ely,
To be so great and strong,
That your memory is ever a tocsin
To rally the foes of the wrong;
To live so proudly and purely
That your people pause in their way,
And year by year, with banner and drum,
Keep the thought of your natal day.

* * * * *

THE BIRTHDAY OF WASHINGTON

ANONYMOUS

The birthday of the "Father of his Country!" May it ever be freshly
remembered by American hearts! May it ever reawaken in them a filial
veneration for his memory; ever rekindle the fires of patriotic regard
for the country which he loved so well, to which he gave his youthful
vigor and his youthful energy; to which he devoted his life in the
maturity of his powers, in the field; to which again he offered the
counsels of his wisdom and his experience as president of the convention
that framed our Constitution; which he guided and directed while in the
chair of state, and for which the last prayer of his earthly
supplication was offered up, when it came the moment for him so well,
and so grandly, and so calmly, to die. He was the first man of the time
in which he grew. His memory is first and most sacred in our love, and
ever hereafter, till the last drop of blood shall freeze in the last
American heart, his name shall be a spell of power and of might.

Yes, gentlemen, there is one personal, one vast felicity, which no man
can share with him. It was the daily beauty and towering and matchless
glory of his life which enabled him to create his country, and at the
same time secure an undying love and regard from the whole American
people. "The first in the hearts of his countrymen!" Yes, first! He has
our first and most fervent love. Undoubtedly there were brave and wise
and good men before his day, in every colony. But the American nation,
as a nation, I do not reckon to have begun before 1774, and the first
love of that young America was Washington. The first word she lisped was
his name. Her earliest breath spoke it. It still is her proud
ejaculation; and it will be the last gasp of her expiring life! Yes;
others of our great men have been appreciated--many admired by all--but
him we love; him we all love. About and around him we call up no
dissentient, discordant, and dissatisfied elements--no sectional
prejudice nor bias--no party, no creed, no dogma of politics. None of
these shall assail him. Yes; when the storm of battle blows darkest and
rages highest, the memory of W