: 
 
 ■ S6 
 
PATRIOTIC READINGS 
 AMD RECITATIONS 
 
 A STANDARD COLLECTION 
 
 FREDERICK J. DRAKE & CO., PUBLISHERS, CHICAGO 
 

Patriotic Recitations 
 
 and Readings 
 
 CONTAINING A LARGE NUMBER OP THE 
 MOST EFFECTIVE, ELOQUENT, INSTRUCTIVE 
 AND BRILLIANT SELECTIONS FOR FOURTH OF 
 JULY, DECORATION, ARBOR AND LABOR DAY, 
 WASHINGTON AND LINCOLN^ BIRTHDAYS 
 AND ALL OTHER HOLIDAY CELEBRATIONS. 
 MANY OF THE PIECES ARE THE MOST AD- 
 MIRABLE SPECIMENS IN OUR LANGUAGE, EX- 
 PRESSIVE OF EVERY SHADE OF FEELING AND 
 THOUGHT. 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 JOSEPHINE STAFFORD. 
 
 Chicago 
 
 Frederick J. Drake & Company 
 
 Publishers 
 
THE UBRARY OF 
 
 CONGRESS, 
 Tv»u Copies r?EOcrvto 
 
 APR. 9 1902 
 
 CLASS A,XXa No. 
 COPY 7 A. ' 
 
 Copyright, 1902 
 
 Frederick J. Drake & Company 
 
 Chicago. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 The need of better readers and speakers was 
 never more urgent than now. Deficiency in 
 expressive reading and * effective speaking has 
 been observed and deplored "for years. Within 
 the last score or more of years, schools of ora- 
 tory, elocution, Delsarte, physical and vocal cul- 
 ture, and many institutions of less pretentious 
 titles have demonstrated the assertion that "good 
 reading is attainable by the masses." 
 
 The day will never come when the memoriz- 
 ing and reciting of poems and choice prose efforts 
 by our best writers and greatest orators will 
 cease to be popular with our American youth. 
 It is a part of our inheritance to preserve the 
 utterances of the men and women who have by 
 their voice and pen done much to advance the 
 spirit of truth, heroism and patriotism— the 
 chief characteristic of our American manhood 
 and womanhood. This book, therefore, is pre- 
 sented to the public in obedience to that trite 
 commercial maxim, "The demand will summon 
 the supply." 
 

 rA^ 
 
 a-- 
 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 American Flag, The— Anonymous 105 
 
 America— Charles Phillip 102 
 
 After the Battle— Anon 99 
 
 After the Battle 149 
 
 An American Exile — Isaac Hinton Brown.. 9 
 
 American Flag, The— H. W. Beecher 15 
 
 Banner Betsey Made, The— T. C. Harbaugh 23 
 
 Barbara Frietchie— J. G. Whittier 55 
 
 Battle of Manila Bay, The— Anon 153 
 
 Battle of Santiago— Admiral W. S. Schley. 16 
 
 Battle Field, The— W. C. Bryant 43 
 
 Battle Flags, The— Carl Schurz 94 
 
 Capture of Quebec, The— Anon 157 
 
 Centennial Oration— H. A. Brown 112 
 
 Constitution and the People, The— Anon. . 91 
 
 Captain Molly at Monmouth— Anon 141 
 
 Columbia-P. S. Gilmore 123 
 
 Caldwell at Springfield— Bret Harte 117 
 
 Columbia— Timothy Dwight 139 
 
6 CONTENTS 
 
 Deeds of Valor at Santiago— Clinton Scol- 
 
 lard 34 
 
 Douglas to the Populace of Sterling— Anon. 144 
 
 Defeat of Braddock— Anon 167 
 
 Ensign, The Tattered 127 
 
 Flag Goes By, The 26 
 
 Flower of Liberty, The— 0. W. Holmes. . . 71 
 
 Fourth of July— G. W. Bethune 53 
 
 Freedom Standard 129 
 
 Flag of the Free 128 
 
 Flag of Our Union, The 128 
 
 General Wheeler at Santiago— James L. 
 
 Gordon 25 
 
 Heroes of '76-Geo. W. Curtis 77 
 
 History of Our Flag— Rev. A. P. Putnam. 85 
 
 Hobson's Daring Deed— Anon 18 
 
 In Manila Bay— Charles Wadsworth, Jr. . . 27 
 
 Independence Day— Anon 170 
 
 Independence Day— Rev. L. Parmely 60 
 
 Independence Bell 82 
 
 Independence Hall— J. Stevenson Mitchell. Ill 
 
 Love of Country— Isaac Hinton Brown. . . 74 
 
 Lincoln, Park Goodwin on Death of 58 
 
 Little Jean — Anon 165 
 
 Lincoln's Address at Gettysburg Cemetery. 116 
 
CONTENTS 7 
 
 Lincoln, the Young Patriot— Anon 136 
 
 Mcllrath of Malate— Anon 146 
 
 My Soldier Boy— Anon 20 
 
 Negro Soldier, The— B. M. Channing 33 
 
 Nationality— Rufus Choate 72 
 
 Nathan Hale, The Martyr Spy— Isaac Hin- 
 
 ton Brown 64 
 
 Our Country's Greatness— Geo. F. Hoar. . . 89 
 
 Our Whole Country— Anon 76 
 
 Our Centennial Celebration— Orestes Cleve- 
 land 48 
 
 Our Flag-Chas. F. Alsop 31 
 
 Our Country's Call— Richard Barry 38 
 
 Our Country— Anon 145 
 
 Our Country's Call— W. C. Bryant 119 
 
 Our Banner 127 
 
 Patriot Spy, The— F. N. Finch 107 
 
 Perry's Celebrated Victory on Lake Erie. . 160 
 Patriotism of American Woman— T. B. 
 
 Read 37 
 
 Patriotic Recitations . . , 47 
 
 Rodney's Ride— Anon 130 
 
 Roll Call, The— Anon 42 
 
 Race for Dear Life, The— Anon 36 
 
 Stained by the Blood of Heroes 127 
 
8 CONTENTS 
 
 Story of '76, The-W. C. Bryant 40 
 
 Starry Flag of Ours, That— Anon 32 
 
 Starry Flag, The— Stockton Bates 125 
 
 Spool of Thread, The- Anon 133 
 
 Sinking of the Ships, The— Anon 156 
 
 Sinking of the Merrimac, The— R. P. Hob- 
 son 45 
 
 Stand by the Flag 129 
 
 Then and Now— Anon 15 
 
 Union of the States, The— Daniel Webster. 97 
 Union of Blue and Gray — Paul H. Hayne. . 109 
 
 Washington's Name— Anon 51 
 
 Washington— Daniel Webster 121 
 
 Yankees in Battle, The— Capt. Robley D. 
 Evans 21 
 
Patriotic Recitations 
 
 AN AMERICAN EXILE. 
 
 In Norfolk Bay, long years ago, where waved 
 
 The nation's flag from mizzen gaff 
 
 Of frigate, sloop and other war-like craft, 
 
 A group of naval officers, assembled 
 
 On the flag-ship's quarter-deck, discussed 
 
 With earnestness the act by which the State 
 
 Of South Carolina annulled 
 
 The tariff laws of Congress. 
 
 The President's prompt act, 
 
 Despatching Scott to Charleston, ordering 
 
 The execution of the laws by force, 
 
 Had thrilled the nerves of those who bore 
 
 Their country's arms. 
 
 The naval service boasted many men 
 
 Who traced through veins as chivalrous as their 
 
 sires ' 
 The blood of Sumter, Pickens, Hayne, 
 And other revolutionary patriots ; 
 And, conscious of a lineage illustrious 
 From those who gave the grand Republic birth, 
 Their minds were often filled with politics 
 
10 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 Of State; and thus the acts of courts 
 And legislatures oft became their theme 
 In time of peace as much as warlike deeds 
 Of Neptune. 
 
 One of these in this debate, 
 A handsome, sun-bronzed officer of most 
 Commanding mien, became conspicuous 
 In warm approval of his State's rash act 
 And censure strong of President 
 And Congress. While his flashing eye betrayed 
 The fierce emotions of his soul, his voice 
 Rang fearful maledictions : ' ' Curse the country 
 Whose flag from yonder mizzen floats; the men 
 Be cursed, who in the name of government 
 Ignore the rights my native State has held 
 supreme. ' ' 
 
 Then drawing forth his rapier 
 
 As if in frenzied rage : ' ' My sword 's my own, 
 
 My heart is loyal to my native State ; 
 
 And here I swear, this blade shall ne 'er be drawn 
 
 But in defense of rights this tyrant thing 
 
 Called government, usurps, and those its threats 
 
 Would terrify. Its flag be trailed in dust ; 
 
 The fate of Carthage be its cursed doom ; , 
 
 The memory of its present acts, with those 
 
 Who gave them shape, go down in blood and 
 
 shame. ' ' 
 Such direful imprecations shocked the ears 
 Of those who heard; and ere the speechless 
 
 group 
 Recovered from their blank amaze, a young 
 Lieutenant felled the speaker senseless to 
 
SELECTED READINGS 11 
 
 The deck; then, quick before the officer 
 Commanding, preferred the charge of treason. 
 
 Court-martial trials are speedy in results; 
 The sentence, novel in its terms, was heard 
 With unfeigned haughtiness and scorn by him 
 Whom it deprived of country : 
 
 "The prisoner, hence, for life, shall be con- 
 signed 
 To vessels cruising in a foreign sea; 
 No tongue to him shall speak his country's 
 
 name, 
 Nor talk to him of aught save daily wants ; 
 And ever to his sight that country's flag 
 Shall be the token that its powers live 
 To carry out this sentence." 
 
 In far-off seas, away from kindred hearts 
 And native home, the years passed slowly on ; 
 But pride and stubborn will did not desert 
 This strange misguided man ; his fate he seemed 
 To cherish for the cause he still believed 
 Would triumph in the end. 
 Yet to and fro his narrow bounds he paced, 
 Alone amid a frigate's crew, of whom 
 Not one could speak to him a friendly word, 
 Nor tell him of that wondrous growth and fame 
 The land he cursed attained among 
 The nations of the earth. No cheering word 
 His yearning heart in time could e'er expect 
 From stricken mother, weeping wife, and babes 
 By him made worse than orphans, who might 
 blush 
 
12 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 To call him father. Still, above, around, 
 
 In sportive play, the flag he madly cursed, as star 
 
 By star was added to its field of blue, 
 
 In gorgeous folds waved kindly o'er his head, 
 
 As if forgiving his ingratitude. 
 
 And now, as other years rolled sadly by, 
 
 And he was passed from ship to ship, as each 
 
 In turn went home, the lines of grief and frosis 
 
 Of age bore silent evidences of slow decay. 
 
 In time his face was marked with pensive cast, 
 
 A harbinger of sad, repentant thought. 
 
 A sailor, unperceived, took note of him, 
 
 And oft observed him watch the waving -flag 
 
 With strange emotion. And once his lips 
 
 Were seen to move : ' ' Thou ever-present curse, 
 
 Reminding me of what I am, of what 
 
 I've lost. Thou Nemesis of nature's wrongs! 
 
 For that I've sinned against my birth, my soul's 
 
 Remorse affirms. How long ere nature's laws, 
 
 More kind than human heart, will free my eyes 
 
 From thee, thou vengeful Avitness of my shame ? 
 
 I'd tear thee from thy staff,— but when I think 
 
 Of all the tears thou'st witnessed in these eyes, 
 
 At first my curses, then my prayers to God, 
 
 Of secret thoughts conceived within thy sight, 
 
 Thou seems 't so much a friend, I would not blot 
 
 From out thy field a single star— and yet— 
 
 and yet— 
 
 O soul, when will thy mad resentment cease?'' 
 * # # # # # 
 
 Full thirty years had passed since sound 
 Of friendly voice had filled his ear, and now 
 
SELECTED READINGS 13 
 
 He paced another deck than one designed 
 For heavy armament,— a merchant craft, 
 Commissioned while the nations ships of war 
 Were called for duty home to try the cause 
 For which this poor, deluded exile gave 
 His manhood and his life. 
 
 Near set of sun 
 The cry of "Sail" was heard, and then, 
 Against his will, they hurried him below. 
 The startling call to quarters reached his ear; 
 And ere the roll of drum and boatswain 's whistle 
 
 died away 
 There came a distant "boom" that roused a hope 
 He yearned to realize. A moment more, 
 A deaf 'ning sound, that shook the very keel 
 Awoke his heart with joy. He knew and hailed 
 The truth. The land,— his land— was now at 
 
 war. 
 The foe— his name, it mattered not to him— 
 Had struck the challenge blow and filled his soul 
 With fire. 
 
 love of country ! Thou art lasting as 
 The faith of childhood. Thou art stronger than 
 The love of life,— the fear of death! 
 This exiled penitent, this prodigal 
 Without a home, would prove himself a man ! 
 He cried for help to free him from his bonds ; 
 1 ' Ahoy there ! Men on deck ! For love of God 
 Let me not perish in this cell. Unbar the door, 
 Take off these chains and arm me for the fight ! 
 Oh give me air and light beneath the flag; 
 
14 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 My blood will wash away my curse!" But all 
 Was vain. 
 
 A tearing shot that ploughed through side 
 And prison bulkhead walls, made clear 
 A passage wide enough through which 
 He sought his "wild desire. 
 But ere he reached the deck, the foe had lashed 
 His ship beside, and countless fierce wild men 
 Were leaping down among' the feeble crew, 
 Who battled hard, but vain, against such odds. 
 
 He saw the flag the enemy displayed, 
 A flag unknown, unseen by him before, 
 Though strangely like the one he cursed,— now 
 
 loved 
 So much,— would die in its defense. 
 He wrenched a cutlass from a dying hand, 
 And hewed his way among the privateers. 
 Where 'er he struck, the way was cleared of men 
 Like wheat before the blade. His strange 
 
 demean 
 And antique garb amazed the foe, until 
 It seemed he'd drive the boarders to their ship. 
 At last his wounds o'ercame his madd'ning 
 
 strength, 
 And, sinking to his knee, was soon disarmed, 
 But spared the murd'rous stroke by one who 
 
 knew 
 His name and story from a child. 
 His glazing eye turned wistful toward that flag, 
 Now drooping low, as if to mourn for him :— 
 
SELECTED READINGS 15 
 
 "My country! thou art now avenged! my 
 life,— 
 My wasted life,— I give to thee— to thee." 
 
 I. H. Brown. 
 
 THEN AND NOW. 1776-1876.-F. W. Fish. 
 
 Looking back a hundred years, 
 And comparing the now and then, 
 
 It seems to me that in spite of fears 
 The country has earnest men, 
 
 As willing to draw the sword for right, 
 As ready to wield the pen. 
 
 It seems to me that in faithful hearts 
 
 The currents yet ebb and flow, 
 With a constant motion that still imparts 
 
 As steady and clear a glow 
 Of zeal for freedom's glorious arts 
 
 As a hundred years ago. 
 
 It seems to me that in field and forge, 
 
 By river and by rill, 
 In fertile plain and mountain gorge, 
 
 In city and hamlet, still 
 They live as they did in the days of King George, 
 
 Of Concord and Bunker Hill. 
 
16 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 BATTLE OF SANTIAGO. 
 
 One hour before the Spaniards appeared my 
 quartermaster on the Brooklyn reported to me 
 that Cervera's fleet was coaling up. This was 
 just what I expected, and we prepared every- 
 thing for a hot reception. Away over the hills 
 great clouds of smoke could be faintly seen ris- 
 ing up to the sky. A little later and the smoke 
 began to move towards the mouth of the harbor. 
 The black cloud wound in and out along the nar- 
 row channel, and every eye on board the vessels 
 in our fleet strained with expectation. 
 
 The sailor boys were silent for a full hour 
 and the grim old vessels lay back like tigers wait- 
 ing to pounce upon their prey. Suddenly the 
 whole Spanish fleet shot out of the mouth of the 
 channel. It was the grandest spectacle I ever 
 witnessed. The flames were pouring out of the 
 funnels, and as it left the channel the fleet open- 
 ed fire with every gun on board. Their guns 
 were worked as rapidly as possible, and shells 
 were raining around like hail. 
 
 It was a grand charge. My first impression 
 was that of a lot of maddened bulis, goaded to 
 desperation, dashing at their tormentors. The 
 storm of projectiles and shells was the hottest 
 imaginable. I wondered where they all came 
 from. Just as the vessels swung around the 
 Brooklyn opened up with three shells, and al- 
 most simultaneously the rest of the fleet fired. 
 Our volley was a terrible shock to the Spaniards, 
 and so surprised them that they must have been 
 badly rattled. 
 
SELECTED READINGS 17 
 
 When our fleet swung around and gave chase, 
 we not only had to face the fire from the vessels, 
 but were bothered by a crossfire from the forts 
 on either side, which opened on our fleet as soon 
 as the Spaniards shot out of the harbor. The 
 engagement lasted three hours, but I hardly 
 knew what time was. I remember crashing 
 holes through the Spanish Admiral's flagship, 
 the Maria Teresa, and giving chase to the 
 Colon. 
 
 I was on the bridge of the Brooklyn during 
 the whole engagement, and at times the smoke 
 was so dense that I could not see three yards 
 ahead of me. The shells from the enemy's fleet 
 were whistling around and bursting everywhere, 
 except where they could do some damage. I 
 seemed to be the only thing on the vessel not 
 protected by heavy armor, and oh ! how I would 
 have liked to get behind some of that armor! 
 
 I don't know how I kept my head, but I do 
 know that I surprised myself by seeing and 
 knowing all that was going on, and I could hear 
 my voice giving orders to do just Avhat my head 
 thought was right, while my heart was trying to 
 get beneath the shelter of the armored deck. 
 How do I account for such a victory with so lit- 
 tle loss? That would mean how do I account 
 for the rain of Spanish shell not doing more ex- 
 ecution? They fought nobly and desperately, 
 but they were not a match for our Yankee of- 
 ficers and sailors. 
 
 I was proud of the boys in our fleet during 
 that engagement. They knew just what their 
 
18 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 guns could do, and not one shot was wasted. 
 Their conduct was wonderful. It was inspiring. 
 It was magnificent. Men who can stand behind 
 big guns and face a black storm of shells and 
 projectiles as coolly as though nothing was oc- 
 curring; men who could laugh because a shell 
 had missed hitting them ; men who could bet one 
 another on shots and lay odds in the midst of 
 the horrible crashing ; men who could not realize 
 that they were in danger— such men are won- 
 ders, and we have a whole navy of wonders. 
 Admiral W. S. Schley. 
 
 HOBSON'S DARING DEED. 
 
 Thunder peal and roar and rattle of the ships in 
 line of battle, 
 Rumbling noise of steel volcanoes hurling 
 metal from the shore, 
 Drowned the sound of quiet speaking and the 
 creaking, creaking, creaking 
 Of the steering-gear that turned her toward 
 the narrow harbor door. 
 
 On the hulk was calm and quiet, deeper for the 
 shoreward riot; 
 Dumb they watched the fountain streaming; 
 mute they heard the waters hiss, 
 Till one laughed and murmured, "Surely it was 
 worth while rising early 
 For a fireworks exhibition of such character 
 as this." 
 
SELECTED READINGS 19 
 
 Down the channel the propeller drove her as 
 they tried to shell her 
 From the dizzy heights of Morro and Soeapa 
 parapet ; 
 She was torn and she was battered, and her up- 
 per works w r ere shattered 
 By the bursting of the missiles that in air 
 above her met. 
 
 Parallels of belching cannon marked the winding 
 course she ran on, 
 And they flashed through morning darkness 
 like a giant's flaming teeth; 
 "Waters steaming, boiling, churning; rows of 
 muzzles at each turning; 
 Mines like geysers spouting after and before 
 her and beneath. 
 
 Not a man was there who faltered ; not a theory 
 was altered 
 Of the detailed plan agreed on— not a doubt 
 was there expressed; 
 This was not a time for changing, deviating, re- 
 arranging ; 
 Let the great God help the wounded, and their 
 courage save the rest. 
 
 And they won. But greater glory than the win- 
 ning is the story 
 Of the foeman's friendly greeting 'of that 
 valiant captive band; 
 
 Speech of his they understood not, talk to him 
 in words they could not ; 
 
20 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 But their courage spoke a language that all 
 men might understand. 
 
 MY SOLDIER BOY. 
 
 When night comes on, when morning breaks, 
 
 they rise, 
 Those earnest prayers by faithful lips oft 
 
 said, 
 And pierce the blue which shrouds the inner 
 
 skies : 
 "God guard my boy; God grant he is not 
 
 dead!" 
 "My soldier boy— where is he camped to-night ?" 
 1 ' God guard him waking, sleeping or in fight ! ' ' 
 
 Far, far away where tropic suns cast down 
 Their scorching rays, where sultry damp airs 
 rise 
 
 And haunting breath of sickness holds its own, 
 A homesick boy, sore wounded, suffering lies. 
 
 1 ' Mother ! Mother ! " is his ceaseless cry. 
 
 1 ' Come, mother, come, and see me ere I die ! " 
 
 Where is war's glory? Ask the trumpet's blare, 
 
 The marching columns run to bitter strife; 
 Ask of the raw recruit who knows as yet 
 Naught of its horrors, naught of its loss of 
 life; 
 Ask not the mother ; weeping for her son, 
 She knows the heart-aches following victories 
 won. 
 
SELECTED READINGS 21 
 
 THE YANKEES IN BATTLE. 
 
 For courage and dash there is no parallel in 
 history to this action of the Spanish Admiral. 
 He came, as he knew, to absolute destruction. 
 There was one single hope. That was that the 
 Spanish ship Cristobal Colon would steam faster 
 than the American ship Brooklyn. The specta- 
 cle of two torpedo boat destroyers, paper shells 
 at best, deliberately steaming out in broad day- 
 light in the face of the fire of battleships can 
 only be described in one way. It was Spanish, 
 and it was ordered by the Spanish General 
 Blanco. The same may be said of the entire 
 movement. 
 
 In contrast to the Spanish fashion was the 
 cool, deliberate Yankee work. The American 
 squadron was without sentiment apparently. 
 The ships went at their Spanish opponents and 
 literally tore them to pieces. Admiral Cervera 
 was taken aboard the Iowa from the Gloucester, 
 which has rescued him, and he was received with 
 a full Admiral's guard. The crew of the Iowa 
 crowded aft over the turrets, half naked and 
 black with powder, as Cervera stepped over the 
 side bareheaded. The crew cheered vociferous- 
 ly. The Admiral submitted to the fortunes of 
 war with a grace that proclaimed him a thor- 
 oughbred. 
 
 The officers of the Spanish ship Vizcaya said 
 they simply could not hold their crews at the 
 guns on account of the rapid fire poured upon 
 them. The decks were flooded with water from 
 
22 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 the fire hose, and the blood from the wounded 
 made this a dark red. Fragments of bodies 
 floated in this along the gun deck. Every in- 
 stant the crack of exploding shells told of new 
 havoc. 
 
 The torpedo boat Ericsson was sent by the 
 flagship to the help of the Iowa in the rescue of 
 the Viscaya's crew. Her men saw a terrible 
 sight. The flames, leaping out from the huge 
 shot holes in the Viscaya's sides, licked up the 
 decks, sizzling the flesh of the wounded who 
 were lying there shrieking for help. Between 
 the frequent explosions there came awful cries 
 and groans from the men pinned in below. This 
 carnage was chiefly due to the rapidity of the 
 American fire. 
 
 From two 6-pounders 400 shells were fired in 
 fifty minutes. Up in the tops the marines 
 banged away with 1-pounders, too excited to 
 step back to duck as the shells whistled over 
 them. One gunner of a secondary battery un- 
 der a 12-inch gun was blinded by smoke and 
 saltpetre from the turret, and his crew were 
 driven off, but sticking a wet handkerchief over 
 his face, with holes cut for his eyes, he stuck to 
 his gun. 
 
 Finally, as the 6-pounders were so close to 
 the 8-inch turret at to make it impossible to stay 
 there with safety, the men were ordered away 
 before the big gun was fired, but they refused to 
 leave. When the 3-inch gun was fired, the con- 
 cussion blew two men of the smaller gun's crew 
 ten feet from their guns and threw them to the 
 
SELECTED READINGS 23 
 
 deck as deaf as posts. Back they went again, 
 however, and were again blown away, and final- 
 ly had to be dragged away from their stations. 
 Snch bravery and such dogged determination 
 under the heavy fire were of frequent occurrence 
 on all the ships engaged. 
 
 Captain R. D. Evans. 
 
 THE BANNER BETSEY MADE. 
 
 We have nicknamed it "Old Glory" 
 
 As it floats upon the breeze, 
 Rich in legend, song and story 
 
 On the land and on the seas; 
 Far above the shining river, 
 
 Over mountain, glen and glade 
 With a fame that lives forever 
 
 Streams the banner Betsey made. 
 
 Once it went from her, its maker, 
 
 To the glory of the wars, 
 Once the modest little Quaker 
 
 Deftly studded it with stars; 
 And her fingers, swiftly fiying 
 
 Through the sunshine and the shade, 
 Wedded colors bright, undying, 
 
 In the banner Betsey made. 
 
 When at last her needle rested 
 
 And her cherished work was done 
 Went the banner, love invested, 
 
24 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 To the camps of Washington; 
 And the glorious continentals 
 
 In the morning light arrayed 
 Stood in ragged regimentals 
 
 1 Neath the banner Betsey made. 
 
 How they cheered it and its maker, 
 
 They the gallant sons of Mars, 
 How they blessed the little Quaker 
 
 And her flag of stripes and stars ; 
 'Neath its folds, the foemen scorning, 
 
 Glinted bayonets and blade, 
 And the breezes of the morning 
 
 Kissed the banner Betsey made. 
 
 Years have passed, but still in glory 
 
 With a pride we love to see, 
 Laureled with a nation's glory 
 
 Waves the emblem of the free ; 
 From the rugged pines of Northland 
 
 To the deep'ning everglade, 
 In the sunny heart of Southland 
 
 Floats the banner Betsey made. 
 
 A protector all have found it 
 
 And beneath it stands no slave, 
 Freemen brave have died around it 
 
 On the land and on the wave ; 
 In the foremost front of battle 
 
 Borne by heroes not afraid, 
 'Mid the musket's rapid rattle, 
 
 Soared the banner Betsey made. 
 
SELECTED READINGS 25 
 
 rNow she sleeps whose fingers flying 
 With a heart to freedom true 
 Mingled colors bright, undying- 
 Fashioned stars and field of blue; 
 It will lack for no defenders 
 When the nation's foes invade, 
 For our country rose to splendor 
 'Neath the banner Betsey made. 
 T. C. Harbaugh. 
 ge: 
 
 GENERAL WHEELER AT SANTIAGO. 
 
 Into the thick of the fight he went, pallid and 
 
 sick and wan, 
 Borne in an ambulance to the front, a ghostly 
 
 wisp of a man; 
 But the fighting soul of a fighting man, approved 
 
 in the long ago, 
 Went to the front in that ambulance, and the 
 
 body of Fighting Joe. 
 
 Out from the front they were coming back, smit- 
 ten of Spanish shells— 
 
 Wounded boys from the Vermont Hills and the 
 Alabama dells; 
 
 1 ' Put them into this r.mbulance ; I '11 ride to the 
 front," he said, 
 
 And he climbed to the saddle and rode right on, 
 that little old ex-Confed. 
 
 From end to end of the long blue ranks rose up 
 the ringing cheers, 
 
26 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 And many a powder-blackened face was furrow- 
 ed with sudden tears, 
 
 As with flashing eyes and gleaming sword, and 
 hair and beard of snow, 
 
 Into the hell of shot and shell rode little old 
 Fighting Joe! 
 
 Sick with fever and racked with pain, he could 
 
 not stay away, 
 For he heard the song of the yester-year in the 
 
 deep-mouthed cannon's bay— ? 
 
 He heard in the calling song of the guns there 
 
 was work for him to do, 
 Where his country's best blood splashed and 
 
 flowed 'round the old Red, White and Blue. 
 
 Fevered body and hero heart! This Union's 
 
 heart to you 
 Beats out in love and reverence— and to each 
 
 dear boy in blue 
 Who stood or fell 'mid the shot and shell, and 
 
 cheered in the face of the foe, 
 As, wan and white, to the heart of the fight rode 
 
 little old Fighting Joe ! 
 
 James Lindsay Gordon. 
 
 THE FLAG GOES BY. 
 
 Hats off ! 
 Along the street there comes 
 A blare of bugles, a ruffle of drums, 
 
SELECTED READINGS 27 
 
 A flash of color beneath the sky: 
 
 Hats off! 
 The flag is passing by! 
 Blue and crimson and white it shines 
 Over the steel-tipped, ordered lines, 
 
 Hats off! 
 The colors before us fly! 
 Sea-fights and hand-fights grim and great 
 Fought to make and to save the state ; 
 Cheers of victory on dying lines. 
 Weary marches and sinking ships ; 
 Days of plenty and years of peace 
 March of a strong land 's swift increase ; 
 Equal justice, right and law, 
 Stately honor and reverend awe ; 
 Sign of a nation great and strong, 
 To ward her people from foreign wrong; 
 Pride and glory and honor, all 
 Live in the colors to stand or fall. 
 
 Hats off! 
 
 IN MANILA BAY. 
 
 un the broad Manila Bay 
 
 The Spanish cruisers lay, 
 
 In the shelter of their forts upon the shore; 
 And they dared their foes to sail 
 Through the crashing iron hail 
 
 Which the guns from decks and battlements 
 would pour. 
 
28 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 All the harbor ways were missed, 
 And along the channel blind 
 
 Slept the wild torpedoes, dreaming dreams of 
 wrath, 
 fea ! the fiery hates of hell 
 Lay beneath the ocean's swell, 
 
 Like a thousand demons ambushed in the path. 
 
 Breasting fierce Pacific gales, 
 Lo! a little squadron sails, 
 
 And the Stars and Stripes are floating from 
 its spars. 
 It is friendless and alone, 
 Aids and allies it has none, 
 
 But a dauntless chorus sings its dauntless 
 tars: 
 
 •'We're ten thousand miles from home; 
 Ocean's wastes and wave and foam 
 
 Shut us from the land we love so far away. 
 We have ne'er a friendly port 
 For retreat as last resort, 
 
 But we'll beard the ships of Spain in their 
 own bay. 
 
 "They have mines beneath the sea, 
 They have forts upon their lee, 
 
 They have everything to aid them in the f ray ; 
 But we'll brave their hidden mines, 
 And we '11 face their blazing lines ; 
 
 Yes! We'll beard the ships of Spain in their 
 own bay. 
 
SELECTED READINGS 29 
 
 "'If we're worsted in the fight, 
 We shall perish in the right— 
 
 No hand will wipe the dews of death away. 
 The wounded none will tend, 
 For we've not a single friend; 
 
 But we'll beard the ships of Spain in their 
 own bay. 
 
 *'No ironclads we sail, 
 Only cruisers light and frail, 
 
 With no armor plates to turn the shells away. 
 All the battleships now steer 
 In another hemisphere, 
 
 But we'll beard the ships of Spain in their 
 own bay. 
 
 • ' Ho ! Remember now the Maine ! 
 Up ! And smite the ships of Spain ! 
 
 Let them not forget for years this first of 
 May! 
 Though hell blaze up from beneath, 
 Forward through the cannon's breath, 
 
 When Dewey leads into Manila Bay." 
 
 There, half-way round the world, 
 
 Swift and straight the shots were hurled, 
 
 And a handful of bold sailors won the day. 
 Never since earth was begun 
 Has a braver deed been done 
 
 Than when Dewey sailed into Manila Bay. 
 
 God made for him a path 
 
 Through the mad torpedoes' wrath, 
 
30 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 From their slumbers never wakened into play. 
 When dawn smote the east with gold, 
 Spaniards started to behold 
 
 Dewey and his gallant fleet within their bay. 
 
 Then from forts and warships first 
 Then from forts and worships first 
 Iron maledictions burst, 
 
 And the guns with tongues of flame began to 
 pray; 
 Like demons out of hell 
 The batteries roar and yell, 
 
 While Dewey answers back across the bay. 
 
 God ! it was a sight, 
 
 Till the smoke, as black as night, 
 
 Hid the fire-belching ships from light of day. 
 When it lifted from the tide, 
 Smitten low was Spanish pride, 
 
 And Dewey was the master of their bay. 
 
 Where the awful conflict roared, 
 And red blood in torrents poured, 
 
 There the Stars and Stripes are waving high 
 to-day. 
 Dewey ! Hero strong and grand ! 
 Shout his name through every land! 
 
 For he sunk the ships of Spain in their own 
 bay. 
 
 Charles Wadsworth, Jr. 
 
CE./ECT3D HEADING, 31 
 
 OUR FLAG. 
 
 Now can the world once more the glory see 
 Of this our flag, emblem of liberty. 
 Now can the tyrant quake with direst fear 
 As o'er his land our banners shall appear. 
 
 No selfish aim shall lead our flag astray, 
 
 No base desire shall point our banner's way; 
 
 Each star has told a tale of noble deed, 
 
 Each stripe shall mean from strife a nation free. 
 
 Our glorious past when first with thirteen stars 
 On field of blue with white and bright red bars, 
 Our flag led on in battle 's fierce array, 
 And freed the land from mighty Britain 's sway. 
 
 And since this time when first it was unfurled. 
 Our flag has proved the noblest in the world. 
 From Cuba's shore out to Manila Bay 
 Its mighty folds protecting fly to-day. 
 
 Beneath this flag with patriotic pride 
 
 For freedom's cause great men have gladly died 
 
 Our noblest sons beneath its folds so free 
 
 In conflict died for Cuba's liberty. 
 
 Float on, dear flag, our nation's greatest joy, 
 Thy starry folds no despot shall destroy, 
 Stretch out thy arms till war forever cease, 
 And all the world is universal peace. 
 
 Chas. F. Alsop. 
 
32 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 THAT STARRY FLAG OF OURS. 
 
 Unfurl the starry banner, 
 
 Till with loving eyes we view 
 The stars and stripes we honor 
 And the folds of azure blue 
 
 'Tis the pride of all our nation 
 And the emblem of its powers — 
 
 The gem of all creation 
 Is that starry flag of ours. 
 
 Then raise aloft "Old Glory, " 
 And its colors bright surround, 
 
 In battle fierce and gory, 
 
 Or in peace with honor bound. 
 
 Let it float from spire and steeple, 
 
 And from house-tops, masts and towers, 
 
 For the banner of the people 
 Is that starry flag of ours. 
 
 Now, behold it, bright and peerless, 
 
 In the light of freedom's sky; 
 See its colors floating, fearless 
 
 As the eagle soaring high. 
 
 And amid the cannon's rattle 
 And the bullets' deadly showers, 
 
 Ten million men will battle 
 For that starry flag of ours. 
 
SELECTED REA.DESGS 33 
 
 THE NEGRO SOLDIER. 
 
 "We used to think the negro didn't count for 
 
 very much — 
 Light-fingered in the melon patch, and chicken 
 
 yard, and such; 
 Much mixed in points of morals and absurd in 
 
 point of dress, 
 The butt of droll cartoonists and the target of 
 
 the press; 
 But we've got to reconstruct our views on color, 
 
 more or less, 
 
 Now we know about the Tenth at La Qua- 
 sina! 
 
