natural changes in the shape of the moon take place each month? 3.
What really caused it to disappear? 4. What did the wind do when he
thought he had succeeded? 5. Find the lines that tell how the wind
felt when he saw the moon grow broader and bigger. 6. Find the lines
which tell that the moon did not know that the wind was blowing. 7.
What qualities does this story give to the wind? 8. Do you know any
person who has these qualities? 9. The poet aims in this poem to
amuse us; by what means does he do this? 10. Find in the Glossary the
meaning of: muttering; sledge; wedge; grim; matchless; blare. 11.
Pronounce: revels; hallooed; radiant.
Phrases for Study
thinned to a thread, took to his revels, where the last was bred,
filled the night.
STORIES IN LIGHTER VEIN
A BACKWARD LOOK
Why is it good for us, even in the midst of serious work, to read
humorous stories from time to time? An interesting anecdote is told of
Abraham Lincoln that shows how he would have answered this question.
One day when the Civil War was at its height, President Lincoln opened
his cabinet meeting by saying, "Gentlemen, I am going to read you
something that will make you laugh." He then read a chapter from a
humorous book, laughing heartily as he read. When he saw that none
of the members of his cabinet joined in the laughter, he said with a
sigh, "Gentlemen, why don't you laugh? With the fearful strain that is
put on me day and night, if I did not laugh once in a while I should
die; and you need this medicine as much as I do," What did you read
in the Forward Look on page 57 about another serious-minded man who
believed that wholesome humor is a "medicine"?
Which selection in this group gave you the heartiest laugh? Often
some sensible truth is taught through a little nonsense; of which
selections is this particularly true? It is interesting to stop for a
moment and think just why certain stories make us laugh. One story is
humorous because of its wild exaggeration; another because it makes us
see how ridiculous it is to be a boaster or to be conceited or to jump
at conclusions; and still another because it has an interesting little
play upon words. What is the source of humor in "The Savage Boar"; "A
Narrow Escape"; "How the Baron Saved Gibraltar"; "The Blind Men and
the Elephant"; "Birthday Greetings"; "The Wind and the Moon"?
How does the present-day newspaper furnish fun for its readers? Which
newspaper cartoons do you look at regularly, and which are your
favorites? Bring to class examples of cartoons, and then divide the
collection into three groups--those that you think drive home a truth;
those that you think are funny and clever; and those that you think
are merely silly. Prepare an exhibit for "Cartoon Day" in your school,
selecting the material from these examples. Clip and bring to class
newspaper jokes that you and your family particularly enjoyed.
Recommend to your classmates humorous stories that you have read in
The Junior Red Cross News, Life, St. Nicholas, The Youth's Companion,
or in some other magazine.
In previous pages you have found occasional suggestions for problems
similar to those of the preceding paragraph. Like suggestions will
be found later in the book. The working out of these problems and
reporting on them in class will add greatly to the value and pleasure
of your reading.
Some of these suggested problems are: (a) Silent Reading--Making a
report showing comparisons month by month of individual and class
progress in silent reading; (b) Books I Have Read--Reviewing a
favorite book, giving title, author, time and scene of story,
principal characters, and a brief outline of the story, with readings
of the selected passages that will give your classmates most pleasure;
(c) Magazine Reading--Reporting monthly on current numbers of
magazines, telling your classmates what you have found that is
interesting; in this way you will help each other to become acquainted
with a number of magazines; (d) Newspaper Reading--Reporting current
events, and showing in the newspapers that you read the place of
general news, of editorials, society news, sports, the joke column,
cartoons, advertisements, etc.; (e) Dramatizing--Planning and
presenting before your class some selection or some incident from
a selection that you think will make an interesting play; (f) Good
Citizenship--Making a list of the suggestions you find in this Reader
that help you to be a useful home-member and a good citizen, and
preparing a program from selections in this book for "Citizenship Day"
in your school.
Which of the problems that you have worked out did you find most
interesting?
HOME AND COUNTRY
A Forward Look
One of the most famous stories in American literature tells about a
man who spoke of his country with sneers and insults and acted in such
a way that he was forbidden ever to set foot on American soil again.
So he became a wanderer. He saw how men from other countries looked
upon their homelands with pride and affection, and how his countrymen
loved America better even than their lives. He came to be known as
"the man without a country," and he lived a wretched and lonely life.
At last he came to the hour of death, and he wrote these words for all
Americans to think about if the temptation should ever come to speak
scornfully of their country:
"If you are ever tempted to say a word or to do a thing that shall put
a bar between you and your country, pray God in his mercy to take you
that instant home to his own heaven. Stick by your family, boy; forget
you have a self, while you do everything for them. Think of your home,
boy; write and send, and talk about it. Let it be nearer and nearer to
your thoughts, the farther you have to travel from it; and rush back
to it when you are free. And for your country, boy"--and the words
rattled in his throat--"and for that flag"--and he pointed to the
ship--"never dream a dream but of serving her as she bids you, though
the service carry you through a thousand hells. No matter what happens
to you, no matter who flatters you or who abuses you, never look to
another flag, never let a night pass but you pray God to bless that
flag. Remember, boy, that behind all these men you have to do with,
behind officers, and government, and people even, there is the Country
Herself, your Country, and that you belong to Her as you belong to
your mother. Stand by Her, boy, as you would stand by your mother."
Such was the dying message of "the man without a country" to the
Americans of his time; such is his message to us. When we were at
war, it was to be expected that all men would answer the call of
patriotism. But now that peace has come, it is not so easy to forget
self in a loyalty to our country and its flag. It is easy to be on
guard when we know that an armed enemy is close by; it is not easy
when the enemy is hidden, and the guns are silent. These hidden
enemies of our country do not fight in armies; they are the bad
citizens who are scattered about; often you do not realize who they
are.
Generally these bad citizens, who are enemies of our country, possess
one or all of the following characteristics:
In the first place, they have no love for home and its festivals. Now,
our nation is a collection of homes. The government was formed to
protect these homes. The good citizen is a lover of his native soil,
a lover of his home, a lover of Thanksgiving and Independence Day and
Christmas. These festivals bind men more closely together, make them
one, join them to their native land. But there are many bad citizens,
enemies of America, who seek to destroy these influences that lead
men to work together to make the community a better place in which to
live.
Second, the history of the United States, the stories of the founding
of our nation, the stories about our flag and its defenders, have no
interest for these bad citizens. You remember how mother used to tell
you stories about when she was a little girl, and how these stories
made you love her the more. It is the same with the stories about
the days when our country was young: how the young George Washington
showed the kind of man he was, or how the young Abraham Lincoln
struggled to fit himself to become a leader of men. Through these
stories we learn what the flag really means and what it has cost, and
we love our country as we love our mother. But the enemy, the bad
citizen, laughs at these things. He just thinks of himself. He thinks
he has a right to do as he likes because this is, he says, "a free
country." He doesn't think that he owes anything to Washington and
Jefferson and Lincoln, or to those who kept the flag at the masthead
when it was in peril.
And the third test of a man's loyalty to our country is met only if
he has the true feeling of democracy in his heart. This feeling of
democracy means service, willingness to help others. The man or woman
who thinks only of his own good time or his own fortune is a bad
citizen.
You see, it is this way. In olden times men had no part in the
government unless they were born into a high place in society. The
ordinary man did as he was told, went to the wars at the king's
pleasure, and paid taxes that often took all he could save. He had
little opportunity to make money or collect property. If he did, very
probably the king would hear of it and would take away from him all
that he had saved. But America was founded with a different idea of
these matters. Here men got together and set up the kind of government
they wished. They taxed themselves in order to support this
government. They worked together to drive away hostile Indians, to
kill wild beasts, to conquer the forests, to plant their crops, to
make their lives safe and happy. In this cooperation, or working
together, in government and in all the ways of living we find the
spirit of democracy.
This spirit has made America what it is today. It has opened up farms,
built railways and ships and great industries, built also mighty
cities, and made laws for the protection of property and life. All
this men have done through the cooperation that means democracy.
If any man thinks that this freedom gives him the right to trample on
others, he is no better than one of the wicked kings of former times.
If he thinks that under this freedom he may devote himself wholly to
the selfish gain of wealth without giving a share of his money, his
time, and his skill to making his community a better place to live
in and his nation stronger and more secure, he cheats his fellows,
because he takes, without making any return, the blessings that the
founders and defenders of the Republic established with their lives.
In the old stories the youth who was ready to be made a knight had to
do certain things. He had to take the vow of knighthood, that he would
lead a pure and blameless life. He had to render a service to someone
in distress. And he had to watch, his arms beside him, through a
night.
You boys and girls, lovers of America, her defenders if need be, her
guardians in the years to come, must also watch by your arms. These
arms are not guns and bayonets; they belong to your heart and mind.
They are three in number: the love of home, the inheritance of
freedom, and the will to work with others. The first is a foundation
to make strong your heart; the second is a bulwark to make safe your
life; the third is a sword wherewith to slay the enemies of the
Republic.
This foundation in the love of home, this bulwark of our inheritance
of freedom, and this sword of unselfish service are subjects often
dealt with by great writers. In the pages that follow you will find
pieces selected in order to bring out these ideas. You should read
each of these selections not only for itself but also as a member of
the group to which it belongs; and you should try to get the central
idea that unites all the pieces that make up the group. Thus, little
by little, you will come to see how your joy in Thanksgiving, the
thrill that Old Glory can give you, and the service that you can
render to someone else, are all related to each other. To defend home
and country by being a good citizen is to be your mission in life. It
is more important than a successful career, or than great personal
happiness. For both your career and your happiness will depend upon
the way in which you, and the other boys and girls of America,
thousands upon thousands, keep watch by these arms, keep faith with
home and country.
