Our car glides on with giddy speed,
But Ethel feels no motion;
Her soul and body take no heed,
Wrapt still, in sleep's deep ocean.
And as I gaze on her sweet face,
So placid, true and tender;
The wish for her I fain would trace
Is this--May Heaven defend her!
'Mid all the whirling cares of life,
May peaceful rest come to her;
And sleep, no matter what the strife,
Be ever near to woo her.
With some such wish as this for all of us, I would like to close the
record of this "Flight in Spring."
When spring, and summer, and autumn, and winter, will for us have
forever fled away, then may we all find comfort, after life's
wanderings are over, in this restful thought, as our great journey
shall end:
"He giveth His beloved sleep."
But other thoughts also come to me, as I recall the splendid advantages
of such a trip as our "Flight in Spring." It was a revelation, to pass
from ocean to ocean, over our own broad land. It filled one's soul with
enthusiasm, as one thought of the opportunities, the responsibilities,
the duties, and the prospects of our citizenship.
It made me long that such "Flights in Spring," or in any season, might
be more widely enjoyed, so that many more might realize the immense
splendor and power of our great land.
For such purposes I would wish that there were instituted "Pilgrimages
of Patriotism," which would bring representative men, from ocean to
ocean, from seashore to centre, and from centre to seashore, at stated
and solemn periods; thus emphasizing the sense of national citizenship,
and the splendid and indissoluble union of our States.
I have read that among the Zuni Indians it was a sacred law that some
of their tribe should, each year, pour the waters of the Pacific into
those of the Atlantic. The task was accomplished, despite of all
difficulties, arising from tribal contests, or opposing forces. It was
a symbol of union, touching as it was simple, and might again be
revived among us, to emphasize the glorious bond of citizenship in this
our land; a bond, which we felt continually, through our eight thousand
miles of travel, in our "Flight in Spring."