 When a rain of shot was falling, with a song 
 
 upon his lips, 
 In the horror where such gallant lives went out 
 
 in death's eclipse, 
 Face to face with Spanish bullets, on the slope 
 
 of San Juan, 
 The negro soldier showed himself another type 
 
 of man; 
 Read the storyof his courage, coldly, carelessly, 
 
 who can — 
 
 The story of the Tenth at La Quasina ! 
 
 We have heaped the Cuban soil above their 
 
 bodies, black and white — 
 The strangely sorted comrades of that grand and 
 
 glorious fight— 
 And many a fair-skinned volunteer goes whole 
 
 and sound today 
 
3i PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 For the succor of the colored troops, the battle 
 
 records say, 
 And the feud is done forever, of the blue coat 
 and the gray— 
 All honor to the Tenth at La Quasina ! 
 B. M. Channing. 
 
 DEEDS OF VALOR AT SANTIAGO. 
 
 Who cries that the days of daring are those that 
 
 are faded far, 
 That never a light burns planet-bright to be 
 
 hailed as the hero 's star ? 
 Let the deeds of the dead be laureled, the brave 
 
 of the elder years, 
 But a song, we say, for the men of today who 
 
 have proved themselves their peers! 
 
 High in the vault of the tropic sky is the garish 
 
 eye of the sun, 
 And down with its crown of guns a-frown looks 
 
 the hilltop to be won ; 
 There is the trench where the Spaniard lurks, 
 
 his hold and his hiding-place, 
 And he who would cross the space between must 
 
 meet death face to face. 
 
 The black mouths belch and thunder, and the 
 
 shrapnel shrieks and flies; 
 Where are the fain and the fearless, the lads 
 
 with the dauntless eyes? 
 
SELECTED READINGS 35 
 
 "Will the moment find them wanting ! Nay, but 
 
 with valor stirred ! 
 Like the leashed hound on the coursing-ground 
 
 they wait but the warning word. 
 
 "Charge!" and the line moves forward, moves 
 with a shout and a swing, 
 
 "While sharper far than the cactus-thorn is the 
 spiteful bullet's sting. 
 
 Now they are out in the open* and now they are 
 breasting the slope, 
 
 "While into the eyes of death they gaze as into 
 the eyes of hope. 
 
 Never they wait nor waver, but on they clam- 
 ber ,and on, 
 
 With ' ' Up with the flag of the stripes and stars, 
 and down with the flag of the Don ! ' ' 
 
 What should they bear through the shot-rent air 
 but rout to the ranks of Spain, 
 
 For the blood that throbs in their hearts is the 
 blood of the boys of Anthony Wayne ! 
 
 See, they have taken the trenches! Where are 
 
 the f oemen ? Gone ! 
 And now ' ' Old Glory ' ' waves in the breeze from 
 
 the heights of San Juan! 
 And so, while the dead are laureled, the brave 
 
 of the elder years, 
 A song, we say, for the men of today who have 
 
 proved themselves their peers ! 
 
 Clinton Scollard. 
 
36 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 A RACE FOR DEAR LIFE. 
 
 The battleships Brooklyn, Oregon and Texas 
 pushed ahead after the Spanish ships Colon and 
 Almirante Oquendo, which were now running 
 the race of their lives along the coast. When 
 Admiral Cervera's flagship, the Almirante 
 Oquendo, suddenly headed in shore, she had the 
 Brooklyn and Oregon abeam and the Texas 
 astern. The Brooklyn and Oregon pushed on 
 after the Cristobal Colon, which was making fine 
 time, and which looked as if she might escape, 
 leaving the Texas to finish the Almirante Oquen- 
 do. This work did not take long. The Spanish 
 ship was already burning. Just as the Texas 
 got abeam of her she was shaken by a loud and 
 mighty explosion. 
 
 The crew of the Texas started to cheer. 
 "Don't cheer, because the poor devils are 
 dying!" called Captain Philip, and the Texas 
 left the Almirante Oquendo to her fate to join 
 the chase of the Cristobal Colon. 
 
 That ship, in desperation, was ploughing the 
 waters at a rate that caused the fast Brooklyn 
 trouble. The Oregon made great speed for a 
 battleship, and the Texas made the effort of her 
 life. Never since her trial trip had she made 
 such time. The Brooklyn might have proved a 
 match to the Cristobal Colon in speed, but was 
 not supposed to be her match in strength. 
 
 It would never do to allow even one of the 
 Spanish ships to get away. Straight into the 
 west the strongest chase of modern times took 
 
SELECTED READINGS 37 
 
 place. The Brooklyn headed the pursuers. She 
 stood well out from shore in order to try to cut 
 off the Cristobal Colon at a point jutting out 
 into the sea far ahead. The Oregon kept a mid- 
 dle course about a mile from the cruiser. The 
 desperate Don ran close along the shore, and 
 now and then he threw a shell of defiance. The 
 old Texas kept well up in the chase under forced 
 draught for over two hours. 
 
 The fleet Spaniard led the Americans a merry 
 chase, but she had no chance. The Brooklyn 
 gradually forged ahead, so that the escape of 
 the Cristobal Colon was cut off. The Oregon was 
 abeam of the Colon then, and the gallant Don 
 gave it up. He headed for the shore, and five 
 minutes later down came the Spanish flag. None 
 of our ships were then within a mile of her, but 
 her escape was cut off. The Texas, Oregon and 
 Brooklyn closed in on her, and stopped their 
 engines a few hundreds yards away. 
 
 With the capture of the Cristobal Colon the 
 battle was ended, and there was great rejoicing 
 on all our ships. Meantime the New York, with 
 Admiral Sampson on board, and the Vixen were 
 coming up on the run. Commodore Schley sig- 
 naled to Admiral Sampson: "We have won a 
 great victory." 
 
 PATRIOTISM OF AMERICAN WOMEN. 
 
 The maid who binds her warrior's sash 
 
 With smile that well her pain dissembles, 
 The while beneath her drooping lash 
 
38 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 One starry tear drop hangs and trembles, 
 Though heaven alone records the tear, 
 
 And fame shall never know her story, 
 Her heart has shed a drop as dear 
 
 As e 'er bedewed the field of glory ! 
 
 The wife who girds her husband's sword, 
 
 Mid little ones who weep and wonder, 
 And bravely speaks the cheering word, 
 
 What though her heart be rent asunder, 
 Doomed nightly in her dreams to hear 
 
 The bolts of death around him rattle, 
 Hath shed as sacred blood as e'er 
 
 Was poured upon the field of battle ! 
 
 The mother who conceals her grief 
 
 While to her breast her son she presses, 
 Then breathes a few brave words and brief, 
 
 Kissing the patriot brow she blesses, 
 With no one but her secret God 
 
 To know the pain that weighs upon her 
 Sheds holy blood as e'er the sod 
 
 Received on Freedom's field of honor! 
 Thomas Buchanan Read. 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S CALL. 
 
 The clouds grew dark as the people paused, 
 
 A people of peace and toil, 
 And there came a cry from all the sky: 
 
 ' ' Come, children of mart and soil, 
 
SELECTED READINGS 39 
 
 Your mother needs you — hear her voice; 
 
 Though she has not a son to spare, 
 She has spoken the word that ye all have heard, 
 
 Come, answer ye everywhere!" 
 
 They need no urging to stir them on, 
 
 They yearn for no battle cry; 
 At the word that their country calls for men 
 They throw down hammer, and scythe, and pen, 
 
 And are ready to serve and die! 
 From the North, from the South, from East, 
 from West, 
 Hear the thrill of the rumbling drum! 
 
 Under one flag they march along, 
 
 With their voices swelling a single song, 
 
 Here they come, they come, they come ! 
 List! the North men cheer the men from the 
 South, 
 
 And the South returns the cheer ; 
 
 There is no question of East or West, 
 For hearts are a-tune in every breast, 
 
 'Tis a nation answering here. 
 
 It is elbow to elbow and knee to knee, 
 
 One land for each and for all, 
 And the veterans' eyes see their children rise 
 
 To answer their country's call. 
 They have not forgotten — God grant not so! 
 
 (Ah, we know of the graves on the hill.) 
 But these eager feet make the old hearts beat, 
 
 And the old eyes dim and fill! 
 
40 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 The Past sweeps out, and the Present comes— 
 A Present that all have wrought! 
 
 And the sons of these sires, at the same camp- 
 fires, 
 Cheer one flag where their fathers fought ! 
 
 Yes, we know of the graves on the Southern hills 
 That are filled with the Blue and the Gray. 
 
 We know how they fought and how they died, 
 We honor them both there side by side, 
 
 And they're brothers again today. 
 Brothers again — thank God on high! 
 
 ( Here 's a hand-clasp all around. ) 
 The sons of one race now take their place 
 
 On one common and holy ground. 
 
 Richard Barry. 
 
 THE STORY OF SEVENTY-SIX. 
 
 What heroes from the woodland sprung, 
 When, through the fresh awakened land, 
 
 The thrilling cry of freedom rung, 
 
 And to the work of warfare strung 
 The yeomans iron hand. 
 
 Hills flung the cry to hills around, 
 
 And ocean-mart replied to mart, 
 And streams, whose springs were yet unfound, 
 Pealed far away the startling sound 
 
 Into the forest's heart. 
 
SELECTED READINGS 41 
 
 Then marched the brave from rocky steep, 
 
 From mountain river swift and cold; 
 The borders of the stormy deep, 
 The vales where gathered waters sleep, 
 Sent up the strong and bold— 
 
 As if the very earth again 
 
 Grew quick with God's creating breath, 
 And from the sods of grove and glen, 
 Rose ranks of lion-hearted men 
 
 To battle to the death. 
 
 The wife, whose babe first smiled that day, 
 
 The fair fond bride of yestereve, 
 And aged sire and matron gray, 
 Saw the loved warriors haste away, 
 And deemed it sin to grieve. 
 
 Already had the strife begun; 
 
 Already blood on Concord's plain 
 Along the springing grass had run, 
 And blood had flowed at Lexington, 
 
 Like brooks of April rain. 
 
 That death-stain on the vernal sward 
 Hallowed to freedom all the shore ; 
 
 In fragments fell the yoke abhorred— 
 
 The footstep of a foreign lord 
 Profaned the soil no more. 
 
 W. C. Bryant. 
 
42 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 THE ROLL CALL. 
 
 ''Corporal Green!" the orderly cried; 
 ' ' Here ! ' ' was the answer, loud and clear, 
 From the lips of a soldier who stood near, 
 
 And "Here!" was the word the next replied. 
 
 "Cyrus Drew!"— then a silence fell— 
 This time no answer followed the call; 
 Only his rear man had seen him fall, 
 
 Killed or wounded he could not tell. 
 
 There they stood in the fading light, 
 
 These men of battle, with grave, dark looks, 
 As plain to be read as open books, 
 
 While slowly gathered the shades of night. 
 
 The fern on the hillside was splashed with blood, 
 And down in the corn where the poppies grew, 
 Were redder stains than the poppies knew; 
 
 And crimson dyed was the river's flood. 
 
 For the foe had crossed from the other side, 
 That day in the face of a murderous fire, 
 That swept them down in its terrible ire; 
 
 And their life-blood went to color the tide. 
 
 "Herbert Kline!" At the call, there came 
 Two stalwart soldiers into the line, 
 Bearing between them this Herbert Kline, 
 
 Wounded and bleeding to answer his name. 
 
 "Ezra Kerr!"— and a voice answered "Here!" 
 
SELECTED READINGS 43 
 
 "Hirma Kerr!"— but no man replied. 
 They were brothers, these two, the sad wind 
 sighed, 
 And a shudder crept through the cornfield near. 
 
 ''Ephraim Deane!"— then a soldier spoke; 
 
 "Deane carried our Regiment's colors, " he 
 said; 
 
 "Where our ensign was shot, I left him dead, 
 Just after the enemy wavered and broke. 
 
 "Close to the roadside his body lies, 
 
 I paused a moment and gave him a drink. 
 He murmured his mother's name, I think, 
 
 And death came with it and closed his eyes. ' ' 
 
 'Twas a victory ; yes, but it cost us dear— 
 For that company's roll, when called at night, 
 Of a hundred men who went into the fight 
 
 The number was few that answered ' ' Here ! ' ' 
 
 THE BATTLEFIELD. 
 
 [This striking poem is an American classic. 
 Two lines alone, if there were no others, are 
 enough to give it immortal fame.] 
 
 ' ' Truth crushed to earth shall rise again ; 
 The eternal years of God are hers." 
 
 Once this soft turf, this rivulet's sands, 
 Were trampled by a hurrying crowd, 
 
44 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 And fiery hearts and armed hands 
 Encountered in the battle cloud. 
 
 Ah! never shall the land forget 
 
 How gushed the life-blood of her brave, 
 Gushed, warm with hope and courage yet, 
 
 Upon the soil they sought to save. 
 
 Now all is calm, and fresh, and still, 
 Alone the chirp of flitting bird, 
 
 And talk of children on the hill, 
 
 And bell of wandering kine are heard. 
 
 Soon rested those who fought; but thou 
 Who mightiest in the harder strife 
 
 For truths which men receive not now, 
 Thy warfare only ends with life. 
 
 A friendless warfare! lingering long 
 Through weary day and weary year, 
 
 A wild and many-weaponed throng 
 Hang on thy front, and flank, and rear. 
 
 Yet nerve thy spirit to the proof, 
 And blanch not at thy chosen lot. 
 
 The timid good may stand aloof, 
 The sage may front— yet faint, thou not. 
 
 Nor heed the shaft too surely cast, 
 The foul and hissing bolt of scorn ; 
 
 For with thy side shall dwell, at last, 
 The victory of endurance born. 
 
SELECTED READINGS 45 
 
 Truth, crushed to earth, shall rise again; 
 
 The eternal years of God are hers; 
 But Error, wounded, writhes with pain, 
 
 And dies among his worshippers. 
 
 Yea, though thou lie upon the dust, 
 When they who helped thee flee in fear, 
 
 Die full of hope and manly trust, 
 Like those who fell in battle here. 
 
 Another hand thy sword shall yield, 
 Another hand the standard wave, 
 
 Till from the trumpet's mouth is pealed 
 The blast of triumph o'er thy grave. 
 
 W. C. Bryant. 
 
 THE SINKING OF THE MERRIMAC. 
 
 The sinking of the ship Merrimac at the mouth 
 of Santiago harbor, by Lieutenant Hobson, was 
 one of the most daring exploits on record. It is 
 here told in his own words. 
 
 I did not miss the entrance to the harbor. I 
 turned east until I got my bearings and then 
 made for it, straight in. Then came the firing. 
 It was grand, flashing out first from one side 
 of the harbor and then from the other, from 
 those big guns on the hills, the Spanish ship 
 Vizcaya, lying inside the harbor, joining in. 
 
 Troops from Santiago had rushed down when 
 the news of the Merrimac 's coming was tele- 
 
4(? PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 graphed and soon lined the foot of the cliff, firing 
 wildly across and killing each other with the 
 cross fire. The Merrimac's steering gear broke 
 as she got to Estrella Point. Only three of the 
 torpedoes on her side exploded when I touched 
 the button. A huge submarine mine caught her 
 full amidships, hurling the water high in the 
 air and tearing a great rent in the Merrimac's 
 side. 
 
 Her stern ran upon Estrella Point. Chiefly 
 owing to the work done by the mine she began 
 to sink slowly. At that time she was across the 
 channel, but before she settled the tide drifted 
 her around. We were all aft, lying on the deck, 
 Shells and bullets whistled around. Six-inch 
 shells from the Vizcaya came tearing into the 
 Merrimac, crashing into wood and iron and pass- 
 ing clear through, while the plunging shots from 
 the fort broke through her decks. 
 
 "Not a man must move," I said, and it was 
 only owing to the splendid discipline of the men 
 that we all were not killed, as the shells rained 
 over us and minutes became hours of suspense. 
 Then men's mouths grew parched, but we must 
 lie there till daylight, I told them. Now and 
 again one or the other of the men lying with 
 his face glued to the deck and wondering wheth- 
 er the next shell would not come our way would 
 say: "Hadn't we better drop off now, sir? "but 
 I said: "Wait till daylight." 
 
 It would have been impossible to get the cata- 
 maran or raft anywhere but to the shore, where 
 the soldiers stood shooting, and I hoped that by 
 
SELECTED READINGS 47 
 
 daylight Ave might be recognized and saved. The 
 grand old Merrimac kept sinking. I wanted to 
 go forward and see the damage done there, where 
 nearly all the fire was directed, but one man 
 said that if I rose it would draw all the fire on 
 the rest. So I lay motionless. It was splendid 
 the way these men behaved. The fire of the 
 soldiers, the batteries and the Vizcaya was awful. 
 
 When the water came up on the Merrimac 's 
 decks the raft floated amid the wreckage, but 
 she was still made fast to the boom, and we 
 caught hold of the edge and clung on, our heads 
 only oeing above water. One man thought we 
 were safer right there; it was quite light; the 
 firing had ceased, except that on the launch 
 which followed to rescue us, and I feared En- 
 sign Powell and his men had been killed. 
 
 A Spanish launch came toward the Merrimac. 
 We agreed to capture her and run. Just as she 
 came close the Spaniards saw us, and a half- 
 dozen marines jumped up and pointed their 
 rifles at our heads. ' ' Is there any officer in that 
 boat to receive a surrender of prisoners of 
 war?" I shouted. An old man leaned out un- 
 der the awning and held out his hand. It was 
 the Spanish Admiral Cervera. 
 
 R. P. Hobson. 
 
 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS. 
 
 I do not know that the hands are weak, 
 
 Or the brain unused to plan ; 
 That the tongue delays the truth to speak, 
 
48 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 Or the foot to march in the van; 
 But I know full well that we need not seek 
 In vain for a Minute Man. 
 
 There are men today who would stand alone 
 
 On the bridge Horatius kept; 
 There are men who would fight at Marathon, 
 
 Who would battle with Stark at Bennington 
 When flashing from saber and flint-lock gun 
 
 The fires of freedom leapt. 
 
 It is better to look back with pride and boast, 
 
 It is well to look ahead; 
 The past to all is a dream at most, 
 
 The future is life instead ; 
 And standing unmoved at your duty's post 
 
 Is truthfully praising the dead. 
 
 OUR CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 
 
 Extract of a speech delivered by the Hon. 
 Orestes Cleveland, at the closing of the prelimi- 
 nary session of the Centennial Commission. 
 
 Fellow Commissioners:— When we were wel- 
 comed in Independence Hall, and again in visit- 
 ing old Carpenters' Hall, I was impressed with 
 the grand and glorious memories clustering 
 round about Philadelphia, all pointing with sol- 
 emn significance to the occasion we are prepar- 
 ing to celebrate. May we all have light and 
 strength to appreciate that occasion as it ap- 
 proaches. No such family gathering has ever 
 
SELECTED READINGS 49 
 
 been known in the world's history, and we shall 
 have pasesd away and been forgotten when the 
 next one recurs. May we be permitted to rise 
 up to the grandeur and importance of the work 
 before us, so that the results and lessons of our 
 labor may bless and last until our descendants 
 shall celebrate in a similar manner the next cen- 
 tennial. 
 
 The vast and varied and marvelous results 
 of inventive industry from all the world shall 
 gather here ; and it is fitting— for here, upon this 
 continent, in this new country, under the fos- 
 tering care of the wise and beneficent provisions 
 of our patent laws, the inventive genius of the 
 age finds her most congenial home. From the 
 international exhibition of 1876 the education 
 of skilled labor, in this country, at least, is to 
 take a new departure, and we hope the effect 
 will be felt also, in some measure, by every civ- 
 ilized nation. 
 
 Here will be spread out before us the manu- 
 factures of Great Britain, the source of all her 
 power. From France will come articles of taste 
 and utility, exquisite in design and perfect in 
 execution. From Russia, iron and leather no 
 nation has yet learned to produce. From Berlin 
 and Munich, artistic productions in iron and 
 bronze. From Switzerland, her unequaled wood- 
 carvings and delicate watch work. From Bo- 
 hemia shall come the perfection of glass-blowing, 
 and musical instruments from the Black Forest. 
 
 From the people of poor old Spain, to whose 
 daring and public spirit nearly four centuries 
 
50 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 back we owe the possibilities of this hour, shail 
 come the evidence of a foretime greatness, now 
 unhappily faded away for the want of education 
 amongst the mass of her people. From Nine- 
 veh and Pompeii the evidences of a buried past. 
 The progress of the applied arts will be shown 
 from all Europe. From China, her curious work- 
 manship, the result of accumulated ingenuity 
 reaching back beyond the time when history 
 began. Matchless woodwork from Japan, and 
 from far India her treasures rare and wonder- 
 ful. Turkey and Persia shall bring their gorge- 
 ous fabrics to diversify and stimulate our taste. 
 The Queen of the East, passing the Suez Canal, 
 shall cross the great deep and bow her turbaned 
 head to this young giant of the West, and he 
 shall point her people to the source of his vast 
 powers— the education of all the people. 
 
 One of our noted orators laid before us the 
 other night such evidence as he could gather 
 of the lost arts of the Ancients, and he demands 
 to know what we have to compensate us for the 
 loss. I claim that we have produced some things, 
 even in this new country, worthy of that orator's 
 notice. Instead of tearing open the bosom of 
 mother earth with the root of a tree, that we 
 may feed upon the bounties of nature, as the 
 ancients did, the green covering rolls away with 
 the perfection and grace of art itself from the 
 polished moulding-board of the Pittsburg steel 
 plow. Machinery casts abroad the seed and a 
 reaping machine gathers the harvest. Whitney's 
 cotton gin prepares the fiber; Lyall's positive 
 
SELECTED READINGS 51 
 
 motion boom takes the place of the old wheel, and 
 a sewing machine fits the fabric for the use of 
 man. What had the ancients, I demand to know, 
 that could compensate them for the want of 
 these American inventions? I do not speak of 
 the American telegraph or steam power, that 
 we have done more than all other nations put 
 together in reaching its possibilities. The Magi 
 of the East never dreamed, in the wildest frenzy 
 of their beautiful imaginations, of the wonders 
 of these! 
 
 Next year it will become the duty of the gen- 
 eral government to make the International Ex- 
 hibition known to other countries, to the end 
 that all civilized people may meet with us in 
 1876 in friendly competition in the progress of 
 the arts of peace. Be it our duty now to arouse 
 our own people to a sense of its great value. I 
 know that we go out with our hearts full— let 
 our minds be determined and our hands ready 
 for the labor. 
 
 WASHINGTON'S NAME. 
 
 At the heart of our country the tyrant was leap- 
 ing, 
 To dye there the point of his dagger in gore, 
 When Washington sprang from the watch he 
 was keeping, 
 And drove back the tyrant in shame from our 
 shore ; 
 
52 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 The cloud that hung o'er us then parted and 
 
 roll'd 
 Its wreaths far away, deeply tinctured with 
 flame, 
 
 And high on its fold 
 Was a legend that told 
 The brightness that circled our Washington's 
 name. 
 
 Long years have roll'd on, and the sun still has 
 brighten 'd 
 Our mountains and fields with its ruddiest 
 glow; 
 And the bolt that he wielded so proudly has 
 lighten 'd 
 With a flash as intense, in the face of the foe ; 
 On the land and the sea, the wide banner has 
 
 roll'd 
 O'er many a chief, on his passage to fame, 
 And still on its fold 
 Shine in letters of gold 
 The glory and worth of our Washington 's name. 
 
 And so it shall be while Eternity tarries, 
 
 And pauses to tread in the footsteps of Time ; 
 The bird of the tempest, whose quick pinion car- 
 ries 
 Our arrows of vengeance shall hover sublime ; 
 Wherever that flag on the wind shall be roll 'd, 
 All hearts shall be kindled with anger and shame 
 If e'er they are told 
 They are careless and cold, 
 In the glory that circles our Washington 's name. 
 
 James G. Percival. 
 
SELECTED READINGS 53 
 
 FOURTH OF JULY. 
 
 George W. Bethune. 
 
 Maine, from her farthest border, gives the first 
 
 exulting shout, 
 And from New Hampshire's granite heights, the 
 
 echoing peal rings out ; 
 The mountain farms of stanch Vermont prolong 
 
 the thundering call, 
 And Massachusetts answers, ''Bunker Hill"— a 
 
 watchword for us all. 
 
 Rhode Island shakes her sea-wet locks, acclaim- 
 ing with the free, 
 
 And staid Connecticut breaks forth in stalwart 
 harmony. 
 
 The giant joy of proud New York, loud as an 
 earthquake's roar, 
 
 Is heard from Hudson's crowded banks to Erie's 
 crowded shore. 
 
 Still on the booming volley rolls, o'er plains and 
 
 flowery glades 
 To where the Mississippi 's flood the turbid gulf 
 
 invades ; 
 There, borne from many a mighty stream upon 
 
 her mightier tide, 
 Come down the swelling, long huzzas from all 
 
 that valley wide. 
 
 And wood-crowned Alleghany's call, from ail 
 
 her summits high, 
 Reverberates among the rocks that pierce the 
 
 sunset sky; 
 
54 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 While on the shores and through the swales 
 
 round the vast inland seas, 
 The stars and stripes, midst freemen's songs, are 
 
 flashing to the breeze. 
 
 The woodsman, from the mother takes his boy 
 
 upon his knee, 
 And tells him how their fathers fought and bled 
 
 for liberty. 
 The lonely hunter sits, him down the forest spring 
 
 beside, 
 To think upon his country's worth, and feel his 
 
 country's pride— 
 "While many a foreign accent, which our God 
 
 can understand, 
 Is blessing Him for home and bread in this free, 
 
 fertile land. 
 
 Yes, when upon the eastern coast we sink to 
 
 happy rest, 
 The Day of Independence rolls still onward to 
 
 the west, 
 Till dies on the Pacific shore the shout of jubilee, 
 That woke the morning with its voice along the 
 
 Atlantic Sea. 
 O God, look down upon the land which thou has 
 
 loved so well, 
 And grant that in unbroken truth her children 
 
 still may dwell ; 
 Nor, while the grass grows on the hill and 
 
 streams flow through the vale, 
 May they forget their fathers faith, or in their 
 
 covenant fail: 
 
SELECTED READINGS 55 
 
 Keep, God, the fairest, noblest land that lies be- 
 neath the sun— 
 
 ' ' Our country, our whole country, and our coun- 
 try, ever one." 
 
 BARBARA FRIETCHIE. 
 
 Up from the meadows, rich with corn, 
 Clear in the cool September morn, 
 
 The clustering spires of Frederick stand, 
 Green-walled by the hills of Maryland. 
 
 Round about them orchards sweep, 
 Apple and peach tree fruited deep, 
 
 Fair as a garden of the Lord 
 
 To the eyes of the famished rebel horde, 
 
 On that pleasant morn of the early fall, 
 When Lee marched over the mountain-wall- 
 
 Over the mountains, winding down, 
 Horse and foot into Frederick town. 
 
 Forty flags with their silver stars, 
 Forty flags with their crimson bars, 
 
 Flapped in the morning wind ; the sun 
 Of noon looked down, and saw not one. 
 
56 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 Up rose old Barbara Frietchie then, 
 Bowed with four score years and ten ; 
 
 Bravest of all in Frederick town, 
 
 She took up the flag the men hauled down; 
 
 In her attic window the staff she set, 
 To show that one heart was loyal yet. 
 
 Up the street came the rebel tread, 
 Stonewall Jackson riding ahead. 
 
 Under his slouched hat, left and right, 
 He glanced— the old flag met his sight: 
 
 "Halt!"— the dust-brown ranks stood fast; 
 4 'Fire!"— out blazed the rifle-blast; 
 
 It shivered the window, pane and sash ; 
 It rent the banner with seam and gash. 
 
 Quick, as it fell, from the broken staff 
 Dame Barbara snatched the silken scarf ; 
 
 She leaned far out on the window-sill, 
 And shook it forth with a royal will : 
 
 "Shoot, if you must, this old gray head, 
 But spare your country's flag!" she said. 
 
 A shade of sadness, a blush of shame, 
 Over the face of the leader came ; 
 
 The noble nature within him stirred 
 To life at that woman 's deed and word ; 
 
SELECTED READINGS 57 
 
 1 ' Who touches a hair of your gray head 
 Dies like a dog ! March on ! ' ' he said. 
 
 All day long through Frederick street 
 Sounded the tread of marching feet; 
 
 All day long that free flag tossed 
 Over the heads of the rebel host. 
 
 Ever its torn folds rose and fell 
 
 On the loyal winds that loved it well ; 
 
 And through the hill-gaps, sunset light 
 Shone over it with a warm good-night. 
 
 Barbara Frietchie's work is o'er, 
 
 And the rebel rides on his raids no more. 
 
 Honor to her ! and let a tear 
 
 Fall, for her sake, on Stonewall's bier. 
 
 Over Barbara Frietchie's grave, 
 Flag of freedom and union, wave ! 
 
 Peace, and order, and beauty, draw 
 Round thy symbols of light and law; 
 
 And ever the stars above look down 
 On thy stars below in Frederick town. 
 
 Whittier. 
 
58 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 PARK GODWIN OX THE DEATH OF 
 LINCOLN 
 
 The great captain of our cause— Abraham 
 Lincoln— smitten by the basest hand ever up- 
 raised against human innocence, is gone, gone, 
 gone ! He who had borne the heaviest of the 
 brunt in our four long years of war, whose 
 pulse beat livelier, whose eyes danced brighter 
 than any other, when 
 
 "The storm drew off 
 Its scattered thunders groaning around the 
 hills," 
 
 in the supreme hour of his joy and glory was 
 struck down. One who, great in himself, as 
 well as by position, has suddenly departed. 
 There is something startling, ghastly, awful, in 
 the manner of his going ofT. But the chief 
 poignancy of our distress is not for the great- 
 ness fallen, but for the goodness lost. Presi- 
 dents have died before; during this bloody war 
 we have lost many eminent generals — Lyon, 
 Baker, Kearney, Sedgwick. Reno and others ; we 
 have lost lately our finest scholar, publicist, ora- 
 tor. Our hearts still bleed for the companions. 
 friends, brothers who "sleep the sleep that 
 knows no waking," but no loss has been compar- 
 able to his, who was our supremest leader.— our 
 safest counsellor — our wisest friend— our dear 
 father. \Vould you know what Lincoln was. 
 look at this vast metropolis, covered with the 
 habiliments of woe! Never in human history 
 
SELECTED READINGS 59 
 
 1 
 
 has there been so universal, so spontaneous, so 
 profound an expression of a nation's bereave- 
 ment. 
 
 Yet we sorrow not as those who are without 
 hope. Our chief is gone, but our cause re- 
 mains; dearer to our hearts, because he is now 
 become the martyr; consecrated by his sacri- 
 fice; more widely accepted by all parties; and 
 fragrant and lovely forevermore in the mem- 
 ories of all the good and the great, of all lands, 
 and for all time. The rebellion, which began in 
 the blackest treachery, to be ended in the foulest 
 assassination; this rebellion, accursed in its mo- 
 tive, which was to rivet the shackles of slavery 
 on a whole race for all the future; accursed in 
 its means, which have been "red ruin and the 
 breaking up of laws," the overthrow of the 
 mildest and blessedest governments, and the 
 profuse shedding of brother's blood by brother's 
 hands; accursed in its accompaniments of vio- 
 lence, cruelty and barbarism, and is now doubly 
 accursed in its final act of cold-blooded murder. 
 
 Cold-blooded, but impotent, and defeated in 
 its own purpose! The frenzied hand which 
 slew the head of the government, in the mad 
 hope of paralyzing its functions, only drew the 
 hearts of the people together more closely to 
 strengthen and sustain its power. All the 
 North once more, without party or division, 
 clenches hands around the common altar; all 
 the North swears a more earnest fidelity to free- 
 dom; all the North again presents its breasts 
 as the living shield and bulwark of the nation's 
 
60 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 unity and life. Oh ! foolish and wicked dream, 
 oh! insanity of fanaticism, oh! blindness of 
 black hate— to think that this majestic temple 
 of human liberty, which is built upon the clus- 
 tered columns of free and independents states, 
 and whose base is as broad as the continent — 
 could be shaken to pieces, by striking off the 
 ornaments of its capital. No ! this nation lives, 
 not in one man nor a hundred men, however 
 able, however endeared to us; but in the affec- 
 tions, the virtues, the energies, and the will of 
 the whole American people. 
 
 INDEPENDENCE DAY. 
 Rev. L. Parmele. 
 
 AN ADDRESS TO AMERICAN YOUTH. 
 
 "The Fourth of July, 1776, will be the most 
 remarkable epoch in the history of America. I 
 am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by 
 succeeding generations as the great anniversary 
 festival/ '—John Adams, in a letter to his wife, 
 July 7, 1776. 
 
 Independence Day! The booming cannon 
 and rattling firearms! It is not the wrath of 
 battle, but only echo-thunders, rolling back up- 
 on us from the great war-tempest of '76. Nor 
 are these sounds now mingled with the cries of 
 the wounded and groans of the dying— mourn- 
 fully terrific swelling up from the field of blood. 
 The report of guns and voice of artillery that 
 
SELECTED READINGS 61 
 
 fall on our ears to-day are all mellowed down 
 into notes of enchanting music, and sweetly 
 chime in with the glorious triumphal anthem of 
 our national jubilee. 
 
 Upon the youth of America is conferred the 
 noblest birthright in the whole world. The 
 stars under which you were born beam with 
 brightest promise and kindle loftiest hope. 
 The principles declared and defended by our 
 forefathers "amid the confused noise of war- 
 riors, and garments rolled in blood,"— the great 
 principle "that all men were created equal" 
 is the broad and only foundation of true great- 
 ness. The war-guns of '76 exploded that long 
 venerated theory, that royalty must flow alone 
 through the veins of crowned lineage, and that 
 princes could spring from the loins of kings. 
 While in this land it is not possible for you to 
 inherit a single drop of royal blood, yet in each 
 of your bosoms is implanted the germ of a self- 
 horn sovereign. Before you all, without any 
 miserable and silly distinction of ancestry or 
 estate, is placed the brightest diadem of moral 
 dignity, intellectual greatness, and civil honor. 
 This country is, morally, a "free soil" empire. 
 Here the young man — it matters not whether 
 his nursery was in the gilded palace or in the 
 "low thatched cottage"— has before him the 
 same privileges and inducements, and as wide 
 and free an avenue to glory ; and his gray hairs 
 may possess the fresh dew of his country's ben- 
 ediction, and his name be enrolled among 
 earth's true nobility. 
 
62 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 But while full and equal encouragement is 
 before you all, without respect of rank or cir- 
 cumstance, still the prize is only for such as are 
 willing to gird themselves unto the race; and 
 the di'iigent hand alone reaps the harvest-honor. 
 In our land something more is requisite to con- 
 stitute one a prince than being born under a 
 palace roof. Honorable parentage or the tinsel 
 of wealth, are not sufficient to place the royal 
 crown upon a brainless head. It is only by 
 fixed purpose, intense application and invinci- 
 ble perseverance that you can reach the heights 
 of fame, and hang out your name to shine for- 
 ever in the bright galaxy of national glory. 
 Here we have no heirs apparent to the crown— 
 the great men of America are self-made. You 
 bring into the world no other nobility than that 
 which the God of nature has endowed you— 
 sovereignty of mind— the sceptre of genius ; and 
 in this freest, broadest field of action you must 
 become the architect of your own fortune— the 
 master-builder of your own destiny. And now, 
 in the morning glory of your waldng energies, 
 what a full chorus of inducements is inviting 
 you forth to toil with the sure promise of a rich 
 reward. Oh, how many young men in the old 
 world would this day leap for joy to gain; even 
 "with a great price," such privileges as belong 
 to your birthright. With the halls of science, 
 the council chamber of state and the high places 
 of empire all opening before you, let your motto 
 be "I will try/' the watchword that never lost 
 
SELECTED READINGS 63 
 
 a battle in the moral world— the true key-note 
 to the great anthem of self-coronation. 
 