HOME AND ITS FESTIVALS
HOME, SWEET HOME
John Howard Payne
'Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam
Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home!
A charm from the sky seems to hallow us there,
Which, seek through the world, is ne'er met with elsewhere.
Home, Home, sweet, sweet Home!
There's no place like Home! there's no place like Home!
An exile from home, splendor dazzles in vain;
Oh! give me my lonely thatched cottage again!
The birds, singing gayly, that came at my call--
Give me them--and the peace of mind dearer than all!
Home, Home, sweet, sweet Home!
There's no place like Home! there's no place like Home!
How sweet 'tis to sit 'neath a fond father's smile,
And the cares of a mother to soothe and beguile!
Let others delight mid new pleasures to roam,
But give me, oh, give me, the pleasures of home!
Home, Home, sweet, sweet Home!
There's no place like Home! there's no place like Home!
To thee I'll return, overburdened with care;
The heart's dearest solace will smile on me there;
No more from that cottage again will I roam;
Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home.
Home, Home, sweet, sweet Home!
There's no place like Home! there's no place like Home!
NOTES AND QUESTIONS
Biography. John Howard Payne (1792-1852) was born in New York City.
He became an actor and also a writer of plays and operas. He died
at Tunis, Africa, to which place he had been sent as United States
consul. When Jenny Lind, the celebrated Swedish singer, visited the
United States in 1850, she sang in Washington before a large audience.
John Howard Payne sat in one of the boxes, and at the close of her
wonderful concert the singer turned toward the box in which the poet
sat, and sang "Home, Sweet Home" with so much sweetness and power that
many of the audience cried like children.
Discussion. 1. What words in the first stanza are repeated in the
refrain, or chorus? 2. What is it that the poet says "hallows," or
blesses, us when we are in our homes? 3. With what word in the second
stanza is "cottage" contrasted? 4. What does the second stanza tell us
that the poet had at home and missed afterwards? 5. What is it that
really makes home beautiful? 6. What great service do our mothers
perform? 7. What does page 84 tell you of the value the love of home
is to a nation? 8. Explain the expression "splendor dazzles in vain".
9. Find in the Glossary the meaning of: humble; hallow; charm; fond;
soothe; beguile; roam. 10. Pronounce: exile; solace.
THE GRAPEVINE SWING
SAMUEL MINTURN PECK
When I was a boy on the old plantation,
Down by the deep bayou--
The fairest spot of all creation
Under the arching blue--
When the wind came over the cotton and corn,
To the long, slim loop I'd spring
With brown feet bare, and a hat-brim torn,
And swing in the grapevine swing.
Swinging in the grapevine swing,
Laughing where the wild birds sing,
I dream and sigh
For the days gone by,
Swinging in the grapevine swing.
Out--o'er the water lilies bonny and bright
Back--to the moss-green trees;
I shouted and laughed with a heart as light
As a wild rose tossed by the breeze.
The mocking bird joined in my reckless glee;
I longed for no angel's wing;
I was just as near heaven as I wanted to be
Swinging in the grapevine swing.
Swinging in the grapevine swing,
Laughing where the wild birds sing--
Oh, to be a boy
With a heart full of joy,
Swinging in the grapevine swing!
I'm weary at noon, I'm weary at night,
I'm fretted and sore of heart,
And care is sowing my locks with white
As I wend through the fevered mart.
I'm tired of the world with its pride and pomp,
And fame seems a worthless thing.
I'd barter it all for one day's romp,
And a swing in the grapevine swing.
Swinging in the grapevine swing,
Laughing where the wild birds sing--
I would I were away
From the world today,
Swinging in the grapevine swing.
NOTES AND QUESTIONS
Biography. Samuel Minturn Peck (1854-1886) is a native of the South.
He was born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and spent most of his early years
in that city. He was gifted in music and became an excellent amateur
pianist. His published works include Cap and Bells, Rhymes and Roses,
and Rings and Love-Knots, from which "The Grapevine Swing," one of his
most musical poems, is taken.
Discussion. 1. Why does the poet call the old plantation "The fairest
spot of all creation"? 2. What does he mean by "the long, slim loop"?
3. For what "days gone by" does the poet sigh? 4. What picture do
lines 6, 7, and 8, page 89, give you? 5. What tells you that the swing
was near the bayou? 6. What is compared to the wild rose? 7. Why do
you think the poet would "barter it all for one day's romp"? 8. Find
in the Glossary the meaning of: creation; bonny; reckless; fretted;
wend; pomp; fame. 9. Pronounce: bayou; arching; laughing.
Phrases for Study
arching blue, care is sowing, moss-green trees, fevered mart, sore of
heart, barter it all.
LULLABY OF AN INFANT CHIEF
SIR WALTER SCOTT
O hush thee, my babie! thy sire was a knight,
Thy mother a lady, both lovely and bright;
The woods and the glens, from the towers which we see,
They are all belonging, dear babie, to thee.
O fear not the bugle, though loudly it blows;
It calls but the warders that guard thy repose;
Their bows would be bended, their blades would be red,
Ere the step of a foeman draws near to thy bed.
O hush thee, my babie! the time soon will come
When thy sleep shall be broken by trumpet and drum;
Then hush thee, my darling, take rest while you may,
For strife comes with manhood, and waking with day.
NOTES AND QUESTIONS
Biography. Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) was born in Scotland. He was
a famous novelist and poet. When a child, he learned the Scottish
legends and ballads, and later he wove them into his writings.
Discussion. 1. What things mentioned in the first stanza show that the
baby has great possessions? 2. How would the warders protect the baby?
3. What word could be used instead of "blades"? 4. What will this baby
have to do when he becomes a man? 5. What will the trumpet and drum
mean to him then? 6. How could you tell that this baby lived a long
time ago? 7. Find in the Glossary the meaning of: sire; knight; lady;
glens; towers.
Phrases for Study
calls but the warders, sleep shall be broken, guard thy repose, strife
comes with manhood.
THE FIRST THANKSGIVING DAY
MARGARET JUNKIN PRESTON
"And now," said the Governor, gazing abroad on the piled-up store Of
the sheaves that dotted the clearings and covered the meadows o'er,
"'Tis meet that we render praises because of this yield of grain; 'Tis
meet that the Lord of the harvest be thanked for his sun and rain.
"And, therefore, I, William Bradford (by the grace of God today, And
the franchise of this good people), Governor of Plymouth, say, Through
virtue of vested power--ye shall gather with one accord, And hold, in
the month of November, thanksgiving unto the Lord.
"He hath granted us peace and plenty, and the quiet we've sought so
long; He hath thwarted the wily savage, and kept him from wrack and
wrong; And unto our feast the Sachem shall be bidden, that he may know
We worship his own Great Spirit, who maketh the harvests grow.
"So shoulder your matchlocks, masters--there is hunting of all
degrees; And, fishermen, take your tackle, and scour for spoils the
seas; And, maidens and dames of Plymouth, your delicate crafts employ
To honor our First Thanksgiving, and make it a feast of joy!
"We fail of the fruits and dainties--we fail of the old home cheer;
Ah, these are the lightest losses, mayhap, that befall us here; But
see, in our open clearings, how golden the melons lie; Enrich them
with sweets and spices, and give us the pumpkin-pie!"
So, bravely the preparations went on for the autumn feast; The deer
and the bear were slaughtered; wild game from the greatest to least
Was heaped in the colony cabins; brown home-brew served for wine, And
the plum and the grape of the forest, for orange and peach and pine.
At length came the day appointed; the snow had begun to fall, But
the clang from the meeting-house belfry rang merrily over all, And
summoned the folk Of Plymouth, who hastened with glad accord To listen
to Elder Brewster as he fervently thanked the Lord.
In his seat sate Governor Bradford; men, matrons, and maidens fair,
Miles Standish and all his soldiers, with corselet and sword, were
there; And sobbing and tears and gladness had each in its turn
the sway, For the grave of the sweet Rose Standish o'ershadowed
Thanksgiving Day.
And when Massasoit, the Sachem, sate down with his hundred braves, And
ate of the varied riches of gardens and woods and waves, And looked on
the granaried harvest--with a blow on his brawny chest, He muttered,
"The good Great Spirit loves his white children best!"
NOTES AND QUESTIONS
Biographical and Historical Note. Margaret J. Preston (1820-1897)
was one of the leading poets of the South. She wrote many poems and
sketches. "The First Thanksgiving Day" gives a good picture of the
life in the old Pilgrim days.
The Pilgrims landed at Plymouth December 21, 1620. During the long,
hard winter fifty-one of the one hundred Pilgrims died, among them
being Rose Standish, wife of Captain Miles Standish. As soon as spring
came, the colonists planted their fields, and by the end of summer a
plentiful harvest was gathered in. When provisions and fuel had
been laid in for the winter, Governor Bradford appointed a day of
thanksgiving. Venison, wild fowl, and fish were easy to obtain. We
are told, "there was great store of wild turkeys, of which they took
many." For three days a great feast was spread, and Massasoit, the
Indian Sachem, or chief, and many of his people enjoyed it with the
colonists.
Discussion. 1. When did the events related in this story take place?
