Manual of Patriotism

GROUP I.

THE FLAG.

1. BRIEF HISTORY OF THE FLAG .Song, America.

2. THE STARS ..Song, The Star-Spangled Banner.

3. THE RED, WHITE AND BLUE ...Song, The Red, White and Blue.

4. THE HALF-MASTED FLAG.

SALUTING THE FLAG .Song, A Song of the Flag.

5. PATRIOTIC PLEDGES ..Song, The Waving Flag.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE FLAG.

THERE were many flags of many kinds in our country in colonial times—long, long ago. The most famous one, perhaps, was that which was raised, for the first time, on January 2, 1776, over the camp of the Continental forces at Cambridge. In mid-May of the same year, a flag of like design floated over the Capitol at Williamsburg. Thus, under similar flags, the great colony of Massachusetts and that of Virginia together marched towards the freedom they so much wished to see.

There is good reason to believe, also, that the famous naval hero, Paul Jones, was the first man in the world to hoist a similar flag upon a regular man-of-war. Nor was it long before a sixteen-gun brig, “The Reprisal,” commanded by Capt. Lambert Wickes, sailing from home soon after the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, carried the flag across the seas and unfurled it in the harbors of the Old World.

So, both on land and sea, at home and abroad, waved that Continental Banner which seemed to stretch its folds, like hands of welcome, to greet a new nation.

The first real American flag had its origin in the following resolution adopted by the American Congress, June 14, 1777: “Resolved, That the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.”

But the flag thus resolved upon could not make itself. So, a committee of Congress, accompanied by Washington, sought out the home and services of Mrs. Elizabeth Ross of Philadelphia—better known as “Betsy Ross”—to aid them in the flag-making. Her skillful hands and willing heart soon worked out a plan, and gave to this country that red, white and blue banner which, is the admiration of all nations and the unfailing joy of every true American.

What a pleasant sight it must have been to see Mistress Betsy Ross, that good dame of Revolutionary clays, at work upon that new flag which nowadays we call “the dear old flag.” Well may we believe that she had a thoughtful yet serene face; that she loved her country with a deep and tender love. For, indeed, it was her country, though not then free from the grasp of King George. Who can tell what a help the sight of the new flag was in gaining that independence which has made our land so great and happy? No wonder that an association has been formed to buy and keep, for patriotic purposes,the home in which was made, by the hands of Betsy Ross, the first real American flag.

How old, then, is the flag? Almost two and a half centuries. Curiously, it is older than the present banner of Great Britain, adopted in 1801; or Spain's, 1785; or the French tricolor, 1794; or the flag of the Empire of Germany, 1870. Thus the flag seems as old as though it had lived for centuries.

What a history the flag has had since those early days when Washington looked upon it as he stood under the old Elm at Cambridge! The thirteen stars and thirteen stripes were unfurled at the battle of Brandywine, in 1777; they were at Germantown in October of the same year; in the same red-leaved month they sang their song of triumph over defeated Burgoyne at Saratoga; they helped to cheer the hungry and half-clad patriot soldiers at Valley Forge; they saw the surrender of the enemy at Yorktown; they fluttered their “Goodbye” to the British evacuating New York; they made glorious with their sky-born colors the dreary years of the Revolution.

In the War of 1812, these breezes blew over no American ship that did not have the flag of the stars and stripes at its fore; its folds seemed to be filled with voices that called aloud the names of gallant seamen—Lawrence, Perry, Hull, Decatur, and many others whose names will never perish.

In the Mexican War, fought in the forties, our flag was carried into foreign territory, and waved over many places of great historic fame. It is true that not all of our citizens approved of that war, but the flag itself was not allowed to suffer harm; on the contrary, it waved triumphant in the very “halls of the Montezumas.”

As for the Civil War, what veteran soldier cannot tell of the trials and triumphs of the four memorable years from 1861 to 1865? Then it seemed, again and again, as though the flag would be rent in twain, and the States be severed, never to reunite. Yet today we know a grander Union than ever before.

It remained for the Spanish-American War, however, to make this reunion clear and strong— beyond a doubt or shadow. Men of the North and men of the South clasped hands and marched and sailed away, under the same dear flag, to fight on foreign soil for freedom to the down-trodden of earth.

But we must not think that it is only in time of war that the flag has a history. It has a far more cheering and pleasant history in times of peace. There is always something sad about war, even when the flags are raised to celebrate a victory. For the victory has cost a great many brave men their lives, and that always saddens the Nation's heart. But in a time of peace, how proudly the flag floats over our homes and schools; “on land and sea, and in every wind under the whole heavens.” Then the people are happy, because there is no loss of life among them by means of war; fathers stay at home and enjoy peace and quiet; their sons are at school or college, in business or working at a trade. On holidays the streets are thronged with happy people, children are at their games or play, or perhaps are in school celebrating the lives and deeds of men and women who have helped to make our country so strong and great among the nations of the world. And this is the peaceful and happy way in which our nation has spent most of its time since the close of the Revolutionary War. During more than a hundred years, the whole time occupied by war has been less than ten years. Those ten years show that we can fight when it is necessary to defend our country, keep our freedom unharmed, our flag unstained; but they also show that we do not fight unless we must for the honor of the flag. They show, also, that we do not go to war merely for the sake of gaining territory from nations that are weak, nor simply to humble the pride of nations that are saucy and strong.