 And while true greatness is gained only by 
 mighty effort and persevering toil, this very 
 effort develops intellectual powers — mind 
 waxes stronger in the fight and strengthens in 
 every new struggle, establishing a firm indepen- 
 dence of character, and bringing out the bold 
 features of individuality; like the oak, whose 
 roots struggle down under the dark earth, and 
 the crevices of the everlasting rocks, gaining 
 a foundation of power, upon which it lifts up 
 its head in towering majesty, defying the wrath 
 of the wildest tempest. In countries where rank 
 is obtained on easy terms of ancestry and a 
 man becomes a king simply because his father 
 before him was one, nobility relaxes into indo- 
 lence of spirit and imbecility of intellect, and 
 royalty, with all its imposing honors, degener- 
 ates into mental dwarfishness, and the king's 
 jester is often, really, a greater man than the 
 crowned head. The great men of America are 
 intrinsically great— independent of their civil 
 honors, they possess the power of intellectual 
 giants. 
 
 And above all, let us remember that religion 
 was the early harbinger, and continues the 
 guardian angel of the American's birthright— 
 the note of religious freedom struck on the rock 
 of Plymouth, and was the grand prelude to the 
 swelling anthem of civil liberty. None surely 
 can doubt that the voice of the Almighty moved 
 on the dark waters of the revolutionary strug- 
 
64 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 gle, and that His hand was in that sublime des- 
 tiny which brought out on the blackest night of 
 oppression the brightest star of empire! And 
 now, the war-storm over, and the battle-thunder 
 ceased, the precious blood of our forefathers 
 that was poured out as a free shower upon the 
 earth— those peerless drops are gathered over 
 us in a bright bow of promise, spanning a conti- 
 nent, and resting on two oceans, attracting a 
 world to ' ' the land of the free and the home of 
 the brave." But the fear of God is the great 
 keystone in this bow of national hope— take 
 away this, and the sunlit arch will vanish into 
 the blackness of a second moral deluge. 
 
 NATHAN HALE, THE MARTYR SPY. 
 
 After the disastrous defeat of the Americans 
 on Long Island, Washington desired informa- 
 tion respecting the British position and move- 
 ments. Capt. Nathan Hale, but twenty-one 
 years old, volunteered to procure the informa- 
 tion. He was taken, and hanged as a spy the 
 day after his capture, Sept. 22, 1776. His pa- 
 triotic devotion and brutal treatment received 
 at the hands of his captors have suggested the 
 following : 
 
 'Twas in the year that gave the Nation birth— 
 A time when men esteemed the common good 
 As greater weal than private gain. A battle 
 fierce 
 
SELECTED READINGS 65 
 
 And obstinate had laid a thousand patriots low, 
 And filled the people's hearts with gloom. 
 
 Pursued like hunted deer, 
 The crippled army fled; and, yet, amid 
 Disaster and defeat, the Nation's chosen chief 
 Resolved his losses to retrieve. But not 
 With armies disciplined and trained by years 
 Of martial service could he, this Fabian chief, 
 Now hope to check the hosts of Howe's vic- 
 torious legions— 
 These had he not. 
 In stratagem the shrewder general 
 Ofttimes o'ercomes his strong antagonist. 
 To Washington, a knowledge of the plans, 
 Position, strength of England's force, 
 Must compensate for lack of numbers. 
 
 He casts about for one who 'd take his life 
 
 In hand. Lo ! he stands before the chief. In face, 
 
 A boy— in form, a man on whom the eye could 
 
 rest 
 In search of God's perfected handiwork; 
 In culture, grace, and speech, reflecting all 
 A mother 's love could lavish on an only son. 
 
 The chieftain's keen, discerning eye 
 Appraised the youth at his full worth, and saw 
 In him those blending qualities that make 
 The hero and the sage. He fain would save 
 For nobler deeds a man whose presence marked 
 A spirit born to lead. 
 
66 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 "Young man," he said, with kindly air, 
 "Your country and commander feel grateful 
 
 that 
 Such talents are offered in this darkening hour. 
 Have you, in reaching this resolve, considered 
 
 well 
 Your fitness, courage, strength— the act, the 
 
 risk, 
 You undertake ? Have you, in that fine balance 
 
 which 
 Detects an atom on either beam, weighed well 
 Your chances of escape 'gainst certain fate 
 Should capture follow in the British camp ? ' ' 
 In tones of fitting modesty that well 
 Became his years, the patriot answered thus : 
 "My country's honor, safety, life, it ever was 
 My highest purpose to defend: that country's 
 
 foes 
 Exultant sweep through ruined land and home 
 And field. A thousand stricken hearts bewail 
 The loss of those who late our standards bore ; 
 Appeal to us through weeping eyes whose tears 
 We cannot brush away with words. The ranks 
 Of those now cold in death are not replaced 
 By living men. The hour demands a duty rare, 
 Perhaps a sacrifice. If God and training in 
 The schools have given me capacities 
 This duty to perform, the danger of the enter- 
 prise 
 Should not deter me from the act 
 Whose issue makes our country free. In times 
 Like these a nation's life sometimes upon 
 A single life depends. If mine be deemed 
 
SELECTED READINGS 67 
 
 A fitting sacrifice, God grant a quick 
 Deliverance. ' ' 
 
 ' ' Enough : go then, at once, ' ' the great 
 Commander said. "May Heaven's guardian 
 
 angels 
 Give you a safe return. Adieu." 
 Disguised with care, the hopeful captain crossed 
 The sound, and moved through British camp 
 Without discovery by troops or refugees. 
 The enemy's full strength, in men, in stores, 
 Munitions, guns— all military accoutrements- 
 Were noted with exact precision ; while, 
 With graphic sketch, each trench and parapet, 
 Casemated battery, magazine, and every point 
 Stragetic was drawn with artist's skill. 
 
 The task complete, the spy with heart 
 Elate now sought an exit through the lines. 
 Well might he feel a soldier's pride. An hour 
 
 hence 
 A waiting boat would bear him to his friends. 
 His plans he 'd lay before his honored chief ; 
 His single hand might turn the tide of war, 
 His country yet be free. 
 
 ' ' Halt ! " A British musket leveled at 
 His head dimmed all the visions of his soul. 
 A dash— an aimless shot; the spy bore down 
 Upon the picket with a blow that else 
 Had freed him from his clutch, but for a score 
 Of troops stationed near. In vain the struggle 
 fierce 
 
GS PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 And desperate— in vain demands to be released. 
 
 A tory relative, for safety quartered in 
 
 The British camp, would prove his trukling 
 
 loyalty 
 With kinsman's blood. A word — a look— 
 A motion of the head, and he who'd dared 
 So much in freedom's name was free no more. 
 
 Judas, self-condemned! thou art 
 
 But the type of many a trait 'rous friend, 
 Who ere and since thy time betrayed to death 
 A noble heart. Henceforth be doubly doomed — 
 A base example to earth's weaker souls. 
 
 Before Lord Howe the captive youth 
 
 Was led. "Base dog!" the naughty general 
 said: 
 
 "Ignoble son of loyal sires! you've played the 
 spy 
 
 Quite well I ween. The cunning skill where- 
 with 
 
 You wrougfit these plans and charts might well 
 adorn 
 
 An honest man; but in a rebel's hands they're 
 vile 
 
 And mischievous. If aught may palliate 
 
 A traitor's act, attempted in his sovereign's 
 camp, 
 
 1 bid you speak ere I pronounce your sentence. ' ' 
 
 With tone and mein that hushed 
 The buzzing noise of idle lackeys in the hall, 
 The patriot thus replied: "You know my 
 name— 
 
SELECTED READINGS 69 
 
 My rank;— my treacherous kinsman made 
 
 My purpose plain. I've nothing further of 
 
 myself 
 To tell beyond the charge of traitor to deny. 
 The brand of spy I do accept without reproach ; 
 But never since I've known the base ingratitude 
 Of king to loyal subjects of his realm 
 Has British rule been aught to me than barbar- 
 ous 
 Despotism which God and man abhor, and none 
 But dastards fear to overthrow. 
 
 "For tyrant loyalty your lordship represents 
 
 I never breathed a loyal breath ; and he 
 
 Who calls me traitor seeks a pretext for a crime 
 
 His trembling soul might well condemn." 
 
 ' ' I '11 hear no more such prating cant, ' ' 
 
 Said Howe; "Your crime's enough to hang a 
 
 dozen men. 
 Before to-morrow's sun shall rise you'll swing 
 'Twixt earth and heaven, that your countrymen 
 May know a British camp is dangerous ground. 
 For prowling spies. Away." 
 
 In loathsome cell, deprived 
 Of holy sacrament, and e'en the word of Him 
 Who cheered the thief upon the cross— refused 
 The means wherewith he would indite his last 
 Farewell to her w T ho gave him life, 
 And to another whose young heart 
 The morrow's work would shade in gloom- 
 He passed the night in charge of one whom 
 Satan had 
 
70 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 Commissioned hell's sharpest torments to in- 
 flict. 
 
 Securely bound upon a cart, amid 
 A speechless crowd, he stands beneath a strong 
 Projecting limb, to which a rope with noose at- 
 tached 
 Portends a tragic scene. He casts his eyes 
 Upon the surging multitude. Clearly now 
 His tones ring out as victors shout in triumph ; 
 
 "Men, I do not die in vain. 
 
 My humble death upon this tree will light anew 
 
 The torch of Liberty. A hundred hands to one 
 
 Before will strike for country, home, and God, 
 
 And fill our ranks with men of faith in II is 
 
 Eternal plan to make this people free 
 
 A million prayers'go up this day to free 
 
 The land from blighting curse of tyrant's rule. 
 
 Oppression's wrongs have reached Jehovah's 
 
 throne : 
 The God of vengeance smites the foe! This 
 
 land— 
 This glorious land— is free— is free! 
 
 "My friends, farewell! In dying thus 
 I feel but one regret ; it is the one poor life 
 I have to give in freedom's cause." 
 
 I. H. Brown. 
 
SELECTED READINGS 71 
 
 THE FLOWER OF LIBERTY. 
 
 \Yhat flower is this that greets the morn. 
 Its hues from heaven so richly born ! 
 AVith burning star and flaming band 
 It kindles all the sunset land: — 
 Oh, tell us what its name may be ! 
 Is this the Flower of Liberty? 
 
 It is the banner of the free. 
 
 The starry Flower of Liberty ! 
 
 In savage Nature's far abode 
 
 Its tender seed our fathers sowed: 
 
 The storm-winds rocked its swelling bud. 
 
 Its opening leaves were streaked with blood 
 
 Till lo ! earth 's tyrants shook to see 
 
 The full-blown Flower of Liberty ! 
 
 Then hail the banner of the free ! 
 
 The starry Flower of Liberty! 
 
 Behold its streaming rays unite 
 
 One mingling flood of braided light,— 
 
 The red that fires the Southern rose, 
 
 With spotless white from Northern snows, 
 
 And spangled o're its azure, see 
 
 The sister stars of Liberty I 
 
 Then hail the banner of the free, 
 The starry Flower of Liberty ! 
 
 The blades of heroes fence it round; 
 \Yhere 'er it springs is holy ground ; 
 From tower and dome its glories spread ; 
 It waves where lonelv sentries tread : 
 
72 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 It makes the land as ocean free, 
 And plants an empire on the sea ! 
 
 Then hail the banner of the free, 
 The starry Flower of Liberty ! 
 
 Thy sacred leaves, fair Freedom's flower, 
 Shall ever float on dome and tower, 
 To all their heavenly colors true, 
 In blackening frost or crimson dew— 
 And God love us as we love thee, 
 Thrice holy Flower of Liberty! 
 
 Then hail the banner of the free, 
 The starry Flower of Liberty ! 
 
 0. W. Holmes. 
 
 NATIONALITY. 
 
 If you would contemplate nationality as an 
 active virtue, look around you. Is not our own 
 history one witness and one record of what it 
 can do ? This day,* and all which it stands for, 
 —did it not give us these? The glory of the 
 fields of that war, this eloquence of that revolu- 
 tion, this one wide sheet of flame which wrapped 
 tyrant and tyranny, and swept all that escaped 
 from it away, forever and forever, the courage 
 to fight, to retreat, to rally, to advance, to guard 
 the young flag by the young arm and the young 
 heart's blood, to hold up and hold on till the 
 magnificent consummation crowned the work, — 
 were not all these imparted as inspired by this 
 imperial sentiment ? Has it not here begun the 
 
SELECTED READINGS 73 
 
 master- work of man,— the creation of a national 
 life. Did it not call out that prodigious devel- 
 opment of wisdom, the wisdom of construc- 
 tiveness, which illustrated the years after 
 the war, and the framing and adopting 
 of the Constitution? Has is not, in the 
 general, contributed to the administering of 
 that government wisely and well since? Look 
 at it! It has kindled us to no aims of con- 
 quest; it has involved us in no entangling alli- 
 ances; it has kept our neutrality dignified and 
 just ; the victories of peace have been our prized 
 victories, but the larger and truer grandeur of 
 the nations, for which they are created, and for 
 which they must one day, before some tribunal 
 give account,— what a measure of these it has 
 enabled us already to fulfil ! It has lifted us to 
 the throne, and has set on our brow the name 
 of the great republic; it has taught us to de- 
 mand nothing wrong, and to submit to nothing 
 wrong; it has made our diplomacy sagacious, 
 wary, and accomplished; it has opened the iron 
 gate of the mountain, and planted our ensign 
 on the great tranquil sea ; it has made the desert 
 to blossom as the rose; it has quickened to life" 
 the giant brood of useful arts; it has whitened 
 lake and ocean with the sails of a daring, new, 
 and lawful trade ; it has extended to exiles, fly- 
 ing as clouds, the asylum of our better liberty; 
 it has scattered the seeds of liberty, under law 
 and under order, broadcast; it has seen and 
 helped American feeling to swell into a fuller 
 flood; from many a field and many a deck, 
 
74 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 though it seeks not war and fears not Avar, it has 
 borne the radiant flag all unstained; it has 
 opened our age of lettered glory; it has opened 
 and honored the age of the industry of the peo- 
 ple. Rufus Choate. 
 
 * Fourth of July. 
 
 LOVE OF COUNTRY. 
 
 In these days of rapid national growth, when 
 the citizen of to-day is supplanted by the youth 
 and franchised emigrant to-morrow; when a 
 million voters cast their ballots with no higher 
 motive than compliance with a custom or the 
 dictates of party henchmen; when one-fourth 
 of our population have no stronger ties of resi- 
 dence than avarice, whose strength varies with 
 the financial fluctuations of the business world ; 
 when year by year our shores receive the rest- 
 less spirits of other lands who acknowledge no 
 higher authority than their own caprice; when 
 so many of our youth are growing into manhood 
 ignorant of everything save the means of li- 
 censed indulgences and frivolty our liberty af- 
 fords; when as partakers of the grandest po- 
 litical inheritance ever transmitted from one 
 generation to another, we are all about to forget 
 the fearful responsibilities thrust upon us in our 
 acceptance of the blessings of liberty we enjoy, 
 it is time to halt. 
 
SELECTED READINGS (O 
 
 "Let us gather the fragments that nothing be 
 
 lost, 
 To tell the next ages what liberty cost. ' ' 
 
 Let us teach the coming citizen that next to 
 the love of God, implanted at the mother 's knee, 
 and cultivated by daily acts of piety and benev- 
 olence, is the love of country, its flag, the mar- 
 tyrs who fell in its defense, and last but greatest 
 of all, an abiding faith in its institutions and an 
 undying devotion to its peace, happiness and 
 perpetuity. Let the examples of patriots, in 
 deeds of heroism and self-sacrifice, be our theme 
 of meditation and discussion. Let our litera- 
 ture gleam with the noble efforts, the grand 
 achievements of those who gave their all that 
 we, their dependents, might taste the sweets of 
 freedom undisturbed. 
 
 Let us realize that this grandest heritage of 
 earth's martyrs came to us, not alone through 
 the business tact and prudent foresight of our 
 sires, but by years of toil and suffering, of cold 
 and hunger, of want and privation, and by the 
 generous sacrifice of precious blood; and that, 
 though it be vouchsafed to us through blessings 
 of a noble ancestry, its possession implies no 
 permanence to an unworthy race. 
 
 It is ours not alone to enjoy, but to foster and 
 protect; ours to guard from schism, vice and 
 crime ; ours to purify, exalt, ennoble ; ours to 
 prepare a dwelling place for the purest, fairest, 
 best of earth's humanity. I. H. Brown. 
 
76 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 OUR WHOLE COUNTRY. 
 
 Who would sever freedom's shrine? 
 Who would draw the invidious line? 
 Though by birth one spot be mine, 
 Dear is all the rest: 
 
 Dear to me the South 's fair land, 
 Dear the central mountain band, 
 Dear New England's rocky strand, 
 Dear the prairie West. 
 
 By our alters, pure and free; 
 
 By our laws deep rooted tree ; 
 
 By the past's dread memory; 
 
 By our Washington; 
 
 By our common parent tongue ; 
 By our hopes, bright, buoyant, young; 
 By the tie of country's song,— 
 We will still be one. 
 
 Fathers ! have ye bled in vain ? 
 Ages ! must ye droop again ? 
 Maker! shall we rashly stain 
 Blessings sent by thee? 
 
 No! receive our solemn vow, 
 While before thy shrine we bow, 
 Ever to maintain, as now, 
 Union— Liberty. 
 
SELECTED READINGS 77 
 
 THE HEROES OF '76. 
 
 We are fortunate that we behold this day. 
 The heavens bend benignly over us; the earth 
 blossoms with renewed life : and our hearts beat 
 joyfully together with one emotion of filial grat- 
 itude and patriotic exultation. Citizens of a 
 great, free and prosperous country, we come 
 hither to honor the men, our fathers, who, upon 
 this spot and upon this day, a hundred years 
 ago, struck the first blow in the contest which 
 made that country independent. Here, beneath 
 the hills they trod, by the peaceful river on 
 whose shores they dwelt, amidst the fields that 
 they sowed and reaped, proudly recalling their 
 virtue and their valor, we come to tell their 
 story, to try ourselves by their lofty standard 
 to kuow if we are their worthy children; and, 
 standing reverently where they stood and 
 fought and died, to swear before God and each 
 other, in the words of him upon whom in our 
 day the spirit of the Revolutionary fathers vis- 
 ibly descended, that government of the people, 
 by the people, for the people, shall not perish 
 from the earth. 
 
 This ancient town, with its neighbors who 
 share its glory, has never failed fitly to com- 
 memorate this great day of its history. Fifty 
 years ago, while some soldiers of the Concord 
 fight were yet living; twenty-five years ago, 
 while still a few venerable survivors lingered— 
 with prayer and eloquence and song, you re- 
 newed the pious vow. But the last living link 
 with the Revolution has long been broken. Great 
 
78 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 events and a mighter struggle have absorbed 
 our own generation. Yet, we who stand here 
 to-day have a sympathy with the men at the 
 old North Bridge, which those who preceded us 
 here at earlier celebrations could not know. 
 With them war was a name and a tradition. So 
 swift and vast had been the change, and the de- 
 velopment of the country, that the Revolution- 
 ary clash of arms was already vague and unreal, 
 and Concord and Lexington seemed to them al- 
 most as remote and historic as Arbela and Sem- 
 pach. When they assembled to celebrate this 
 day, they saw a little group of tottering forms, 
 eyes, from which the light was fading, arms 
 nerveless and withered, thin white hairs that 
 fluttered in the wind ; they saw a few venerable 
 relics of a vanished age, whose pride was that, 
 before living memory, they had been minute 
 men of American Independence. But with us 
 how changed! War is no longer a tradition, 
 half romantic and obscure. It has ravaged how 
 many of our homes ! It has wrung how many 
 of the hearts before me ! North and South, we 
 know the pang. Our common liberty is conse- 
 crated by a common sorrow. We do not count 
 around us a few feeble veterans of the contest ; 
 but we are girt with a cloud of witnesses. We 
 are surrounded everywhere by multitudes in the 
 vigor of their prime. Behold them here to-day, 
 sharing in these pious and peaceful rites, the 
 honored citizens, legislators, magistrates— yes, 
 the Chief Magistrate of the Republic— whose 
 glory it is that they were minute-men of Ameri- 
 
SELECTED READINGS 79 
 
 can liberty and union. These men of to-day 
 interpret to us with resistless eloquence the men 
 and the times we commemorate. Now, if never 
 before, we understand the Revolution. Now 
 we know the secret of those old hearts and 
 homes. 
 
 No royal governor, indeed, sits in yon stately 
 capital; no hostile fleet for many a year has 
 vexed the waters of our coasts ; nor is any army 
 but our own ever likely to tread our soil. Not 
 such are our> enemies to-day. They do not 
 come proudly stepping to the drum-beat, with 
 bayonets flashing in the morning sun. But 
 wherever party spirit shall strain the ancient 
 guarantees of freedom; or bigotry and ignor- 
 ance shall lay their fatal hands upon education, 
 or the arrogance of caste shall strike at equal 
 rights, or corruption shall poison the very 
 springs of national life, there, minute-men of 
 liberty, are your Lexington Green and Concord 
 Bridge ; and as you love yOur country and your 
 kind, and would have your children rise up and 
 call you blessed, spare not the enemy! Over 
 the hills, out of the earth, down from the clouds, 
 pour in resistless might. Fire from every rock 
 and tree, from door and window, from hearth- 
 stone and chamber; hang upon his flank and 
 rear from morn to sunset, and so, through a 
 land blazing with holy indignation, hurl the 
 hordes of ignorance and corruption and injus- 
 tice back, back, in utter defeat and ruin. 
 
 George William Curtis. 
 
80 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 THE FOURTH OF JULY. 
 
 Mr. Watkins is a gentle old man, living on 
 Ninth Avenue. He believes in the Fourth of 
 July, in long-winded orations, and especially in 
 having fire-works in the evening. He has no 
 children; but the neighbors have them by the 
 square acre, and it was generally understood 
 in that neighborhood that Mr. Watkins was go- 
 ing to give the children a treat Saturday night. 
 He laid in a "pile" of rockets, Roman candles, 
 fire-wheels, and so on, and rigged up a post, 
 and had everything ready against the coming 
 of night. When darkness fell and the glorious 
 day of liberty was skulking away into obscurity, 
 Mr. Watkin 's yard was filled with expectant 
 neighbors and their children. They sat on the 
 stoop, on the fence, and were three deep on 
 the grass. 
 
 The hour came, and Mr. Watkins prepared to 
 unloose the fire-fiend. If he had ever seen any 
 fire-works touched off, he had forgotten how 
 they did it; but his ignorance didn't weigh on 
 his shoulders like a grindstone. He took out a 
 sky-rocket; a boy showed him how to set it up 
 and where to ignite it, and away she went, strik- 
 ing plump against the house opposite. The 
 owner of the house, who had been on a steam- 
 boat excursion and had his watch stolen, leaned 
 over his gate, and said that he could, and had a 
 good mind to, knock Mr. Watkins into eighteen 
 fragments; but the boys hissed him into the 
 house. 
 
SELECTED READINGS 81 
 
 The next rocket was more of a success. It 
 went straight up; and the stick came down on 
 a baby's head, and produced a grand jubilee 
 chorus. They took the baby home, and the next 
 rocket Avas balanced with care. It started to 
 rise, fell to one side, and went into a house 
 where a redheaded young man sat squeezing the 
 hand of a cross-eyed girl. It bobbed around a 
 while, and then leaped out of the window; and 
 the red-headed young man nearly twisted off a 
 letter-box in trying to sound a fire-alarm. 
 
 Then Mr. Watkins selected a mild-eyed boy 
 to go on with the remnant of the display. The 
 rest of the rockets went knocking around the 
 neighborhood roofs and chimneys, and the fiery 
 serpents chased everybody over the fence. Mr. 
 WatMns ran out to say that they must be care- 
 ful, when a Roman candle commenced shooting 
 at him. His hat was knocked off, his hair sing- 
 ed ; and as he cried : ' ' Good land ! ' ' and jumped 
 through the gate, a fire-ball hit him in the back, 
 and took a foot of cloth out of his Sunday coat. 
 More boys offered their services ; and despite the 
 protestations of the good old man, they decided 
 on having a grand "Whoop de grease," as a 
 wind-up. Two of them touched off the rockets, 
 while the rest danced around the road with the 
 Roman candles; and Mr. Watkins cried, "Good 
 land!" again, and said he'd give ten dollars to 
 see a policeman. He stuck his head out of a 
 bay window, and a rocket grazed his nose. Wo- 
 men ran, men shouted, and children whooped; 
 and six bunches of fire-crackers on the stoop 
 
82 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 went off like the roar of musketry at Gettys- 
 burg. The last rocket hit the corner of the 
 house, and glanced, and struck a fat man in the 
 back who leaned against it, and said that he was 
 mortally wounded, but that before he expired 
 he was going to drink enough human gore to 
 make a second Lake Erie.— Detroit Free Press. 
 
 INDEPENDENCE BELL. 
 
 (When it was certain that the Declaration of 
 Independence would be adopted by Congress, it 
 was resolved to announce the event by ringing 
 the old State-House bell, which bore the inscrip- 
 tion: " Proclaim liberty to the land, to all the 
 inhabitants thereof!" The old bellman, ac- 
 cordingly, placed his little son at the door of the 
 hall, to await the instruction of the door-keeper 
 when to ring; and, when the word was given, 
 the little patriot-scion rushed out, and, flinging 
 up his hands, shouted aloud, "Ring! Ring/ 
 RING!") 
 
 There was tumult in the city, 
 
 In the quaint old Quaker's town, 
 And the streets were rife with people, 
 
 Pacing restless up and down;— 
 People gathering at corners, 
 
 Where they whispered each to each, 
 And the sweat stood on their temples, 
 
 With the earnestness of speech. 
 
SELECTED READINGS 83 
 
 As the bleak Atlantic currents 
 
 Lash the wild Newfoundland shore, 
 So they beat against the State House, 
 
 So they surged against the door; 
 And the mingling of their voices 
 
 Made a harmony profound, 
 Till the quiet street of Chestnut 
 
 Was all turbulent with sound. 
 
 "Will they do it?" "Dare they do it?" 
 
 "Who is speaking?" "What's the news?" 
 "What of Adams?" "What of Sherman?" 
 
 ' ' Oh, God grant they won 't refuse ! ' ' 
 1 ' Make some way there ! " " Let me nearer ! ' ' 
 
 "I am stifling!" "Stifle, then! 
 When a nation's life's a hazard, 
 
 We 've no time to think of men ! ' ' 
 
 So they beat against the portal, 
 
 Man and woman, maid and child; 
 And the July sun in heaven 
 
 On the scene look 'd down and smiled ; 
 The same sun that saw the Spartan 
 
 Shed his patriot blood in vain, 
 Now beheld the soul of freedom 
 
 All unconquer'd rise again. 
 
 See ! See ! The dense crowd quivers 
 
 Through all its lengthy line, 
 As the boy beside the portal 
 
 Looks forth to give the sign ! 
 With his small hands upward lifted, 
 
 Breezes dallying with his hair, 
 
84 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 Hark ! with deep, clear intonation, 
 Breaks his young voice on the air. 
 
 Hush'd the people's swelling murmur, 
 
 List the boy's strong, joyous cry! 
 "Ring!" he shouts, "Ring/ Grandpa, 
 
 Ring/ Oh, Ring for Liberty!" 
 And straightway, at the signal, 
 
 The old bellman lifts his hand, 
 And sends the good news, making 
 
 Iron music through the land. 
 
 How they shouted ! What rejoicing ! 
 
 How the old bell shook the air, 
 Till the clang of freedom ruffled 
 
 The calm, gliding Delaware! 
 How the bonfires and the torches 
 
 Illumed the night's repose, 
 And from the flames, like Phoenix, 
 
 Fair Liberty arose! 
 
 That old bell now is silent, 
 
 And hush'd its iron tongue, 
 But the spirit it awakened 
 
 Still lives,— forever young. 
 And while we greet the sunlight, 
 
 On the fourth of each July, 
 We'll ne'er forget the bellman, 
 
 Who, twixt the earth and sky, 
 Rung out Our Independence : 
 
 Which, please God, shall never die! 
 
SELECTED READINGS 85 
 
 HISTORY OF OUR FLAG. 
 
 The history of our glorious old flag is of ex- 
 ceeding interest, and brings back to us a 
 throng of sacred and thrilling associations. The 
 banner of St. Andrew was blue, charged with a 
 white altier or cross, in the form of the letter 
 X, and was used in Scotland as early as the 
 eleventh century. The banner of St. George 
 was white, charged with the red cross, and was 
 used in England as early as the first part of the 
 fourteenth century. By a royal proclamation, 
 dated April 12, 1700, these two crosses were 
 joined together upon the same banner, forming 
 the ancient national flag of England. 
 
 It was not until Ireland, in 1801, was made a 
 part of Great Britain, that the present national 
 flag of England, so well known as the Union 
 Jack, was completed. But it was the ancient 
 flag of England that constituted the basis of our 
 American banner. Various other flags had in- 
 deed been raised at other times by our colonial 
 ancestors. But they were not particularly asso- 
 ciated with, or, at least were not incorporated 
 into and made a part of the destined ' ' Stars and 
 Stripes." 
 
 It was after Washington had taken command 
 of the first army of the Revolution, at Cam- 
 bridge, that he unfolded before them the new 
 flag of thirteen stripes of alternate red and 
 white, having upon one of its corners the red 
 and white crosses of St. George and St. Andrew, 
 on a field of blue. And this was the standard 
 
86 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 which was borne into the city of Boston when it 
 was evacuated by the British troops and was 
 entered by the American army. 
 
 Uniting, as it did, the flags of England and 
 America, it showed that the colonists were not 
 yet prepared to sever the tie that bound them 
 to the mother-country. By that union of flags, 
 they claimed to be a vital and substantial part 
 of the empire of Great Britain, and demanded 
 the rights and privileges which such a relation 
 implied. Yet it was by these thirteen stripes 
 that they made known the union also of the 
 thirteen colonies, the stripes of white declaring 
 the purity and innocence of their cause, and the 
 stripes of red giving forth defiance to cruelty 
 and opposition. 
 
 On the 14th day of June, 1777, it was resolved 
 by Congress, "That the flag of the thirteen 
 United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red 
 and white, and the Union be thirteen white stars 
 in the blue field." This resolution was made 
 public September 3, 1777, and the flag that was 
 first made and used in pursuance of it was that 
 which led the Americans to victory at Saratoga. 
 Here the thirteen stars were arranged in a cir- 
 cle, as we sometimes see them now, in order bet- 
 ter to express the union of the States. 
 
 In 1794, there having been two more new 
 States added to the Union, it was voted that the 
 alternate stripes, as well as the circling stars, 
 be fifteen in number, and the flag, as thus alt- 
 ered and enlarged, was the one which was borne 
 through all the contests of the war of 1812. But 
 
SELECTED READINGS 87 
 
 it was thought that the flag would at length be- 
 come too large if a new stripe should be added 
 with every freshly-admitted State. It was 
 therefore enacted, in 1818, that a permanent re- 
 turn should be made to the original number of 
 thirteen stripes, and the number of stars should 
 henceforth correspond to the growing number 
 of States. 
 
 Thus the flag would symbolize the Union as it 
 might be at any given period of its history, and 
 also as it was at the very hour of its birth. It 
 was at the same time suggested that these stars, 
 instead of being arranged in a circle, should be 
 formed into a single star— a suggestion which 
 we occasionally see adopted. In fine, no par- 
 ticular order seems now to be observed with re- 
 spect to the arrangement of the constellation. 
 It is enough if only the whole number be there 
 upon that azure field— the blue to be emblema- 
 tical of perseverance, vigilance and justice, 
 each star to signify the glory of the State it 
 may represent, and the whole to be eloquent 
 forever of a Union that must be "one and in- 
 separable. ' ' 
 
 What precious associations cluster around ouu 
 flag! Not alone have our fathers set up this 
 banner in the name of God over the well-won 
 battle-fields of the Revolution, and over the 
 cities and towns which they rescued from des- 
 potic rule; but think where also their descend- 
 ants have carried it, and raised it in conquest 
 or protection! Through what clouds of dust 
 and smoke has it passed— what storms of shot 
 
88 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 and shell— what scenes of fire and blood ! Not 
 only at Saratoga, at Monmouth and at York- 
 town, but at Lundy's Lane and New Orleans, 
 at Buena Vista and Chapultepec. It is the same 
 glorious old flag which, inscribed with the dying 
 words of Lawrence, "Don't give up the ship,'' 
 was hoisted on Lake Erie by Commodore Perry 
 just on the eve of his great naval victory— the 
 same old flag which our great chieftain bore in 
 triumph to the proud city of the Aztecs, and 
 planted upon the heights of her national palace. 
 Brave hands raised it above the eternal regions 
 of ice in the Arctic seas, and have set it up on 
 the summits of the lofty mountains of the dis- 
 tant West. 
 
 Where has it not gone, the pride of its friends 
 and the terror of its foes ! What countries and 
 what seas has it not visited ? Where has not the 
 American citizen been able to stand beneath its 
 guardian folds and defy the world ? With what 
 joy and exultation seamen and tourists have 
 gazed upon its stars and stripes, read in it the 
 history of their nation's glory, received from it 
 the full sense of security, and drawn from it 
 the inspirations of patriotism ! By it, how many 
 have sworn fealty to their country! 
 
 What bursts of magnificent eloquence it has 
 called forth from Webster and from Everett! 
 What lyric strains of poetry from Drake and 
 Holmes ! How many heroes its folds have cov- 
 ered in death ! How many have lived for it, 
 and how many have died for it! How many, 
 living and dying, have said, in their enthusi- 
 
SELECTED READINGS 89 
 
 astic devotion to its honor, like that young 
 wounded sufferer in the streets of Baltimore, 
 "Oh, the flag? the Stars and Stripes!" and, 
 wherever that flag has gone, it has been the her- 
 ald of a better day— it has been the pledge of 
 freedom, of justice, of order, of civilization, and 
 of Christianity. Tyrants only have hated it, 
 and the enemies of mankind alone have tram- 
 pled it to the earth. All who sigh for the tri- 
 umph of truth and righteousness love and sa- 
 lute it. Rev. A. P. Putnam. 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S GREATNESS. 
 
 Look at it Senators of the South. Just think 
 of the great future which these thirty-eight 
 American States have before them. Precious 
 and glorious as is their history in the past, it 
 dwarfs and pales before the great hope that 
 opens before them. Think of imperial New 
 York with the commerce which brings the 
 wealth of all nations to her gates. Think of 
 mighty Pennsylvania, with her mines and her- 
 factories. Think of Massachusetts, home of the 
 scholar and the workman. Think of the great 
 Northwest, with its million farms, its million 
 homes, in each of which liberty dwells a per- 
 petual guest. Think of that great coast, where, 
 on the shores of a more pacific sea, men of our 
 own blood and kindred are in the near future 
 to build States and institutions, compared with 
 
90 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 which anything the East has seen is poor and 
 mean. The streets of a wealthier New York, the 
 halls of a more learned Harvard, the homes of 
 a more cultured Boston, the workshops of a 
 busier Philadelphia, shall grow up on the shore 
 of that vast ocean, across which the American 
 people gaze at the monuments of the oldest 
 civilization of the past. 
 