2. Who was the governor of Plymouth at this time? 3. What proclamation
did he make? 4. What did the governor say that God had done for the
colony? 5. Who did he say should be invited to the feast? 6. What meat
did the Pilgrims have at their first Thanksgiving dinner? 7. What
fruits did they have for the feast? 8. What fruit is meant by "pine"
in line 12, page 93? 9. What did the colonists do "with glad accord"
before they sat down to their feast? 10. Find the lines that tell what
Massasoit said when he ate of the feast. 11. Why is it a good thing
for America to have a day set apart each year for us to give thanks
for our blessings? 12. Find in the Glossary the meaning of: store;
sheaves; clearings; wrack; dames; mayhap; befall; slaughtered;
appointed; summoned; fervently; sate; braves; brawny. 13. Pronounce:
therefore; franchise; wily; Sachem, pumpkin; matrons; corselet;
Massasoit; granaried.
Phrases for Study
'tis meet, scour for spoils, franchise of this good people, delicate
crafts employ, virtue of vested power, fail of the fruits, with one
accord, home-brew served for wine, thwarted the wily savage, each
in its turn the sway, Great Spirit, o'ershadowed Thanksgiving Day,
shoulder your matchlocks, of all degrees, varied riches.
A VISIT FROM ST. NICHOLAS
CLEMENT C. MOORE
'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugarplums danced through their heads;
And mamma in her kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap--
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters, and threw up the sash;
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave a luster of midday to objects below;
When what to my wondering eyes should appear
But a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer,
With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name:
"Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Donder and Blitzen!--
To the top of the porch, to the top of the wall,
Now, dash away, dash away, dash away, all!"
As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,
So, up to the housetop the coursers they flew,
With a sleigh full of toys--and St. Nicholas, too.
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound;
He was dressed all in fur from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot.
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.
His eyes, how they twinkled! his dimples, how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry;
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard on his chin was as white as the snow.
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke, it encircled his head like a wreath.
He had a broad face, and a little round belly
That shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly.
He was chubby and plump--a right jolly old elf;
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself.
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose.
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ere they drove out of sight,
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night."
NOTES AND QUESTIONS
Biography. Clement C. Moore (1779-1863) was am American poet and
author. He lived in New York City, where for many years he was engaged
in educational work.
Discussion. 1. What picture do the first eight lines of this poem
give you? 2. Does this picture seem real to you? 3. Of what were the
children dreaming? 4. What word do you use instead of sugarplums? 5.
What picture do you find in lines 7-10, page 96? 6 What is the next
picture? Find the lines that make it. 7. To what is the swiftness of
the reindeer compared? 8. What words show how lightly the reindeer
flew through the air? 9. Find the lines that picture St. Nicholas
after he came down the chimney. 10. Which of all the pictures in the
entire poem can you see most distinctly? 11. Which do you like best?
12. What did you read in "A Forward Look," pages 83-86, about the
value of the home festivals? What does a love of these festivals do
for us? What should we lose if we did not celebrate them? 13. Find in
the Glossary the meaning of: clatter; coursers; hurricane; obstacle;
twinkling; tarnished; encircled; elf. 14. Pronounce: miniature; tiny;
chimney; droll.
OUR COUNTRY AND ITS FLAG
THE LAND OF LIBERTY
(AUTHOR UNKNOWN)
I love my country's pine-clad hills,
Her thousand bright and gushing rills,
Her sunshine and her storms;
Her rough and rugged rocks, that rear
Their hoary heads high in the air
In wild, fantastic forms.
I love her rivers, deep and wide,
Those mighty streams that seaward glide
To seek the ocean's breast;
Her smiling fields, her pleasant vales,
Her shady dells, her flow'ry dales,
The haunts of peaceful rest.
I love her forests, dark and lone,
For there the wild bird's merry tone
I hear from morn till night;
And there are lovelier flowers, I ween,
Than e'er in Eastern lands were seen,
In varied colors bright.
Her forests and her valleys fair,
Her flowers that scent the morning air--
All have their charms for me;
But more I love my country's name,
Those words that echo deathless fame,
"The Land of Liberty."
NOTES AND QUESTIONS
Discussion. 1. What parts of our country are noted for pine forests?
2. What things about America call forth the love of the poet? 3. Does
he have all parts of America in mind, or some part that he knows well?
4. What name does he give America? Why does this "echo deathless
fame"? 5. Name one of the "mighty streams that seaward glide." 6. What
does the poet say makes the forests beautiful? 7. This poem is similar
in many ways to the national hymn, "America." Compare it with the
words of the hymn in as many ways as you can. 8. Commit to memory the
last three lines of the poem. 9. Why is our country called "The Land
of Liberty"? 10. Find in the Glossary the meaning of: gushing;
rills; rugged; rear; vales; dells; lone; ween. 11. Pronounce: hoary;
fantastic; haunts; echo.
Phrases for Study
pine-clad hills, smiling fields, fantastic forms, flow'ry dales,
seaward glide, Eastern lands, ocean's breast, deathless fame.
THE FLAG OF OUR COUNTRY
Charles Sumner
There is the national flag. He must be cold indeed who can look upon
its folds, rippling in the breeze, without pride of country. If he be
in a foreign land, the flag is companionship and country itself, with
all its endearments. Its highest beauty is in what it symbolizes. It
is because it represents all, that all gaze at it with delight and
reverence.
It is a piece of bunting lifted in the air; but it speaks sublimely,
and every part has a voice. Its stripes of alternate red and white
proclaim the original union of thirteen states to maintain the
Declaration of Independence. Its stars of white on a field of blue
proclaim that union of states constituting our national constellation,
which receives a new star with every new state. The two together
signify union past and present.
The very colors have a language which was officially recognized by our
fathers. White is for purity, red for valor, blue for justice; and all
together, bunting, stripes, stars, and colors, blazing in the sky,
make the flag of our country to be cherished by all our hearts, to be
upheld by all our hands.
NOTES AND QUESTIONS
Biography. Charles Sumner (1811-1874), an American statesman and
orator, was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He became United States
senator in 1851. "The Flag of Our Country" is taken from an address
delivered in 1867 at Cooper Institute in New York.
Discussion. 1. Each paragraph in this selection has a separate
message. Does the first paragraph fit America only, or could an
Englishman say the same thing about his national flag, and a Frenchman
of his? What then is the thing that any flag represents to the citizen
of the country to which he belongs? 2. What facts peculiar to America
does the second paragraph give you? 3. How many stripes has the flag?
4. How many stars were in the first American flag? How many are there
now? 5. What is meant by "union past and present"? 6. "White is for
purity"--in what way does this express the ideals of the founders of
our country? 7. Do you know the rules for the raising and lowering of
the flag? 8. Find in the Glossary the meaning of: rippling; reverence;
bunting; proclaim; original; maintain; constituting; valor; cherished.
9. Pronounce: symbolizes; sublimely; alternate; constellation.
Phrases for Study
he must be cold, national constellation, all its endearments, signify
union, speaks sublimely, officially recognized, every part has a
voice, blazing in the sky.
THE NAME OF OLD GLORY
1898
James Whitcomb Riley
I
Old Glory! say, who,
By the ships and the crew,
And the long, blended ranks of the gray and the blue,--
Who gave you, Old Glory, the name that you bear
With such pride everywhere
As you cast yourself free to the rapturous air
And leap out full-length, as we're wanting you to?--
Who gave you that name, with the ring of the same,
And the honor and fame so becoming to you?--
Your stripes stroked in ripples of white and of red,
With your stars at their glittering best overhead--
By day or by night
Their delightfulest light
Laughing down from their little square heaven of blue!--
Who gave you the name of Old Glory?--say, who--
Who gave you the name of Old Glory?
The old banner lifted, and altering then
In vague lisps and whispers fell silent again.
II
Old Glory,--speak out!--we are asking about
How you happened to "favor" a name, so to say,
That sounds so familiar and careless and gay
As we cheer it and shout in our wild breezy way--
We--the crowd, every man of us, calling you that--
We--Tom, Dick, and Harry--each swinging his hat
And hurrahing "Old Glory!" like you were our kin,
When--Lord!--we all know we're as common as sin!
And yet it just seems like you humor us all
And waft us your thanks, as we hail you and fall
Into line, with you over us, waving us on
Where our glorified, sanctified betters have gone,--
And this is the reason we're wanting to know--
(And we're wanting it so!--
Where our own fathers went we are willing to go.)--
Who gave you the name of Old Glory--O-ho!--
Who gave you the name of Old Glory?
The old flag unfurled with a billowy thrill
For an instant, then wistfully sighed and was still.
III
Old Glory: the story we're wanting to hear
Is what the plain facts of your christening were,--
For your name--just to hear it.
Repeat it, and cheer it, 's a tang to the spirit
As salty as a tear;--
And seeing you fly, and the boys marching by,
There's a shout in the throat and a blur in the eye
And an aching to live for you always--or die,
If, dying, we still keep you waving on high.
And so, by our love
For you, floating above,
And the sears of all wars and the sorrows thereof,
Who gave you the name of Old Glory, and why
Are we thrilled at the name of Old Glory?
Then the old banner leaped, like a sail in the blast,
And fluttered an audible answer at last.--
IV
And it spake, with a shake of the voice, and it said:--
By the driven snow-white and the living blood-red
Of my bars, and their heaven of stars overhead--
By the symbol conjoined of them all, skyward cast,
As I float from the steeple, or flap at the mast,
Or droop o'er the sod where the long grasses nod,--
My name is as old as the glory of God.
