The story should be told before the poem is read.
It is a pity that Napoleon III proved to be such a small man; for Mrs. Browning made some wonderful lines about him, which might well be read to children for the promotion of patriotism. In "Casa Guidi Windows" occur some of the finest lines for the awakening of true patriotism, that can be found in our language, yet they are seldom mentioned by writers on this subject. The best should be read, a few at a time, often in the family circle.
From the history of the Crimean War many striking tales of patriotism can be culled, such as incidents in the life of Lord Raglan and the careers of the wonderful Napiers, who were connected even more closely with the Peninsular War. Girls will especially find joy and inspiration in the story of Florence Nightingale. Boys and girls alike will revel in Mrs. Laura E. Richards' charmingly written "Life" of that heroine.
It is the fashion to speak rather slightingly of the patriotic poems which were thundered from the old lyceum-platforms by our forefathers, but many of them naturally possess the spirit of the first patriots, and thus are of especial value to our children. It goes without saying that every child should early become familiar with the lives of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Show them that such men "set the pace" for America, and taught us what true patriotism really is.
Washington's Farewell Address should be read often in every American Family, and portions of it should be known by heart to every American child. So should Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, as well as portions of his other great speeches. The stories should be often rehearsed to them of Joseph Warren, Israel Putnam, John Paul Jones, Decatur, Marcus Whitman, Grant, Sherman, Sheridan, Lee, Jackson and our other heroes of war and peace. Many of their achievements have been celebrated in worthy verse. The great orations of Daniel Webster, Edward Everett, Wendell Phillips, William Lloyd Garrison and others, and the magnificent state papers of Woodrow Wilson, are well calculated to stir the spirit of true patriotism in the hearts of noble children, and they should not be ignorant of those splendid compositions.
A year or more before the great war, a young man was speaking lightly one evening of "all this sentimental rot about 'love of country'"; how it showed "that a man hadn't traveled," and is "provincial." He spoke in the tone affected by a certain class of blasé, hypersophisticated youths, who might well be punished by the same means that were used for Edward Everett Hale's "Man Without a Country,"—another book which all older children should know.
The boy had recently returned from a long sojourn abroad. His mother was horrified to hear his words, though she had detected an unsoundness in his views ever since he had come back. Still, she said nothing at the moment. She wanted to think it over.
One evening shortly afterward the family were assembled on the broad porch. Several guests were present. It was warm, but a soft breeze blew in from the moonlighted Hudson just below them. Some one suggested that it was just the time for poetry. Why should not every one recite his favorite poem?
They began. One gave Rudyard Kipling's stirring "Song of the English." Another followed with a portion of Tennyson's "Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington," beginning with the familiar words,
"Not once nor twice in our rough island story,
The path of duty was the way to glory,"