 Where will you be men of the South? What 
 shall be the place of your States in this glorious 
 race? Do you wish to be left behind, sucking 
 your thumbs, nursing your wrath, stirring the 
 dregs of an effete and rotten past, cherishing 
 the memory of ancient wrong and crime, study- 
 ing the American Constitution to see how much 
 of slavery there is left in it? Will you bring 
 up your young men to share in the imperial 
 glory, and beauty, and hope, which the future 
 has for these great American States, or bring 
 them up half ruffian and half assassin ? Do not 
 understand that I charge they are that now. 
 But I say that the policy you are tolerating will 
 bring them to that. Virginia, and Georgia, and 
 Alabama, and Texas, are far more richly en- 
 dowed with opportunity than any States of the 
 North. The States of the South have their 
 great history of the times of their settlement, of 
 the days of the Revolution, of the administra- 
 tion of the Government in the early days of the 
 Constitution. They have their rich lands, and 
 their mighty streams, their lofty mountains, 
 their vast and fertile fields, their willing labor- 
 ers, their brave and restless people. Why will 
 
SELECTED READINGS 91 
 
 they not embrace and welcome the one thing 
 needed to place them far in advance of the other 
 American States ; and that is the great doctrine 
 of justice and of the Constitution, which shall 
 secure to every man, white or black, dwelling 
 upon their soil, his manhood, his honor, his free- 
 dom, his equal suffrage as an American citizen. 
 
 George F. Hoar. 
 
 THE CONSTITUTION AND THE PEOPLE. 
 
 This country, with its institutions, belongs to 
 the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall 
 grow weary of the existing government, they 
 can exercise their constitutional right of amend- 
 ing, or their revolutionary right to dismember 
 or overthrow it. I cannot be ignorant of the 
 fact that many worthy and patriotic citizens 
 are desirous of having the national Constitution 
 amended. While I make no recommendation 
 of amendment, I fully recognize the full au- 
 thority of the people over the whole subject, to 
 be exercised in either of the modes prescribed 
 in the instrument itself; and I should,, under 
 existing circumstances, favor, rather than op- 
 pose, a fair opportunity's being afforded the 
 people to act upon it. I will venture to add, 
 that to me the conventional mode seems prefera- 
 ble, in that it allows amendments to originate 
 with the people themselves, instead of only per- 
 mitting them to take or reject propositions or- 
 
92 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 iginated by others not especially chosen for the 
 purpose, and which might not be precisely such 
 as they would wish either to accept or refuse. 
 I understand that a proposed amendment to the 
 Constitution has passed Congress, to the effect 
 that the Federal Government shall never inter- 
 fere with the domestic institutions of States, in- 
 cluding that of persons held to service. To 
 avoid misconstruction of what I have said, I de- 
 part from my purpose not to speak of particular 
 amendments, so far as to say, that, holding 
 such a provision to be now implied constitu- 
 tional law, I have no objection to its being made 
 express and irrevocable. The chief magistrate 
 derives all his authority from the people, and 
 they have conferred none upon him to fix the 
 terms for the separation of the States. The 
 people themselves, also, can do this if they 
 choose; but the executive, as such, has nothing 
 to do with it. His duty is to administer the 
 present government as it came into his hands, 
 and to transmit it, unimpaired by him, to his 
 successor. Why should there not be a patient 
 confidence in the ultimate justice of the people ? 
 Is there any better or any equal hope in the 
 world ? In our differences, is either party with- 
 out faith of being in the right? If the Al- 
 mighty Ruler of nations, with His eternal truth 
 and justice, be on your side of the North, or on 
 yours of the South, that truth and that justice 
 will surely prevail by the judgment of this great 
 tribunal— the American people. By the frame 
 of the government under which we live, this 
 
SELECTED READINGS 93 
 
 same people have wisely given their public serv- 
 ants but little power for mischief, and have with 
 equal wisdom provided for the return of that 
 little to their own hands at very short intervals. 
 While the people retain their virtue and vigil- 
 ance, no administration, by any extreme wicked- 
 ness or folly, can very seriously injure the gov- 
 ernment in the short space of four years. My 
 countrymen, one and all, think calmly and well 
 upon this whole subject. Nothing valuable can 
 be lost by taking time. If there be an object to 
 hurry any of you, in hot haste, to a step which 
 you would never take deliberately, that object 
 will be frustrated by taking time; but no good 
 object can be frustrated by it. Such of you as are 
 now dissatisfied still have the old Constitution 
 unimpaired, and, on the sensitive point, the 
 laws of your own framing under it; while the 
 new administration will have no immediate 
 power, if it would, to change either. If it were 
 admitted that you who are dissatisfied hold the 
 right side in the dispute, there is still no single 
 reason for precipitate action. Intelligence, 
 patriotism, Christianity, and a firm reliance on 
 Him who has never yet forsakei^this favored- 
 land, are still competent to adjust, in the best 
 way, all our present difficulties. In your hands, 
 my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in 
 mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The 
 government will not assail you. You can have 
 no conflict without being yourselves the aggres- 
 sors. You can have no oath registered in heav- 
 en to destroy the government ; while I shall have 
 
94 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 the most solemn one to "preserve, protect, and 
 defend it." I am loth to close. We are not 
 enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. 
 Though passion may have strained, it must not 
 break, our bonds of affection. The mystic 
 chords of memory, stretching from every battle- 
 field and patriot-grave to every living heart and 
 hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet 
 swell the chorus of the Union, when again 
 touched, as surely they will be, by the better 
 angels of our nature. 
 Abraham Lincoln's Inaugural Address, 1861. 
 
 THE BATTLE-FLAGS. 
 
 At the opening of the session of Congress in 
 1872, Charles Sumner reintroduced two meas- 
 ures which, as he thought, should complete the 
 record of his political life. One was his Civil 
 Rights bill, which had failed in the last Con- 
 gress, and the other a resolution providing that 
 the names of the battles won over fellow-citi- 
 zens in the War of the Rebellion should be re- 
 moved from the regimental colors of the army, 
 and from the army register. It was indeed only 
 a repetition of a resolution which he had intro- 
 duced ten years before, in 1862, during the war, 
 when the first names of victories were put on 
 American battleships. This resolution called 
 forth a new storm against him. It was de- 
 nounced as an insult to the heroic soldiers of the 
 
SELECTED READINGS 95 
 
 Union, and a degradation of their victories and 
 well-earned laurels. It was condemned as an 
 unpatriotic act. 
 
 Charles Sumner insult the soldiers who had 
 spilled their blood in a war for human rights! 
 Charles Sumner degrade victories, and depre- 
 ciate laurels won for the cause of universal free- 
 dom! How strange an imputation! 
 
 Let the dead man have a hearing. This was 
 his thought: No civilized nation, from the re- 
 publics of antiquity down to our days, ever 
 thought it wise or patriotic to preserve in con- 
 spicuous and durable form the mementoes of 
 victories won over fellow citizens in civil war. 
 Why not ? Because every citizen shall feel him- 
 self, with all others, as the child of a common 
 country, and not as a defeated foe. All civil- 
 ized governments of our days have instinctively 
 followed the same dictate of wisdom and pa- 
 triotism. The Irishman, when fighting for Old 
 England at Waterloo, was not to behold on the 
 red cross floating above him the name of the 
 Boyne. The Scotch Highlander, when standing 
 in the trenches of Sebastopol, was not by the col- 
 ors of his regiment to be reminded of Culloden. 
 No French soldier at Austerlitz or Solferino had 
 to read upon the tricolor any reminiscence of 
 the Vendee. No Hungarian at Sadowa was 
 taunted by any Austrian banner with the sur- 
 render of Villagos. No German regiment, from 
 Saxony or Hanover, charging under the iron 
 hail of Gravelotte, was made to remember by 
 words written on a Prussian standard that the 
 
96 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 Black Eagle had conquered them at Konig- 
 gratz and Langensalza. Should the son of 
 South Carolina, when at some future day de- 
 fending the Republic against some foreign foe, 
 be reminded by an inscription on the colors float- 
 ing over him that under this flag the gun was 
 fired that killed his father at Gettysburg? 
 Should this great and enlightened Republic, 
 proud of standing in the front of human pro- 
 gress, be less wise, less large-hearted, than the 
 ancients were two thousand years ago, and the 
 kingly governments of Europe are to-day? Let 
 the battle-flags of the brave volunteers, which 
 they brought home from the war with the glori- 
 ous record of their victories, be preserved in- 
 tact as a proud ornament of our Statehouses 
 and armories. But let the colors of the army 
 under which the sons of all the States are to 
 meet and mingle in common patriotism, speak 
 of nothing but union— not a union of conquer- 
 ors and conquered, but a union which is the 
 mother of all, equally tender to all, knowing of 
 nothing but equality, peace, and love among her 
 children. Do you want shining mementoes of 
 your victories ? They are written upon the dusky 
 brow of every freeman who was once a slave; 
 they are written on the gate-posts of a restored 
 Union ; and the most shining of all will be writ- 
 ten on the faces of a contented people, reunited 
 in common national pride. Carl Schurz. 
 
SELECTED READINGS 97 
 
 THE UNION OF THE STATES. 
 
 The political prosperity which this country 
 has attained, and which it now enjoys, it has 
 acquired mainly through the instrumentality of 
 the present government. While this agent con- 
 tinues, the capacity of attaining to still higher 
 degrees of prosperity exists also. AVe have, 
 while this lasts, a political life, capable of bene- 
 ficial exertion, with power to resist or overcome 
 misfortunes, to sustain us against the ordinary 
 accidents of human affairs, and to promote, by 
 active efforts, every public interest. 
 
 But dismemberment strikes at the very being 
 which preserves these faculties ; it would lay its 
 rude and ruthless hand on this great agent it- 
 self. It would sweep away, not only what we 
 possess, but all power of regaining lost, or ac- 
 quiring new, possessions. It would leave the 
 country not only bereft of its prosperity and 
 happiness, but without limbs, or organs, or fac- 
 ulties, by which to exert itself, hereafter, in the 
 pursuit of that prosperity and happiness. 
 
 Other misfortunes may be borne, or their 
 effects overcome. If disastrous Avar sweep our 
 commerce from the ocean, another generation 
 may renew it; if it exhausts our treasury, future 
 industry may replenish it; if it desolate and lay 
 waste our fields, still, under a new cultivation, 
 they will grow green again, and ripen to future 
 harvests. It were but a trifle, even if the walls 
 of yonder Capitol were to crumble, if its lofty 
 pillars should fall, and its gorgeous decorations 
 be all covered by the dust of the valley. 
 
98 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 All these might be rebuilt. But who shall re- 
 construct the fabric of demolished government? 
 Who shall rear again the well-proportioned col- 
 umns of constitutional liberty? Who shall 
 frame together the skillful architecture which 
 unites national sovereignty with State rights, 
 individual security, and public prosperity? 
 
 If these columns fall, they will be raised not 
 again. Like the Coliseum and the Panthenon, 
 they will be destined to a mournful, a melan- 
 choly immortality. Bitterer tears, however, will 
 flow over them than were ever shed over the 
 monuments of Roman or Grecian art; for they 
 will be the remnants of a more glorious edifice 
 than Greece or Rome ever saw— the edifice of 
 constitutional American liberty. 
 
 But let us hope for better things. Let us 
 trust in that gracious Being, who has hitherto 
 held our country as in the hollow of His hand. 
 Let us trust to the virtue and the intelligence of 
 the people, and the efficacy of religious obliga- 
 tion. Let us trust to the influence of Washing- 
 ton's example. Let us hope that that fear of 
 Heaven, which expels all other fear, and that 
 regard to duty, which transcends all other re- 
 gard, may influence public men and private 
 citizens, and lead our country still onward in 
 her happy career. 
 
 Full of these gratifying anticipations and 
 hopes, let us look forward to the end of that 
 century which is now commenced. A hundred 
 years hence, other disciples of Washington will 
 celebrate his birth, with no less of sincere ad- 
 
SELECTED READINGS 09 
 
 miration than we now commemorate it. When 
 they shall meet, as we now meet ; to do them- 
 selves and him that honor, so surely as they 
 shall see the blue summits of his native moun- 
 tains rise in the horizon ; so surely as they shall 
 behold the river on whose banks he lived, and on 
 whose banks he rests, still flowing to the sea ; 
 so surely may they see, as we now see, the flag 
 of the Union floating on the top of the Capitol ; 
 and then, as now, may the sun in his course visit 
 no land more free, more lovely, than this, our 
 own country. Daniel Webster. 
 
 AFTER THE BATTLE. 
 
 The drums are all muffled, the bugles are still; 
 There 's a pause in the valley, a halt on the hill ; 
 And bearers of standards swerve back with a 
 thrill 
 Where sheaves of the dead bar the way; 
 For a great field it reaped, Heaven's garners to 
 fill, 
 And stern Death holds his harvest to-day. 
 
 There's a voice in the wind like a spirit's low 
 
 cry; 
 'Tis the muster-roll sounding— and who shall 
 
 reply 
 For those whose wan faces glare white to the- 
 
 sky, 
 With eyes fixed so steadfast and dimly, 
 
100 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 As they wait the last trump, which they may 
 not defy, 
 Whose hands clutch the sword-hilt so grimly? 
 
 The brave heads late lifted are solemnly bowed, 
 As the riderless chargers stand quivering and 
 
 cowed— 
 As the burial requiem is chanted aloud, 
 
 The groans of the death-stricken drowning, 
 While Victory looks on like a queen pale and 
 proud 
 Who awaits till the morning her crowning. 
 
 There is no mocking blazon, as clay sinks to 
 
 clay; 
 The vain pomps of peace-time are an swept 
 
 away 
 In the terrible face of the dread battle-day ; 
 
 Nor coffins nor shroudings are here; 
 Only relics that lay where thickest the fray— 
 A rent casque and a headless spear. 
 
 Far away, tramp on tramp, sounds the march 
 
 of the foe, 
 Like a storm-wave retreating, spent, fitful and 
 
 slow ; 
 With sound like their spirits that faint as they 
 
 go 
 By the red-glowing river, whose waters 
 Shall darken with sorrow the land where they 
 
 flow 
 To the eyes of her desolate daughters. 
 
SELECTED READINGS 101 
 
 They are fled— they are gone; but, oh! not as 
 
 they came; 
 In the pride of those numbers they staked on 
 
 the game, 
 Never more shall they stand in the vanguard of 
 fame, 
 Never lift the stained sword which they drew ; 
 Never more shall they boast of a glorious name, 
 Never march with the leal and the true. 
 
 Where the wreck of our legions lay stranded 
 
 and torn, 
 They stole on our ranks in the mist of the morn ; 
 Like the giant of Gaza, their strength it was 
 shorn 
 Ere those mists have rolled up to the sky ; 
 From the flash of the steel a new day-break 
 seemed born, 
 As we sprang up to conquer or die. 
 
 The tumult is silenced; the death-lots are cast, 
 And the heroes of battle are slumbering their 
 
 last ; 
 Do you dream of yon pale form that rode on the 
 blast ? 
 Would ye see it once more, ye brave? 
 Yes— the broad road to honor is red where ye 
 passed, 
 And of glory ye asked— but a grave ! 
 
 Anon. 
 
102 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 AMERICA. 
 
 Search creation round, where can you find a 
 country that presents so sublime a view, so in- 
 teresting an anticipation? What noble institu- 
 tions! What a comprehensive policy! What a 
 wise equalization of every political advantage ! 
 The oppressed of all countries, the martyrs of 
 every creed, the innocent victim of despotic ar- 
 rogance or superstitious frenzy, may there find 
 refuge ; his industry encouraged, his piety re- 
 spected, his ambition animated; with no re- 
 straint but those laws which are the same to all, 
 and not distinction but that which his merit may 
 originate. Who can deny that the existence of 
 such a country presents a subject for human 
 congratulation? Who can deny that its 
 gigantic advancement offers a field for the most 
 rational conjecture? At the end of the very 
 next century, if she proceeds as she seems to 
 promise, what a wondrous spectacle may she 
 not exhibit ! Who shall say for what purpose 
 mysterious Providence may not have designed 
 her? Who shall say that when in its follies or 
 its crimes, the old world may have buried all 
 the pride of its power, and all the pomp of its 
 civilization, human nature may not find its 
 destined renovation in the new ? When its tem- 
 ples and its trophies shall have mouldered into 
 dust, — when the glories of its name shall be 
 but the legend of tradition, and the light of its 
 achievements live only in song, philosophy will 
 revive again in the sky of her Franklin, and 
 glory rekindle at the urn of her Washington. 
 
SELECTED READINGS 103 
 
 Is this the vision of romantic fancy? Is it 
 even improbable? Is it half so improbable as 
 the events which, for the last twenty years, have 
 rolled like successive tides over the surface of 
 the European world, each erasing the impres- 
 sions that preceded it ? Many, I know, there are, 
 who will consider this supposition as wild and 
 whimsical, but they have dwelt with little re- 
 flection upon the records of the past. They 
 have but ill-observed the progress of national 
 rise and national ruin. They form their judg- 
 ment on the deceitful stability of the present 
 hour, never considering the innumerable monar- 
 chies and republics, in former days, apparently 
 as permanent, their very existence become now 
 the subject of speculation — I had almost said of 
 scepticism. I appeal to history ! Tell me, thou 
 reverend chronicler of the grave, can all the 
 illusions of ambition realized, can all the wealth 
 of a universal commerce, can all the achieve- 
 ments of successful heroism, or all the establish- 
 ments of this world's wisdom, secure to empire 
 the permanency of its possessions ? Alas ! Troy 
 thought so once, yet the land of Priam lives only 
 in song ! Thebes thought so once, yet her hun- 
 dred gates have crumbled, and her very tombs 
 are but as the dust they were vainly intended 
 to commemorate ! So thought Palmyra — Avhere 
 is she ? So thought Persepolis, and now— 
 "You waste, where roaming lions howl, 
 Yon aisle, where moans the grey-eyed owl, 
 Shows the proud Persian's great abode, 
 Where sceptred once, an earthly god, 
 
104 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 His power-clad arm controlled each happier 
 
 clime, 
 Where sports the warbling muse, and fancy 
 
 soars sublime." 
 
 So thought the countries of Demosthenes and 
 the Spartan; yet Leonid as is trampled by the 
 timid slave, and Athens insulted by the servile, 
 mindless, and enervate Ottoman ! In his hurried 
 march, Time has but looked at their imagined 
 immortality, and all its vanities, from the pal- 
 ace to the tomb, have, with their ruins, erased 
 the very impression of his footsteps! The days 
 of their glory are as if they had never been; 
 and the island that was then a speck, rude and 
 neglected, in the barren ocean, now rivals the 
 ubiquity of their commerce, the glory of their 
 arms, the fame of their philosophy, the elo- 
 quence of their senate, and the inspiration of 
 their bards! Who shall say, then, contemplat- 
 ing the past, that England, proud and potent 
 as she appears, may not one day be what Athens 
 was? Who shall say, when the European col- 
 umn shall have mouldered, and the night of 
 barbarism obscured its very ruins, that that 
 mighty continent may not emerge from the 
 horizon, to rule, for its time, sovereign of the 
 ascendant ? 
 
 Such, sir, is the natural progress of human 
 operations, and such the unsubstantial mockery 
 of human pride. Charles Phillips. 
 
SELECTED READINGS 105 
 
 THE AMERICAN FLAG. 
 
 A thoughtful mind, when it sees a nation's 
 flag, sees not the flag only, but the nation itself ; 
 and whatever may be its symbols, its insignia, 
 he reads chiefly in the flag the government, the 
 principles, the truth, the history, which belong- 
 to the nation that sets it forth. 
 
 When the French tricolor rolls out to the 
 wind, we see France. When the new-found 
 Italian flag is unfurled, we see resurrected 
 Italy. When the other three-cornered Hunga- 
 rian flag shall be lifted to the wind, we shall see 
 in it the long-buried but never dead principles 
 of Hungarian liberty. When the united crosses 
 of St. Andrew and St. George on a fiery ground 
 set forth the banner of Old England, we see not 
 the cloth merely; there rises up before the mind 
 the noble aspect of that monarchy, which, more 
 than any other on the globe, has advanced its 
 banner for liberty, law, and national prosperity. 
 
 This nation has a banner too; and wherever 
 it streamed abroad, men saw daybreak bursting 
 on their eyes, for the American flag has been 
 the symbol of liberty, and men rejoiced in it. 
 Not another flag on the globe had such an er- 
 rand, or went forth upon the sea, carrying ev- 
 erywhere, the glorious tidings. 
 
 The stars upon it were to the pining nations 
 like the morning stars of God, and the stripes 
 upon it were beams of morning light. 
 
 As at early dawn the stars stand first, and 
 then it grows light, and then as the sun ad- 
 vances, that light breaks into banks and 
 
106 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 streaming lines of color, the glowing red and 
 intense white striving together and ribbing the 
 horizon with bars effulgent, so on the American 
 flag, stars and beams of many-colored light 
 shine out together. And wherever the flag 
 comes, and men behold it, they see in its sacred 
 emblazonry no rampant lion and fierce eagle, 
 bnt only light, and ever fold significant of 
 liberty. 
 
 The history of this banner is all on one side. 
 Under it rode Washington and his armies; be- 
 fore it Burgoyne laid down his arms. It waved 
 on the highlands at West Point; it floated over 
 old Fort Montgomery. When Arnold would 
 have surrendered these valuable fortresses and 
 precious legacies, his night was turned into day, 
 and his treachery was driven away, by the 
 beams of light from this starry banner. 
 
 It cheered our army, driven from New York, 
 in their solitary pilgrimage through New Jersey. 
 It streamed in light over Valley Forge and Mor- 
 ristown. It crossed the waters rolling with ice 
 at Trenton; and when its stars gleamed in the 
 cold morning with victory, a new day of hope 
 dawned on the despondency of the nation. And 
 when, at length, the long years of war were 
 drawing to a close, underneath the folds of this 
 immortal banner sat Washington while York- 
 town surrendered its hosts, and our Revolu- 
 tionary struggles ended with victory. 
 
 Let us then twine each thread of the glorious 
 tissue of our country's flag about our heart- 
 strings ; and looking upon our homes and catch- 
 
SELECTED READINGS 107 
 
 ing the spirit that breathes upon us from the 
 battle-fields of our fathers, let us resolve, come 
 weal or woe, we will, in life and in death, now 
 and forever, stand by the stars and stripes. 
 They have been unfurled from the snows of 
 Canada to the plains of New Orleans, in the 
 halls of the Montezuma s and amid the solitude 
 of every sea; and everywhere, as the luminous 
 symbol of resistless and beneficent power, they 
 have led the brave to victory and to glory. They 
 have floated over our cradles ; let it be our pray- 
 er and our struggle that they shall float over 
 our graves. H. W. Beecher. 
 
 THE PATRIOT SPY. 
 
 No drum-beat and heart-beat 
 
 A soldier marches by; 
 There is color in his cheek, 
 
 There is courage in his eye; 
 Yet to drum-beat and heart-beat 
 
 In a moment he must die. 
 
 By starlight and moonlight 
 He seeks the Briton's camp; 
 
 He hears the rustling flag, 
 
 And the armed sentry's tramp; 
 
 And the starlight and the moonlight 
 His silent wanderings lamp. 
 
 With slow tread and still tread 
 He scans the tented line ; 
 
108 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 And he counts the battery guns 
 By the gaunt and shadowy pine, 
 
 And his slow tread and still tread 
 Gives no warning sign. 
 
 The dark wave, the plumed wave! 
 
 It meets his eager glance ; 
 And it sparkles 'neath the stars 
 
 Like the glimmer of a lance; 
 A dark wave, a plumed wave, 
 
 On an emerald expanse. 
 
 A sharp clang, a steel clang ! 
 
 And terror in the sound; 
 For the sentry, falcon-eyed, 
 
 In the camp a spy hath found; 
 With a sharp clang, a steel clang, 
 
 The patriot is bound. 
 
 With calm brow, steady brow, 
 
 He listens to his doom; 
 In his look there is no fear, 
 
 Nor a shadow-trace of gloom; 
 But with calm brow and steady brow 
 
 He robes him for the tomb. 
 
 In the long night, the still night, 
 
 He kneels upon the sod ; 
 And the brutal guards withhold 
 
 E 'en the solemn Word of God ! 
 In the long night, the still night, 
 
 He walks where Christ had trod. 
 
SELECTED READINGS 109 
 
 'Neath the blue morn, the sunny morn, 
 
 He dies upon the tree ; 
 And he mourns that he can lose 
 
 But one life for liberty; 
 And in the blue morn, the sunny morn, 
 
 His spirit-wings are free. 
 
 But his last words, his message-words, 
 
 They burn, lest friendly eye 
 Should read how proud and calm 
 
 A patriot could die, * 
 With his last words, his dying words, 
 
 A soldier's battle-cry! 
 
 From Fame-leaf and Angel-leaf, 
 
 From monument and urn, 
 The sad of earth, the glad of heaven, 
 
 His tragic fate shall learn; 
 And on Fame-leaf and Angel-leaf 
 The name of Hale* shall burn. 
 
 F. N. Finch. 
 *Nathan Hale, the patriot martyr of the Revo- 
 lution. 
 
 UNION OF BLUE AND GRAY. 
 
 The Blue is marching South once more, 
 With serried steel and stately tread; 
 
 Their martial music pealed before, 
 Their flag of stars flashed overhead. 
 
 Ah ! not through storm and stress they come, 
 
110 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 The thunders of old hate are dumb, 
 And frank as clear October's ray 
 This meeting of the Blue and Gray. 
 
 The Phoenix from her outworn fires, 
 
 Her gory ashes, rising free, 
 Pair Charleston, with her stainless spires, 
 
 Gleams by the silver-stranded sea. 
 No hurtling hail nor hostile ball 
 Breaks through the treacherous battle-pall; 
 True voices speak from hearts as true. 
 For strife lies dead 'twixt Gray and Blue. 
 
 Grim Sumter, like a Titan maimed, 
 
 Still glooms beyond his shattered keep; 
 
 But where his bolts of lightning flamed, 
 There broods a quiet, mild as sleep. 
 
 His granite base, long cleansed of blood, 
 
 Is circled by a golden flood; 
 
 Type of that peace whose sacred sway 
 
 Enfolds the Blue, exalts the Gray. 
 
 The sea-tides faintly rise afar. 
 
 And— wings of all the breezes furled— 
 Seem slowly borne o 'er beach and bar, 
 
 Dream-murmurings from a spirit world. 
 Through throbbing drum and bugle trill, 
 The distant calm seems deeper still,— 
 Deep as that faith whose cordial dew 
 Hath soothed the Gray and charmed the Blue. 
 
 O'er Ashley's breast the autumn smiles, 
 All mellowed in her hazy fold, 
 
SELECTED READINGS 111 
 
 While the white arms of languid isles 
 
 Are girdled by ethereal gold. 
 All nature whispers : War is o 'er, 
 Fierce feuds have fled, our sea and shore ; 
 Old wrongs forget, old ties renew, 
 O heroes of the Gray and Blue ! 
 
 The Southern Palm and Northern Pine 
 No longer clash through leaf and bough; 
 
 Tranquil of depth benign 
 
 Have bound their blending foliage now ; 
 
 Serene they shine in sun-lit noon, 
 
 Or, tranced by cloudless star and moon, 
 
 Their equal shadows softly play 
 
 Above the Blue, across the Gray. 
 
 Paul H. Hayne. 
 
 AN ODE TO INDEPENDENCE HALL. 
 J. Stevenson Mitchell. 
 
 No sculptured marble greets the pilgrim's view; 
 No gothie dome the ambient zephyrs fan; 
 
 No golden spires salute the ethereal blue- 
 Shrine of enfranchised man! 
 
 Thou Mecca of a freedom-loving land ! 
 
 Voice to all nations struggling to be free ! 
 May thy plain walls in after ages stand, 
 
 And tyrants bend to thee. 
 
 Ye who have wandered o'er historic climes, 
 Who've stood upon the seven hills of Rome,. 
 
112 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 And drank the music of St. Peter's chimes, 
 And trod beneath its dome; 
 
 Ye who have stood on Britain's royal isle, 
 And paused enraptured with some sacred 
 hymn 
 
 Which echoed through St. Paul's aspiring pile, 
 Like answering cherubim ; 
 
 Ye who have trod the imperial streets of Gaul— 
 Where waved of old the golden oriflamme— 
 
 And paused to catch the vespers as they fall 
 And float from Notre Dame;— 
 
 Forget not this memorial of our love— 
 This silent witness of a noble deed,— 
 
 Hallowed beyond all storied piles of yore, 
 By freedom's bond decreed! 
 
 Thy ancient bell, from out its brazen throat, 
 Still echoes music that it pealed of yore ; 
 
 And through the listening ages it shall float, 
 A hope for evermore. 
 
 CENTENNIAL ORATION. 
 Henry Armitt Brown. 
 
 Peroration from the oration delivered upon 
 the occasion of the Centennial Anniversary of 
 the meeting of the first Colonial Congress in 
 Carpenter's Hall, Philadelphia. 
 
SELECTED READINGS 113 
 
 The conditions of life are always changing, 
 and the experience of tne fathers is rarely the 
 experience of the sons. The temptations which 
 beset their foosteps, nor the dangers which 
 threaten our pathway the dangers which sur- 
 rounded them. These men were few in num- 
 ber; we are many. They were poor, but we are 
 rich. They were weak, but we are strong. What 
 is it, countrymen, that we need to-day ? Wealth ? 
 Behold it in your hands. Power? God hath 
 given it you. Liberty? It is your birthright. 
 Peace? It dwells amongst you. You have a 
 Government founded in the hearts of men, built 
 by the people for the common good. You have 
 a land flowing with milk and honey ; your homes 
 are happy, your workshops busy, your barns are 
 full. The school, the railway, the telegraph, 
 the printing press, have welded you together 
 into one. Descend those mines that honeycomb 
 the hills 1 Behold that commerce whitening 
 every sea! Stand by yon gates and see that 
 multitude pour through them from the corners 
 of the earth, grafting the qualities of older 
 stocks upon one stem; mingling the blood of 
 many races in a common stream, and swelling 
 the rich volume of our English speech with 
 varied music from an hundred tongues. You 
 have a long and glorious history, a past glitter- 
 ing with heroic deeds, an ancestry full of lofty 
 and unperishable examples. You have passed 
 through danger, endured privation, been ac- 
 quainted with sorrow, been tried by suffering. 
 You have journeyed in safety through the wil- 
 
114 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 derness and crossed in triumph the Red Sea of 
 civil strife, and the foot of Him who led you 
 hath not faltered nor the light of His counte- 
 nance been turned away. 
 
 It is a question for us now, not of the found- 
 ing of a new government, but of the preserva- 
 tion of one already old ; not of the formation of 
 an independent power, but of the purification 
 of a nation's life; not of the conquest of a 
 foreign foe, but of the subjection of ourselves. 
 The capacity of man to rule himself is to be 
 proven in the days to come, not by the great- 
 ness of his wealth; not by his valor in the 
 field.; not by the extent of his dominion, nor 
 by the splendor of his genius. The dangers 
 of to-day come from within. The worship of 
 self, the love of power, the lust for gold, the 
 weakening of faith, the decay of public virtue, 
 the lack of private worth— these are the perils 
 which threaten our future; there are the ene- 
 mies we have to fear; these are the traitors 
 which infest the camp ; and the danger was far 
 less when Cataline knocked with his army at 
 the gates of Rome, than when he sat smiling in 
 the Senate House. We see them daily face to 
 face; in the walk of virtue; in the road to 
 wealth; in the path to honor; on the way to 
 happiness. There is no peace between them 
 and our safety. Nor can we avoid them and 
 turn back. It is not enough to rest upon the 
 past. No man or nation can stand still. We 
 must mount upward or go down. We must 
 
SELECTED READINGS 
 
 115 
 
 grow worse or better. It is the Eternal law— 
 we cannot change it. 
 
 
 The centnry that is opening is all our own. 
 The years that lie before us are a virgin page. 
 We can inscribe them as we will. The future 
 of our country rests upon us; the happiness 
 of posterity depends upon us. The fate of hu- 
 manity may be in our hands. That pleading 
 voice, choked with the sobs of ages, which has 
 so often spoken to deaf ears, is lifted up to us. 
 It asks us to be brave, benevolent, consistent, 
 true to the teachings of our history, proving 
 "divine descent by worth divine." It asks us to 
 be virtuous— building up public virtue by pri- 
 vate worth; seeking that righteousness which 
 exalteth nations. It asks us to be patriotic- 
 loving country before all other things ; her hap- 
 piness our happiness, her honor ours, her fame 
 our own. It asks us, in the name of justice, in 
 the name of charity, in the name of freedom, in 
 the name of God. 
 
 My countrymen, this anniversary has gone by 
 forever, and my task is done. While I have 
 spoken, the hour has passed from us; the hand' 
 has moved upon the dial, and the old century is 
 dead. The American Union hath endured an 
 hundred years! Here, on this threshold of the 
 future, the voice of humanity shall not plead 
 to us in vain. There shall be darkness in the 
 days to come; danger for our courage; tempta- 
 tion for our virtue ; doubt for our faith ; suffer- 
 ing for our fortitude. A thousand shall fall 
 
116 PATRIOTIC RECITATION^ 
 
 before us, and tens of thousands at our right 
 hand. The years shall pass beneath our feet, 
 and century follow century in quick succession. 
 The generations of men shall come and go; the 
 greatness of yesterday shall be forgotten: to- 
 day and the glories of this noon shall vanish 
 before to-morrow's sun; but America shall not 
 perish, but endure while the spirit of our 
 fathers animates their sons. 
 
 PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S ADDRESS AT 
 
 THE DEDICATION OF GETTYSBURG 
 
 CEMETERY. 
 
 November, 186-4. 
 
 Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers 
 brought forth upon this continent a new na- 
 tion, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the 
 proposition that all men are created equal. Now 
 we are engaged in a great civil war, testing 
 whether that nation, or any nation, so con- 
 ceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We 
 are met on a great battlefield of that war. We 
 are met to dedicate a portion of it as the final 
 resting-place of those who here gave their lives 
 that that nation might live. 
 
 It is altogether fitting and proper that we 
 should do this. But in a larger sense we cannot 
 dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hal- 
 low this ground. The brave men, living and 
 dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it 
 
SELECTED READINGS 117 
 
 far above our power to add or detract. The 
 world will little note, nor long remember what 
 we say here, but it can never forget what they 
 did here. 
 
 It is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated 
 here to the- unfinished work they have thus far 
 so nobly carried on. It is rather for us to be 
 here dedicated to the great task remaining be- 
 fore us, that from these honored dead we take 
 increased devotion to the cause for which they 
 gave the last full measure of devotion; that we 
 here highly resolve that these dead shall not 
 have died in vain, that the nation shall, under 
 God, have a new birth of freedom, and that 
 the government of the people, by the people, 
 and for the people, shall not perish from the 
 earth. 
 
 CALDWELL OF SPRINGFIELD. 
 
 Here's the spot. Look around you. Above, on 
 
 the height, 
 Lay the Hessians encamped. By that church 
 
 on the right 
 Stood the gaunt Jersey farmers. And here ran 
 
 a wall— 
 You mav dig anvwhere and you'll turn up a 
 
 'ball. 
 Nothing more. Grasses spring, waters run, 
 
 flowers blow. 
 Pretty much as they did ninety-three years ago. 
 