...So I came by the name of Old Glory.
NOTES AND QUESTIONS
Biography. James Whitcomb Riley (1852-1916) was a native of Indiana.
Most of his life was spent in Indianapolis, where he lived on the
quiet Lockerbie Street which he celebrated in one of his poems. He
is called "The Hoosier Poet." He wrote several volumes of poems, the
first being The Old Swimmin' Hole and 'Leven More Poems. The school
children of Indiana celebrated Riley's birthday on October 7, 1911,
and have each year since made this a festival day.
Discussion. Because of the many figurative expressions used in this
selection it should be read and studied in class.
THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
O say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming;
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;
O say, does that Star-Spangled Banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
On that shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, now conceals, now discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam--
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream;
'Tis the Star-Spangled Banner; O long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
And where are the foes who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave;
And the Star-Spangled Banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
O thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war desolation;
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, for our cause it is just,
And this be our motto, "In God is our trust";
And the Star-Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
NOTES AND QUESTIONS
Biographical and Historical Note. Francis Scott Key (1780-1843), a
native of Maryland, was a lawyer and poet. His patriotic poem, "The
Star-Spangled Banner," which has become a national song, made him
famous.
The incidents referred to in this poem occurred during the War of
1812. In August, 1814, a strong force of British entered Washington
and burned the Capitol, the White House, and many other public
buildings. On September 13, the British admiral moved his fleet into
position to attack Fort McHenry, near Baltimore. The bombardment of
the fort lasted all night, but the fort was so bravely defended that
the flag was still floating over it when morning came.
Just before the bombardment began, Francis Scott Key was sent to the
admiral's frigate to arrange for an exchange of prisoners, and was
told to wait until the bombardment was over. All night he watched
the fort, and by the first rays of morning light he saw he Stars
and Stripes still waving. Then, in his joy and pride, he wrote the
stirring words of the song which is now known and loved by all
Americans--"The Star-Spangled Banner."
Discussion. 1. What lines in the poem are explained by the historical
note above? 2. The poem expresses the love and reverence felt by
patriots when the flag is endangered by the attacks of armed men in
war. What is said on page 84 about the danger to our country in a
time of peace? From what people? Can you do anything to prevent this
danger? 3. Where was the reflection of the flag seen? 4. What is
the meaning of "thus" in line 1, page 105? 5. What land is the
"heav'n-rescued land"? 6. What does the poet mean when he speaks of
the "Power that hath made and preserved us a nation," line 4, page
105? 7. Find the words that must be our country's motto. 8. Do you
think this national song cheered the American soldiers in the recent
World War? 9. Explain why you think the picture on page 98 aptly
illustrates "Our Country and Its Flag." 10. Find in the Glossary
the meaning of: dawn; gleaming; host; discloses; beam; triumph. 11.
Pronounce: haughty; vauntingly; pollution; hireling; desolation.
Phrases for Study
proudly we hailed, fitfully blows, gallantly streaming, catches the
gleam, Star-Spangled, full glory reflected, mists of the deep, havoc
of war, dread silence reposes, foul footsteps' pollution.
THE BOYHOOD OF LINCOLN
ELBRIDGE S. BROOKS
The future president of the United States was eight years old when
he spent the winter with his father, mother, and sister in the
"half-faced camp" on Little Pigeon Creek. It was indeed rough living
in the Lincoln home on Little Pigeon Creek. When he was "good and
ready," the father, Thomas Lincoln, set about building a better
shelter for his family than the forlorn "half-faced camp." The new
building was not such a great improvement, but it was more like a
house. It was a rough cabin of logs, without door, window, or floor.
But it seemed so much better than the shanty in which they had been
living that Abraham felt quite princely.
His life was lonely enough in that wilderness; but, before many
months, he had company. His Uncle and Aunt Sparrow and his boy
cousin, Dennis Hanks came from Kentucky to try their luck in Indiana.
Abraham's father gave them the old "half-faced camp" as a home, and so
the Lincolns had near neighbors.
But before the winter set in, there came sad days to both houses. A
terrible sickness--what we call an epidemic--visited that section of
Indiana. Many people died from it, and among these were first, Uncle
and Aunt Sparrow, and then Mrs. Lincoln, the mother of Abraham.
It was a poor kind of housekeeping they had in that shiftless home on
Little Pigeon Creek after the mother of the home had been taken away.
Sarah, the eldest child, was only twelve; Abraham was but ten, and
little Dennis Hanks was eight. Sarah tried to keep house; and her
father, in his careless way, tried to help her. But about all they
could do was to keep from going hungry. Deer-meat broiled on the coals
of the wood-fire, ash-cakes made of cornmeal, with now and then a slab
of pork, was their only bill of fare. About all the pleasure Abraham
found when he was not trying to keep from being cold and hungry, was
in his books.
How many do you think he had? Just three: the Bible, Aesop's Fables,
and The Pilgrim's Progress. Think of that, you boys and girls who have
more books than you can read, and for whom the printing presses are
always hard at work. The boy knew these three books almost by heart.
He could repeat whole chapters of the Bible, many parts of The
Pilgrim's Progress, and every one of Aesop's Fables; and he never
forgot them.
Thomas Lincoln knew that the uncomfortable state of affairs in his log
cabin could not long continue, or his home, such as it was, would go
to ruin. So one day he bade the children good-by and told them he was
going back to Kentucky on a visit. He was away for three weeks; but
when he returned from his Kentucky visit in December, 1819, he
brought back a new wife to look after his home and be a mother to his
motherless children.
Mrs. Lincoln seemed to take an especial liking to the little
ten-year-old Abraham. She saw something in the boy that made her feel
sure that a little guidance would do wonders for him. Having first
made him clean and comfortable, she next made him intelligent, bright,
and good. She managed to send him to school for a few months. The
little log schoolhouse, close to the meeting-house, to which the
traveling schoolmaster would come to give four weeks' schooling, was
scarcely high enough for a man to stand straight in; it had holes for
windows and greased paper to take the place of glass. But in such a
place Abraham Lincoln "got his schooling" for a few weeks only in
"reading, writing, and ciphering"; here he was again and again head of
his class; and here he "spelled down" all the big boys and girls in
the exciting contests called "spelling matches."
He became a great reader. He read every book and newspaper he could
get hold of, and if he came across anything in his reading that he
wished to remember, he would copy it on a shingle, because writing
paper was scarce, and either learn it by heart or hide the shingle
away until he could get some paper to copy it on.
Lamps and candles were almost unknown in his home, and Abraham, flat
on his stomach, would often do his reading, writing, and ciphering in
the firelight, as it flashed and flickered on the big hearth of his
log-cabin home.
One day Abraham found that a man for whom he sometimes worked owned a
copy of Weems's Life of Washington. This was a famous book in its day.
Abraham borrowed it at once. When he was not reading it, he put it
away on a shelf--a clapboard resting on wooden pins. There was a big
crack between the log behind the shelf, and one rainy day the Life of
Washington fell into the crack and was soaked almost into pulp. Young
Abraham went at once to the owner of the book and, after telling him
of the accident promised to "work the book out."
The old farmer kept him so strictly to his promise that he made him
"pull fodder" for the cattle three days as payment for the book. And
that is the way that Abraham Lincoln bought his first book. For he
dried the Life of Washington and put it in his "library." What boy or
girl of today would like to buy books at such a price?
NOTES AND QUESTIONS
Biography. Elbridge S. Brooks (1846-1902) was a native of
Massachusetts. He was always interested in stories of history, for his
mother descended from the Monroes, who fought bravely at Lexington. He
was for a time one of the editors of St. Nicholas.
Discussion. 1. What were the hardships suffered by the young Lincoln
in the Indiana wilderness? 2. What do you learn about Lincoln's
reading? About his school life? 3. What was the first book Lincoln
owned, and how did he get it? 4. What do you suppose Lincoln learned
from the life of Washington? 5. How did Lincoln fix in his memory
things that he wished to remember? 6. What characteristics of the boy
help to explain why he afterwards became such a great man? 7. You will
enjoy reading The True Story of Lincoln, from which this selection
is taken. 8. Find in the Glossary the meaning of: forlorn; shanty;
princely; wilderness; epidemic; shiftless; ash-cakes; slab; guidance;
ciphering; clapboard; pulp. 9. Pronounce: Aesop; bade.
Phrases for Study
half-faced camp, spelled down, uncomfortable state, work the book out,
traveling schoolmaster, pull fodder.
WASHINGTON WITH GENERAL BRADDOCK
ELBRIDGE S. BROOKS
The King of England and his advisers determined to make a stand in
America against the French. So they sent over two regiments of British
troops under command of a brave soldier whose name was Braddock, and
told him to get what help he could in Virginia and drive out the
French.
General Braddock came to Virginia with his splendid-looking fighting
men. When he had studied the situation there, one of the first things
he did was to ask Colonel George Washington of Mount Vernon to come
with him as one of his chief assistants. Washington at once accepted.
He saw that now the King of England "meant business," and that if
General Braddock were as wise as he was brave, the trouble in the Ohio
country might be speedily ended and the French driven out.
But when he had joined General Braddock, he discovered that that brave
but obstinate leader thought that battles were to be fought in America
just the same as in Europe, and that soldiers could be marched against
such forest-fighters as the French and Indians as if they were going
on a parade. Washington did all he could to advise caution. It was of
no use, however. General Braddock said that he was a soldier and knew
how to fight, and that he did not wish for any advice from these
Americans who had never seen a real battle.
