Is upward flung into the golden sun,

Within the heart of every freeman's child

Will live that honored name, George Washington.

Then honor to the day that gave him birth,
For it is also Freedom's natal day.

Let all who worship Freedom's cause stand forth
And to his memory their homage pay.

And let each loyal son the work take up—
For, know ye, Freedom's work is never done—
And greater, grander, build the edifice

Begun so long ago by Washington.

THE CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON

J. R. GREEN

A READING, arranged for three pupils (or as desired), from GREEN'S SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE.

N

O 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.

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 reverence which still hushes us in the presence of his memory.

THE CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON

HENRY CABOT LODGE

OR many years I have studied minutely the career of Washington, and with every step the greatness of the man has grown upon me; for analysis has failed to discover the act of his life which, under the conditions of the time, I could unhesitatingly pronounce to have been an error. Such has been my experience, and, although my deductions may be wrong, they at least have been carefully and slowly made. I see in Washington a great soldier, who fought a trying war to a successful end impossible without him; a great statesman, who did more than all other men to lay the foundations of a republic which has endured in prosperity for more than a century. I find in him a marvelous judgment, which was never at fault, a penetrating vision which beheld the future of America when it was dim to other eyes, a great intellectual force, a will of iron, an unyielding grasp of facts, and an unequaled strength of patriotic purpose. I see in him, too, a pure and high-minded gentleman of dauntless courage and stainless honor, simple and stately of manner, kind and generous of heart. Such he was in truth. The historian and the biographer may fail to do him justice, but the instinct of mankind will not fail. The real hero needs not books to give him worshipers. George Washington will always receive the love and reverence of men, because they see embodied in him the noblest possibilities of humanity.

WASHINGTON'S DEVOTION TO HIS COUNTRY

SAMUEL ELIOT

AN EXTRACT from the author's CHARACTERIZATION OF WASHINGTON.

H

IS devotion to his country will be revered throughout all history. The individual virtue, the personal sacrifice, the kindliness of sympathy that mingled with fortitude and strictness of duty, the incomparable honor to which he clung and would have his countrymen cling, the devotion to country, the consecration to humanity, the ennobled and ennobling walk with God-these are successes, these are victories, which this signal example of them all is still renewing and will continue to renew throughout posterity.

God has given this nation many precious gifts; but the chief gift of all, the one, we may say, which has added something to every other one, is the gift of this great soldier, this great statesman, this great and good man, the greatest of all Americans, past, present—past, if not to come. Our heritage from him is illustrious above all others.

B

WASHINGTON'S MAXIMS

Selections

WRITTEN when but thirteen years of age.

E NOT hasty to believe flying reports to the disparagement of anyone.

Be no flatterer.

Mock not, nor jest at anything of importance.

Undertake not what you cannot perform, but be careful to keep your promises.

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