118 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 Nothing more did I say? Stay, one moment; 
 
 you've heard 
 Of Caldwell, the parson, who once preached the 
 
 Word 
 Down at Springfield ? What ! no ? Come, that 's 
 
 bad; why he had ', 
 
 All the Jerseys aflame ! and they gave him the 
 
 name 
 Of "the rebel high priest." He stuck in their 
 
 gorge, 
 For he loved the Lord God, and he hated King 
 
 George ! 
 
 He had cause, you might say! When the Hes- 
 sians that day 
 
 March up with Knyphausen, they stopped on 
 their way 
 
 At the * ' Farms, ' ' where his wife, with a child in 
 her arms, 
 
 Sat alone in the house. How it happened, none 
 knew 
 
 But God, and that one of the hireling crew 
 
 Who fired the shot. Enough ! there she lay, 
 
 And Caldwell, the chaplain, her husband, away ! 
 
 Did he preach— did he pray? Think of him, 
 
 as you stand 
 By the old church, to-day; think of him, and 
 
 that band 
 Of militant plowboys! See the smoke and the 
 
 heat 
 Of that reckless advance— of that straggling 
 
 retreat ! 
 
SELECTED READINGS 119 
 
 Keep the ghost of that wife, foully slain, in 
 
 your view— 
 And what could you, what should you, what 
 
 would you do ? 
 
 Why, just what he did! They were left in the 
 
 lurch 
 For the want of more wadding. He ran to the 
 
 church, 
 Broke the door, stripped the pews, and dashed 
 
 out in the road 
 With his arms full of hymn-books, and threw 
 
 down his load 
 At their feet ! Then, above all the shouting and 
 
 shots, 
 Rang his voice— "Put Watts into 'em, boys! 
 
 give 'em Watts ! ' ' 
 
 And they did. That is all. Grasses spring, 
 
 flowers blow, 
 Pretty much as they did ninety-three years ago. 
 You may dig anywhere and turn up a ball, 
 But not always a hero like this— and that's 
 
 all. Bret Harte. 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S CALL. 
 W. C. Bryant. 
 
 Lay down the axe, fling by the spade ; 
 
 Leave in its track the toiling plough ; 
 The rifle and the bayonet-blade 
 
 For arms like yours are fitter now; 
 
120 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 And let the hands that ply the pen 
 Quit the light task, and learn to wield 
 
 The horseman's crooked brand, and rein 
 The charger on the battle-field. 
 
 Our country calls; away! away! 
 
 To where the blood-stream blots the green, 
 Strike to defend the gentlest sway 
 
 That Time in all his course has seen. 
 See, from a thousand coverts — see 
 
 Spring the armed foes that haunt her track; 
 They rush to smite her down, and we 
 
 Must beat the banded traitors back. 
 
 Ho ! strudy as the oaks ye cleave, 
 
 And moved as soon to fear and flight; 
 Men of the glade and forest ! leave 
 
 Your woodcraft for the field of fight. 
 The arms that wield the axe must pour 
 
 An iron tempest on the foe; 
 His serried ranks shall reel before 
 
 The arm that lays the panther low. 
 
 And ye who breast the mountain storm 
 
 By grassy steep or highland lake, 
 Come, for the land ye love, to form 
 
 A bulwark that no foe can break. 
 Stand, like your own gray cliffs that mock 
 
 The whirlwind; stand in her defense; 
 The blast as soon shall move the rock, 
 
 As rushing squadrons bear ye thence. 
 
 And ye, whose homes are by her grand 
 
SELECTED READINGS 121 
 
 Swift rivers, rising far away, 
 Come from the depth of her green land 
 
 As mighty in your march as they ; 
 As terrible as when the rains 
 
 Have swelled them over bank and bourne, 
 With sudden floods to drown the plains 
 
 And sweep along the woods uptorn. 
 
 And ye who throng beside the deep, 
 
 Her ports and hamlets of the strand, 
 In number like the waves that leap 
 
 On his long murmuring marge of sand, 
 Come, like that deep, when, o'er his brim, 
 
 He rises, all his floods to pour, 
 And flings the proudest barks that swim, 
 
 A helpless wreck against his shore. 
 
 Few, few were they whose swords of old, 
 
 Won the fair land in which we dwell ; 
 But we are many, we who hold 
 
 The grim resolve to guard it well. 
 Strike for that broad and goodly land, 
 
 Blow after blow, till men shall see 
 That Might and Right move hand in hand, 
 
 And glorious must their triumph be. 
 
 WASHINGTON. 
 Daniel Webster. 
 Delivered at the laying of the corner stone 
 of the new wing of the Capitol at Washington, 
 July 4, 1851. 
 
 Washington! Methinks I see his venerable 
 
122 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 form now before me. He is dignified and grave ; 
 but concern and anxiety seem to soften the 
 lineaments of his countenance. The govern- 
 ment over which he presides is yet in the crisis 
 of experiment. Not free from troubles at home, 
 he sees the world in commotion and arms all 
 around him. He sees that imposing foreign 
 powers are half disposed to try the strength of 
 the recently established American government. 
 Mighty thoughts, mingled with fears as well as 
 with hopes, are struggling within him. He 
 heads a short procession over these then naked 
 fields ; he crosses yonder stream on a fallen tree ; 
 he ascends to the top of this eminence, whose 
 original oaks of the forest stand as thick around 
 him as if the spot had been devoted to Druidical 
 worship, and here he performs the appointed 
 duty of the day. 
 
 And now, if this vision were a realty; if 
 Washington actually were now amongst us, and 
 if he could draw around him the shades of the 
 great public men of his own day, patriots and 
 warriors, orators and statesmen, and were to 
 address us in their presence, would he not say 
 to us: "Ye men of this generation, I rejoice 
 and thank God for being able to see that our 
 labors, and toils, and sacrifices, were not in 
 vain. You are prosperous, you are happy, you 
 are grateful. The fire of liberty burns brightly 
 and steadily in your hearts, while duty and the 
 law restrain it from bursting forth in wild and 
 destructive conflagration. Cherish liberty, as 
 you love it; cherish its securities, as you wish 
 
SELECTED READINGS 123 
 
 to preserve it. Maintain the Constitution which 
 we labored so painfully to establish, and which 
 has been to you such a source of inestimable 
 blessings. Preserve the Union of the States, 
 cemented as it was by our prayers, our tears, 
 and our blood. Be true to God, to your country, 
 and to your duty. So shall the whole Eastern 
 world follow the morning sun, to contemplate 
 you as a nation; so shall all generations honor 
 you, as they honor us ; and so shall that Almighty 
 power which so graciously protected us, and 
 which now protects you, shower its everlasting 
 blessing upon you and your posterity ! ' ' 
 
 COLUMBIA. 
 
 P. S. GlLMORE. 
 
 A National Historic Poem first presented to 
 the public at the Academy of Music, New York, 
 on Christmas day, 1879. 
 
 Columbia ! First and fairest gem 
 On Nature's brow— a diadem 
 Whose lustre, bright as heavenly star, 
 The light of Freedom sheds afar. 
 Like Noah's Ark, a God-sent bark 
 In search of land, through day and dark 
 First found thee held by Nature 's child, 
 The red man, in his wigwam, wild. 
 
 Columbia ! Soon the tidings spread. 
 Of what Columbus saw and said; 
 
124 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 The eyes of man then turned to thee, 
 The new land rising from the sea ; 
 Each spread his sail before the gale, 
 To verify the wondrous tale. 
 And thus began what was to be 
 The hope and home of Liberty. 
 
 Columbia! In thine early days 
 Our Pilgrim Fathers sang thy praise. 
 They landed from the Mayflower's deck 
 On Plymouth Rock— a snow-clad speck 
 That marks the place from whence the race 
 Of Puritans their true blood trace, 
 Who fought for Independence dear 
 With hearts of steel and conscience clear. 
 
 Columbia ! 'Twas in fire and blood 
 Brave Washington the foremost stood ; 
 With banner high and sword in hand, 
 He drove the tyrant from the land. 
 Thy breast still sore, to thy heart's core, 
 Till washed again in human gore— 
 In martyr blood ! Shed not in vain, — 
 It left thee whole, without a stain. 
 
 Columbia ! See, what thou art now, 
 A crown of stars on Nature's brow; 
 With fields of gold and teeming marts. 
 With fifty million loving hearts 
 Who cling to thee, from sea to sea, 
 To guard thy peace and liberty; 
 Who, man to man, shall e'er be just, 
 And in the Lord place all their trust. 
 
SELECTED READINGS 125 
 
 Columbia ! Lift thine eyes on high, 
 See Him who dwells in yonder sky, 
 The King of Glory on His throne, 
 Who looks on all, for all's His own! 
 Our earthly gain would be in vain, 
 A home in heaven to attain, 
 If with our hearts we did not pay 
 Our debt to Him. Then let us pray. 
 
 At morn, at noon, at eventide, 
 O Lord, be ever at our side, 
 That we Thy voice may always hear, 
 And feel that Thou art ever near. 
 In mercy spare, from grief and care 
 The nation, bowed in fervent prayer, 
 Who with one heart and voice implore, 
 Thy blessing now and evermore. 
 
 THE STARRY FLAG. 
 Stockton Bates. 
 
 From proud Atlantic's surging waves 
 To where the broad Pacific lies, 
 
 And playfully the bright sand laves 
 Beneath clear, sunny skies; 
 
 From far along Canadian lines, 
 The rocky borders of the land, 
 
 To where the Gulf in beauty shines, 
 And breaks upon the strand ; 
 
 From Alleghany's crested mounts, 
 
126 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 And on the Rocky 's summits gray, 
 Where, brightly, snow-fed crystal founts. 
 Are welling forth alway ; 
 
 On Mississippi's mighty tides, 
 And on Ohio's silver stream, 
 
 Or where the Susquehanna glides, 
 Ar Schuylkill's ripples gleam; 
 
 Where Delaware, with current grave, 
 Is sweeping outward to the sea; 
 
 In every land, on every wave, 
 The Starry Flag floats free ! 
 
 And through all time this flag above, 
 In triumph o'er oppression's holds, 
 
 Shall, in the light of peace and love, 
 Unroll its glorious folds. 
 
 NOTHING BUT FLAGS. 
 
 Nothing but flags ! but simple flags ! 
 Tattered and torn, and hanging in rags; 
 And we walk beneath them with careless tread, 
 Nor think of the hosts of the mighty dead 
 Who have marched beneath them in days gone 
 
 A\ith a burning cheek and a kindling eye, 
 And have bathed their folds with their young 
 
 life's tide, 
 And dying blessed them, and blessing died. 
 
SELECTED READINGS 127 
 
 OUR BANNER. 
 
 Hail to our banner brave 
 All o'er the land and wave 
 
 To-day unfurled. 
 No folds to us so fair 
 Thrown on the summer air; 
 None with thee compare 
 
 In all the world. 
 
 W. P. Tilden. 
 
 STAINED BY THE BLOOD OF HEROES. 
 
 Around the globe, through every clime, 
 Where commerce wafts or man hath trod, 
 
 It floats aloft, unstained with crime, 
 But hallowed by heroic blood. 
 
 THE TATTERED ENSIGN. 
 
 We seek not strife, but when our outraged laws 
 Cry for protection in so just a cause, 
 Ay, tear her tattered ensign down 
 
 Long has it waved on high, 
 And many an eye has danced to see 
 
 That banner in the sky. 
 Nail to the mast her holy flag, 
 
 Set every threadbare sail, 
 And give her to the God of storms, 
 
 The lightning and the gale ! 
 
 Oliver Wendell Holmes. 
 
128 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 THE FLAG OF OUR UNION. 
 
 The union of lakes, the union of lands, 
 The union of States none can sever; 
 
 The union of hearts, the union of hands, 
 And the flag of our Union forever. 
 
 George P. Morris. 
 
 FLAG OF THE FREE. 
 
 When freedom from her mountain height 
 Unfurled her standard to the air, 
 
 She tore the azure robe of night 
 And set the stars of glory there. 
 
 She mingled with its gorgeous dyes 
 The milky baldric of the skies, 
 And striped its pure, celestial white 
 With streakings of the morning light. 
 
 Flag of the free hearts ' hope and home ! 
 
 By angel hands to valor given ! 
 Thy stars have lit the' welkin dome, 
 
 And all thy hues were born in heaven. 
 
 Forever float that standard sheet, 
 
 Where breathes the foe, but falls before us, 
 With freedom's soil beneath our feet, 
 
 And freedom's banner streaming o'er us. 
 Joseph Rodman Drake. 
 
SELECTED READINGS 129 
 
 STAND BY THE FLAG. 
 
 Stand by the flag ! on land and ocean billow ; 
 
 By it your fathers stood, unmoved and true; 
 Living, defended; dying, from their pillow, 
 
 With their last blessing, passed it onto you. 
 The lines that divide us are written in water, 
 The love that unite us is cut deep as rock. 
 
 Thus by friendship 's ties united. 
 
 We will change the bloody past 
 Into golden links of union, 
 
 Blending all in love at last. 
 
 Thus beneath the one broad banner, 
 Flag of the true, the brave the free, 
 
 We will build anew the Union, 
 Fortress of our Liberty. 
 
 FREEDOM'S STANDARD. 
 
 God bless our star-gemmed banner; 
 
 Shake its folds out to the breeze; 
 From church, from fort, from housetop, 
 
 Over the city, on the seas ; 
 
 The die is cast, the storm at last 
 
 Has broken in its might ; 
 Unfurl the starry banner, 
 
 And may God defend the right. 
 
 Then bless our banner, God of hosts ! 
 
130 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 Watch o'er each starry fold; 
 'Tis Freedom's standard, tried and proved 
 On many a field of old ; 
 
 And Thou, who long has blessed us, 
 
 Now bless us yet again, 
 And crown our cause with victory, 
 
 And keep our flag from stain. 
 
 RODNEY'S HIDE. 
 
 On the third day of July, 1776, Caesar Rod- 
 ney rode on horseback from St. James' Neck, 
 below Dover, Delaware, to Philadelphia, in a 
 driving rain storm, for the purpose of voting 
 for the Declaration of Independence. 
 
 In that soft mid-land where the breezes bear 
 The North and South on the genial air, 
 Through the county of Kent, on affairs of State, 
 Rode Caesar Rodney, the delegate. 
 
 Burly and big, and bold and bluff, 
 In his three-cornered hat and coat of snuff, 
 A foe to King George and the English State, 
 Was Caesar Rodney, the delegate. 
 
 Into Dover village he rode apace, 
 And his kinfolk knew from his anxious face, 
 It was matter grave that brought him there, 
 To the counties three upon the Delaware. 
 
SELECTED READINGS 131 
 
 "Money and men we must have," he said, 
 "Or the Congress fails and our cause is dead, 
 Give us both and the King shall not work his 
 
 will. 
 We are men, since the blood of Bunker Hill. ' ' 
 
 Comes a rider swift on a panting bay ; 
 ' ' Ho, Rodney, ho ! you must save the day, 
 For the Congress halts at a deed so great, 
 And your vote alone may decide its fate." 
 
 Answered Rodney then : " I will ride with speed ; 
 It is Liberty's stress; it is Freedom's need." 
 ' ' When stands it ? ' ' " To-night. " " Not a mo- 
 ment to spare, 
 But ride like the wind from the Delaware. ' ' 
 
 1 ' Ho, saddle the black ! I 've but half a day, 
 And the Congress sits eighty miles away — 
 But I'll be in time, if God grants me grace, 
 To shake my fist in King George's face." 
 
 He is up ; he is off ! and the black horse flies 
 On the northward road ere the "God-speed" 
 
 dies, 
 It is gallop and spur, as the leagues they clear, 
 And the clustering mile-stones move a-rear. 
 
 It is two of the clock ; and the fleet hoofs fling 
 The Fieldboro's dust with a clang and a cling, 
 It is three ; and he gallops with slack rein where 
 The road winds down to the Delaware. 
 
132 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 Four ; and he spurs into New Castle town, 
 From his panting steed he gets him down— 
 ' ' A fresh one quick ! and not a moment 's wait ! ' ' 
 And off speeds Rodney, the delegate. 
 
 It is five ; and the beams of the western sun 
 Tinge the spires of Wilmington, gold and dun; 
 Six; and the dust of Chester street 
 Flies back in a cloud from his courser's feet. 
 
 It is seven; the horse-boat broad of beam, 
 At the Schuylkill ferry crawls over the stream — 
 And at seven fifteen by the Rittenhouse clock, 
 He flings his reins to the tavern jock. 
 
 The Congress is met; the debate's begun, 
 And Liberty lags for the vote of one— 
 When into the hall, not a moment late, 
 Walks Cassar Rodney, the delegate. 
 
 Not a moment late ! and that half day 's ride 
 Forwards the world with a mighty stride; 
 For the act was passed ; ere the midnight stroke 
 'er the Quaker City its echoes woke. 
 
 At Tyranny 's feet was the gauntlet flung ; 
 1 ' We are free ! " all the bells through the colon- 
 ies rung, 
 And the sons of the free may recall with pride, 
 The day of Delegate Rodney's ride. 
 
SELECTED READINGS 133 
 
 A SPOOL OF THREAD. 
 
 The last battle of the Civil War was at Bra- 
 zos, Texas, May 13, 1865, resulting in the sur- 
 render of the Texan army. Recite this in a 
 conversational tone, as you would tell any story. 
 Well, yes, I've lived in Texas, since the spring 
 
 of '61; 
 And I'll relate the story, though I fear, sir, 
 
 when 'tis done, 
 'Twill be little worth your hearing, it was such 
 
 a simple thing, 
 Unheralded in verses that the grander poets 
 
 sing. 
 
 There had come a guest unbidden, at the open- 
 ing of the year 
 
 To find a lodgment in our hearts, and the ten- 
 ant's name was fear; 
 
 For secession's drawing mandate was a call for 
 men and arms, 
 
 And each recurring eventide but brought us 
 fresh alarms. 
 
 They had notified the General that he must 
 
 yield to fate, 
 And all the muniments of war surrender to 
 
 the State, 
 But he sent from San Antonio an order to the 
 
 sea. 
 To convey on board the steamer all the fort's 
 
 artillery. 
 
134 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 Right royal was his purpose, but the foe divined 
 
 his plan, 
 And the wily Texans set a guard to intertcept 
 
 the man 
 Detailed to bear the message ; they placed their 
 
 watch with care 
 That neither scout nor citizen should pass it 
 
 unaware. 
 
 Well, this was rather awkward, sir, as doubtless 
 
 you will say, 
 But the Major who was chief of staff resolved to 
 
 have his way, 
 Despite the watchful provost guard ; so he asked 
 
 his wife to send, 
 With a box of knick-knacks, a letter to her 
 
 friend ; 
 And the missive held one sentence I remember 
 
 to this day: 
 "The thread is for your neighbor, Mr. French, 
 
 across the way." 
 
 He dispatched a youthful courier. Of course, as 
 you will know, 
 
 The Texans searched him thoroughly and or- 
 dered him to show 
 
 The contents of the letter. They read it o'er 
 and o'er, 
 
 But failed to find the message they had hindered 
 once before. 
 
 So it reached the English lady, and she won- 
 dered at the word, 
 
SELECTED READINGS 135 
 
 But gave the thread to Major French, explain- 
 ing that she heard 
 
 He wished a spool of cotton. And great was his 
 surprise 
 
 At such a trifle sent, unasked, through leagues 
 of hostile spies. 
 
 ' ' There 's some hidden purpose, doubtless, in the 
 curious gift, ' ' he said. 
 
 Then he tore away the label, and inside the 
 spool of thread 
 
 Was Major Nichol's order, bidding him convey 
 to sea 
 
 All the arms and ammunition from Fort Dun- 
 can's battery. 
 
 "Down to Brazon speed your horses," thus the 
 Major's letter ran, 
 
 "Shift equipments and munitions, and embark 
 them if you can." 
 
 Yes, the transfer was effected, for the ships lay 
 
 close at hand, 
 Ere the Texans guessed their purpose they had 
 
 vanished from the land. 
 Do I know it for a fact, sir ? 'Tis no story that - 
 
 I've read— 
 I was but a boy in war time, and I carried him 
 
 the thread. 
 
 Sophie E. Eastman. 
 
136 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 THE YOUNG PATRIOT, ABRAHAM LIN- 
 COLN. 
 
 One Fourth of July, when Abraham Lincoln 
 was a boy, he heard an oration by old 'Squire 
 Godfrey. As in the olden days, the 'Squire's 
 oration was full of Washington; inspiring in 
 the heart of young Lincoln an enthusiasm that 
 sent him home burning with a desire to knoAV 
 more of the great man who heretofore had 
 seemed more of a dream than a reality. Learn- 
 ing that a man some six miles up the creek 
 owned a copy of Washington's life, Abraham 
 did not rest that night until he had footed the 
 whole distance and begged the loan of the 
 book. 
 
 "Sartin, sartin," said the owner. "The 
 book is fairly well worn, but no leayes are 
 missin', and a lad keen enough to read as to 
 walk six miles to get a book, ought to be en- 
 couraged." 
 
 It was a much-worn copy of Weem's "Life of 
 Washington," and Abe, thanking the stranger 
 for his kindness, walked back under the stars, 
 stopping every little while to catch a glimpse of 
 the features of the "Father of his Country" as 
 shown in the frontispiece. 
 
 After reaching home, tired as he was, he could 
 not close his eyes until, by the light of a pine 
 knot, he had found out all that was recorded 
 regarding the boyhood of the man who had so 
 suddenly sprung into prominence in his mind. 
 In that busy harvest season he had no time to 
 
SELECTED READINGS 137 
 
 read or study during the day, but every night, 
 long after the other members of the family were 
 sleeping peacefully, Abe lay, stretched upon 
 the floor with his book on the hearth, reading, 
 reading, reading, the pine knot in the fireplace 
 furnishing all the light he needed, the fire with- 
 in burning with such intense heat as to kindle 
 a blaze that grew and increased until it placed 
 him in the highest seat of his countrymen. 
 
 What a marvelous insight into the human 
 heart did Abraham Lincoln get between the 
 covers of that wonderful book. The little cabin 
 grew to be a paradise as he learned from the 
 printed pages the story of one great man's life. 
 The barefooted boy in buckskin breeches, so 
 shrunken that they reached only halfway be- 
 tween the knee and ankle, actually asked him- 
 self whether there might not be some place — 
 great and honorable, awaiting him in the fu- 
 ture. 
 
 Before this treasured "Life of Washington" 
 was returned to its owner, it met with such a 
 mishap as almost to ruin it. The book, which 
 was lying on a board upheld by two pegs, was 
 soaked by the rain that dashed between the logs 
 one night, when a storm beat with unusual force 
 against the north end of the cabin. Abraham 
 was heartbroken over the catastrophe, and sadly 
 carried the book back to its owner, offering to 
 work to pay for the damage done. The man con- 
 sented, and the borrower worked for three days 
 at seventy-five cents a day, and thus himself be- 
 came the possessor of the old faded, stained 
 
138 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 book— a book that had more to do with shaping 
 his life, perhaps, than any one other thing. 
 
 Abe had not expected to take the book back 
 with him, but merely to pay for the damage 
 done, and was surprised when the man handed 
 it to him when starting. He was very grateful, 
 however, and when he gave expression to his 
 feelings the old man said, patting him on the 
 shoulder: "You have earned it, my boy, and 
 are welcome to it. It's a mighty fine thing to 
 have a head for books, just as fine to have a 
 heart for honesty, and if you keep agoin ' as you 
 have started, maybe some day you'll git to be 
 President yourself. President Abraham Lin- 
 coln! That would sound fust rate, fust rate, 
 now. Wouldn't it, sonny?" 
 
 "It's not a very handsome name, to be sure," 
 Abe replied, looking as though he thought such 
 an event possible, away off, in the future. "No, 
 it's not a very handsome name, but I guess it's 
 about as handsome as its owner," he added, 
 glancing at the reflection of his homely features 
 in the little old-fashioned, cracked mirror hang- 
 ing opposite where he sat. 
 
 "Handsome is that handsome does," said the 
 old farmer, nodding his gray head in an approv- 
 ing style. ' ' Yes, indeedy ; handsome deeds make 
 handsome men. We hain't a nation of royal 
 idiots, with one generation of kings passin' 
 away to make room for another. No, sir-ee. In 
 this free country of ourn, the rich and poor 
 stand equal chances, and a boy without money 
 is just as likely to work up to the Presidential 
 
SELECTED READINGS 139 
 
 chair as the one who inherits from his parents 
 lands and stocks, and money and influence. It's 
 brains that counts in this land of liberty, and 
 Abraham Lincoln has just as much right to sit 
 in the highest seat in the land as Washington's 
 son himself, if he had had a son, which he 
 hadn't." 
 
 Who knows but the future War President of 
 this great Republic received his first aspirations 
 from this kindly neighbor's words? 
 
 COLUMBIA. 
 
 Columbia, Columbia, to glory arise : 
 
 The queen of the world, and the child of the 
 skies ; 
 
 Thy genius commands thee; with rapture be- 
 hold, 
 
 While ages on ages thy splendors unfold. 
 
 Thy reign is the last and the noblest of time, 
 
 Most fruitful thy soil, most inviting thy clime; 
 
 Let the crimes of the east ne'er encrimson thy 
 name, 
 
 Be freedom, and science, and virtue, thy fame. 
 
 To conquest and slaughter let Europe aspire, 
 Whelm nations in blood, and wrap cities in fire ; 
 Thy heroes the rights of mankind shall defend, 
 And triumph pursue them, and glory attend. 
 A world is thy realm — for a world be thy laws — 
 Enlarged as thine empire, and just as thy cause ; 
 
140 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 On freedom's broad basis thy empire shall rise, 
 Extend with the main, and dissolve with the 
 skies. 
 
 Thy fleets to all regions thy power shall display, 
 
 The nations admire, and the ocean obey ; 
 
 Each shore to thy glory its tribute unfold, 
 
 And the east and the south yield their spices 
 and gold. 
 
 As the day-spring, unbounded, thy splendor 
 shall flow, 
 
 And earth's little kingdoms before thee shall 
 bow, 
 
 While the ensigns of union, in triumph un- 
 furled, 
 
 Hush the tumult of war, and give peace to the 
 world. 
 
 Thus, as down a lone valley, with cedars o'er- 
 spread, 
 
 From war's dread confusion, I pensively 
 strayed, 
 
 The gloom from the face of fair heaven re- 
 tired ; 
 
 The winds ceased to murmur; the thunder ex- 
 pired ; 
 
 Perfumes, as of Eden, flowed sweetly along, 
 
 And a voice, as of angels, enchantingly sung, 
 
 ' ' Columbia, Columbia, to glory arise ; 
 
 The queen of the world, and the child of the 
 skies." Joel Barlow. 
 
SELECTED READINGS 141 
 
 CAPTAIN MOLLY AT MONMOUTH. 
 
 One of the famous battles of the Revolution 
 was that of Monmouth, N. J., which was fought 
 on the 28th of June, 1778. General Washing- 
 ton was in command on the American side, and 
 General Sir Henry Clinton was commander-in- 
 chief of the British forces. The British troops 
 met with a decisive defeat. The wife of an 
 Irish gunner on the American side who went 
 by the name of Molly had followed her husband 
 to the battle. During the engagement he was 
 shot down. With the most undaunted heroism 
 Molly rushed forward and took his place at the 
 gun and remained there throughout the thickest 
 of the fight. 
 
 On the bloody field of Monmouth flashed the 
 
 guns of Greene and Wayne ; 
 Fiercely roared the tide of battle, thick the 
 
 sward was heaped with slain. 
 Foremost, facing death and danger, Hessian 
 
 horse and grenadier, 
 In the vanguard, fiercely fighting, stood an Irish 
 
 cannoneer. 
 
 Loudly roared his iron cannon, mingling ever in 
 
 the strife, 
 And beside him, firm and daring, stood his 
 
 faithful Irish wife ; 
 Of her bold contempt of danger, Green and 
 
 Lee's brigade could tell, 
 Every one knew "Captain Molly," and the 
 
 army loved her well. 
 
142 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 Surged the roar of battle round theni, swiftly 
 
 flew the iron hail; 
 Forward dashed a thousand bayonets that lone 
 
 battery to assail ; 
 From the foeman's foremost columns swept a 
 
 furious fusilade, 
 Mowing down the massed battalions in the ranks 
 
 of Greene's brigade. 
 
 Faster and faster worked the gunner, soiled 
 
 with powder, blood and dust; 
 English bayonets shone before him, shot and 
 
 shell around him burst; 
 Still he fought with reckless daring, stood and 
 
 manned her long and well, 
 Till at last the gallant fellow dead beside his 
 
 cannon fell. 
 
 With a bitter cry of sorrow, and a dark and 
 angry frown, 
 
 Looked that band of gallant patriots at their 
 gunner stricken down. 
 
 "Fall back, comrades! It is folly to strive 
 against the foe." 
 
 ' ' Not so ! cried Irish Molly, ' ' we can strike an- 
 other blow!" 
 
 Quickly leaped she to the cannon in her fallen 
 
 husband's place, 
 Sponged and rammed it fast and steady, fired it 
 
 in the foeman's face. 
 Flashed another ringing volley, roared another 
 
 from the gun; 
 
SELECTED READINGS 143 
 
 "Boys, hurrah!" cried gallant Molly, "for the 
 nag of Washington!" 
 
 Green's brigade, though shorn and shattered, 
 slain and bleeding half their men, 
 
 When they heard that Irish slogan, turned €tnd 
 charged the foe again ; 
 
 Knox and Wayne and Morgan rally, to the front 
 they forward wheel, 
 
 And before their rushing onset Clinton's Eng- 
 lish columns reel. 
 
 Still the cannon's voice in anger rolled and rat- 
 tled o'er the plain, 
 
 Till they lay in swarms around it mingled heaps 
 of Hessian slain. 
 
 "Forward! charge them with the bayonet!" 
 'twas the voice of Washington; 
 
 And there burst a fiery greeting from the Irish- 
 woman 's gun, 
 
 Monckton falls; against his columns leap the 
 troops of Wayne and Lee, 
 
 And before their reeking bayonets Clinton's red- 
 battalions flee ; 
 
 Morgan's rifles, fiercely flashing, thin the foe's 
 retreating ranks, 
 
 And behind them, onward dashing, Ogden hov- 
 ers on their flanks. 
 
 Fast they fly, those boasting Britons, who in all 
 their glory came, 
 
144 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 With their brutal Hessian hirelings to wipe out 
 
 our country's name. 
 Proudly floats the starry banner; Monmouth '3 
 
 glorious field is won; 
 And, in triumph, Irish Molly stands besides her 
 
 smoking gun. William Collins. 
 
 DOUGLAS TO THE POPULACE OF 
 STIRLING. 
 
 Hear, gentle friends ! ere yet, for me, 
 
 Ye breaks the bands of fealty. 
 
 My life, my honor, and my cause, 
 
 I tender free to Scotland's laws. 
 
 Are these so weak as must require 
 
 The aid of your misguided ire? 
 
 Or, if I suffer causeless wrong, 
 
 Is then my selfish rage so strong, 
 
 My sense of public weal so low, 
 
 That, for mean vengeance on a foe, 
 
 Those cords of love I should unbind 
 
 Which knit my country and my kind? 
 
 Oh no! believe, in yonder tower 
 
 It will not soothe my captive hour, 
 
 To know those spears our foes should dread 
 
 For me in kindred gore are red; 
 
 To know, in fruitless brawl begun, 
 
 For me, that mother wails her son; 
 
 For me that widow's mate expires, 
 
 For me, that orphans weep their sires, 
 
 That patriots mourn insulted laws, 
 
SELECTED READINGS 145 
 
 And curse the Douglas for the cause. 
 let your patience ward such ill, 
 And keep your right to love me still. 
 
 Sir Walter Scott. 
 
 OUR COUNTRY. 
 
 Our country !— 'tis a glorious land! 
 
 With broad arms stretched from shore to 
 shore, 
 The proud Pacific chafes her strand, 
 
 She hears the dark Atlantic roar; 
 And, nurtured on her ample breast, 
 
 Hoav many a goodly prospect lies 
 In Nature's wildest grandeur drest, . 
 
 Enamelled with her loveliest dyes. 
 
 Rich prairies, decked with flowers of gold, 
 
 Like sunlit oceans roll afar; 
 Broad lakes her azure heavens behold, 
 
 Reflecting clear each trembling star, 
 And mighty rivers, mountain-born, 
 
 Go sweeping onward dark and deep, 
 Through forests where the bounding fawn 
 
 Beneath their sheltering branches leap. 
 
 And, cradled mid her clustering hills, 
 Sweet vales in dreamlike beauty hide, 
 
 Where love the air with music fills; 
 And calm content and peace abide; 
 
 For plenty here her fullness pours 
 
146 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 In rich profusion o'er the land, 
 And sent to seize her generous stores, 
 
 There prowls no tyrant's hireling band. 
 
 Great God ! we thank Thee for this home— 
 
 This bounteous birthland of the free; 
 "Where wanderers from afar may come, 
 
 And breathe the air of liberty!— 
 Still may her flowers untrampled spring, 
 
 Her harvests wave, her cities rise; 
 And yet, till Time shall fold his wing, 
 
 Remain Earth's loveliest paradise! 
 
 W. G. Peabodie. 
 
 M'lLRATH OF MALATE. 
 
 Acting Sergeant J. A. Mcllrath, Battery H, 
 Third Artillery, Regulars; enlisted from New 
 York; fifteen years' service. The heroism of our 
 brave Regulars in the W T ar with Spain was the 
 theme of universal admiration. 
 Yes, yes, my boy, there's no mistake, 
 
 You put the contract through! 
 You lads with Shafter, I'll allow, 
 
 Were heroes, tried and true; 
 
 But don't forget the men who fought 
 
 About Manila Bay, 
 And don't forget brave Mcllrath 
 
 Who died at Malate. 
 
 The night was black, save where the forks 
 
SELECTED READINGS 
 
 147 
 
 Of tropic lightning ran, 
 When, with a long deep thunder-roar, 
 The typhoon storm began. 
 
 Then, suddenly above the din, 
 
 We heard the steady bay 
 Of volleys from the trenches where 
 
 The Pennsylvanias lay. 
 
 The Tenth, we thought, could hold their own 
 
 Against the feigned attack, 
 And, if the Spaniards dared advance, 
 
 Would pay them doubly back. 
 
 But soon we marked the volleys sink 
 
 Into a scattered fire— 
 And, now we heard the Spanish gun 
 
 Boom nigher yet and nigher! 
 
 Then, like a ghost, a courier 
 Seemed past our picket tossed 
 
 With wild hair streaming in his face— 
 "We're lost— we're lost— we're lost." 
 
 "Front, front— in God's name— front !" he 
 cried : 
 
 "Our ammunition's gone!" 
 He turned a face of dazed dismay — 
 
 And through the night sped on ! 
 
 "Men, follow me!" cried Mcllrath, 
 Our acting Sergeant then; 
 
148 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 And when he gave the word he knew 
 He gave the word to men ! 
 
 Twenty there — not one man more — 
 
 But down the sunken road 
 We dragged the guns of Battery H, 
 
 Nor even stopped to load! 
 
 Sudden, from the darkness poured 
 
 A storm of Mauser hail— 
 But not a man there thought to pause, 
 
 Nor any man to quail! 
 