At last everything was ready, and in July, 1755, the army, led by
General Braddock, marched off to attack Fort Duquesne, which the
French had built at Pittsburgh.
Washington had worked so hard to get things ready that he was sick in
bed with fever when the soldiers started; but, without waiting to get
well, he hurried after them and caught up with them on the ninth of
July, at a ford on the Monongahela, fifteen miles from Fort Duquesne.
The British troops, in full uniform, and in regular order as if they
were to drill before the King, marched straight on in splendid array.
Washington thought it the most beautiful show he had ever seen; but
he said to the general: "Do not let the soldiers march into the woods
like that. The Frenchmen and the Indians may even now be hiding behind
the trees ready to shoot us down. Let me send some men ahead to
see where they are, and let some of our Virginians who are used to
fighting in the forest go before to clear them away." But General
Braddock told him to mind his own business, and marched on as
gallantly as ever.
Suddenly, just as they reached a narrow part of the road, where the
woods were all about them, the Frenchmen and Indians who were waiting
for them behind the great trees and underbrush opened fire upon the
British troops, and there came just such a dreadful time as Washington
had feared. But even now Braddock would not give in. His soldiers
must fight as they had been drilled to fight in Europe; and when
the Virginians who were with him tried to fight as they had been
accustomed to, he called them cowards and ordered them to form in
line.
It was all over very soon. The British soldiers, fired upon from
all sides and scarcely able to see where their enemies were, became
frightened, huddled together, and made all the better marks for the
bullets of the French and Indians hiding among the trees and bushes.
Then General Braddock fell from his horse, mortally wounded; his
splendidly-drilled redcoats broke into panic, turned, and ran away;
and only the coolness of Washington and the Virginia forest-fighters
who were with him saved the entire army from being cut to pieces.
Washington fought like a hero. Two horses that he rode were killed
while he kept in the saddle; his coat was shot through and through,
and it seemed as if he would be killed any moment. But he kept on
fighting, caring nothing for danger. He tried to turn back the fleeing
British troops; he tried to bring back the cannon, and, when the
gunners ran away, he leaped from his horse and aimed and fired the
cannon himself. Then with his Virginians, that Braddock had so
despised as soldiers, he protected the rear of the retreating army,
carried off the dying general and, cool and collected in the midst of
all the terrible things that were happening, saved the British army
from slaughter, buried poor General Braddock in the Virginia woods,
and finally brought back to the settlements what was left of that
splendid army of the King. He was the only man in all that time of
disaster who came out of the fight with glory and renown.
NOTES AND QUESTIONS
Discussion. 1. Tell what you can of the contest for territory in
America between the French and the English. 2. Who was General
Braddock and for what was he sent to America? 3. Compare Washington
and General Braddock in as many ways as you can. 4. Why did Washington
do all he could to help General Braddock in spite of the fact that he
knew Braddock was not acting wisely? 5. How did Washington gain glory
from the engagement? 6. What are you told on page 84 about the value
to us of studying the lives of great Americans? What do you owe to
Washington and Lincoln? 7. Find in the Glossary the meaning of:
advisers; situation; caution; ford; array; gallantly; huddled;
collected; disaster; renown. 8. Pronounce: Duquesne; Monongahela;
mortally; wounded.
SERVICE
SOMEBODY'S MOTHER
(AUTHOR UNKNOWN)
The woman was old and ragged and gray
And bent with the chill of the winter's day.
The street was wet with the recent snow,
And the woman's feet were aged and slow.
She stood at the crossing and waited long
Alone, uncared for, amid the throng
Of human beings who passed her by,
Nor heeded the glance of her anxious eye.
Down the street with laughter and shout.
Glad in the freedom of "school let out,"
Came the boys like a flock of sheep,
Hailing the snow piled white and deep.
Past the woman so old and gray
Hastened the children on their way,
Nor offered a helping hand to her,
So meek, so timid, afraid to stir,
Lest the carriage wheels or the horses' feet
Should crowd her down in the slippery street.
At last came one of the merry troop,
The gayest laddie of all the group;
He paused beside her and whispered low,
"I'll help you across if you wish to go."
Her aged hand on his strong young arm
She placed, and so, without hurt or harm,
He guided her trembling feet along,
Proud that his own were firm and strong.
Then back again to his friends he went,
His young heart happy and well content.
"She's somebody's mother, boys, you know,
For all she's aged and poor and slow;
"And I hope some fellow will lend a hand
To help my mother, you understand,
If ever she's poor and old and gray,
When her own dear boy is far away."
And "somebody's mother" bowed low her head
In her home that night, and the prayer she said
Was, "God be kind to the noble boy
Who is somebody's son and pride and joy."
NOTES AND QUESTIONS
Discussion. 1. Here is a story about a boy who saw a chance to do a
service and did it; how was he different from his companions? 2. What
were they interested in? 3. Wasn't he also eager to do what they did?
4. Why did he stop and help the old woman? 5. How did the woman feel
toward the boy? 6. How do you think his own mother would have felt
if she had seen him? 7. Why is this incident a splendid example of
service? How was this boy doing his part as a good citizen?
THE LEAK IN THE DIKE
PHOEBE CARY
The good dame looked from her cottage
At the close of the pleasant day,
And cheerily called to her little son
Outside the door at play:
"Come, Peter, come! I want you to go,
While there is light to see,
To the hut of the blind old man who lives
Across the dike, for me;
And take these cakes I made for him--
They are hot and smoking yet;
You have time enough to go and come
Before the sun is set."
And Peter left the brother
With whom all day he had played,
And the sister who had watched their sports
In the willow's tender shade;
And told them they'd see him back before
They saw a star in sight,
Though he wouldn't be afraid to go
In the very darkest night!
For he was a brave, bright fellow
With eye and conscience clear;
He could do whatever a boy might do,
And he had not learned to fear.
And now with his face all glowing
And eyes as bright as the day
With the thoughts of his pleasant errand,
He trudged along the way;
And soon his joyous prattle
Made glad a lonesome place--
Alas! if only the blind old man
Could have seen that happy face!
Yet he somehow caught the brightness
Which his voice and presence lent;
And he felt the sunshine come and go
As Peter came and went.
And now as the day was sinking,
And the winds began to rise,
The mother looked from her door again,
Shading her anxious eyes,
And saw the shadows deepen
And birds to their homes come back,
But never a sign of Peter
Along the level track.
But she said: "He will come at morning,
So I need not fret or grieve--
Though it isn't like my boy at all
To stay without my leave."
But where was the child delaying?
On the homeward way was he;
And across the dike while the sun was up
An hour above the sea;
He was stopping now to gather flowers,
Now listening to the sound,
As the angry waters dashed themselves
Against their narrow bound.
"Ah! well for us," said Peter,
"That the gates are good and strong,
And my father tends them carefully,
Or they would not hold you long!
You're a wicked sea," said Peter;
"I know why you fret and chafe;
You would like to spoil our land and homes;
But our sluices keep you safe."
But hark! through the noise of waters
Comes a low, clear, trickling sound;
And the child's face pales with terror,
And his blossoms drop to the ground.
He is up the bank in a moment
And, stealing through the sand
He sees a stream not yet so large
As his slender childish hand.
'Tis a leak in the dike! He is but a boy,
Unused to fearful scenes;
But, young as he is, he has learned to know
The dreadful thing that means.
A leak in the dike! The stoutest heart
Grows faint that cry to hear.
And the bravest man in all the land
Turns white with mortal fear,
For he knows the smallest leak may grow
To a flood in a single night;
And he knows the strength of the cruel sea
When loosed in its angry might.
And the boy! he has seen the danger
And, shouting a wild alarm,
He forces back the weight of the sea
With the strength of his single arm!
He listens for the joyful sound
Of a footstep passing nigh;
And lays his ear to the ground, to catch
The answer to his cry.
And he hears the rough winds blowing,
And the waters rise and fall,
But never an answer comes to him
Save the echo of his call.
So, faintly calling and crying
Till the sun is under the sea,
Crying and moaning till the stars
Come out for company,
He thinks of his brother and sister,
Asleep in their safe warm bed;
He thinks of his father and mother,
Of himself as dying--and dead;
And of how, when the night is over,
They must come and find him at last;
But he never thinks he can leave the place
Where duty holds him fast.
The good dame in the cottage
Is up and astir with the light,
For the thought of her little Peter
Has been with her all the night.
And now she watches the pathway,
As yester eve she had done;
But what does she see so strange and black
Against the rising sun?
Her neighbors are bearing between them
Something straight to her door;
Her child is coming home, but not
As he ever came before!
"He is dead!" she cries; "thy darling!"
And the startled father hears,
And comes and looks the way she looks,
And fears the thing she fears;
Till a glad shout from the bearers
Thrills the stricken man and wife--
"Give thanks, for your son has saved our land,
And God has saved his life!"
So, there in the morning sunshine
They knelt about the boy;
And every head was bared and bent
In tearful, reverent joy.
NOTES AND QUESTIONS
Biography. Phoebe Cary (1824-1871) was an American poet. She was born
in Cincinnati and lived with her sister, Alice, in New York City. She
wrote many poems of beauty and charm, but none is more widely read
than "The Leak in the Dike." Note. A large part of Holland consists of
meadow-land so low and flat that the sea would overflow it during high
tide if it were not protected, partly by natural sand hills but more
by a wonderful system of diking. The dikes are long mounds, or thick
walls, of earth and stone, broad at the base and gradual in slope.
