Washington's Birthday Part 31

27. Minnesota will revere The name that all the world holds dear.

28. Nebraska brings from summits high Immortal gifts that cannot die.

29. Kansas speaks of duties done, Of battles fought and victories won.

30. Mississippi tells the tale Of glorious acts that never pale.

31. Louisiana counts the deeds By duty done where valor leads.

32. Arkansas brings an offering bright To him who struggled for the right

33. Texas will her honor show To faithful friend and generous foe.

34. Tennessee exultant bears The crown a conquering hero wears.

35. Nevada from her mountain height Has plucked this garland kissed with light.

36. California's thousand flowers Will crown this patriot of ours.

37. Oregon brings offerings rare For him she holds in loving care.

38 Montana, from the mountains blue, Has brought him love, and honor, too.

39. North Dakota loves him well, And comes his valiant deeds to tell.

40. South Dakota follows on To crown the patriot Was.h.i.+ngton.

41. Was.h.i.+ngton is proud to claim The glory of his n.o.ble name.

42. Colorado ever true Will bring him loving garlands, too.

43. Wyoming from her mountain height Would crown the man who stood for right.

44. Idaho brings garlands fair For him whose life's beyond compare.

45. Utah comes with fadeless pine In his immortal crown to s.h.i.+ne.

_Chorus of States_

We all will honor Was.h.i.+ngton, His fame will ever lead us on To better lives and n.o.bler deeds, To guard our land in all her needs, To keep us ever kind and true To friends, and home, and country, too, In virtue strong, in honor bright, The foe of wrong, the friend of right.

We all will honor Was.h.i.+ngton, The first in war when wrong was done.

The first in peace when freedom came To crown him with immortal fame, The first in all our hearts to-day, To bind us all as one for aye, While battle and freedom lead us on We all will honor Was.h.i.+ngton.

(_Issued under the auspices of the George Was.h.i.+ngton Memorial a.s.sociation. Used by permission of the New England Publis.h.i.+ng Co_.)

THE NEW GEORGE WAs.h.i.+NGTON

ANONYMOUS

_To Be Recited by a Small Boy_

I am six years old, And like play and fun.

I mean to grow up Like George Was.h.i.+ngton.

So, when mother said, "Who ate all the pie?"

I, spoke like a man, And said, "It was I."

But she didn't say She'd rather lose the pie, And know that her boy Would not tell a lie.

She just shut me up Where I couldn't see, Then sent me to bed Without any tea.

IN PRAISE OF WAs.h.i.+NGTON

_For Nine Pupils_

FIRST PUPIL.--To the historian few characters appear so little to have shared the common frailties and imperfections of human nature as that of Was.h.i.+ngton.

_William Smyth_.

SECOND PUPIL.--No matter what may have been the immediate birthplace of such a man as Was.h.i.+ngton! No clime can claim, no country can appropriate him; the boon of Providence to the human race, his fame is eternity, his residence creation.

_Charles Phillips_.

THIRD PUPIL.--As a ruler of mankind, he may be proposed as a model.

Deeply impressed with the original rights of human nature, he never forgot that the end, and meaning, and aim of all just government was the happiness of the people.

_William Smyth_.

FOURTH PUPIL.--As a general, he marshaled the peasant into a veteran, and supplied by discipline the absence of experience. As a statesman, he enlarged the policy of the cabinet into the most comprehensive system of general advantage; and such was the wisdom of his views and the philosophy of his counsels that to the soldier and the statesman he almost added the character of the sage.

_Charles Phillips_.

FIFTH PUPIL.--Immortal man! He took from the battle its crime, and from the conquest its chains; he left the victorious the glory of his self-denial, and turned upon the vanquished only the retribution of his mercy. Happy, proud America! The lightnings of heaven yielded to your philosophy! The temptations of earth could not seduce your patriotism!

_Charles Phillips_.

SIXTH PUPIL.--It is the happy combination of rare talents and qualities, the harmonious union of the intellectual and moral powers, rather than the dazzling splendor of any one trait which const.i.tutes the grandeur of his character.

_Jared Sparks_.

SEVENTH PUPIL.--Was.h.i.+ngton did the two greatest things which, in politics, man can have the privilege of attempting. He maintained, by peace, that independence of his country which he had acquired by war. He founded a free government, in the name of the principles of order, and by re-establis.h.i.+ng their sway.

_Guizot_.

EIGHTH PUPIL.--Greater soldiers, more intellectual statesmen, and profounder sages have doubtless existed in the history of the English race, perhaps in our own country, but not one who to great excellence in the threefold composition of man--the physical, intellectual, and moral--has added such exalted integrity, such unaffected piety, such unsullied purity of soul, and such wondrous control of his own spirit.

He ill.u.s.trated and adorned the civilization of Christianity, and furnished an example of the wisdom and perfection of its teachings which the subtlest arguments of its enemies cannot impeach.

_Vance_.

NINTH PUPIL.-- He fought, but not with love of strife; he struck but to defend; And, ere he turned a people's foe, he sought to be a friend.

He strove to keep his country's right by Reason's gentle word And sighed when fell injustice threw the challenge sword to sword.

He stood, the firm, the calm, the wise, the patriot and sage; He showed no deep, avenging hate, no burst of despot rage; He stood for liberty and truth, and dauntlessly led on, Till shouts of victory gave forth the name of Was.h.i.+ngton.