 Ahead, the Pennsylvanias ' guns 
 
 In scattered firing broke; 
 The Spanish trenches, red with flame, 
 
 In fiercer volleys spoke! 
 
 Down with a rush our twenty came — 
 
 The open field we passed — 
 And in among the hard-pressed Tenth 
 
 We set our feet at last! 
 
 Up, with a leap, sprang Mcllrath, 
 
 Mud-spattered, worn and wet, 
 And, in an instant, there he stood 
 
 High on the parapet! 
 
 "Steady, boys! we've got 'em now- 
 Only a minute late ! 
 
 It's all right, lads— we've got 'em whipped, 
 Just give 'em volleys straight ! ' ' 
 
SELECTED READINGS 149 
 
 Then, up and down the parapet 
 
 With head erect he went, 
 As cool as when he sat with us 
 
 Beside our evening tent ! 
 
 Not one of us, close sheltered there 
 
 Down in the trench's pen, 
 But felt that he would rather die 
 
 Than shame or grieve him then ! 
 
 The fire so close to being quenched 
 
 In panic and defeat, 
 Leaped forth, by rapid volleys sped, 
 
 In one long deadly sheet! 
 
 A cheer went up along the line 
 
 As breaks the thunder-call— 
 But, as it rose, great God ! we saw 
 
 Our gallant Sergeant fall ! 
 
 He sank into our outstretched arms 
 
 Dead— but immortal grown; 
 And Glory brightened where he fell, 
 
 And valor claimed her own ! 
 
 John Jerome Rooney. . 
 
 AFTER THE BATTLE. 
 
 Brave captain! canst thou speak? 
 
 What is it thou dost see? 
 A wondrous glory lingers on thy face, 
 
150 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 The night is past; I've watched the night 
 with thee. 
 
 Knowest thou the place ? ' ' 
 
 11 The place? 'Tis San Juan, comrade. 
 
 Is the battle over? 
 The victory— the victory— is it won? 
 
 My wound is mortal; I know I cannot re- 
 cover— 
 
 The battle for me is done ! 
 
 1 i I never thought it would come to this ! 
 
 Does it rain ? 
 The musketry! Give me a drink; ah, that is 
 glorious ! 
 Now if it were not for this pain — this pain — 
 Didst thou say victorious? 
 
 ' ' It would not be strange, would it, if I do wan- 
 der? 
 A man can't remember with a bullet in his 
 brain. 
 I wish when at home I had been a little fonder — 
 Shall I ever be well again ? 
 
 "It can make no difference whether I go from 
 here or there. 
 Thou 'It write to father and tell him when I 
 am dead?— 
 The eye that sees the sparrow fall numbers 
 every hair 
 
 Even of this poor head. 
 
SELECTED READINGS 151 
 
 ''Tarry awhile, comrade, the battle can wait for 
 thee; 
 I will try to keep thee but a few brief mo- 
 ments longer; 
 Thou 'It say good-bye to the friends at home for 
 me?— 
 
 If only I were a little stronger! 
 
 ' * I must not think of it. Thou are sorry for me ? 
 The glory— is it the glory?— makes me blind; 
 Strange, for the light, comrade, the light I can- 
 not see— 
 
 Thou hast been very kind ! 
 
 " I do not think I have done so very much evil— 
 
 I did not mean it. 'I lay me down to sleep, 
 
 I pray the Lord my soul'— Just a little rude and 
 
 uncivil — 
 
 Comrade, why dost thou weep? 
 
 ' ' Oh ! if human pity is so gentle and tender— 
 Good-night, good friends! 'I lay me down 
 to sleep!'— 
 Who from a Heavenly Father's love needs a 
 defender ? 
 
 'My soul to keep!' 
 
 " 'If I should die before I wake'— comrade, tell 
 mother, 
 Remember— 'I pray the Lord my, soul to 
 take!' 
 My musket thouTt carry back to my little 
 brother, 
 
 For my dear sake! 
 
152 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 " Attention, company! Reverse arms! Very 
 well, men; my thanks. 
 Where am I? Do I wander, comrade,— wan- 
 der again?— 
 Parade is over. Company E, break ranks ! break 
 ranks ! 
 
 I know it is the pain. 
 
 "Give me thy strong hand; fain would I cling, 
 comrade to thee; 
 I feel a chill air blown from a far-off shore; 
 My sight revives ; Death stands and looks at me. 
 What waits he for? 
 
 "Keep back my ebbing pulse till I be bolder 
 grown ; 
 I would know something of the Silent Land ; 
 It's hard to struggle to the front alone — 
 Comrade, thy hand. 
 
 "The reveille calls! be strong, my soul, and 
 peaceful ; 
 The Eternal City bursts upon my sight ! 
 The ringing air with ravishing melody is full— 
 I 've won the fight ! 
 
 "Nay, comrade, let me go; hold not my hand 
 so steadfast; 
 I am commissioned— under marching orders— 
 I know the Future— let the Past be past- 
 il cross the borders." 
 
SELECTED READINGS 153 
 
 THE GREAT NAVAL BATTLE OP 
 MANILA 
 
 With the United States flag flying at all their 
 mastheads, our ships moved to the attack in line 
 ahead, with a speed of eight knots, first passing 
 in front of Manila, where the action was begun 
 by three batteries mounting guns powerful 
 enough to send a shell over us at a distance of 
 five miles. The Concord's guns boomed out a 
 reply to these batteries with two shots. No 
 more were fired, because Admiral Dewey could 
 not engage with these batteries without sending 
 death and destruction into the crowded city. 
 
 As we neared Cavite two very powerful sub- 
 marine mines were exploded ahead of the flag- 
 ship. The Spaniards had misjudged our posi- 
 tion. Immense volumes of water were thrown 
 high in air by these destroyers, but no harm was 
 done to our ships. 
 
 Admiral Dewey had fought with Farragut at 
 New Orleans and Mobile Bay, where he had his 
 first experience with torpedoes. Not knowing 
 how many more mines there might be ahead, he 
 still kept on without faltering. No other mines 
 exploded, however, and it is believed that the 
 Spaniards had only these two in place. 
 
 Only a few minutes later the shore battery at 
 Cavite Point sent over the flagship a shot that 
 nearly hit the battery in Manila, but soon the 
 guns got a better range, and the shells began 
 to strike near us, or burst close aboard from 
 both the batteries and the Spanish vessels. The 
 
154 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 heat was intense. Men stripped off all clothing 
 except their trousers. 
 
 As the Admiral's flagship, the Olympia, drew 
 nearer all was as silent on board as if the ship 
 had been empty, except for the whirr of blowers 
 and the throb of tjie engines. Suddenly a shell 
 burst directly over us. From the boatswain's 
 mate at the after 5-inch gun came a hoarse cry. 
 "Remember the Maine!" arose from the throats 
 of five hundred men at the guns. This watch- 
 word was caught up in turrets and fire-rooms, 
 wherever seaman or fireman stood at his post. 
 
 "Remember the Maine!" had rung out for 
 defiance and revenge. Its utterance seemed un- 
 premeditated, but was evidently in every man's 
 mind, and, now that the moment had come to 
 make adequate reply to the murder of the 
 Maine's crew, every man shouted what was in 
 his heart. 
 
 The Olympia was now ready to begin the 
 fight. "You may fire when ready, Captain 
 Gridley," said the Admiral, and at nineteen 
 minutes of six o'clock, at a distance of 5,500 
 yards, the starboard 8-inch gun in the forward 
 turret roared forth a compliment to the Spanish 
 forts. Presently similar guns from the Balti- 
 more and the Boston sent 250-pound shells 
 hurtling toward the Spanish ships Castilla and 
 the Reina Christina for accuracy. The Span- 
 iards seemed encouraged to fire faster, knowing 
 exactly our distance, while we had to guess 
 theirs. Their ship and shore guns were mak- 
 ings things hot for us. 
 
SELECTED READINGS 155 
 
 The piercing scream of shot was varied often 
 by the bursting of time fuse shells, fragments of 
 which would lash the water like shrapnel or 
 cut our hull and rigging. One large shell that 
 was coming straight at the Olympia's forward 
 bridge fortunately fell within less than one hun- 
 dred feet away. One fragment cut the rigging 
 exactly over the heads of some of the officers. 
 Another struck the bridge gratings in line with 
 it. A third passed just under Dewey and 
 gouged a hole in the deck. Incidents like these 
 were plentiful. 
 
 "Capture and destroy Spanish squadron, " 
 were Dewey's orders. Never were instructions 
 more effectually carried out. Within seven 
 hours after arriving on the scene of action noth- 
 ing remained to be done. The Admiral closed 
 the day by anchoring off the city of Manila and 
 sending word to the Governor General that if a 
 shot was fired from the city at the fleet he would 
 lay Manila in ashes. 
 
 What was Dewey's achievement? He steamed 
 into Manila Bay at the dead hour of the night, 
 through the narrower of the two channels, and 
 as soon as there was daylight enough to grope 
 his way about he put his ships in line of battle 
 and brought on an engagement, the greatest in 
 many respects in ancient or modern warfare. 
 The results are known the world over— every 
 ship in the Spanish fleet destroyed, the harbor 
 Dewey's own, his own ships safe from the shore 
 batteries, owing to the strategic position he oc- 
 
156 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 cupied, and Manila his whenever he cared to 
 take it. 
 
 Henceforth, so long as ships sail and flags 
 wave, high on the scroll that bears the names of 
 the world 's greatest naval heroes will be written 
 that of George Dewey, 
 
 
 THE SINKING OF THE SHIPS 
 
 Dark, dark is the night; not a star in the sky, 
 And the Maine rides serenely; what danger is 
 
 nigh? 
 Our nation's at peace with the Kingdom of 
 
 Spain, 
 So calmly they rest in the battleship Maine. 
 But, hark to that roar ! See, the water is red ! 
 And the sailor sleeps now with the slime for his 
 
 bed. 
 
 Havana then shook, like the leaves of the trees, 
 
 When the tornado rides on the breast of the 
 breeze ; 
 
 Then people sprang up from their beds in the 
 gloom, 
 
 As they'll spring from their graves at the thun- 
 der of doom; 
 
 And they rushed through the streets, in their 
 terror and fear, 
 
 Crying out as they ran, "Have the rebels come 
 here?" 
 
SELECTED READINGS 157 
 
 "Oh, see how the flame lights the shores of the 
 
 bay, 
 Like the red rising sun at the coming of day ; 
 'Tis a ship in a blaze! 'Tis the battleship 
 
 Maine ! 
 What means this to lis and the Kingdom of 
 
 Spain? 
 The eagle will come at that loud sounding roar, 
 And our flag will fly free over Cuba no more. ' ' 
 
 Dark, dark is the night on the face of the deep, 
 In the forts all is still ; are the soldiers asleep ? 
 Oh, see how that ship glides along through the 
 
 night; 
 'Tis the ghost of the Maine— she has come to the 
 
 fight; 
 A flash, and a roar, and a cry of despair; 
 The eagle has come, for brave Dewey is there. 
 
 Oh, Spaniards, come out, for the daylight has 
 
 fled, 
 And look on those ships— look with terror and 
 
 dread ; 
 The eagle has come, and he swoops to his prey; 
 Oh, fly, Spaniards, fly, to that creek in the bay ! ~ 
 The eagle has come— "Remember the Maine!" 
 And the water is red with the blood of the slain. 
 
 They rest for a time— now they sail in again ! 
 Oh, woe, doom and woe, to the kingdom of 
 
 Spain. 
 Their ships are ablaze, they are battered and 
 
 rent, 
 
158 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 By the death-dealing shells which our sailors 
 
 have sent. 
 Not a man have we lost ; yet the battle is o 'er, 
 And their ships ride the bay of Manila no more. 
 
 Dark, silent and dark, on the face of the deep, 
 
 A ship glides in there; are the Spaniards 
 asleep ? 
 
 The channel is mined ! Oh, rash sailors beware ! 
 
 Or that death dealing fiend will spring up from 
 his lair; 
 
 He will tear you, and rend you, with wild fiend- 
 ish roar, 
 
 And cast you afar on the bay and the shore ! 
 
 They laugh at the danger; what care they for 
 
 death ? 
 'Tis only a shock and the ceasing of breath; 
 Their souls to their Maker, their forms to the 
 
 wave, 
 What nation has sons like the home of the 
 
 brave ? 
 That ship they would steer to the pit of despair, 
 If duty cried ' ' Onward ! ' ' and glory were there. 
 
 The shore is ablaze, but the channel they gain ; 
 A word of command, and the rattle of chain; 
 A flash— and the Merrimac's sunk in the bay, 
 And the Spaniard must leave in the light of the 
 
 day. 
 Santiago and Hobson remembered shall be, 
 While waves the proud flag of the brave and the 
 
 free. 
 
SELECTED READINGS 159 
 
 The Spaniards sail out— what a glorious sight! 
 Now, sailors, stand by and prepare for the 
 
 fight; 
 0, Glo'ster, in there, pelt the Dons as they fly, 
 Make us glorious news for the Fourth of July ! 
 And Wainwright remembered the Maine with a 
 
 roar, 
 And that shell-battered hulk is a terror no more. 
 
 Then Schley and the Brooklyn were right in 
 
 the way, 
 But Sampson had gone to see Shaf ter, they say ; 
 And the Oregon flew like a fury from hell, 
 Spreading wreckage and death with the might 
 
 of her shell; 
 Then Evans stood out, like a chivalrous knight, 
 Giving mercy to all at the end of the fight. 
 
 The Colon still flies, but a shell cleaves the air, 
 Its number is fatal— a cry of despair— 
 She turns to the shore, she bursts into flame, 
 And down comes the flag of the kingdom of 
 
 Spain ; 
 Men float all around, the battle is done,, 
 And their ships are all sunk for the sinking of 
 
 one. 
 
 Not ours is the hand that would strike in the 
 
 night, 
 With the fiendish intention to mangle and slay, 
 We strike at obstruction to freedom and right, 
 And strike when we strike in the light of the 
 
 day. 
 
 W. B. COLLISON. 
 
160 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 PERRY'S CELEBRATED VICTORY ON 
 LAKE ERIE 
 
 Perry's famous battle on Lake Erie raised the 
 spirits of the Americans. The British had six 
 ships, with sixty-three guns. The Americans 
 had nine ships, with fifty-four guns, and the 
 American ships were much smaller than the 
 English. At this time Perry, the American 
 commander, was but twenty-six years of age. 
 His flagship was the Lawrence. The ship's 
 watchword was the last charge of the Chesa- 
 peake's dying Commander — "Don't give up the 
 ship." The battle was witnessed by thousands 
 of people on shore. 
 
 At first the advantage seemed to be with the 
 English. Perry's flagship was riddled by Eng- 
 lish shots, her guns were dismounted and the 
 battle seemed lost. At the supreme crisis Perry 
 embarked in a small boat with some of his 
 officers, and under the fire of many cannon 
 passed to the Niagara, another ship of the fleet, 
 of which he took command. 
 
 After he had left the Lawrence she hauled 
 down her flag and surrendered, but the other 
 American ships carried on the battle with such 
 fierce impetuosity that the English battle-ship 
 in turn surrendered, the Lawrence was retaken 
 and all the English ships yielded with the ex- 
 ception of one, which took flight. The Ameri- 
 cans pursued her, took her and came back with 
 the entire British squadron. In the Capitol at 
 
SELECTED READINGS 161 
 
 Washington is a historical picture showing this 
 famous victory. 
 
 In Perry's great battle on Lake Erie was 
 shown the true stuff of which American sailors 
 are made. Perry was young, bold and dashing, 
 but withal, he had the coolness and intrepidity 
 of the veteran. History records few braver acts 
 than his passage in an open boat from one ship 
 to another under the galling fire of the enemy. 
 
 The grand achievements of the American 
 navy are brilliant chapters in our country's his- 
 tory. When the time comes for daring deeds, 
 our gallant tars are equal to the occasion. Cool- 
 ness in battle, splendid discipline, perfect 
 marksmanship and a patriotism that glories in 
 the victory of the Stars and Stripes, combine to 
 place the officers and men of our navy in the 
 front rank of the world's greatest heroes. 
 
 THE CAPTURE OF QUEBEC 
 
 General Wolfe, the English commander, saw 
 that he must take Quebec by his own efforts or~ 
 not at all. He attempted several diversions 
 above the city in the hope of drawing Montcalm, 
 the French commander, from his intrenchments 
 into the open field, but Montcalm merely sent 
 De Bougainville with fifteen hundred men to 
 watch the shore above Quebec and prevent a 
 landing. Wolfe fell into a fever, caused by his 
 anxiety, and his dispatches to his government 
 
162 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 created the gravest uneasiness in England for 
 the success of his enterprise. 
 
 Though ill, Wolfe examined the river with 
 eagle eyes to detect some place at which a land- 
 ing could be attempted. His energy, was re- 
 warded by his discovery of the cove which now 
 bears his name. From the shore at the head of 
 this cove a steep and difficult pathway, along 
 which two men could scarcely march abreast, 
 wound up to the summit of the heights and was 
 guarded by a small force of Canadians. 
 
 Wolfe at once resolved to effect a landing 
 here and ascend the heights by this path. The 
 greatest secrecy was necessary to the success of 
 the undertaking, and in order to deceive the 
 French as to his real design, Captain Cook, 
 afterwards famous as a great navigator, was 
 sent to take soundings and place buoys opposite 
 Montcalm's camp, as if that were to be the real 
 point of attack. The morning of the thirteenth 
 of September was chosen for the movement, and 
 the day and night of the twelfth were spent in 
 preparations for it. 
 
 At one o'clock on the morning of the thir- 
 teenth a force of about five thousand men under 
 Wolfe, with Monckton and Murray, set off in 
 boats from the fleet, which had ascended the 
 river several days before, and dropped down to 
 the point designated for the landing. Each 
 officer was thoroughly informed of the duties 
 required of him, and each shared the resolution 
 of the gallant young commander, to conquer or 
 to die. As the boats floated down the stream, 
 
SELECTED READINGS 163 
 
 in the clear, cool starlight, Wolfe spoke to his 
 officers of the poet Gray, and of his ' ' Elegy in a 
 Country Churchyard." "I would prefer," said 
 he, "being the author of that poem to the glory 
 of beating the French to-morrow." Then in a 
 musing voice he repeated the lines : 
 
 "The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power, 
 And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave, 
 
 Await alike the inexorable hour ; 
 
 The paths of glory lead but to the grave. ' ' 
 
 In a short while the landing-place was 
 reached, and the fleet, following silently, took 
 position to cover the landing if necessary. 
 Wolfe and his immediate command leaped 
 ashore and secured the pathway. The light 
 infantry, who were carried by the tide a little 
 below the path, climbed up the side of the 
 heights, sustaining themselves by clinging to the 
 roots and shrubs which lined the precipitous 
 face of the hill. They reached the summit and 
 drove off the picket-guard after a light skirmish. 
 The rest of the troops ascended in safety by 
 the pathway. Having gained the heights, Wolfe 
 moved forward rapidly to clear the forest, and 
 by daybreak his army was drawn up on the 
 Heights of Abraham, in the rear of the city. 
 
 Montcalm was speedily informed of the pres- 
 ence of the English. "It can be but a small 
 party come to burn a few houses and retire," 
 he answered incredulously. A brief examination 
 satisfied him of his danger, and he exclaimed 
 
164 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 in amazement: "Then they have at last got to 
 the weak side of this miserable garrison. We 
 must give battle and crush them before mid- 
 day." 
 
 He at once dispatched a messenger for De 
 Bougainville, who was fifteen miles up the river, 
 and marched from his camp opposite the city to 
 the Heights of Abraham to drive the English 
 from them. The opposing forces were about 
 equal in numbers, though the English troops 
 were superior to their adversaries in discipline, 
 steadiness and determination. 
 
 The battle began about ten o'clock and was 
 stubbornly contested. It was at length decided 
 in favor of the English. Wolfe though wounded 
 several times, continued to direct his army 
 until, as he was leading them to a final charge, 
 he received a musket ball in the breast. He 
 tottered and called to an officer near him: 
 "Support me; let not my brave fellows see me 
 drop. ' ' He was borne tenderly to the rear, and 
 water was brought him to quench his thirst. 
 
 At this moment the officer upon whom he was 
 leaning cried out: "They run! they run!" 
 "Who run?" asked the dying hero, eagerly. 
 "The French," said the officer, "give way 
 everywhere." "What," said Wolfe, summon- 
 ing up his remaining strength, "do they run 
 already? Go, one of you, to Colonel Burton; 
 bid him march Webb's regiment with all speed 
 to Charles River to cut off the fugitives. ' ' Then 
 a smile of contentment overspreading his pale 
 features, he murmured : ' ' Now, God be praised, 
 
SELECTED READINGS 165 
 
 I die happy," and expired. He had done his 
 whole duty, and with his life had purchased 
 an empire for his country. 
 
 James D. McCabe. 
 
 LITTLE JEAN 
 
 At the battle of the Pyramids, July 21st, 
 
 A. d. 1798. 
 
 Burning sands, and isles of palm, and the 
 
 Mamelukes' fierce array, 
 Under the solemn Pyramids, Napoleon saw that 
 
 day; 
 "Comrades," he cried, "from those old heights, 
 
 Fame watches the deeds you do, 
 The eyes of forty centuries are fixed this day on 
 you!" 
 
 They answered him with ringing shouts, they 
 
 were eager for the fray, 
 Napoleon held their central square, in front was 
 
 bold Desaix ; 
 They gave one glance to the Pyramids, one. 
 
 glance to the rich Cairo, 
 And then they poured a rain of fire upon their 
 
 charging foe. 
 
 Only a little drummer boy, from the column of 
 
 Dufarge, 
 Tottered to where the " Forty- third " stood 
 
 waiting for their "charge," 
 
166 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 Bleeding— but beating still his call— he said, 
 
 with tear-dimmed eye : 
 "I'm but a baby, Forty-third, so teach me how 
 
 to die!" 
 
 Then Regnier gnawed his long gray beard, and 
 
 Joubert turned away, 
 The lad had been the pet of all, they knew not 
 
 what to say; 
 "I will not shame you, 'Forty-third,' though I 
 
 am but a child ! ' ' 
 Then Regnier stooped and kissed his face, and 
 
 shouted loud and wild: 
 
 1 ' Forward ! Why are we waiting here ? Shall 
 Mamelukes stop our way? 
 
 Come, little Jean, and beat the 'charge,' and 
 ours shall be the day; 
 
 And we will show thee how to die, good boy! 
 good boy ! Be brave ! 
 
 It is not every 'nine years' old' can fill a sol- 
 dier's grave!" 
 
 It was as though a spirit spoke, the men to bat- 
 tle flew ; 
 
 Yet each in passing, cried aloud: "My little 
 Jean, Adieu!" 
 
 "Adieu, brave Forty-third, Adieu!" Then 
 proudly beat his drum— 
 
 "You've showed me how a soldier dies— and lit- 
 tle Jean will come ! ' ' 
 
 They found him 'mid the slain next day, amid 
 the brave who fell, 
 
SELECTED READINGS 167 
 
 Said Regnier, proudly, "My brave Jean, thou 
 learned thy lesson well ! ' ' 
 
 They hung the medal round his neck, and 
 crossed his childish hands, 
 
 And dug for him a little grave in Egypt's lone- 
 ly sands. 
 
 But, still, the corps his memory keep, and name 
 with flashing eye, 
 
 The hero whom the " Forty- third, " in Egypt, 
 taught to die. 
 
 Lillie E. Barr. 
 
 THE DEFEAT OF GENERAL BRADDOCK 
 
 Washington, who, at this time, was a subordi- 
 nate officer, was well convinced that the French 
 and Indians were informed of the movements of 
 the army and would seek to interfere with it 
 before its arrival at Fort Duquesne, which was 
 only ten miles distant, and urged Braddock to 
 throw in advance the Virginia Rangers, three 
 hundred strong, as they were experienced 
 Indian fighters. 
 
 Braddock angrily rebuked his aide, and as if 
 to make the rebuke more pointed, ordered the 
 Virginia troops and other provincials to take 
 position in the rear of the regulars. 
 
 In the meantime the French at Fort Du- 
 quesne had been informed by their scouts of 
 Braddock 's movements, and had resolved to 
 ambuscade him on his march. Early on the 
 
168 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 morning of the ninth a force of about two hun- 
 dred and thirty French and Canadians and six 
 hundred and thirty-seven Indians, under De 
 Beaujeu, the commandant at Fort Duquesne, 
 was dispatched with orders to occupy a desig- 
 nated spot and attack the enemy upon their ap- 
 proach. Before reaching it, about two o'clock 
 in the afternoon, they encountered the advanced 
 force of the English army, under Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Thomas Gage, and at once attacked 
 them with spirit. 
 
 The English army at this moment was moving 
 along a narrow road, about twelve feet in width, 
 with scarcely a scout thrown out in advance or 
 upon the flanks. The engineer who was locat- 
 ing the road was the first to discover the enemy, 
 and called out : ' ' French and Indians ! ' ' In- 
 stantly a heavy fire was opened upon Gage's 
 force, and his indecision allowed the French and 
 Indians to seize a commanding ridge, from 
 which they maintained their attack with spirit. 
 
 The regulars were quickly thrown into con- 
 fusion by the heavy fire and the fierce yells of 
 the Indians, who could nowhere be seen, and 
 their losses were so severe and sudden that they 
 became panic-stricken. 
 
 The only semblance of resistance maintained 
 by the English was by the Virginia Rangers, 
 whom Braddock had insulted at the beginning 
 of the day's march. Immediately upon the 
 commencement of the battle, they had adopted 
 the tactics of the Indians, and had thrown them- 
 selves behind trees, from which shelter they 
 
SELECTED READINGS 169 
 
 were rapidly picking off the Indians. Wash- 
 ington entreated Braddock to follow the 
 example of the Virginians, but he refused, and 
 stubbornly endeavored to form them in platoons 
 under the fatal fire that was being poured upon 
 them by their hidden assailants. Thus through 
 his obstinacy many useful lives were lost. 
 
 The officers did not share the panic of the 
 men, but behaved with the greatest gallantry. 
 They were the especial marks of the Indian 
 sharpshooters, and many of them were killed or 
 wounded. Two of Braddock 's aides were seri- 
 ously wounded, and their duties devolved upon 
 Washington in addition to his own. He passed 
 repeatedly over the field, carrying the orders of 
 the commander and encouraging the men. When 
 sent to bring up the artillery, he found it sur- 
 rounded by Indians, its commander, Sir Peter 
 Halket, killed, and the men standing helpless 
 from fear. 
 
 Springing from his horse, he appealed to the 
 men to save the guns, pointed a field-piece and 
 discharged it at the savages and entreated the 
 gunners to rally. He could accomplish nothing 
 by either his words or example. The men de % 
 serted the guns and fled. In a letter to his 
 brother, Washington wrote: "I had four bul- 
 lets through my coat, two horses shot under me, 
 yet escaped unhurt, though death was leveling 
 my companions on every side around me. ' ' 
 
 James D. McCabe. 
 
170 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 INDEPENDENCE DAY, 1776. 
 
 Ring out, glad bells, your merry chime, 
 Proclaim to every land and clime 
 On this bright, gladsome July morn— 
 A people free, a nation born. 
 Chime through the city, ville and town, 
 Regardless of the tyrant's frown, 
 Ring out o'er woods and mountains wild, 
 The birth of freedom's beauteous child. 
 Send tidings o'er the foam- white tide— 
 Over the restless waters wide— 
 Where crested billows surge and swell 
 Thy holy echoes blithesome bell ; 
 LiKe timbrel sound across the sea, 
 Her psalm of independence. 
 
 Peal, cannons, peal ! The glad news forth, 
 Proclaim it to the frigid North ; 
 Belch forth your every iron mouth 
 The summons to the sunny South. 
 Oh ! flash the glorious news abroad 
 From warm Key West to cold Cape Cod ; 
 Let the report of freedom's gun 
 Be heard at glorious Lexington, 
 And from the Atlantic's billowy breast 
 Send the glad tidings to the West, 
 Across the prairie and the brake 
 From Boston Bay to Erie's lake, 
 And let Niagara's thunder song 
 The glory of the theme prolong; 
 Columbia 's Independence. 
 
SELECTED READINGS 171 
 
 Let brilliant watchfires gleam to-night 
 Upon the mountain's dizzy height, 
 On every hill, at every post, 
 On every headland round the coast ; 
 On all the crossways through the land, 
 On every beach, on every strand, 
 Showing their signals, white and red, 
 From Mason's Bay to Hilton's Head, 
 And flash from every rocky steep, 
 Along the Atlantic 's seething deep ; 
 And from each ruddy flame shall glow 
 Freedom's defiance to the foe, 
 And light the midnight's darkling haze 
 Till Pilgrim's Rock reflects the blaze 
 Of sacred Independence. 
 Speed, bounding bark with flowing sail, 
 Publish the tidings on the gale, 
 And let it spread from sea to sea, 
 America to lead the free ! 
 Conceived in fire, in the wild flame 
 Of contest waged in freedom's name. 
 Born in the battle's mad'ning strife, 
 And proudly ushered into life 
 Amid the craze of war's alarms, 
 
 And cradled in a warrior's arms, 
 In revolution 's fiery flood ; 
 Baptized in freedom's sea of blood. 
 Her front a helmet— in her hand- 
 Baptismal gift— a battle brand, 
 The first shrill sounds that met her ears 
 Were freemen's guns and freemen's cheers 
 For welcome Independence. 
 
172 PATRIOTIC RECITATIONS 
 
 Hark! the glad sound of music sweet, 
 From happy crowds that throng the street, 
 With wild delight and mirthful glee 
 They chant the anthem of the free, 
 With bugle, horn, with drum and fife, 
 Hailing a nation born to life, 
 This holiday of freedom's world, 
 Bright with her banners now unfurled, 
 Let it resound o'er cape and bay 
 Greeting the Nation's natal day, 
 Reverberate each song and cheer, 
 Till the old town of Concord hear 
 The glorious strains, till streams and rill 
 Send echoes back to Bunker Hill 
 Of lasting Independence. 
 
 THE END. 
 
CATALOGUE OF 
 
 FREDERICK J. DRAKE 
 & COMPANY 
 
 PUBLISHERS. 
 352-356 Dearborn St. CHICAQO. 
 
 u 
 
 PON receipt of the price, any book 
 advertised in the following pages 
 will be sent by mail, postage paid, to 
 any Post Office in the United States, 
 Canada, or the Universal Postal Union. 
 
 As to our financial standing-, we respectfully 
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 Not Respopnsible for Money or Books sent by 
 Mail, unless Registered. 
 
 Parcels will be registered on receipt of Ten Cents 
 in addition to the amount of the order. 
 
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 Write us for terms, etc. 
 
 HOW TO SEND MONEY. 
 
 In remitting by mail, the safest means are a 
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 stamps other than those of the United States, and 
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 accepted. 
 
2 CATALOGUE OP F. J. DRAKE & CO. 
 
 Frederick J. Drake & Company's 
 
 CATALOGUE OF 
 
 Standard Up=to=Date Hand Books 
 on the following Subjects: 
 
 Dialogues, Recitations, Tableaux, 
 
 Charades, Pantomimes, Mock Trials, 
 
 Monologues, Drills, Marches, Minstrel 
 and Entertainment Books, Magic, 
 Palmistry, Hypnotism, Black Art, 
 Electricity, Speakers, Poultry, 
 Letter Writers, Dream Books, 
 
 Fortune Tellers, Popular Dramas, 
 Photography, Etiquette, Dancing-, 
 Etc., Etc., Etc., Etc. 
 
 Each book in this list is the work of a com- 
 petent specialist, and will be found reliable, 
 practical and thoroughly up-to-date. 
 
 Any Book Advertised in This Catalogue Sent, 
 
 Postpaid, on Receipt of Price. 
 
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 352-356 Dearborn St., Chicago. 
 
 SEND FOR COMPLETE CATALOGUE. 
 
CATALOGUE OF F. J. DRAKE & CO. 3 
 
 DUTCH DIALECT. 
 
 Recitations, Readings and Jokes, as told by our fore- 
 most vaudeville stars, Weber and Fields, Rogers Broth- 
 ers, Marshall P. Wilder, Ezra Kendall, Geo. Fuller 
 Golden, Gus Williams, and others. Every lover of Ger- 
 man dialect wit and humor ought to procure a copy 
 of this new and up-to-date book, as it contains the 
 choicest emanations" of the most celebrated and re- 
 nowned Dutch comedians and humorists of the present 
 day. Rip-roaring, side-splitting Dutch dialect. Hot 
 humor covers its many pages, and comedians and ama- 
 teurs who wish to keep an audience or social gathering 
 in a continuous stream of laughter and merriment, and 
 receive tumultous applause at every appearance, will 
 find in this book exactly what they require. 
 
 Paper Covers 25 CENTS. 
 
 (Cloth, Gold Titles 50 CENTS. 
 
 CHOICE DIALECT AND VAUDEVILLE STAGE 
 JOKES. 
 
 A New Standard collection of Readings, Recitations, 
 Jokes, Gags, and Monologues in Irish, Dutch, Scotch, 
 Yankee, French, Italian, Spanish, Chinese, Negro, and 
 other dialects, representing every phase of sentiment 
 from the keenest humor or the tenderest pathos to that 
 which is strongly dramatic. We heartily recommend 
 this book to amateurs and professionals as being the 
 Best, Latest and containing the brightest dialect stories 
 of the Vaudeville stage. It is full of ginger and un- 
 like anything before published. There is another laugh 
 in you, it will have to come out if read. 
 
 Paper Covers 25 CENTS. 
 
 Cloth, Gold Titles 50 CENTS. 
 
 CONUNDRUMS AND RIDDLES. 
 
 Collected and arranged by John Ray. This is the latest, 
 largest and best collection of Conundrums and Riddles 
 ever published. Containing upwards of two thousand 
 choice new intellectual Conundrums and Riddles 
 which will sharpen your wit and lead you to think 
 quickly. They are always a source of great amuse* 
 ment and pleasure, whiling away tedious hours and 
 putting every one in a general good humor. Any per- 
 son, with the assistance of this book, may take the 
 lead in entertaining a company and keep them in roars 
 of laughter for hours. We heartily recommend it to 
 Amateurs and professionals for entertainments of all 
 kinds. 
 
 Paper Covers 25 CENTS. 
 
 Cloth, Gold Titles 50 CENTS. 
 
 Any Book Advertised in This Catalogue Sent, 
 
 Postpaid, on Receipt of Price. 
 
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 352-356 Dearborn St., Chicago. 
 
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CATALOGUE OF P. J. DRAKE & CO. 
 
 TOASTS AND AFTER-DINNER SPEECHES. 
 
 Compiled and Edited by William Young Stafford. 
 How many times have you been called upon to re- 
 spond to some toast or speech? What would you not 
 give for the ability to be rid of this embarrassment? 
 This book contains Presentation Speeches, At and 
 After Dinner Speeches, Political Speeches, Welcomes, 
 Congratulations, School Commencement Valedictories, 
 etc. Also toasts and welcomes on various subjects. 
 From this book you may learn some lessons that will 
 prove profitable when called upon to speak or respond 
 to some toast or sentiment. Send for a copy and pre- 
 pare yourself. 
 
 Not only is it valuable to the novice, but the experi- 
 enced orator will find many good suggestions. 
 
 Paper Covers 25 CENTS. 
 
 Cloth, Gold Titles 50 CENTS. 
 
 PATRIOTIC READINGS AND RECITATIONS. 
 