Discussion. 1. What purpose do the dikes of Holland serve? 2. There
were no Boy Scouts in those days, but here is a story of a boy who
would have been a good member of the Scouts. Why? 3. What service did
Peter's mother call him to render? 4. Had he done such things before?
5. How did the blind man think of Peter? 6. How did Peter find the
danger? 7. What would many boys have done? 8. How did he stop the leak
in the dike? 9. What would have happened if he had grown afraid, or
tired? 10. Peter saw a duty to be performed and was brave enough to
do it, though it was not easy, and might have cost him his life. What
were the results of his quick wit and courage? 11. How was Peter doing
his part as a good citizen? 12. Find in the Glossary the meaning of:
prattle; presence; anxious; trickling; stoutest; save; astir; yester;
stricken. 13. Pronounce: chafe; sluices; loosed.
Phrases for Study
narrow bound, sun is under the sea, mortal fear, duty holds him fast.
CASABLANCA
FELICIA DOROTHEA HEMANS
The boy stood on the burning deck
Whence all but him had fled;
The flame that lit the battle's wreck
Shone round him o'er the dead.
Yet, beautiful and bright he stood,
As born to rule the storm--
A creature of heroic blood,
A proud, though childlike, form.
The flames rolled on--he would not go
Without his father's word;
That father, faint in death below,
His voice no longer heard.
He called aloud: "Say, father, say
If yet my task is done!"
He knew not that the chieftain lay
Unconscious of his son.
"Speak, father!" once again he cried,
"If I may yet be gone!"
And but the booming shots replied,
And fast the flames rolled on.
Upon his brow he felt their breath,
And in his waving hair,
And looked from that lone post of death
In still, yet brave, despair;
And shouted but once more aloud,
"My father! must I stay?"
While o'er him fast, through sail and shroud,
The wreathing fires made way.
They wrapped the ship in splendor wild,
They caught the flag on high,
And streamed above the gallant child
Like banners in the sky.
There came a burst of thunder sound--
The boy--oh! where was he?
Ask of the winds that far around
With fragments strewed the sea--
With mast, and helm, and pennon fair.
That well had borne their part;
But the noblest thing which perished there
Was that young, faithful heart!
NOTES AND QUESTIONS
Biographical and Historical Note. Felicia Hemans, (1793-1835), an
English poet, was born in Liverpool, but spent much of her life in
North Wales. "Casabianca" and "The Landing of the Pilgrims" are
her best known poems. The hero of this poem was the son of Louis
Casabianca, the captain of L'Orient, the flagship of the fleet that
carried Napoleon Bonaparte and his army to Egypt. The incident
narrated in this poem occurred during the Battle of the Nile. The
powder magazine exploded, the ship was burned, and the captain, and
his son perished. Discussion. 1. How did it happen that the boy was
alone on the "burning deck"? 2. Find two lines in the third stanza
that tell how the boy showed his faithfulness and his "heroic blood."
3. Why is his father called the "chieftain"? 4. What did the boy ask
his father? 5. Why did he remain in such great danger when he might
have saved himself? 6. What was it that "wrapped the ship in splendor
wild"? 7. What made the "burst of thunder sound"? 8. What things are
mentioned as fragments which "strewed the sea"? 9. Why is it good for
us to read such a poem as this? 10. What service did Casabianca do
for all of us? 11. Find in the Glossary the meaning of: chieftain;
unconscious; booming; despair; fragments; pennon. 12. Pronounce:
heroic; shroud; helm.
Phrases for Study
born to rule the storm, wreathing fires, heroic blood, splendor wild,
lone post of death, borne their part.
TUBAL CAIN
Charles MacKay
Old Tubal Cain was a man of might
In the days when the earth was young;
By the fierce red light of his furnace bright
The strokes of his hammer rung;
And he lifted high his brawny hand
On the iron glowing clear.
Till the sparks rushed out in scarlet showers,
As he fashioned the sword and spear.
And he sang, "Hurrah for my handiwork!
Hurrah for the spear and sword!
Hurrah for the hand that shall wield them well!
For he shall be king and lord."
To Tubal Cain came many a one.
As he wrought by his roaring fire.
And each one prayed for a strong steel blade,
As the crown of his desire;
And he made them weapons, sharp and strong,
Till they shouted loud in glee.
And gave him gifts of pearls and gold,
And spoils of forest free.
And they sang, "Hurrah for Tubal Cain,
Who hath given us strength anew!
Hurrah for the smith! hurrah for the fire!
And hurrah for the metal true!"
But a sudden change came o'er his heart
Ere the setting of the sun,
And Tubal Cain was filled with pain
For the evil he had done.
He saw that men, with rage and hate,
Made war upon their kind;
That the land was red with the blood they shed
In their lust for carnage, blind.
And he said, "Alas, that ever I made,
Or that skill of mine should plan,
The spear and the sword for men whose joy
Is to slay their fellow-man!"
And for many a day old Tubal Cain
Sat brooding o'er his woe;
And his hand forbore to smite the ore,
And his furnace smoldered low;
But he rose at last with a cheerful face
And a bright, courageous eye,
And bared his strong right arm for work,
While the quick flames mounted high;
And he sang, "Hurrah for my handiwork!"
And the red sparks lit the air--
"Not alone for the blade was the bright steel made"--
And he fashioned the first plowshare.
And men, taught wisdom from the past,
In friendship joined their hands,
Hung the sword in the hall, the spear on the wall,
And plowed the willing lands;
And sang, "Hurrah for Tubal Cain!
Our stanch good friend is he.
And, for the plowshare and the plow,
To him our praise shall be.
But, while oppression lifts its head,
Or a tyrant would be lord,
Though we may thank him for the plow,
We'll not forget the sword."
NOTES AND QUESTIONS
Biography. Charles Mackay (1814-1889) was a Scotch poet. For some
years he was editor of the Glasgow Argus, and afterwards he became
editor of the Illustrated London News. During the Civil War he was the
special correspondent of the London Times at New York. He wrote many
poems of interest to young people. Historical Note. Tubal Cain was one
of the sons of Lamech, a descendant of Cain. He was an "instructor of
every artificer in brass and iron," that is, he was the first smith.
All that we really know of his history is given in the fourth chapter
of Genesis. Discussion. 1. What did Tubal Cain first make on his
forge? 2. Why did he think that his work was good? 3. What did men say
about him? 4. How did Tubal Cain feel when he saw what men were doing
with the products of his forge? 5. What did he do then? 6. What made
his face "cheerful" at last? 7. Is it better to make instruments of
war or tools for industry? 8. Why was Tubal Cain happy when he made
plows? 9. Was he working for money, or for service? 10. Explain the
last four lines. 11. Find in the Glossary the meaning of: fashioned;
handiwork; wrought; anew; lust; brooding; forbore; plowshare. 12.
Pronounce: hurrah; wield; carnage; smoldered; stanch.
Phrases for Study
man of might, smite the ore, earth was young, taught wisdom from the
past, crown of his desire, spoils of forest free, willing lands, metal
true, oppression lifts its head, upon their kind, tyrant would be
lord, whose joy is to slay.
THE INCHCAPE ROCK
ROBERT SOUTHEY
No stir in the air, no stir in the sea;
The ship was still as she could be;
Her sails from Heaven received no motion;
Her keel was steady in the ocean.
Without either sign or sound of their shock,
The waves flowed over the Inchcape Rock;
So little they rose, so little they fell,
They did not move the Inchcape Bell.
The holy Abbot of Aberbrothok
Had placed that bell on the Inchcape Rock;
On a buoy in the storm it floated and swung,
And over the waves its warning rung.
When the rock was hid by the surge's swell,
The mariners heard the warning bell;
And then they knew the perilous rock
And blessed the Abbot of Aberbrothok.
The sun in heaven was shining gay;
All things were joyful on that day;
The sea-birds screamed as they wheeled around,
And there was joyance in their sound.
The buoy of the Inchcape Bell was seen,
A darker speck on the ocean green;
Sir Ralph the Rover walked his deck,
And he fixed his eye on the darker speck.
He felt the cheering power of spring;
It made him whistle, it made him sing;
His heart was mirthful to excess,
But the Rover's mirth was wickedness.
His eye was on the Inchcape float;
Quoth he, "My men, put out the boat
And row me to the Inchcape Rock,
And I'll plague the Abbot of Aberbrothok."
The boat is lowered, the boatmen row,
And to the Inchcape Rock they go;
Sir Ralph bent over from the boat,
And he cut the bell from the Inchcape float.
Down sank the bell, with a gurgling sound;
The bubbles rose and burst around;
Quoth Sir Ralph, "The next who comes to the Rock
Won't bless the Abbot of Aberbrothok!"
Sir Ralph the Rover sailed away;
He scoured the seas for many a day;
And now grown rich with plundered store,
He steers his course for Scotland's shore.
So thick a haze o'erspreads the sky
They cannot see the sun on high;
The wind hath blown a gale all day;
At evening it hath died away.
On the deck the Rover takes his stand;
So dark it is they see no land.
Quoth Sir Ralph, "It will be lighter soon,
For there is dawn of the rising moon."
"Canst hear," said one, "the breakers roar?
For methinks we should be near the shore."
"Now where we are I cannot tell,
But I wish I could hear the Inchcape Bell."