How different is the story of the nations of the Old World, and of the many little countries or republics of South America in the New World! Their citizens seem so fond of killing each other that some of them keep at it most of the time, until their war-offices are filled with blood-stained battle-flags that they have carried with them into war, or have taken from their enemies,—very much as wild Indians might hang up in their wigwams, or fasten at their belts, the scalps they have taken from their victims.

Oh, let us not do anything like that in our dear country. Let us rather set the flag flying, and watch it as it waves over a land of peace and plenty,—a land where the farmer may till the ground, the mechanic work in busy shops, the merchant buy and sell in his store, and thousands of merry boys and girls troop to school—everybody at work, and all in quiet and security because the Red, White and Blue waves triumphant over a happy, peaceful land.

Surely it is well for Young America to honor a flag which has such resistless Power and gives such adequate Protection in time of peace. The flag stands for so much that is worth having and saving; it means so much to every citizen, young or old, that no honor paid to it can be too great. To be good citizens—keeping the laws, obedient to all rightful authority, merciful in the treatment of animals, kindhearted and sympathetic towards the unfortunate, mindful ever of the good name and fame of our country,—all these things are quiet yet potent ways of doing honor to the flag. Many a veteran, reposing in well-earned quiet after marching and battling, is content to gaze till his eyes brim with tears a:t the flag that speaks to him so eloquently of days that are gone, of conflicts that are over, of the dearly-bought victories of Peace.

But the eyes of children dance with joy when they see the flag, and they must needs speak and sing and act that joy. And so, it is wise to provide some way by which they may use their young voices and their ever-moving feet and hands.

THE STARS.

THIRTEEN, and only thirteen stripes,—“alternate red and white,” are on every American flag, no matter when made. These stripes tell us of the thirteen colonies that together fought the battles of the Revolution, and afterward entered into an enduring Union under the Constitution. Let us take here the roll-call of that noble band of sister colonies:

• Delaware
• Pennsylvania
• New Jersey
• Georgia
• Connecticut
• Massachusetts
• Maryland
• South Carolina
• New Hampshire
• Virginia
• New York
• North Carolina
• Rhode Island

Yes, the stripes that run their bright bands of color along the length of the flag never number more nor less than thirteen. Not so with the stars,—for each new State, a new star. As the evening of a clear night draws on, have you not watched the stars one by one “peep through the blanket of the dark?” So in our country's sky, State after State, like star after star in the heavens, has flashed upon our sight until the “blue field” is filled with the radiant splendor of a “constellation” of fifty States.

This is the order in which they entered the Union: Vermont (1791), Kentucky (1792), Tennessee (1796), Ohio (1802), Louisiana (1812), Indiana (1816), Mississippi (1817), Illinois (1818), Alabama (1819), Maine (1820), Missouri (1821), Arkansas (1836), Michigan (1837), Florida (1845), Texas (1845), Iowa (1846), Wisconsin (1848), California (1850), Minnesota (1858), Oregon (1859), Kansas (1861), West Virginia (1863), Nevada (1864), Nebraska (1867), Colorado (1876), North Dakota (1889), South Dakota (1889), Montana (1889), Washington (1889), Idaho (1890), Wyoming (1890), Utah (1896),Oklahoma (1907), New Mexico (1912), Arizona (1912), Alaska (1959), Hawaii (1959).

THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER.

SELECTIONS.

It is the flag of history. Those thirteen stripes tell the story of our colonial struggle, of the days of '76. They speak of the savage wilderness, of old Independence Hall, of Valley Forge and Yorktown. Those stars tell the story of our nation's growth, how it has come from weakness to strength, until its gleam, in the sunrise over the forests of Maine, crimsons the sunset's dying beams on the golden sands of California.—S. L. Waterbury.

It is a little thing, perchance, to put the stars and stripes a few miles nearer to the pole than has been put the flag of any other nation; but yet, somehow or other, that fact appeals to us as Americans.—Adolphus W. Greeley.

Two years ago, I saw a sight that has ever been present in my memory. As we were going out of the harbor of Newport, about midnight, on a dark night, some of the officers of the torpedo station had prepared for u a beautiful surprise. The flag at the depot station was unseen in the darkness of the night, when suddenly, electric searchlights were turned on it, bathing it in a flood of light. All below the flag was hidden, and it seemed to have no touch with earth, but to hang from the battlements of heaven. It was as if heaven was approving the human liberty and human equality, typified by that flag.—Benjamin Harrison.

THE RED, WHITE AND BLUE.