 This is the choicest, newest and most complete col- 
 lection of Patriotic recitations published, and include 
 all of the best known selections, together with the best 
 uttrances of all eminent statesmen. Selections for 
 Decoration Day, Fourth of July, Washington and Lin- 
 coln's Birthdays, Arbor Day, Labor Day, and all other 
 Patriotic occasions. The following are some of the 
 many choice pieces included in this valuable work: 
 The Battle of Santiago. That Starry Flag of Ours. 
 Hobson's Daring Deed. Deeds of Valor at Santi- 
 Gen. Wheeler at Santiago. ago. 
 The Flag Goes By. The Negro Soldier. 
 
 In Manilla Bay. - A Race for Dear Life. 
 
 My Soldier Boy. Our Country's Call. 
 
 The Yankees in Battle. Patriotism of American 
 
 The Banner Betsy Made. Women. 
 The Battle Field. The Roll Call. 
 
 Washington's Name. Sinking of the Merrimac. 
 
 The Stars and Stripes. The Fourth of July. 
 
 Our Flag. Columbia. 
 
 Etc., Etc., Etc. Etc., Etc., Etc. 
 
 There are few things more popular during National 
 Holidays than entertainments and exhibitions, and 
 there is scarcely anything more difficult to procure 
 than new and meritorious material appropriate for 
 such occasions. This book will fill every want. 
 
 Paper Covers 25 CENTS. 
 
 Cloth, Gold Titles 50 CENTS. 
 
 Any Book Advertised in This Catalog-tie Sent, 
 
 Postpaid, on Receipt of Price. 
 
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 352-356 Dearborn St., Chicago. 
 
 SEND FOR COMPLETE CATALOGUE. 
 
CATALOGUE OF F. J. DRAKE & CO. 5 
 
 ''COMIC RECITATIONS" AND READINGS. 
 
 A New Volume of Comic readings and Recitations, 
 compiled and edited by Wm. Young Stafford. Many of 
 which have never before been published in book form. 
 Its contents comprise some of the best efforts of such 
 world-renowned humorists as Mark Twain, Joseph Bil- 
 lings Artemus Ward, Ezra Kendall, Bret Harte, Bill 
 Nye. Ben King, Geo. Thatcher, Lew Dockstader, Wm. 
 S. Gilbert, James Whitcomb Riley and others. 
 
 This is an unequalled collection of the most amusing, 
 eccentric, droll and humorous pieces, suitable for reci- 
 tation in schools, drawing-room entertainments, and 
 Amateur Theatricals. It would be impossible to find 
 so many irresistibly funny pieces in any other tongue. 
 They range irom the most refined wit to the broadest 
 farcical humor; but always free from even an approach 
 to vulgarity. 
 
 Paper Covers 25 CENTS. 
 
 Cloth, Gold Titles 50 CENTS. 
 
 LITTLE POLKS* SPEAKER. 
 
 Containing cute and catchy pieces for recitations by 
 small children of ten years and much younger, includ- 
 ing Speeches of Welcome and short Epilogues for 
 opening and closing Children's Eentertainments. The 
 subjects are such as delight the infantile mind and 
 the language, while childlike, is not childish. All of 
 the selections are new and fresh, many being specially 
 written for this volume. It would be difficult to find 
 another collection so replete with short, bright, cheery 
 printed pieces as contained in this book. 
 
 Paper Covers 25 CENTS. 
 
 Cloth, Gold Titles 50 CENTS. 
 
 DELIGHTFUL ENTERTAINMENTS. 
 
 With programmes for amusements, containing parlor 
 games; charming tableaux; tricks of magic; charades, 
 and conundrums; curious puzzles; phrenology and mind 
 reading; hypnotism; palmistry; humorous and pathetic 
 recitations, dialogues, etc., etc. Including etiquette and 
 the art of entertaining, the whole forming a charming 
 treasury of pastimes for the home, public schools, and 
 academies, lodges, social gatherings, amateur theatri- 
 cals, Sunday-schools, etc. Beutifully illustrated with 
 hundreds of fine engravings. Size 7^x10. Elegantly 
 bound in cloth, with emblematic designs in gold and 
 inks. 350 double column pages; clear type. 
 Price $1.75 
 
 Any Book Advertised in This Catalogue Sent, 
 
 Postpaid, on Receipt of Price. 
 
 FREDERICK J. DRAKE & CO., 
 
 352-356 Dearborn St., Chicago. 
 
 SEND FOR COxMPLETE CATALOGUE. 
 
CATALOGUE OF F. J. DRAKE & CO. 
 
 HAVERLY'S NEGRO MINSTRELS. 
 
 A complete hand book written to encourage, help and 
 guide amateurs in their efforts to form troupes and 
 give a successful evening's performance. An entire 
 program is arranged with full details, consisting of a 
 first part with the brightest dialogue between "Tam- 
 foo," "Bones" and the "Middleman;" the introduction 
 of ballads and songs, etc., new and side-splitting stump 
 speeches follow, filling the interim between the first and 
 second parts. The latter suggests the usual olio per- 
 formance of dances, banjo solo and novelty acts. The 
 entire program is concluded by a fine afterpiece given 
 bv most of the troupe. 
 
 There is no more popular and successful form of 
 public entertainment for amateurs than negro minstrel 
 shows. Thev consist of music and fun and when free 
 from vulgarity are bound to please any audience. Mr. 
 Jack Haverly was one of the most widely experienced 
 men on the minstrel stage, and in this book has drawn 
 on his stock of tried features, selecting and offering 
 his best therefrom. 
 
 Besides arranging the program and giving the com- 
 plete dialogue for the same from the rising to tl\e 
 falling of the curtain, Mr. Haverlv has prefaced it by 
 short chapters on "Make-up," "Dress," "Settings" and 
 some very helpful general remarks. 
 
 The additional matter in the way of gags and jokes 
 makes this book one of the best joke books published. 
 
 Descriptions of how to walk the cake-walk, and 
 other useful matter, all of which makes this book the 
 most complete one of the subject ever issued. 
 
 Paper Covers 25 CENTS. 
 
 Cloth, Gold Titles 50 CENTS. 
 
 PACIOLOGY. 
 
 By La Vergne Belden Stevens, L.L.B. New edition 
 revised and enlarged. Presenting this volume to the 
 public the publishers have refrained as much as pos- 
 sible from being too scientific, and to present it in a 
 clear and practical form. Each chapter is profusely 
 illustrated, by heads and faces taken from photo- 
 graphs from life of the most famous men and women 
 who are noted for abnormal developments, good or 
 bad. If you want to know Human Nature you should 
 procure a cony of this valuable work. 
 
 Paper Covers -. 25 CENTS. 
 
 Cloth, Gold Titles 50 CENTS. 
 
 Any Book: Advertised in This Catalogue Sent, 
 
 Postpaid, on Receipt of Price. 
 
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 352-356 Dearborn St., Chicago. 
 
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CATALOGUE OF F. J. DRAKE & CO. 
 
 COMPLETE DEBATER'S MANUAL. 
 
 By. Charles Walter Brown. This book will fill a place 
 occupied by no other. It is not only a manual of parlia- 
 mentary usages but a complete guide to all matters 
 pertaining to Organization. In Parliamentary Usages 
 it is f-ill and accurate. It gives in brief space all es- 
 sentials of parliamentary usages as applied to: Lodges, 
 G. A. R. Posts, High School Societies, Literary and 
 Debating Clubs, Town and Ward Meetings, Political 
 Conventions, etc. 
 
 Debating Clubs will find this book unequaled. It tells 
 us all about how to start the machinery. How to out- 
 line and prepare a debate. It gives full debates, sd 
 that the inexperienced speaker may know about what ho 
 is expected to say, and how much is required to fill his 
 allotted time. In Organization "The Debator's Manual" 
 excels. It begins with the first steps and gives a model 
 organization, Constitution, By-Laws, etc. 
 
 Price, Paper Covers 25 CENTS. 
 
 Cloth, Gold Titles 50 CENTS. 
 
 NEW CENTURY AMERICAN STAR SPEAKER. 
 
 Being a standard work on Composition and Oratory. 
 Containing rules for expressing written thought in a 
 correct and elegant manner; model selections from the 
 most famous authors; subjects for compositions and 
 how to treat them; use of illustrations; Descriptive, 
 Pathetic and Humorous writings, etc., etc. Together 
 with a Peerless Collection of Readings and Recita- 
 tions, including programmes for special occasions from 
 authors of world-wide renown, for Public Schools, 
 Academies, Colleges, Lodges, Sunday-Schools and 
 Social Entertainments. The whole forming an un- 
 rivaled Self-Educator for young people. Embellished 
 with hundreds of fine illustrations. 
 
 Large 8-Vo. Cloth binding, with original designs on 
 front and back covers. Price $1.75 
 
 PRACTICAL ETIQUETTE. 
 
 A strictly modern book on Politeness. Just what one 
 needs to keep in touch with what is "Correct" at the 
 present time. Hints on politeness and good breeding, 
 sensible talks about etiquette for home, visiting, travel- 
 ing, dinner parties, evening entertainments, social inter- 
 courses, dress, letter writing, etc. 
 
 Price. Paper Cover 25 CENTS. 
 
 Cloth, Gold Titles 50 CENTS. 
 
 Any Book: Advertised in This Catalogue Sent, 
 
 Postpaid, on Receipt of Price. 
 
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 SEND FOR COMPLETE CATALOGUE. 
 
CATALOGUE OP F. J. DRAKE & CO. 
 
 "IRISH WIT AND HUMOR," 
 
 Containing the best sayings of all Irish speakers and 
 the efforts of all famous Irish dialect writers. Irish 
 wit and humor is a factor in human experience which 
 the world can ill afford to lose. In some of its quali- 
 ties it is second to the wit and humor of no nation on 
 earth. Judging it by its average specimens— and it 
 would be manifestly misleading to take a lower stand- 
 ard—it manages to convey an idea fully; but in its 
 haste to express itself,— the metaphors get mixed, and 
 the thoughts transposed or reversed. For playfulness, 
 for sarcastic keenness, for gracefulness, and for red- 
 hot scornfulness, nothing is more effective than some 
 of the examples of the wit and humor of the Irishman, 
 as told in this timely volume. Amateur theatricals or 
 entertainments of any character will find this book a 
 most acceptable addition for gathering material. 
 
 Paper Covers 25 CENTS. 
 
 Cloth, Gold Titles 50 CENTS. 
 
 HOW TO TELL, FORTUNES BY CARDS. 
 
 By Madame Zancig. Fully illustrated. This little 
 manual has been written to give amusement, and it 
 describes the methods that are commonly used by 
 Gypsies and others when they profess to "read ycur 
 fortune." Many have witnessed a great number of 
 most wonderful and useful conclusions which have been 
 produced by this science, and many future events have 
 been foretold. Much depends on the ingenuity and skill 
 of the reader, who, after having duly obtained the true 
 and full meaning that each card in the pack bears sepa- 
 rately, and in its independent state, must be also fully 
 enabled to form, judge, and vary all their several mix- 
 tures, company, and combinations, which are easily 
 deducted and calculated by a person of an ordinary 
 capacity. Any one can tell the present, past and fu- 
 ture by following these simple instructions. Fully illus- 
 trated. 
 
 Paper Covers 25 CENTS. 
 
 Cloth, Gold Title 50 CENTS. 
 
 HIBERNIAN SONGSTER. 
 
 A grand collection of over 500 songs that are dear 
 to the Irish heart. Including sheets of selected music 
 and numerous toasts and sentiments. 
 
 Paper Covers 25 CENTS. 
 
 Cloth, Gold Titles 50 CENTS. 
 
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 Postpaid, on Receipt of Price. 
 
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CATALOGUE OF F. J. DRAKE & CO. 9 
 
 L.OVE LETTERS. 
 
 With directions how to write and when to use them. 
 By Ingoldsby North. This is a branch of correspond- 
 ence which fully demands a volume alone to provide 
 for the various phases incident to Love, Courtship, and 
 Marriage. Few persons, however otherwise fluent with 
 the pen, are able to express in words the promptings 
 of the first dawn of love, and even, the ic? once 
 broken, how to follow up a correspondence with the 
 dearest one in the whole world and how to smooth the 
 way with those who need to be consulted in the mat- 
 ter. Ihe numerous letters and answers in this book 
 go far to overcome the difficulties and embarrassment 
 inseparable from letters on this all-absorbing topic, in 
 all stages from beginning to end of a successful court- 
 ship, aided in many instances by the author's sensible 
 comments on the specimen letters, and his valuable 
 hints under adverse contingencies. It also contains 
 the Art of Secret Writing. The language of Love por- 
 trayed, and rules in grammar. 
 
 Paper Covers 25 CENTS. 
 
 Cloth 50 CENTS. 
 
 AMERICAN IDEAL HOMES. 
 
 Edited by Benj. F. Cobb, containing plans of Eighty 
 houses, ranging in price from $550 up to $6 500, two 
 churches, five barns, three sheds, one store building 
 and summer cottages. These plans were drawn by a 
 licensed architect of the State of Illinois, who has 
 given his especial attention to the planning of medium- 
 priced houses. In designing these house plans great 
 care has been taken in making these perspectives 
 artistic and the arrangement of the houses convenient, 
 and the floor plans of the different houses presented 
 offer so many suggestions as to make the book almost 
 invaluable to anyone planning a home. The book is 
 T^xlO 1 /^ inches in size and is bound in English green 
 cloth. The perspective views and floor plans, which are 
 both given, are printed from the best half-tone cuts 
 on enamel paper, and the prices of the blue prints and 
 specifications, which we furnish, are shown in the 
 book. The average price of the blue prints and speci- 
 fications is five dollars a set, and they are just the 
 same as plans which if prepared especially for you 
 by an architect would cost you from fifty to seventy- 
 five dollars. 
 Pr'ce. Cloth Binding $1.50 
 
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 Postpaid, on Receipt of Price. 
 
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10 CATALOGUE OF F. J. DRAKE & CO. 
 
 BROWN'S BUSINESS LETTER WRITER AND BOOK 
 OF SOCIAL FORMS. 
 
 By C. W. Brown. The most complete practical com- 
 pendium of correspondence and business forms ever 
 published. Gives full instructions for writing, and speci- 
 mens of Business Letters, Legal Forms, Leases, Deeds, 
 Wills, Contracts; models for Refined Love-Letters, cov- 
 ering Courtship, Engagements, Marriage; Social Forms, 
 Invitations, Acceptances, Regrets, Condolences; Family 
 Letters for Parents, Guardians and Children; How to 
 address the President and Government Officials. Also 
 leading synonyms. Teaches how to write correctly. 
 
 When you wish to write a letter you have only to 
 consult the book, find the model, and then form your 
 letter upon that, putting what you want to say to suit 
 yourself. 
 
 "Brown's Letter Writer" is not full of love-sick 
 effusions and long-winded models of high flown style 
 from impossible Chesterfields to imaginary Counts or 
 Duchesses. It is plain, easy and to the point. It will 
 tell you anything you really need in the way of a 
 letter. 
 
 Paper Cover 25 CENTS. 
 
 Cloth, Gold Titles 50 CENTS. 
 
 HERRMANN'S BOOK OF MAGIC. 
 
 Including a full exposure of the Black Art. This is a 
 practical treatise on how to perform modern tricks, by 
 Prof. Herrmann. Great care has been exercised by the 
 author to include in this book only such tricks as have 
 never before appeared in print. This assures the per- 
 former a secret and almost endless fund for suitable 
 material to be used on all occasions. With little prac- 
 tice, almost anyone can perform the more simple tricks^ 
 and with practice, as he becomes more adept, he can 
 perform the most difficult. No book published contain:-" 
 a greater variety of material for conjurers and sleight- 
 of-hand performers than this book. Coins, cards, silk 
 hat, handkerchiefs, balls, are all introduced in the many 
 programs offered, thus affording one an endless variety 
 from which to select for parlor or stage entertainments. 
 Fully illustrated. By a knowledge of what is contained 
 in this book on Black Art, you can make the weak as 
 strong as a lion, or the "bully" as timid as a child. You 
 can cure disease, cause others to come to you, love you, 
 and obey your every wish. Or, if you desire, you can 
 make fun by the hour through its agency. 
 
 Paper Covers 25 CENTS. 
 
 Cloth, Gold Titles 50 CEIVPS. 
 
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 Postpaid, on Receipt of Price. 
 
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CATALOGUE OF F. J. DRAKE & CO. 11 
 
 "PRACTICAL. LESSONS IN HYPNOTISM." 
 
 By L. W. De Laurence, A.M., Ph.D., LL.D., Instruc- 
 tor of Hypnotism, Personal Magnetism, Messmerism, 
 Magnetic Healing, Suggestive Therapeutics, Psychol- 
 ogy, etc., at the American School of Psychology. This 
 is the author's latest and best work. It gives the only 
 course which starts the student out upon a plain, com- 
 mon sense basis of Hypnotizing people. Each of the 
 many chapters contain from ten to thirty practical les- 
 sons prepared especially for self-instruction, a feature 
 never before offered the public. Many books pub- 
 lished on Hypnotism pretend to teach the student with- 
 out first mastering the real principles and entirely ig- 
 noring the constituent elements of Psychology. Prof. 
 De Laurence teaches a method which will enable any 
 student to go right into a promiscuous audience without 
 any subjects whom you have previously hypnotized, and 
 give successful hypnotic demonstrations. He has 
 demonstrated the fact that anybody who can read can 
 learn his methods as contained in this valuable book, 
 the instructions are plain and the methods are the 
 result of long experience, careful research, and much 
 study. Thousands have mastered his instructions as 
 taught in this book, and are now successfully apply- 
 ing Personal Magnetism and Hypnotism in their daily 
 vocations, which is sufficient evidence to prove the 
 worth of this volume. Be sure and get this book, Prac- 
 tical Lessons in Hypnotism, By L. W. De Lawrence. 
 Fully illustrated. 
 
 Paper Covers 25 CENTS. 
 
 Cloth, Gold Titles 50 CENTS. 
 
 <<SAFE METHODS OF BUSINESS." 
 
 Containing the latest and most correct methods of 
 conducting every business on absolutely safe principles, 
 by Hon. FranK Gilbert, Ex-Sub Treasurer U. S. To the 
 busy person time is money, and, for the idle, informa- 
 tion has little attraction. The book that is terse, point- 
 ed and pithy is the one that is read and prized. This 
 volume possesses these requisites in a remarkable de- 
 gree. It contains no dead matter, the pages being filled 
 with facts, figures and general information, involving 
 law, both State and National, commerce, agriculture, 
 social customs, mercantile transactions, and calcula- 
 tions, and the rights and wrongs of civil life — all in a 
 form carefully designed for practical utility. 12 Mo., 
 Cloth, 300 pages, fully illustrated. 
 Price $1.00. 
 
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12 CATALOGUE OF F. J. DRAKE & CO. 
 
 BECAUSE I LOVE YOU. 
 The Book of Love, Courtship and Carriage. 
 
 It fully explains How Maidens Become Happy Wives 
 and Bachelors Become Happy Husbands in a brief 
 space of time and by easy methods. Also Complete Di- 
 rections for Declaring Intentions, Accepting- Vows and 
 Retaining Affections both Before and After Marriage, 
 describing the invitations, the dresses, the ceremony, 
 and the proper behavior of both bride and bridegroom, 
 whether in public or behind the nuptial curtain. It also 
 tells plainly how to begin courting, the way to get 
 over bashfulness the way to "sit up," the way to 
 find the soft spot in the sweetheart's breast, the way 
 to write a love letter, the way to easily win a girl's con- 
 sent, the way to "do up things" before and after en r 
 gagement, and hundreds of other things of vast import- 
 ance to lovers. This is just the treatise to be in the 
 hands of every young bachelor or maiden, every mar- 
 ried man or woman, every widow or widower, young 
 and old. 
 
 Paper Covers 25 CENTS. 
 
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 LESSONS ON PHRENOLOGY. 
 
 A Complete Illustrated treatise. By Prof. William 
 Windsor, L.L.B., Ph. D. Phrenologist and Anthropolo- 
 gist. New Edition revised and enlarged. The unremit- 
 ting demand made by an indulgent and appreciative 
 public for a new edition of the lectures, By Prof. Wind- 
 sor, has compelled the publishers to issue this new and 
 complete course in Phreeology, which is in every re- 
 gard a most careful and easy method of Instruction 
 In that popular science. The book is fully illustrated 
 with carefully prepared drawings, which will enable 
 any one to fully master the profession. 
 
 Paper Covers 25 CENTS. 
 
 Cloth, Gold Title 50 CENTS. 
 
 LITTLE FOLKS' DIALOGUES AND DRAMAS. 
 
 A collection of original Dialogues and Dramas by 
 various authors, sprightly and sensible, particularly 
 adapted for little neople from three to twelve years 
 old, on subjects and ideas fitted to their age, handled 
 in the quaint manner of childhood, and developing the 
 germ of mimicry and appropriate action, so often ob- 
 served in even children of tender age. Suitable for 
 all occasions. Special day celebrations, etc. With 
 costumes for boys and girls. 
 
 Paper Covers 25 CENTS. 
 
 Cloth, Gold Titles 50 CENTS. 
 
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Catalogue of f. j. drake & co. 13 
 
 MODERN QUADRILLE CALL BOOK AND COMPLETE 
 DANCING MASTER. 
 
 Containing all the new modern square dances and 
 tabulated forms for the guidance jf Che leader or others 
 in calling them, full and complete directions for per- 
 forming every known square dance, such as Plain 
 Quad rills. Polka Quadrills, Prairie Queen, United 
 States Quadrille, Presidential Quadrille, Varieties 
 Quadrille, Francaise, Cake Walk Quadrille, Dixie Fig- 
 ure, Gill I Left Behind Me, Old Dan Tucker, Money 
 Musk Waltz Lanciers, American National Lanciers, 
 Military Lanciers, Columbian Lanciers, Oakland 
 Minuet, Waltz Quadrilles, etc., etc. 
 
 In the Round Dances, a special feature consists of 
 the introduction of the Wirth and other newest meth- 
 ods of teaching the steps of the waltz, etc., so thor- 
 oughly illustrated by diagrams that they can be per- 
 fectly mastered without the need of personal introduc- 
 tion. In this manner are clearly described the Waltz, 
 Galop, the Plain, Guide, and Heel-and-Toe Polkas, Mili- 
 tary .Schottische, the York, Caprice, Berlin, Minuet, 
 
 The "German" introduces over One Hundred of the 
 newest and most popular Figures, fully described, and 
 conveniently grouped for ready reference, 
 etc., etc. 
 
 Every information in regard to the service of Bail- 
 Room Etiquette, duties of Leaders, and general in- 
 struction is fully and clearlv given. 
 
 Paper Covers 25 CENTS. 
 
 Cloth, Gold Titles 50 CENTS. 
 
 THE GYPSY WITCH DREAM BOOK AND POLICY 
 PLAYER'S GUIDE. 
 
 This is the most complete dream book and policy 
 players' guide published. It contains an alphabetical 
 list of dreams on every subject, including the lucky 
 numbers, given names of both males and females and 
 their numbers. Birthdays and their significance, Lucky 
 Days, Rules to learn the number of Saddles, Gigs, ajid 
 Horses in any given row of numbers, and wha 1 " amount 
 they will bring, Combination tables, etc. It is the most 
 reliable and authentic dream book ever published, the" 
 gathering of the material alone has occupied many 
 years of careful research. 
 
 Paper Covers .25 CENTS. 
 
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14 CATALOGUE OF F. J. DRAKE & CO. 
 
 "ELECTRICITY FOR ENGINEERS." 
 
 By Charles Desmond. Tenth Edition, revised and 
 enlarged. This is the accepted standard authority on 
 Electricity for Engineers. Two volumes in one. Vol- 
 ume one (constant current), contains a clear and com- 
 prehensive treatise on the principles, construction and 
 operation of dynamos, moters, lamps, indicators, and 
 measuring instruments, also a full explanation of the 
 electrical terms used in the book. Volume two (Alter- 
 nate Current Apparatus), contains an explanation of 
 the principles governing the generator of, and a de- 
 scription of the instruments and machinery used in con- 
 nection with Alternate electrical currents. Superbly 
 illustrated with 138 fine line illustrations. 12 Mo. 
 Cloth, 430 pages. Price $2.51). 
 
 FIRST LESSONS IN ELECTRICITY. 
 
 By W. Jerome Harrison. Revised and enlarged by 
 William L. Weber. This is an elementary hand book 
 of lessons, experiments and inventions. It is a book for 
 beginners, though it includes as well examples for the 
 advanced students. The author stands second* to none 
 in the scientific world, and this exhaustive work will be 
 found an invaluable assistance to either the student 
 or mechanic. The following subjects are treated: 
 Frictional electricity, magnetism, current electricity, 
 electrostatics, electromagnetics, measurements, of cur- 
 rents, electro-optics, induction currents, electro-chem- 
 istry, telegraphs and telephones, etc., etc. 
 
 Paper Covers 25 CENTS. 
 
 Cloth 50 CENTS. 
 
 STANDARD PERFECTION POULTRY BOOK. 
 
 By C. C. Shoemaker. The recognized standard work 
 in poultry in this country adopted by the Breeders' 
 Poultry Association. It contains a complete descrip- 
 tion of all the varieties of. fowls, including Turkeys, 
 Ducks, and Geese, also full «lirections for operating in- 
 cubators and brooders. 
 
 Many old-fashioned farmers are inclined to discredit 
 the statement that there js money in poultry. Why? 
 Because they are not up to the new and improved ideas 
 in poultry management. A little trial of the rules laid 
 down in this book will soon dispel all misgivings in this 
 direction, and tend to convince the most skeptical that 
 there is money in poultry-keeping. Fully illustrated. 
 
 Paper Covers 25 CENTS. 
 
 Cloth ..50 CENTSt 
 
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CATALOGUE OF F. J. DRAKE & CO. 15 
 
 PRACTICAL, HOUSE BUILDER. 
 
 Compiled and edited by H. E. Burnham, Architect. 
 This valuable little manual gives in simple style the 
 correct and most economical plans and specifications for 
 building houses for towns .or country, barns, stables, 
 churches, etc. It deals thoroughly with the practical 
 building of a house; hundreds of details which the 
 amateur builder usually learns through expensive ex- 
 perience. It contains specimens ■ of contracts, specifi- 
 cations and plans, and a study of it will save omission 
 and extras. The plans deal with houses costing from 
 $300 to $4,000, which makes it the most valuable and up- 
 to-date house builder published. Fully illustrated. 
 
 Paper Covers 25 CENTS. 
 
 Cloth, Gold Title 50 CENTS. 
 
 TOKOLOGY. 
 
 A book for every woman. By Alice B. Stockham, 
 M.D. This is unquestionably the most valuable work 
 of the kind published. The author, in sympathy with 
 the needs of her sex, discusses at length, with strength 
 and purity, physical questions of the greatest import- 
 ance. Complete, plain and specific directions for the 
 care of a woman during the entire term of pregnancy, 
 including baths, diet, exercise, clothing and medical 
 treatment. Explicit lessons are given for her manage- 
 ment during and after confinement. Plain instructions 
 for the care of an infant, its clothing, bathing, nursing, 
 etc., are given. Profusely illustrated. Also a special 
 chart of female organs. 
 
 Cloth $2.25. 
 
 Morocco $2.75. 
 
 HOUSEHOLD COOK BOOK. 
 
 Complete Modern Housekeeping Manual. A compre- 
 hensive collection of new, choice and thoroughly tested 
 recipes, including every department of domestic codk- 
 ery. Especially adapted for household use. Also con- 
 taining medical and toilet hints, invalid cookery, plans 
 for setting the table, carving, and a great variety of 
 information invaluable to every housekeeper. Profusely 
 illustrated. 
 
 Besides being the very latest it is also the largest 
 and most reliable Cook Book published. Everything is 
 practical, and of the twenty-eight hundred cooking 
 and house-keeping recipes, the greater majority will 
 be found serviceable in all homes. While the aim has 
 been to give the receipts for all dishes, even the more 
 elaborate have not been overlooked. 
 
 (Continued on page 16.) 
 
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16 
 
 CATALOGUE OF F. J. DRAKE & CO. 
 
 HOUSEHOLD COOK BOOK— Continued. 
 
 The book contains 656 large octavo pages, hand- 
 somely printed from new plates on a good quality of 
 toned paper. It is handsomely bound in white oil clith 
 with marble edges and is embossed with a special cover 
 design in inks. Price $150 
 
 There are nearly double the number of recipes in this 
 book that are found in any other book published, as 
 will be found in the comparative table below: 
 
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 w~ 
 
 O 
 
 2z 
 
 
 "1 
 
 O rt- 
 
 w 
 
 Oo 
 
 S3 
 
 wa> 
 
 *£ 
 
 5k 
 
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 o X* 
 
 
 : p 
 
 os 
 
 o& 
 
 w 
 
 : » 
 
 • (0 
 
 w 
 
 No. "Words 
 
 No. Pages 
 
 Recipes, Total No.. 
 
 Recipes for Fish — 
 
 Recipes for Soups.. 
 
 Recipes for Shell 
 Fish , 
 
 Recipes for Sauces 
 for Fish and Meat 
 
 Recipes for Meats.. 
 
 Recipes for Salads. 
 
 Recipes for Vegeta- 
 bles 
 
 Recipes f. Puddings 
 and Dumplings ... 
 
 Recipes for Cakes.. 
 
 Recipes for Deserts 
 
 Recipes for Ice 
 Creams and Ices, 
 
 Recipes for Candy 
 Making 
 
 Recipes for Jams, 
 Jellies, 
 Marmalades 
 
 Recipes for Pickles 
 
 Recipes for Bever- 
 ages 
 
 Recipes for Invalid 
 Cookery 
 
 Recipes for Chafing 
 Dish ' 
 
 198,000 
 
 536 
 
 1,200 
 
 39 
 
 43 
 
 42 
 
 10S 
 
 18 
 
 None 
 
 20 
 
 None 
 
 201,000 
 
 587 
 
 1,300 
 
 41 
 
 47 
 
 242,000 
 
 | 554 
 
 2,300 
 
 1 60 
 
 65 
 
 1 240,000 
 
 590 
 
 1,850 
 
 59 
 
 53 
 
 32 
 
 33 
 
 46 
 
 41 
 
 120 
 
 34 
 
 28 
 103 
 
 38 
 
 38 
 
 134 
 
 30 
 
 73 
 
 101 
 
 100 
 
 25 
 52 
 45 
 
 112 
 
 138 
 112 
 
 125 
 
 125 
 108 
 
 43 
 
 24 
 
 19 
 
 28 
 
 44 
 
 41 
 
 32 
 6 
 
 110 
 
 60 
 
 39 
 31 
 
 30 
 
 30 
 
 52 
 
 None 
 
 56 
 
 45 
 
 20 
 
 None 
 
 None 1 
 
 410,000 
 
 656 
 
 2,800 
 
 170 
 
 100 
 243 
 
 176 
 
 303 
 152 
 
 55 
 75 
 
 142 
 
 75 
 
 97 
 
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 Postpaid, on Receipt of Price. 
 
 FREDERICK J. DRAKE & CO., 
 
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CATALOGUE OF F. J. DRAKE & CO. * 17 
 
 •I'HE MAGICIAN'S HAND-BOOK. 
 By "Selbit." If you wish to be up to the minute 
 you must have the new book on Magic and 
 Illusions. 
 
 The pages of this excellent cyclopedia on Magic 
 abound with thorough descriptions and beautiful illus- 
 trations of the Very Newest Tricks and Illusions, and 
 also contains a great many hints which will prove in- 
 valuable to the amateur as well as the professional ma- 
 gician. It is also the only work published which con- 
 tains full instructions on the Art of Juggling. 
 
 We highly recommend the purchase of this book, 
 which is far superior to any of the numerous works 
 on Conjuring which have appeared in the late years. 
 So confident are we of the fact that our customers will 
 be more than pleased with this book, we offer to re- 
 fund the amount paid for it, if the book does not come 
 up in every way to the purchaser's expectation. 
 
 Fully Illustrated; 12 Mo. Cloth $1.00 
 
 ZANCIG'S NEW COMPLETE PALMISTRY. 
 
 The only authorized edition published. By Prof, and 
 Mme. Zancig. Here we have the simplest presentations 
 of the Science of Modern Palmistry published. All of 
 the discoveries, investigations and researches of cen- 
 turies are summed up in" this practical treatise on 
 Palmistry. There is no trait, no characteristic, no in- 
 herited tendency that is not marked on the palm of the 
 hand, and can be traced with unerring accuracy by fol- 
 lowing the principles and instructions laid down in 
 this book, enforced by numerous timely illustrations 
 of known historical personages. Even a casual reading 
 of this book will enable us to know our own character 
 better and give us convincing proof of the sincerity or 
 insincerity of friends— or professing ones. If a careful 
 study is then made you will be astonished at the ac- 
 curacy with which you can read the life-history of any 
 one through the graven lines on the palms. 86 fine 
 illustrations. N. B.— Other editions bearing the name 
 of Zancigs are not authorized by them. 
 
 Paper Covers 25 CENTS. 
 
 Cloth Titles in Gold 50 CENTS. 
 
 COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHIC INSTRUCTOR. 
 
 By T. Stith Baldwin. The camera is now recognized 
 as a factor in the fields of pleasure, profit and instruc- 
 tion and is used by every class of citizen; by the tour- 
 ist and other pleasure seekers as an adjunct to further 
 the enjoyment of a vacation and to provide lasting 
 (Continued on Page 18.) 
 
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18 CATALOGUE OF F. J. DRAKE & CO. 
 
 COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHIC INSTRUCTOR— Con- 
 tinued. 
 
 souvenirs of a pleasant experience: by the professional 
 man as a most valued assistant in scientific research; 
 toy the itinerant photographer as a means of liveli- 
 hood, as he travels from place to place. 
 
 Any man, woman or child of ordinary intelligence, 
 without previous experience, by simply following print- 
 ed instructions, can soon acquire the knowledge neces- 
 sarv to properly operate the camera, develop the plate 
 (or film), and print and finish the picture. It also con- 
 tains full instructions for Lantern-slide and transpar- 
 ency making, fully illustrated. 
 
 Paper Covers 25 CENTS. 
 
 Cloth 50 CENTS. 
 
 CARD TRICKS. How to Do Them. 
 
 and principles of Sleight of Hand. By Prof. A. Rotor- 
 berg. Fully Illustrated. This book gives, with careful 
 and easy instructions, the newest card tricks and 
 Sleight of hand yet offered to professionals and ama- 
 teurs. Not only does this book contain all of the new 
 tricks, but nearly every one known is fully explained 
 and exposed by explicit directions and carefully pre- 
 pared illustrations. No more agreeable form of pub- 
 lic or private amusement can be devised than that of 
 successful card tricks. The great trouble is usually 
 the difficulty in learning the tricks or in successfully 
 producing them. This book gives plain instructions 
 how to do them so as to render their production certain 
 of success. 80 fine illustrations. 
 
 Paper Covers 25 CENTS. 
 
 Cloth, Gold Titles 50 CENTS. 
 
 TRICKS WITH COINS. 
 
 Embracing every sleight and subtlety invented 
 and known, By T. Nelson Downs, "King of 
 Koins." Illustrated. 
 
 Full and complete expose (illustrated) of the Author's 
 World-Famous Coin Creation, "The Miser's Dream" 
 including the correct method of executing the Continu- 
 ous Back and Front-Hand Palm. 
 