They hear no sound; the swell is strong;
Though the wind hath fallen, they drift along
Till the vessel strikes with a shivering shock--
"O Christ! it is the Inchcape Rock!"
NOTES AND QUESTIONS
Biographical and Historical Note. Robert Southey (1774-1843) was
an English poet. From 1813 until his death he was Poet Laureate of
England. Bell Rock, or Inchcape, is a reef of red sandstone near the
Firth of Tay, on the east coast of Scotland. At the time of the spring
tides part of the reef is uncovered to the height of four feet.
Because so many vessels were wrecked upon these rocks the Abbot of
Aberbrothok is said to have placed a bell there, "fixed upon a tree or
timber, which rang continually, being moved by the sea."
Discussion. 1. What picture do you see when you read the first stanza?
The second stanza? 2. This story tells about a man who failed. You
have read about Peter's heroism and the lives he saved, about the
service a schoolboy rendered to a poor old woman, about a blacksmith
who joyously made the tools by which men raised fruit and grain for
food, and about a boy who was faithful to orders, even though it cost
his life. Here you see how men sometimes try to make of no effect all
the good deeds that others perform. 3. The Abbot of Aberbrothok was a
man who lived up to the ideal of service; how did he do this, and why
did men bless him? 4. Ralph the Rover was a pirate; why did he destroy
the bell? 5. All the others in the stories you have read, boys and
men, thought less of themselves than of others; of what did Ralph
think? 6. Is a merchant who raises the price of food as high as he
can, who makes huge profits while others suffer or starve, any better
than Ralph the Rover? 7. What test of loyalty to our country, would
prove such a man to be a "bad citizen"? 8. Ralph was a free man--what
did "liberty" mean to him? 9. What happened to Ralph the Rover? 10.
Find in the Glossary the meaning of: keel; abbot; perilous; joyance;
breakers; methinks. 11. Pronounce: buoy; mariners; excess; scoured.
Phrases for Study
sound of their shock, mirthful to excess, surge's swell, plague the
Abbot, cheering power of spring, plundered store.
MY BOYHOOD ON THE PRAIRIE
HAMLIN GARLAND
The cabin faced a level plain with no tree in sight. A mile away to
the west stood a low stone house, and immediately in front of us
opened a half-section of unfenced sod. To the north, as far as I could
see, the land billowed like a russet ocean, with scarcely a roof to
fleck its lonely spread. I cannot say that I liked or disliked it. I
merely marveled at it; and while I wandered about the yard, the hired
man scorched some cornmeal mush in a skillet, and this, with some
butter and gingerbread, made up my first breakfast in Mitchell County.
For a few days my brother and I had little to do other than to
keep the cattle from straying, and we used our leisure in becoming
acquainted with the region round about.
To the south the sections were nearly all settled upon, for in that
direction lay the county town; but to the north and on into Minnesota
rolled the unplowed sod, the feeding ground of the cattle, the home of
foxes and wolves, and to the west, just beyond the highest ridges, we
loved to think the bison might still be seen.
The cabin on this rented farm was a mere shanty, a shell of pine
boards, which needed reinforcing to make it habitable, and one day my
father said, "Well, Hamlin, I guess you'll have to run the plow-team
this fall. I must help neighbor Button reinforce the house, and I
can't afford to hire another man."
This seemed a fine commission for a lad of ten, and I drove my horses
into the field that first morning with a manly pride which added
an inch to my stature. I took my initial "round" at a "land" which
stretched from one side of the quarter section to the other, in
confident mood. I was grown up!
But alas! My sense of elation did not last long. To guide a team for
a few minutes as an experiment was one thing--to plow all day like a
hired hand was another. It was not a chore; it was a job. It meant
moving to and fro hour after hour, day after day, with no one to
talk to but the horses. It meant trudging eight or nine miles in the
forenoon and as many more in the afternoon, with less than an hour off
at noon. It meant dragging the heavy implement around the corners, and
it meant also many shipwrecks; for the thick, wet stubble often threw
the share completely out of the ground, making it necessary for me to
halt the team and jerk the heavy plow backward for a new start.
Although strong and active, I was rather short, even for a
ten-year-old, and to reach the plow handles I was obliged to lift my
hands above my shoulders; and so with the guiding lines crossed over
my back and my worn straw hat bobbing just above the cross-brace I
must have made a comical figure. At any rate nothing like it had been
seen in the neighborhood; and the people on the road to town, looking
across the field, laughed and called to me, and neighbor Button said
to my father in my hearing, "That chap's too young to run a plow," a
judgment which pleased and flattered me greatly.
Harriet cheered me by running out occasionally to meet me as I turned
the nearest corner, and sometimes Frank consented to go all the way
around, chatting breathlessly as he trotted along behind. At other
times he brought me a cookie and a glass of milk, a deed which helped
to shorten the forenoon. And yet plowing became tedious.
The flies were savage, especially in the middle of the day, and the
horses, tortured by their lances, drove badly, twisting and turning in
their rage. Their tails were continually getting over the lines,
and in stopping to kick their tormentors they often got astride the
traces, and in other ways made trouble for me. Only in the early
morning or when the sun sank low at night were they able to move
quietly along their way.
The soil was the kind my father had been seeking, a smooth, dark,
sandy loam, which made it possible for a lad to do the work of a man.
Often the share would go the entire "round" without striking a root or
a pebble as big as a walnut, the steel running steadily with a crisp,
crunching, ripping sound which I rather liked to hear. In truth, the
work would have been quite tolerable had it not been so long drawn
out. Ten hours of it, even on a fine day, made about twice too many
for a boy.
Meanwhile I cheered myself in every imaginable way. I whistled. I
sang. I studied the clouds. I gnawed the beautiful red skin from the
seed vessels which hung upon the wild rose bushes, and I counted the
prairie chickens as they began to come together in winter flocks,
running through the stubble in search of food. I stopped now and again
to examine the lizards unhoused by the share, and I measured the
little granaries of wheat which the mice and gophers had deposited
deep under the ground, storehouses which the plow had violated. My
eyes dwelt enviously upon the sailing hawk and on the passing of
ducks. The occasional shadowy figure of a prairie wolf made me wish
for Uncle David and his rifle.
On certain days nothing could cheer me. When the bitter wind blew from
the north, and the sky was filled with wild geese racing southward
with swiftly-hurrying clouds, winter seemed about to spring upon me.
The horses' tails streamed in the wind. Flurries of snow covered me
with clinging flakes, and the mud "gummed" my boots and trouser
legs, clogging my steps. At such times I suffered from cold and
loneliness--all sense of being a man evaporated. I was just a little
boy, longing for the leisure of boyhood.
Day after day, through the month of October and deep into November,
I followed that team, turning over two acres of stubble each day. I
would not believe this without proof, but it is true! At last it grew
so cold that in the early morning everything was white with frost,
and I was obliged to put one hand in my pocket to keep it warm, while
holding the plow with the other; but I didn't mind this so much, for
it hinted at the close of autumn. I've no doubt facing the wind in
this way was excellent discipline, but I didn't think it necessary
then, and my heart was sometimes bitter and rebellious.
My father did not intend to be severe. As he had always been an
early riser and a busy toiler, it seemed perfectly natural and good
discipline that his sons should also plow and husk corn at ten years
of age. He often told of beginning life as a "bound boy" at nine, and
these stories helped me to perform my own tasks without whining.
At last there came a morning when by striking my heel upon the ground
I convinced my boss that the soil was frozen. "All right," he said;
"you may lay off this forenoon."
NOTES AND QUESTIONS
Biography. Hamlin Garland (1860-1940) was born in Wisconsin. His
father was a farmer-pioneer, who was always eager to be on the border
line of the farming country; consequently, he moved from Wisconsin to
Minnesota, from Minnesota to Iowa, and from Iowa to Dakota. The hope
of cheaper land, better soil, and bigger crops led him on. When Hamlin
Garland turned his attention to literature, he decided to write
truthfully of the western farmer's life and its great hardships in
pioneer days, as well as its hopes and joys. In A Son of the Middle
Border, an autobiography, from which "My Boyhood on the Prairie" is
taken, he has given a most interesting record of experiences in the
development of the Middle West. Mitchell County, where this scene is
laid, is in Iowa.
Discussion. 1. Describe the boy's new home. 2. What work did the boy
have to do? 3. In what spirit did he start the plowing? 4. Why did his
"sense of elation" soon disappear? 5. Was his task harder than that of
Peter or of the boy who helped "Somebody's Mother"? 6. Must a boy do
some marvelous thing to be a hero? 7. How did the boy try to keep
himself in good cheer? 8. In The World of Nature, A Forward Look you
are told that if you have eyes to see, "the world of Nature is a
fairyland." Why do you think this boy had "eyes to see"? Find your
answer by reading the last two lines on page 131 and the first ten
lines on page 132. 9. What made him wish for freedom? 10. Class
reading: Page 131, line 8, to the end of the story. 11. Outline for
testing silent reading. Tell the story briefly, using these topics:
(a) the region and the cabin; (b) what plowing meant to a boy; (c)
how the boy was cheered. 12. Find in the Glossary the meaning
of: marveled; scorched; skillet; ridges; reinforcing; habitable;
commission; stature; implement; stubble; share; cross-brace; judgment;
tormentors; tolerable; unhoused; deposited; clog ging; evaporated. 13.
Pronounce: chore; tedious; loam; imaginable; gopher; leisure.
