“Here the heart
May give an useful lesson to the head,
And learning wiser grow without his books.”
--_William Cowper_
Youthful feet that wander through the classic halls of the old
Pennsylvania State House (Independence Hall) pause longest before
reminders of the first republic’s first president. To the children of
Liberty, the name of Washington, “Freedom’s first and favorite son,”
“the ideal type of civic virtue to succeeding generations,” sums up
all the elements of patriotism. “Washington is the mightiest name on
earth,” declared Abraham Lincoln, “long since mightiest in the cause
of civil liberty, still mightiest in moral reformation.” Hear Daniel
Webster: “The name of Washington is intimately blended with whatever
belongs most essentially to the prosperity, the liberty, the free
institutions, and the renown of our country.”
To the youth of the land this lustrous name is synonymous with Freedom,
whose lessons they begin to learn in their primers. In the classroom,
scholars receive instruction in loyalty to country, and initial
training for their future obligations as citizens. The schools shelter
the reserve forces of the nation, just as tender saplings are nurtured
until the time when they will be uprooted and set in the open, to brave
the winds that smite the forest. “Thy safeguard, Liberty, the school
shall ever be.”
The inspirational sources of the country’s power, the mighty principles
of its Constitution, are part of the teaching prescribed in American
educational institutions. In recent years state legislatures have
enacted laws providing for the display of the flag during school hours,
for ceremonies that include a salute to Old Glory at the opening of
each school day, for the observance of national holidays by special
exercises, and for military instruction of public school pupils.
The promotion of patriotic study in the schools has, very
appropriately, been fostered by bodies of Civil War veterans and
allied organizations. Recognizing that “the training of citizens in
the common knowledge and in the common duties of citizenship belongs
irrevocably to the State,” wise leaders have consistently impressed
upon the students under their care that a share in the safety of
American freedom rests upon them. Programs comprising military drills,
camp life, first aid, nursing, and the conservation of food supplies
are in force, or contemplated, in many schools throughout the United
States, such instruction frequently being under control of the Federal
Government.
That patriotism is something more than a sentiment is the principle
that modern school children are learning. In the United States there
is a marked revival of interest in history, civics, and national
traditions, and an accelerated curiosity among both native and
foreign-born youth as to the circumstances that led to the founding of
the Republic, and the patriots that sponsored its creation.
“The sheet-anchor of the Ship of State is the common school. Let
no youth leave the school without being thoroughly grounded in the
history, the principles, and the incalculable blessings of liberty. Let
the boys be the trained soldiers of constitutional freedom, the girls
the intelligent mothers of freemen.”
The accompanying gravure makes an especial appeal because of its
simplicity. There is no posing in this group. The utter unconsciousness
of the children, standing agaze before Washington’s portrait, is
evidence enough of the deep-rooted feelings that hold them there in
silent contemplation of the Father of their Country.
PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION
ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 6, No. 10, SERIAL No. 158
COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC.
THE MENTOR · · JULY 1, 1918
DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY
_The_ CRADLE _of_ LIBERTY