"GOD SAVE THE STATE.' (Words by CHARLES TIMOTHY BROOKS.) God bless our native land! For her our prayer shall rise On Him we wait: Guarding with watchful eye, To Thee aloud we cry, God save the State. On the 30th of April, 1889, the Centennial of the Inauguration of George Washington as First President of the United States was observed at New York; Benjamin Harrison, the first President of the second century of the Republic, being present. His journey to New York, and all succeeding exercises, closely resembled those of 1789. The entire Nation honored the occasion by the ringing of bells, a solemn church service, and special exercises in the public schools of the land. PART IX. PATRIOTISM TO BE BRED IN THE SCHOOLS. INTRODUCTION. Ar no previous time in American history has there been a more pressing demand for the inculcation of patriotic sentiment through the schools, than during these closing years of the nineteenth century. The increasing influx of an illiterate, unsympathetic, foreign element deepens that sentiment. During the years 1887 and 1888, nearly one hundred and fifty colleges provided for special instruction in Civics; thereby passing beyond the technical sphere of Political Economy, to teach the principles of good government and those branches of study which instil pride of country, and prepare youth for responsible and honorable citizenship. Hon. Andrew S. Draper, Superintendent of Public Instruction for the State of New York, in his Official Report for 1887, says,— "Let me say a word for a little more patriotism in the schools. We have little in our every-day life to arouse patriotic ardor. We have no frequent or great exhibitions of power; no army to stand in awe of; no royalty to worship; no emblems or ribbons to dazzle the eye; and but few national airs. We have elections so frequently, and then say such terribly hard things of each other and about the management of government, that I imagine the children wonder what kind of a country this is, that they have been born into. There is no such inculcation of patriotism among our children as among the children of some other lands. If I had my way, I would hang the flag in every school-room, and I would spend an occasional hour in singing our best patriotic songs, in declaiming the masterpieces of our national oratory, and in rehearsing the proud story of our national life. I would do something to inspire a just pride in the thrift and development of the first and greatest State of the Union. I would attempt to impress upon all, the supreme value of their inheritance, and the sacred duty of transmitting it untarnished and unimpaired, but rather broadened and strengthened, to the millions who will follow after." Hon. M. A. Newell, Superintendent of Public Instruction for Maryland, in his Inaugural Address before the National Educational Association, at Louisville, Kentucky, in 1877, commenting upon the strikes and riots of that year, used the following language: "That free institutions, resting on the basis of universal suffrage, are accompanied and stimulated by universal intelligence, is a truism which I should not be justified in repeating before this audience, were it not that the events of the last few weeks [the July riots] have converted the dormant truism into a pregnant truth. The commission to the Roman Dictator, 'See to it, that the Commonwealth receives no injury,' is now the order of the day to every American citizen, in his own place and sphere of action. To us, as educators, comes with special force the order, 'See to it, that, so far as your office is concerned, the Republic receives no injury.' The question before us at this crisis is, 'Are our public schools doing all that we have a right to demand of them to prepare the young people who have to live by the labor of their hands, to become intelligent, moral, and industrious citizens?' "' State Superintendents Cooper, of Texas; Austin, of Florida; Buchanan, of Virginia; Cornell, of Colorado; Edwards, of Illinois; Kiehle, of Minnesota; Higbee, of Pennsylvania; Tappan, of Ohio; Stockwell, of Rhode Island; Dickinson, of Massachusetts; Patterson, of New Hampshire; Dart, of Vermont, and many other educators in charge of State systems, of colleges, normal schools, city schools, high schools, and grammar-schools, have actively entered upon the plan of making the inculcation of patriotism a special function of their work. It will soon be, if it is not already, a specialty, of universal and cardinal importance. In 1887, the National Congress, almost without dissent, at the earnest importunity of an organized body of Christian women, known as the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, enacted a law having special reference to the teaching of temperance physiology in schools under government control. A systematic "reading-method," known as the Chautauqua, whereby families, and youth beyond school age, could have uniform lines of study promotive of intelligence in life-work, has added its force to the movement in behalf of a more thorough development of the patriotic sentiment among the American people. The words of Robert C. McGinn, of Maryland, to Mr. Randall's song, serve to introduce utterances which inspire patriotic sentiment in the training of youth. MY MARYLAND. The public schools are scattered o'er, Diffusing wide their treasured lore,- Oh, may they rise, to fall no more, Hark to thy children's young appeal, Our mother State, to thee we kneel, For us, our mother, ever feel, Thy sacred love for us reveal, Thou wilt not let thine offspring die, Our souls for knowledge loudly cry, My Maryland. Oh, hie thee, mother, quickly hie, To thee, for help, to thee we fly, My Maryland. We hear thee in the distance call, My Maryland, To statesmen, lawyers, patriots, all, Save ye my children from the gall By educating one and all, My Maryland. God bless our State, for what is done, God bless her people, every one, My Maryland! May Freedom's bright and cheering sun, My Maryland! ROBERT COOPER MCGINN. FREE SCHOOLS INSPIRE LOYALTY TO COUNTRY. (From the last interview of General Horry with General Marion in 1795.) ISRAEL of old, you know, was destroyed for lack of knowledge; and all nations, all individuals, have come to naught from the same cause. Happiness signifies nothing, if it be not known and properly valued. Satan, we are told, was once an angel of light; but for want of considering his glorious state, he rebelled, and lost all. And so it is, most exactly, with nations. We fought for self-government; and God hath pleased to give us one, better calculated, perhaps, to protect our rights, to foster our virtues, to call forth our energies, and to advance our condition nearer to perfection and happiness, than any government that was ever framed under the sun. But what signifies even this government, divine as it is, if it be not known and prized as it deserves? This is best done by free schools. Men will always fight for their government according to their sense of its value. To value it aright, they must understand it. This they cannot do, without education. And as a large portion of the citizens are poor, and can never attain that inestimable blessing without the aid of government, it is plainly the first duty of government to bestow it freely upon them. The more perfect the government, the greater the duty to make it well |