Phrases for Study
billowed like a russet ocean, guiding lines, fleck its lonely spread,
tortured by their lances, county town, astride the traces, initial
round, go the entire round, confident mood, plow had violated, sense
of elation, bound boy.
WOODMAN, SPARE THAT TREE
GEORGE P. MORRIS
Woodman, spare that tree!
Touch not a single bough;
In youth it sheltered me,
And I'll protect it now.
'Twas my forefather's hand
That placed it near his cot;
There, woodman, let it stand;
Thy ax shall harm it not;
That old familiar tree,
Whose glory and renown
Are spread o'er land and sea--
And wouldst thou hack it down?
Woodman, forbear thy stroke!
Cut not its earth-bound ties;
Oh, spare that aged oak
Now towering to the skies.
When but an idle boy,
I sought its grateful shade;
In all their gushing joy,
Here, too, my sisters played.
My mother kissed me here;
My father pressed my hand--
Forgive this foolish tear,
But let that old oak stand!
My heart-strings round thee cling,
Close as thy bark, old friend!
Here shall the wild-bird sing,
And still thy branches bend.
Old tree! the storm still brave!
And, woodman, leave the spot;
While I've a hand to save,
Thy ax shall harm it not.
NOTES AND QUESTIONS
Biography. George P. Morris (1802-1864) was born in Philadelphia. He
was an editor and a poet and was connected with a number of newspapers
in New York City.
Discussion. 1. To whom is the poet speaking in these verses? 2. What
does he wish to prevent? 3. Why is the tree dear to him? 4. Whom does
he remember seeing under the tree? 5. What did they do there? 6. How
will the poet protect the tree? 7. How does the American Forestry
Association protect trees? 8. Why should trees be cared for and
protected? 9. Why do we celebrate Arbor Day? 10. Find in the Glossary
the meaning of: forefather; renown; towering; heart-strings.
Phrases for Study
near his cot, earth-bound ties, forbear thy stroke, storm still brave.
THE AMERICAN BOY
THEODORE ROOSEVELT
What we have a right to expect of the American boy is that he shall
turn out to be a good American man. Now the chances are strong that he
won't be much of a man unless he is a good deal of a boy. He must not
be a coward or a weakling, a bully, a shirk, or a prig. He must work
hard and play hard. He must be clean-minded and clean lived, and able
to hold his own against all comers. It is only on these conditions
that he will grow into the kind of American man of whom America can be
really proud.
No boy can afford to neglect his work, and, with a boy, work as a
rule means study. A boy should work, and should work hard, at his
lessons--in the first place, for the sake of what he will learn, and
in the next place, for the sake of the effect upon his own character
of resolutely settling down to learn it. Shiftlessness, slackness,
indifference in studying are almost certain to mean inability to get
on in other walks of life. I do not believe in mischief-doing in
school hours, or in the kind of animal spirits that results in making
bad scholars; and I believe that those boys who take part in rough,
hard play outside of school will not find any need for horseplay in
school. While they study they should study just as hard as they play
football. It is wise to obey the homely old adage, "Work while you
work; play while you play."
A boy needs both physical and moral courage. Neither can take the
place of the other. A coward who will take a blow without returning
it is a contemptible creature; but, after all, he is hardly as
contemptible as the boy who dares not stand up for what he deems right
against the sneers of his companions who are themselves wrong. There
is no need to be a prig. There is no need for a boy to preach
about his own conduct and virtue. If he does, he will make himself
ridiculous. But there is need that he should practice decency; that he
should be clean and straight, honest and truthful, gentle and tender,
as well as brave.
The boy can best become a good man by being a good boy--not a
goody-goody boy, but just a plain good boy. "Good," in the largest
sense, should include whatever is fine, straightforward, clean, brave,
and manly. The best boys I know--the best men I know--are good at
their studies or their business, fearless and stalwart, hated and
feared by all that is wicked, incapable of submitting to wrong-doing,
and equally incapable of being aught but tender to the weak and
helpless. A healthy-minded boy should feel hearty contempt for the
coward, and even more hearty indignation for the boy who bullies girls
or small boys, or tortures animals.
Of course the effect that a thoroughly manly, thoroughly straight and
upright boy can have upon the companions of his own age, and upon
those who are younger, is incalculable. He cannot do good work if he
is not strong and does not try with his whole heart and soul to count
in any contest; and his strength will be a curse to himself and to
everyone else if he does not have thorough command over himself and
over his own evil passions, and if he does not use his strength on the
side of decency, justice, and fair dealing.
In short, in life, as in a football game, the principle to follow is:
Hit the line hard; don't foul and don't shirk, but hit the line hard!
--Abridged.
NOTES AND QUESTIONS
For Biography, see page 37. Discussion. 1. This selection sums up all
the stories of service that you have been reading. You will get most
out of it if you will think back over these stories and use them as
illustrations of what Mr. Roosevelt tells you is his ideal of the
American boy. What examples, in these stories, can you find to
illustrate the sentence, "He must not be a coward or a weakling....
He must work hard and play hard"? 2. Illustrate, from the story of
Lincoln, what Mr. Roosevelt says about study. What was Lincoln's
attitude toward study? What is yours? Did Lincoln's studies have the
effect on his character that Mr. Roosevelt speaks about? 3. What story
illustrates the sentence, "There is need that he should practice
decency; that he should be clean and straight, honest and truthful,
gentle and tender, as well as brave"? 4. How does the story about life
on the prairie illustrate the paragraph that begins, "The boy can best
become a good man by being a good boy"? What is the difference between
being "a good boy" and "a goodygoody boy"? 5. Was Ralph the Rover a
brave man or a coward? 6. Apply the principle stated by Mr. Roosevelt
at the end of the selection to the story about Washington and
Braddock. To the story about the boy on the prairie. 7. Can you relate
an instance in which a manly boy had a good influence upon another boy
or Upon his companions? 8. Do you think the football slogan given in
the last sentence on page 137 is a good principle of life? Memorize
the slogan. 9. This selection is taken from The Strenuous Life; it
first appeared in St. Nicholas, May, 1900. 10. Find in the Glossary
the meaning of: shirk; prig; resolutely; indifference; inability;
horseplay; deems; indignation; bullies. 11. Pronounce: adage; neither;
contemptible; ridiculous; stalwart; incapable; aught; incalculable.
Phrases for Study
against all comers, physical and moral courage, walks of life,
practice decency, animal spirits, in the largest sense, homely old
adage, aught but tender.
HOME AND COUNTRY
A BACKWARD LOOK
As you gazed through your Crystal Glass of Reading at the selections
in Part I, you saw reflected now pictures of home and now again a
picture of that early Thanksgiving Day when Pilgrim and Indian sat
down together to the "varied riches of gardens and woods and waves."
When you heard Massasoit say at the feast, "The Good Spirit loves His
white children best," you wondered about the truth of his statement
and, as you thought about it, perhaps Abraham Lincoln came to mind;
what do you think Lincoln, if he had been alive at that time, might
have answered the Indian chief? The poems about home might be called
memory-pictures of home; why do you think older people remember with
so much fondness their childhood homes? Imagine yourself telling
your grandchildren about the home of your youth and about your home
pleasures; what things would you mention? Why is it a good thing for a
nation to have its people love their homes and the festival days like
Christmas and Thanksgiving?
And now a turn of the Crystal Glass reveals a glorious flag, floating
protectingly over us. How you love to look upon its starry folds; when
statesmen and poets tell you of the meaning of Old Glory you realize
that there is good reason for your pride and your love. What did
Charles Sumner tell you about the meaning of the stars and the stripes
and the colors of the Flag? What did James Whitcomb Riley tell you
about how Old Glow got its name? What were the circumstances under
which Francis Scott Key wrote "The Star-Spangled Banner"? What are
some of the things you can do to show your respect for the Flag? What
are some of the things you remember about Lincoln's boyhood? How
does his method of memorizing com-pare with yours? The young George
Washington showed remarkable bravery as Braddock's chief assistant;
what other fine quality did he show? How may these stories about
Washington and Lincoln help you to be a worthy citizen of the country
they helped to found and preserve?
We admire all people who are helpful to others, but when in giving
service, some forget about themselves and even sacrifice themselves
for others, we regard these as heroes. Peter, in "The Leak in the
Dike," and the boy in "Somebody's Mother" forgot about themselves in
their service to others; one disregarded danger to himself, and
the other the possible jeers of his playmates; do you know of any
instances of service in your school? It is fine to serve obediently
under the command of superiors as did the young Casabianca, but it is
even finer to think quickly in an emergency and to do what should be
done when there is no one at hand to give orders. Who gave Peter his
orders? Tubal Cain belongs to a group of men who have served their
fellow men by useful inventions; mention some other inventors and tell
how they have helped mankind. Hamlin Garland gave you a glimpse of
the pioneer's service to our country; what names of pioneers in your
locality are honored for their service in the early days? What ideas
of being useful home-members did you get from Hamlin Garland and
Theodore Roosevelt? How does the habit of being useful in the home
fit one for being a good citizen? American boys and girls have many
opportunities for service in the home, in the school, and in their
other relations; have you done any piece of service, in an organized
way, in your school? Does your school belong to the Junior Red Cross,
and does it try' to follow the motto, "Go forth to serve"?
When you look back upon all that you have read of home and country,
you no doubt come to the conclusion that "the man without a country"
summed it all up when he said, "Stick to your family... Think of your
home... And for your country and for your Flag, never dream but of
serving her."
From selections found in this book prepare a program for Washington's
birthday.