 A Series of absolutely new Passes with Coins, includ- 
 ing eleven distinct and different methods of causing the 
 disappearance of a single coin. 
 
 This Book contains a complete explanation, with illus- 
 trations of many Coin Tricks and the Author. Written 
 in a plain, easy, comprehensive style, which makes it 
 the very best book on coin tricks published. 
 
 Paper Covers 25 CENTS. 
 
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CATALOGUE OF P. J. DRAKE & CO. 1* 
 
 Drake's Descriptive List of Plays. 
 
 NEW PLAYS AND ENTERTAINMENTS. 
 
 These plays are of the highest order of merit, and 
 make the very best list before the public. They are 
 spirited in action and rich in variety of incident, con- 
 taining- pathos, delightful humor, and sparkling wit. 
 This series contains no worthless nor worn-out plays. 
 Every one is up-to-date. None of them is in any way 
 objectionable to the most fastidious. All can be pro- 
 duced in any town or village hall, many of them on a 
 platform or in the parlor, without scenery or proper- 
 ties. 
 
 ALL THAT GLITTERS IS NOT GOLD. 15 Cents. 
 
 A comic drama in two acts, by Thos. and J. M. Mor- 
 ton. Six male, three female characters. Two interior 
 scenes. Time, two hours. A standard play, pleasing to 
 audiences of all grades, brimful of comic situations and 
 containing some powerfully affecting passages. 
 
 ARABIAN NIGHTS, THE. 15 Cents. 
 
 A farsical comedy in three acts, by Sydney Grundy. 
 Four male, five female characters. Costumes of to-day. 
 Parlor scene throughout. Runs 2 1-4 hours. A superior 
 piece from the literary point of view. 
 
 AT SIXES AND SEVENS. 15 Cents. 
 
 A comedietta in one act, by J. M. Morton. Three 
 male, four female characters. Parlor scene. Modern 
 costumes. Time, 45 minutes. The excellence of this 
 gay little piece consists in the humor of its situations. 
 
 BACHELORS BEDROOM, THE; OR TWO IN THE 
 MORNING. 15 Cents. 
 
 A farce in one act, by Charles Matthews. Two male 
 characters. Time 40 minutes. Show the inconveniences 
 that arise from inviting a crank to share your bed- 
 room at 2 A. M.. Sometimes called "A Good Night's 
 Rest." 
 
 BARBARA. 15 Cents. 
 
 A play in one act, by J. K. Jerome, two male, two 
 female characters. Modern costumes. Sitting-room 
 scene. Time, 50 minutes. A well written romantic 
 story with touches of genuine humor. 
 
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20 CATALOGUE OF F. J. DRAKE & CO. 
 
 BARDELL vs. PICKWICK. 15 Cents. 
 
 The trial scene from Dickens' "Pickwick Papers," by 
 John .tiollingshead. Five male, two female, and as 
 many others as may foe desired for jurors, ushers, etc. 
 Scene, a court-room. Time, 30 minutes. Very funny 
 and affords scope for "taking off" local legal celebrities. 
 
 BETSY. 15 Cents. 
 
 A farcical comedy in three acts, by F. C. Burnard. 
 Seven males, six females. Modern customs. Time, 2% 
 hours. Two interior scenes. A most successful play. 
 
 BLACK MAIL. 15 Cents. 
 
 A farce in one act, for three darky comedians. Inter- 
 ior scene, or no scene at all. Time, about half an hour. 
 A musical doctor, a youth whose valentines and love- 
 letters get him into scrapes, and a colored gentleman 
 very much "on the make," will create a great deal of 
 laughter with their comicalities. Admits of specialties, 
 and is very funny. 
 
 BLACK STATUE, THE. 15 Cents. 
 
 A farce in 1 act, by Charles White. 4 male (2 black 
 faces), 2 female (played by male actors), characters. 
 Scene, optional. Time of playing, 25 minutes. Old 
 Squintum finds Pete making love to his daughter, and 
 discharges him. The latter, with the help of Jake, a 
 comical darky, and Pilgarlic, a sly cove, is sold to 
 Squintum as a statue that makes life-like movements. 
 The statue proves very lively and Squintum gets very 
 badly sold. 
 
 BOARDING SCHOOL, THE. 15 Cents. 
 
 A farce in 1 act, by W. B. Bernard, as played at Wal- 
 lack's Theatre, N. Y. 7 male. 5 female characters, and 
 school-girls. Time, 1 hour. 
 
 BOX AND COX. 15 Cents. 
 
 A Negro farce, in 1 act, by Geo. Christy, for 3 black- 
 face comedians, one impersonating an old woman. Cox 
 is in the white washing business and wants lodgings at 
 night; Box, a waiter, sleeps only in the daytime. Aunty 
 Bouncer, the landlady, with both eyes open to business, 
 rents the same room to both lodgers. Box gets a day 
 off and returns to his garret only to find Cox in posses- 
 sion. Then follows a circus and a reconciliation. No 
 scenery required. Plays about 20 minutes. Extravag- 
 antly funny. 
 
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CATALOGUE OF F. J. DRAKE & CO. 21 
 
 BETSY BAKER; OR TOO ATTENTIVE BY HALF. 
 15 Cents. 
 
 A farce in one act, by J. M. Morton. Two male, two 
 female characters. Parlor scene. Time, 45 minutes. A 
 lively farce in which the action rushes straight to the 
 climax without any complications or intricacies. 
 
 CHANGE PARTNERS. 15 Cents. 
 
 A comedietta in 1 act, by J. M. Morton, a male, 3 fe- 
 male characters. Parlor scene. Modern Costumes. 
 Time, 45 minutes. There is an uninterrupted vivacity 
 about this breezy trifle that makes it play itself, while 
 its comic situations provoke a succession of laughs. 
 Each character has scope for effective acting. It never 
 yet failed to please. No scenery required 15 CENTS 
 
 CRICKET ON THE HEARTH, THE. 15 Cents. 
 
 A drama in 3 acts, by Albert Smith. 6 male, 6 female 
 characters. 3 interior scenes. Modern costumes. Time, 
 2 hours. The entire range of theatrical literature does 
 not present a better instance of "domestic" drama than 
 this clever dramatization of Dickens' charming story. 
 
 CUP OP TEA, A. 15 Cents. 
 
 A comedietta in 1 act. 3 males, 1 female, viz.: light 
 comedian, 2 low comedians and comedienne. Parlor 
 scene. Modern costumes. Time, 30 minutes. A favorite 
 parlor play in which Mr. Scroggins, a comical abscond- 
 ing debtor, contrives to stand things on their heads 
 generally before he gets his cup of tea. A spirited trifle 
 that acts exceedingly well. 
 
 PAST PRIENDS. 15 Cents. 
 
 A comedietta in 1 act, by R. Henry. 2 female char- 
 acters. Parlor scene. Modern costumes. Time, 20 min- 
 utes. A conspiracy, a secret, a flare-up, and a reconcili- 
 ation between two society ladies, that has met with 
 much approval. No scenery required. 
 
 FAIR ENCOUNTER, A. 15 Cents. 
 
 A comedietta in 1 act, by Chas. M. Rae. 2 female 
 characters. Parlor scene. Plain room scene. Moderfi 
 costumes. Time, 30 minutes. A bright piece of the 
 diamond-cut-diamond sort, in which one eccentric socie- 
 ty leader masquerades as the new housemaid of anoth- 
 er, in order to learn what sort of a sister-in-law the lat- 
 ter will make. It is a war of woman's wit between two 
 well matched adversaries. No scenery required. 
 
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22 CATALOGUE OF F. J. DRAKE & CO. 
 
 FREEZING A MOTHER-IN-LAW. 15 Cents. 
 
 A farce in 1 act, by T. E. Pemberton. 3 male, 2 fe- 
 male characters. Parlor scene. Everyday costumes. 
 Time, 45 minutes. One of the best of the "mother-in- 
 law" plays, with chances for good acting all around, 
 marked by keen humor of dialogue and uncommon drol- 
 lery in its situations. 
 
 FUNNIBONE'S FIX. 15 Cents. 
 
 A farce in 1 act, by A. Williams. 6 male, 2 female 
 characters. Office scene. Everyday costumes. Time, 30 
 minutes. Represents a sub-editor's woes in running a 
 country newspaper. Funny from first to last, with an 
 irresistibly ludicrous ending. 
 
 FURNISHED APARTMENTS. 15 Cents. 
 
 A farce in 1 act. 5 male characters. Plain room 
 scene or no scene at all. Time, 50 minutes. Dr. Planus 
 lets his suit of rooms to Mr. Thompson, not knowing 
 that they have already been let by his assistant to Mr. 
 Smith. Both lodgers arriving to take possession at the 
 same hour, a laughable scene ensues. 
 
 GALLUS JAKE. 15 Cents. 
 
 An Ethiopian comicality in 1 scene, for two black- 
 face comedians. Kitchen scene, or no scene at all. 
 Plays about 10 minutes. Ephraim, a white-washer, and 
 Jake, a darky dude, have a comical spirit-rapping ex- 
 perience that scares them out of their senses. 
 
 HANDY ANDY. 15 Cents. 
 
 An Irish drama in 2 acts, by W. R. Floyd. 10 male, 
 3 female characters. Time, 1*4 hours. Full of absurdi- 
 ties that provoke laughter. 
 
 HAPPY PAIR, A. 15 Cents. 
 
 A comedietta in 1 act, by S. Theyer Smith. 1 male, 1 
 female— both light comedy. Time, 45 minutes. A highly 
 diverting little play, full of brisk movement and giving 
 wide scope to both characters for clever work. 
 
 HARVEST STORM, THE. 15 Cents. 
 
 A drama in 1 act, by C. H. Hazlewood. 10 male char- 
 acters. Landscape scene. Time, 45 minutes. The story 
 of a bank clerk falsely accused of embezzlement, and 
 his final exculpation, is set forth with high dramatic 
 effect and unflagging interest. 
 
 Any Book Advertised in This Catalogue Sent, 
 
 Postpaid, on Receipt of Price. 
 
 FREDERICK J. DRAKE & CO., 
 
 352-356 Dearborn St., Chicago. 
 
 SEND FOR COMPLETE CATALOGUE. 
 
CATALOGUE OF F. J. DRAKE & CO. 23 
 
 HAUNTED HOUSE, THE. 15 Cents. 
 
 A Negro farce in 1 act, by Griffin and Christy. 2 male 
 characters (landlord and whitewasher) and several 
 ghosts. Plain interior scene. Time, about 15 minutes. 
 Pete Johnson tries a little spirit rapping and is scared 
 nearly out of his wits in consequence. 
 
 HIGHEST PRICE PAID FOR OLD CLOTHES; OR 
 
 THE TAILOR'S STRIKE. 15 Cents. 
 
 An original eccentricity in 1 scene for 3 darky com- 
 edians. Time, about 15 minutes. Dr. Squozzle and Zip 
 Johnson, returned from California, try to get some 
 sleep in the office of a hotel, while waiting for the train. 
 Taking off their coats, etc., things get badly mixed. 
 
 HOME. 15 Cents. 
 
 A comedy in 3 acts, by T. W. Robertson. 4 male, 3 
 female characters. Modern costumes. Parlor scene 
 throughout. Time, 2 hours. A pTime favorite with play- 
 goers everywnere. 
 
 HOW TO TAME YOUR MOTHER-IN-LAW. 15 Cents. 
 
 A farce in 1 act, by H. J. Byron. 4 male, 2 female 
 characters. Parlor scene. Time, 35 minutes. Mr. Whif- 
 fles, being oppressed with a meddlesome mother-in-law, 
 invokes the aid of a friend to cure his relative's eccen- 
 tricities. After a series of absurd extravagances the 
 old lady is thoroughly "tamed" and Mr. Whiffles' se- 
 renity restored. 
 
 IN HONOR BOUND. 15 Cents. 
 
 A drama in 1 act, by Sydney Grundy. 2 male, 2 fe- 
 male characters. Parlor scene. Evening costumes. 
 Plays 40 minutes. A simple, pretty piece, neatly de- 
 signed and freshly written; a little sentimental, but 
 neither forced nor tawdry in its sentiment. 
 
 JOHN SMITH. 15 Cents. 
 
 A farce in 1 act, by W. Hancock. 5 male, 3 female 
 characters. Time, 40 minutes. A favorite and laugha" 
 ble piece in which the great number of John Smiths in 
 the world is cleverly utilized in producing a series of 
 button-bursting misunderstandings. Every character is 
 good, and the farce is easy to play. 
 
 Any Book Advertised in This Catalogue Sent, 
 
 Postpaid, ©n Receipt of Price. 
 
 FREDERICK J. DRAKE & CO., 
 
 352-356 Dearborn St., Chicago. 
 
 SEND FOR COMPLETE CATALOGUE. 
 
24 CATALOGUE OF F. J. DIIAKE & CO. 
 
 JUMBO Jl«. 15 Cents. 
 
 A farce in 1 act. 4 male, 3 female characters. Time, 
 40 minutes. Jumbo Jum is a comical darky who gets 
 everything upside down in an uproarious way. The 
 character is so full of genuine humor and fun that it is 
 sure to convulse any audience with laughter from begin- 
 ning to end. A favorite piece with "cullud" comedians. 
 
 LADY AUDLEY'S SECRET. 15 Cents. 
 
 A drama in 2 acts, by C. H. Hazlewood. 4 male, 3 
 female characters. Costumes of the day. Time, 1 X A 
 hours. This is a dramatization of Miss Braddon's well 
 known novel, a favorite stock play with repertoire com- 
 panies and popular among dramatic clubs. Lady Aud- 
 ley is among the best of leading emotional characters. 
 
 LEND ME FIVE SHILLINGS. 15 Cents. 
 
 A farce in 1 act, by J. M. Morton. 5 male, 2 female 
 characters. Time, 1 hour. The humor of this celebrated 
 farce springs from the hero's perplexities and mortifica- 
 tions. It invariably provokes continuous explosions of 
 laughter, and has long been a favorite in the repertoire 
 of Mr. Joseph Jefferson. 
 
 LOST HEIR, THE. 15 Cents. 
 
 A drama in 3 acts for 10 male characters. Time, 1^ 
 hours. Deservedly a favorite because of its real dra- 
 matic effectiveness and the unflagging interest that fol- 
 lows the fortunes of the young hero. 
 
 MARRIED LIFE. 15 Cents. 
 
 A comedy in 3 acts, by J. B. Buckstone. 5 male, 5 fe- 
 male characters. Time, 2 hours. A sterling comedy 
 that invariably provokes uproarious outbursts of mirth. 
 
 MISCHIEVOUS BOB. 15 Cents. 
 
 A comic drama in 1 act, for 6 male characters. Plain 
 room scene. Time, 40 minutes. A taking farce for boys, 
 marked by a serious, and even pathetic, as well as 
 comic interest. 
 
 MISCHIEVOUS NIGGER, THE. 15 Cents. 
 
 A farce in 1 act, by Chas. White. 4 male (darky, 
 French barber, Irishman, and irascible old man), 2 fe- 
 male characters, (played by male actors). Plays 30 
 minutes. 
 
 Any Book Advertised in This Catalogue Sent, 
 
 Postpaid, on Receipt of Price. 
 
 FREDERICK J. DRAKE & CO., 
 
 352-356 Dearborn St., Chicago. 
 
 SEND FOR COMPLETE CATALOGUE. 
 
CATALOGUE OP F. J. DRAKE & CO. 2$ 
 
 MORE BLUNDERS THAN ONE. 15 Cents. 
 
 A farce in 1 act, by Thos. G. Rodwell. 4 male, 3 fe- 
 male characters. Time, about 1 hour. Consists of a 
 succession of comical misadventures growing out of the 
 pranks of a blundering Irishman who drives everybody 
 nearly wild with his oddities. The leading character is 
 an Irish comedian. 
 
 MRS. WILLIS* WILL. 15 Cents. 
 
 A comedy in 1 act from the French of Emile Souv- 
 estre. 5 female characters. Plain room scene. Time, 45 
 minutes. Conveys the moral that fine clothes and 
 scheming selfishness do not always succeed. A country 
 jig, danced under protest by two of the personages, is 
 the medium of much fun, and the whole cast, being 
 composed of distinct types, gives scope for some very 
 neat character acting. No scenery required. 
 
 MY AWFUL DAD. 15 Cents. 
 
 A comedy in 3 acts, by Chas. Matthews. 6 males, 6 
 females, and 3 utility male characters. Modern cost- 
 umes. 2 interior scenes. Time, 2 hours. Keeps the au- 
 dience in roars of laughter from first to last. The play 
 always makes a brilliant hit, and will be talked about 
 long after many another play has been forgotten. 
 
 MY NEIGHBOR'S WIFE. 15 Cents. 
 
 A farce in 1 act, by J. M. Morton. 4 male, 4 female 
 characters. Parlor scene. Modern costumes. Time, 45 
 minutes. A laughable piece in which each of two elder- 
 ly "mashers" attempts a flirtation with his neighbor's 
 wife. 
 
 MY PRECIOUS BETSEY. 15 Cents. 
 
 A farce in act, by J. M. Morton. 4 male, 4 female 
 characters. Plain room scene. Time, 55 minutes. It is 
 indescribably funny and never yet failed to convulse an 
 audience with laughter. 2 of the characters (1 male 
 and 1 female) may be omitted, if desired. Sometimes 
 called "Bobtails and Wagtails." 
 
 NOT SUCH A FOOL, AS HE LOOKS. 15 Cents. 
 
 A comedy in 3 acts, by H. J. Byron. 5 male, 4 female 
 characters. Modern costumes. 3 interior scenes. Time, 
 2y 2 hours. The movement throughout is exceedingly 
 brisk, the interest not being permitted to flag for a 
 moment. The play has great merit, and it is always 
 greeted with unlimited laughter and vast applause. 
 
 Any Book Advertised in This Catalogue Sent, 
 
 Postpaid, on Receipt of Price. 
 
 FREDERICK J. DRAKE & CO., 
 
 352-356 Dearborn St., Chicago. 
 
 ^END FOR COMPLETE CATALOGUE. 
 
26 CATALOGUE OF F. J. DRAKE & CO. 
 
 NO CURE, NO PAY. 15 Cents. 
 
 A Negro farce in 1 act, by G. W. H. Griffin. 3 males, 
 
 1 female (played by a male actor). Plain interior or no 
 scene at all. Plays about 15 minutes. Dr. Ipecac has a 
 new method for restoring speech and hearing to the 
 deaf and dumb. Geo. Washington Green, a dandy lover, 
 gets under the treatment by mistake, with terrifying 
 and ridiculous results. Cato, a darky servant is an ex- 
 travaeantly comical character. The other three char- 
 acters can be played with white faces. 
 
 NOT SO BAD AFTER ALL,. 15 Cents. 
 
 A comedy in 3 acts, by Wybert Reeve. 6 male, 5 fe- 
 male characters. Garden and parlor scenes. Modern 
 costumes. Time, 1% hours. The extraordinary whims 
 and fancies of a wife who seeks to establish petticoat 
 government, her husband's comical predicaments and 
 her ultimate cure, form the motive of this comedy 
 which brings shouts of laughter from the audience. It 
 is played sometimes as "Is Marriage a Failure?" and 
 "The Second Honeymoon." 
 
 OBSTINATE FAMILY, THE. 15 Cents. 
 
 A farce in 1 act. 3 male, 3 female characters. Plain 
 room scene. Everyday costumes. Time, 40 minutes. 
 A lovers' quarrel between two servants grows, by a 
 very natural process, into what threatens to be a do- 
 mestic cyclone of vast proportions. 
 
 OUR BOYS. 15 Cents. 
 
 A comedy in 3 acts, by H. J. Byron. 6 male, 4 female 
 characters. Modern costumes. 3 interior scenes. Time, 
 
 2 hours. Full of opportunities for exciting a laugh, 
 though some of the best effects are produced in the 
 few serious moments of the play. 
 
 OUT IN THE STREETS. 15 Cents. 
 
 A drama in 3 acts, by S. N. Cook. 6 male, 4 female 
 characters. Modern costumes. Time, 1 hour. Where- 
 ever this play is presented it is received with the great- 
 est enthusiasm. 
 
 POPPING THE QUESTION. 15 Cents. 
 
 A farce in 1 act, by J. B. Buckstone. 2 male, 4 female 
 characters. Parlor scene. Time, 40 minutes. It is an 
 exceedingly neat farce, easy to play, and always brings 
 down the house. Requires no scenery. 
 
 Any Book Advertised in This Catalogue Sent, 
 
 Postpaid, on Receipt of Price. 
 
 FREDERICK J. DRAKE & CO., 
 
 352-356 Dearborn St., Chicago. 
 
 SEND FOR COMPLETE CATALOGUE. 
 
CATALOGUE OF F. J. DRAKE & CO. 27 
 
 PERSECUTED DUTCHMAN, THE; OR THE ORIG- 
 INAL, JOHN SCHMIDT. 15 Cents. 
 
 A farce in 1 act, by J. Barry. 6 male, 3 female char- 
 acters. Time, 50 minutes. Audiences never tire of this 
 farce, though it has been played, and played again. 
 Shouts of laughter greet the indescribably funny pre- 
 dicaments of a Dutch commercial traveller who stops 
 at a hotel. 
 
 PRETTY PIECE OP BUSINESS, A. 15 Cents. 
 
 A comedietta in 1 act, by Thos. Morton. 2 male, 3 
 female characters. Parlor scene. Modern costumes. 
 Time, 50 minutes. Consists of a series of absurd com- 
 plications growing out of a plot to make a diffident old 
 batchelor come to the point. No scenery required. 
 
 QUACK DOCTOR, THE. 15 Cents. 
 
 A Negro farce in 1 act, by J. W. Smith. 4 males, 1 
 female (the latter played by a male actor)— all black 
 faces. Dr. Squash pulls teeth, cures fits, makes love 
 to Dinah Primrose, and upsets things generally until 
 his patients get together and mob him. Time, about 
 25 minutes. 
 
 QUARRELSOME SERVANTS. 15 Cents. 
 
 A farce in 1 act. by G. W. H. Griffin. 3 male char- 
 acters (1 white, 2 black faces). Plain room scene or no 
 scene at all. lime, about 15 minutes. A popular and 
 effective skit for 3 comedians. 
 
 QUIET FAMILY, A. 15 Cents. 
 
 A farce in 1 act, by W. E. Suter. 4 male, 4 female 
 characters. Plain room scene. Everday costumes. 
 Time, 45 minutes. A flare-up and reconciliation in 
 which two quarrelsome families living under one roof 
 create a whirlwind of boisterous fun which involves 
 servants and all. The piece fetches shouts of laughter, 
 and is good for parlor or afterpiece. 
 
 REGULAR FIX, A. 15 Cents. 
 
 A farce in 1 act, by J. M. Morton. 6 male, 4 female 
 characters. Parlor scene. Everyday costumes. Time, 
 50 minutes. The audience is kept in a state of continu- 
 ous and explosive mirth at the way in which the hero 
 extricates himself from the dilemmas that confront 
 him at everv point. 
 
 Any Book Advertised in This Catalogue Sent, 
 
 Postpaid, on Receipt of Price. 
 
 FREDERICK J. DRAKE & CO., 
 
 352-356 Dearborn St., Chicago. 
 
 SEND FOR COMPLETE CATALOGUE. 
 
28 CATALOGUE OF F. J. DRAKE & CO. 
 
 ROOMS TO LET, WITHOUT BOARD. 15 Cents. 
 
 A farce in 1 act, by Griffin and Denier. 3 male char- 
 acters. Bedroom scene. Plays about 15 minutes. The 
 farce is so full of snappy "business" and comic incident 
 that it is sure to go well. Can be played with white or 
 black faces. 
 
 ROUGH DIAMOND, THE. 15 Cents. 
 
 A farce in 1 act, bv J. B. Buckstone. 4 male, 3 female 
 characters. Parlor scene. Modern costumes. Time, 40 
 minutes. In this farce, whose popularity is unexelled, 
 the contrast between a country bumpkin and his 
 fashionable city cousin is laughable in the extreme, 
 while the dialogue and situations are funny straight 
 through. Very easy to play. It is called, also, "The 
 Country Cousin," and "Cousin Joe's Visit." 
 
 SCHOOL FOR SCHEMING, THEj OR LOVE AND 
 MONEY. 15 Cents. 
 
 A comedy in 5 acts by Dion Bouccicault. 7 males, 8 
 female characters. Time, about 3 hours. The author 
 has constructed a very entertaining play with numerous 
 merits. Spectators are always deeply interested in the 
 development of the plot, and applause follows each act. 
 
 SCRAP OF PAPER, Aj OR THE ADVENTURES OF A 
 LOVE-LETTER. 15 Cents. 
 
 A comic drama in 3 acts, by J. P. Simpson. 6 male, 6 
 female characters. 3 interior scenes. Modern costumes. 
 
 Time, 2 hours. A corned^ of the present time, full of 
 healthy laughter, in which the intrigue has been 
 wrought out with consummate skill. 
 
 SHAM DOCTOR, THE. 15 Cents. 
 
 A Negro farce in 1 act, by Chas. White. 4 male, 2 
 female characters (all black faces, played by male ac- 
 tors). Bellshazzar Bug, M.D., practices on old Johnson 
 in a very novel way, but contrives to administer a good 
 dose of fun to the audience. Time, about 20 minutes. 
 
 SLIGHT MISTAKE, A. 15 Cents. 
 
 A comedy in 1 act, from the French of Emil Souvestre. 
 5 female characters. Plain room scene. Time, 30 min- 
 utes. A pleasing comedy whose moral is coated with 
 the sugar of fun. 
 
 Any Book Advertised in This Catalogrne Sent, 
 
 Postpaid, on Receipt of Price. 
 
 FREDERICK J. DRAKE & CO., 
 
 352-356 Dearborn St., Chicago. 
 
 SEND FOR COMPLETE CATALOGUE. 
 
CATALOGUE OF F. J. DRAKE & CO. 29 
 
 SINGLE LIFE. 15 Cents. 
 
 A comedy in 3 acts, by J. B. Buckstone. 5 male, 5 
 female characters. Time of playing, 2 hours. All the 
 characters are comic— 5 bachelors and 5 spinsters. The 
 play deals with the loves, suspicious and quarrels of 
 the ten who wrangle themselves into a state of final 
 harmony. It is pure fun all the way through, and the 
 audience is kept in roars of laughter from beginning to 
 end. 
 
 SOLON SHINGLE; OR THE PEOPLE'S LAWYER. 15 
 Cents. 
 
 A New England comedy in 2 acts, by J. S. Jones. 7 
 males, 2 females, and jurymen. Time, iy 2 hours. A well 
 known and popular comedy. Many of the scenes are in- 
 tensely pathetic, others are equally humorous. The play 
 throughout appeals to all that is uure and wholesome. 
 Every appearance of the old Yankee farmer brings out- 
 bursts of uproarious mirth. 
 
 STAGE-STRUCK DARKY, THE. 15 Cents. 
 
 A darky interlude in 1 act, for 3 male characters (1 im- 
 personating a girl). Plays about 10 minutes. It is a 
 burlesque on high tragedy acting, the three characters 
 impresonating Claude Melnotte, Lady Macbeth, Damon 
 and Pythias, etc. 
 
 STAGE-STRUCK YANKEE, THE. 15 Cents. 
 
 A farce in 1 act, by O. E. Durivage. 4 male, 2 female 
 characters. Time, 45 minutes. All the characters are 
 good. Funny straight through, with a "star" Yankee 
 comedian who doubles up the audience with laughter 
 every moment he is on the stage. Sometimes called 
 "Our Jedidah." 
 
 THAT RASCAL PAT. 15 Cents. 
 
 A farce in 1 act, by J. H. Grover. 3 male, 2 female 
 characters. Time, 50 minutes. A ludicrous farce with 
 a capital Irishman, whose varying drolleries, blundering 
 and impudence in trying to serve two masters at once, 
 convulse the audience with explosions of mirth. No 
 scenery required. 
 
 TROUBLESOME SERVANT, THE (Handy Andy). 15 
 Cents. 
 
 A farce for 2 male characters (1 white and 1 black 
 face), by G. W. H. Griffin. Plays 15 minutes. No scen- 
 ery required. Both characters are thoroughly comical 
 and will fetch roars from the audience. 
 
 Any Boole Advertised in This Catalogue Sent, 
 
 Postpaid, on Receipt of Price. 
 
 FREDERICK J. DRAKE & CO., 
 
 352-356 Dearborn St., Chicago. 
 
 SEND FOR COMPLETE CATALOGUE. 
 
30 CATALOGUE OF F. J. DRAKE & CO. 
 
 THREE BLACK "SMITHS," THE. 15 Cents. 
 
 An Ethiopian farce in one scene, for 3 darky comedi- 
 ans. No scenery required. Plays about half an hour. 
 John Smitn, Joe Smith and Jonah Smith get into a 
 laughable mix from sameness of name. Anybody who 
 wants his wrinkles hammered smooth and the iron 
 taken out of his soul, needs to see the adventures of 
 the Three Black Smiths. 
 
 TURN HIM OUT. 15 Cents. 
 
 A farce in 1 act, by T. J. Williams. 3 male, 2 female 
 characters— also 2 porters to bring on a trunk in which 
 one of characters is hidden. Plain room scene. Modern 
 costumes. Time 45 minutes. The situation is wildly 
 farcial, and gives rise to any quantity of roaring fun. 
 No scenery required. 
 
 UNCLE JEPF. 15 Cents. 
 
 A farce in 1 act, by Chas. White. 5 male (including 2 
 darkies and a Yankee) and a female (played by male 
 actors) characters. Plays about 20 minutes. Uncle Jeff, 
 the leading darky comedy role, is a born mischief-mak- 
 er, and plays any number of pranks that set all the 
 other characters by the ears. 
 
 UNCLE TOM'S CABIN (Original Version). 15 Cents. 
 
 A drama in 6 acts, dramatized from Mrs. Harriet 
 Beecher Stowe's famous novel, by Geo. L. Aiken. 15 
 male, 6 female characters. Time, about 3 hours. This 
 is the original 6-act version which has been played 
 thousands of times by both professional and amateur 
 companies. 
 
 UNCLE'S WILL. 15 Cents. 
 
 A comedietta in 1 act by S. Theyre Smith, 2 males, 1 
 female. Time, 30 minutes. Original in conception, and 
 full of sparkling dialogue, this brilliant little piece 
 keeps up a constant ripple of amused expectation. The 
 characters are all "star" parts, easy to play yet worthy 
 of the most accomplished talent. Nothing better for 
 the narlor. No scenery required. 
 
 UNHAPPY PAIR, AN. 15 Cents. 
 
 An Ethiopian farce in 1 scene, by G. W. H. Griffin. 3 
 male characters and supers. Time, about 10 minutes. 
 Two very hungry darkies strike the leader of the band 
 for a square meal. Affords a chance for specialties and 
 ends in a comic duet. 
 
 Al»y Book Advertised in This Catalogue Sent, 
 
 Postpaid, on Receipt of Price. 
 
 FREDERICK J. DRAKE & CO., 
 
 352-356 Dearborn St., Chicago. 
 
 SEND FOR COMPLETE CATALOGUE. 
 
CATALOGUE OF F. J. DRAKE & CO. 31 
 
 VERMONT WOOL DEALER, THE. 15 Cents. 
 
 A farce in 1 act, by C. Burke. 5 male, 3 female char- 
 acters. Time, 45 minutes. Another favorite Yankee 
 farce, with good Negro and Irish characters as well. 
 Suits actors and audiences and never grows old. Deu- 
 teronomv Dutiful is a "screamer" as full of smart say- 
 ings as an egg is full of meat. 
 
 VIRGINIA MUMMY, THE. 15 Cents. 
 
 A farce in 1 act, by Chas. White. 6 males (including 
 Darky and Irishman), 1 female (played by a male ac- 
 tor). Time, about V2 hour. This farce is often called 
 "The Egyptian Mummy." 
 
 WHICH IS WHICH? 15 Cents. 
 
 A comedietta in 1 act, by H. Theyre Smith. 3 male, 
 3 female characters. Everyday costumes. Scene, a 
 studio. Time, 50 minutes. The play is exceedingly 
 bright and graceful, with a strong vein of comic under- 
 play. Suitable for parlor or afterpiece, and requires no 
 scenery. Characters all excellent. 
 
 WHO IS WHO? OR ALL IN A FOG. 15 Cents. 
 
 A farce in 1 act, bv T. J. Williams. 3 male, 2 female 
 characters. Parlor scene. Modern costumes. Time, 40 
 minutes. Consists of a series of ridiculous situations 
 caused bv everybody being mistaken for somebody efse, 
 which creates any number of absurd complications. No 
 scenery required. 
 
 WOODCOCK'S LITTLE GAME. 15 Cents. 
 
 A comedy farce in 2 acts, by J. M. Morton. 4 male, 4 
 female characters. Time, 1 hour. Full of comical points, 
 brisk action and irresisibly funny situations. The old 
 woman and low-comedy characters require competent 
 handling, but the other parts are easy to play. It will 
 keep the audience in a continuous ripple of mirth. 
 
 WOOING UNDER DIFFICULTIES. 15 Cents. 
 
 A farce in 1 act, by John T. Douglass. 4 male, 3 fe^- 
 male characters. Parlor scene. Modern costumes. Time, 
 30 minutes. Probably no other poor fellow ever wooed 
 under more distressing difficulties than the hero of this 
 farce, which is uproariously funny and easily played. 
 
 Any Book Advertised in This Catalogue Sent, 
 
 Postpaid, on Receipt of Price. 
 
 FREDERICK J. DRAKE & CO., 
 
 352-356 Dearborn St., Chicago. 
 
 SEND FOR COMPLETE CATALOGUE. 
 
32 CATALOGUE OF F. J. DRAKE & CO. 
 
 YANKEE PEDDLER, THE; OR OLD TIMES IN VIR- 
 GINIA. 15 Cents. 
 
 A farce in 1 act, by Morris Barnett. 7 male, 3 female 
 characters. Time, 45 minutes. A very funny piece that 
 sets forth the adventures of a Yankee peddler on a 
 Virginia plantation "before the war." Excellent for a 
 star Yankee comedian who wants to make lots of laugh. 
 
 SPECIAL NOTICE. 
 
 The attention of all professional and amateur actors 
 is particularly directed to the fact that we carry a full 
 line of Make-up Materials. For prices send for our 
 complete catalogue mailed free. Address, 
 Frederick J. Drake & Co., 352-356 Dearborn St., Chicago. 
 
 SAFE METHODS OF STOCK MANIPULA- 
 TION. 
 
 How to Make Money on the Stock Market. By 
 W. Y. Stafford. 
 
 An invaluable guide to the stock speculator or 
 others who desire to know something regarding 
 stock speculation. It describes the modes of manip- 
 ulation which have hitherto remained a secret. The 
 character of different markets, how to recognize and 
 profit by them. Many valuable hints on how to steer 
 clear of the pitfalls and take advantage of the op- 
 portunities for making money. The author has had 
 twenty years' dealings, both as a broker and with 
 the large manipulators in Wall Street, and gives the 
 public the benefit of his experience. 
 Cloth, Gold Titles 50 CENTS. 
 
 Any Book Advertised in This Catalogue Sent, 
 
 Postpaid, on Receipt of Price. 
 
 FREDERICK J. DRAKE & CO., 
 
 352-356 Dearborn St., Chicago. 
 
 SEND FOR COMPLETE CATALOGUE. 
 
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