twenty-one
enter the Sons of the American Revolution.

[Illustration: MRS. D. LOTHROP.]

The idea of having a young folks' organization first originated with
Mrs. Daniel Lothrop, known in every household numbering children as
"Margaret Sidney," author of that much-loved book _Five Little Peppers_,
and a score of others. Such a happy and far-reaching scheme was sure to
be the thought of just such a woman as Mrs. Lothrop, for her warm heart
and fertile brain have always been busy in helping boys and girls.

At the last Continental Congress of the Daughters of the American
Revolution, held in Washington in February, Mrs. Lothrop, who is Regent
of the Old Concord Chapter of that society, laid her plan before the
feminine representatives gathered from all parts of the Union, and they
unanimously voted that such an organization should be formed, with Mrs.
Lothrop at its head. Later she was elected its president for four years,
with power to organize the society in accordance with her own judgment
and regulations.

Thus on April 5, 1895, the new association was founded in Washington,
its permanent headquarters, and six days later was incorporated under
the Laws of Congress. It will soon be in full swing, for a vast number
of big and little boys and girls all over the country are enrolling
themselves as its members. And what a delightful vista opens before
these juvenile representatives!

They say in their constitution: "We, the children and youth of America,
in order to know more about our country from its formation, and thus to
grow up into good citizens, with a love for and an understanding of the
principles and institutions of our ancestors, do unite under the
guidance and government of the Daughters of the American Revolution in
the society to be called the National Society of the Children of the
American Revolution. All children and youth of America, of both sexes,
from birth to the age of eighteen years for the girls and twenty-one for
the boys, may join this society, provided they descend in direct line
from patriotic ancestors who helped to plant or to perpetuate this
country in the Colonies or in the Revolutionary War, or in any other
way. We take for objects in this society the acquisition of knowledge of
American history, so that we may understand and love our country better,
and then any patriotic work that will help us to that end, keeping a
constant endeavor to influence all other children and youth to the s