WHEN children pick a flower to pieces, just to see how it is made, casting its petals to the ground—that destroys both its bright colors and its fragrance. Not so when they first look at the flag, see that it is made up of three colors, and then try to find out with the “mind's eye” what each color stands for. That is a very pleasant and a very profitable exercise. Now, while it would be a good thing for the boys and girls in a school to think out the meaning of the tricolor for themselves, it will do no harm to give them a hint upon which they may work.

Take then the red. Did you ever think how the red tide which we call “blood” courses through the body, and how it supplies the very life-power of the body? So, the red in the flag is the symbol of the life of the nation. And again: When you read how the life-blood of men is poured out upon the battle-field, how can you help thinking of the bravery of those men! So, the red of the flag speaks of Courage. That for which white stands, the world over, is purity. So, the white in the flag proclaims that sense of Honor which is the safeguard and strength of the nation— that feeling and conscience which keep the citizen from doing anything which will offend against the law or weaken the moral power of the nation.

Who does not know that blue stands for loyalty? Who has not heard the expression “true blue?” So, the blue in the flag means Patriotism—that steadfastness of purpose, that devotion to native land, which makes the citizen proud of every noble deed of his countrymen, and willing to undergo any trials for her dear sake.

SELECTIONS.

[Read before the Albany High School on the occasion of presentation of flags by the Grand Army of the Republic.]

At Oriskany five British standards were captured, and upon returning to Fort Stanwix they were hoisted and above them an uncouth flag, intended to represent the American stars and stripes.

This rude banner, hastily extemporized out of a white shirt, an old blue coat, and some stripes of red flannel, was the first American flag with stars and stripes ever hoisted in victory.

It was flung to the breeze on the memorable day of Oriskany, August 6, 1777.

The following explanation of the colors and symbolic meaning of the “Stars and Stripes,” was written by a member of the old Continental Congress, to whom, with others, was committed the duty of selecting a flag for the infant confederacy:

“The stars of the new flag represent the constellation of States rising in the West. The idea was taken 11 om the constellation Lyra, which in the hand of Orpheus signifies harmony. The blue in the field was taken from the edges of the Covenanter's banner in Scotland, significant of the league covenant of the United Colonies against oppression, involving the virtues of vigilance, perseverance and justice. The stars were in a circle, symbolizing the perpetuity of the Union; the ring, like the circling serpent of the Egyptians, signifying eternity. The thirteen stripes showed with the stars, the number of the United Colonies, and denoted the subordination of the States to the Union, as well as equality among themselves. The whole was the blending of the various flags previous to the Union flag, viz.: The red flag of the armies and the white of floating batteries. The red color, which in the Roman day was the signal of defiance, denotes daring, the blue fidelity, and the white purity.”

There is the national flag! He must be cold, indeed, who can look upon its folds rippling in the breeze without pride of country. If he be in a foreign land, the flag is companionship, and country itself, with all its endearments. Who, as he sees it, can think of a State merely? Whose eye, once fastened upon its radiant trophies, can fail to recognize the image of the whole nation?

It has been called a “floating piece of poetry;” and yet, I know not if it have any intrinsic beauty beyond other ensigns. Its highest beauty is in what i:t symbolizes. It is because it represents all, that all gaze at it with delight and reverence. It is a piece of bunting, lifted in the air; but it speaks sublimely, and every part has a voice. 'Its stripes of alternate red and white proclaim the original union of thirteen States to maintain the Declaration of Independence. Its stars, white on a field of blue, proclaim that union of States constituting our national constellation, which receives a new star with every new State. The two, together, signify union, past and present. The very colors have a language which was officially recognized by our fathers. White is for purity, red for valor, blue for justice; and all together, bunting, stripes, stars, and colors, blazing in the sky, make the flag of our country, to be cherished by all our hearts, to be upheld by all our hands.—Charles Sumner.

THE RED, WHITE, AND BLUE.

D. T. SHAW.

THE HALF-MASTED FLAG.

It is well for us to keep in mind not only the birthdays of the men who have done great deeds for their country, but on certain occasions also their deathdays. Thus, the one hundredth anniversary of the death of George Washington was observed on December 14, 1899, in many places, by many people. At such a time, the flag is not raised clear to the top of the pole or “mast,” but about half-way,—and so we get the words, “the flag at half-mast,” as a symbol of the sorrow of the true patriots for a great soldier and statesman dying long ago (like Washington), or perhaps for one just fallen out from the ranks of the living, like that brave sailor, Lieut. Brumby (died December 17, 1899), the flag lieutenant of Admiral Dewey. This heroic officer and faithful friend of the Admiral stood by him in the great naval fight at Manila. Daring and devoted as he was, why should not the flags throughout his native State of Georgia be placed at halfmast, and his fellow-citizens recall and record his bravery and patriotism?

So it is by keeping in remembrance the brave deeds of those patriots who have died—by telling over again and again the story of their loyalty—by visiting the places made famous by them,—by all these things and in many other ways, that children even may learn many a lesson in true patriotism; and the half-masted flag teaches the lesson.

SELECTIONS.

The past rises before me like a dream. Again we are in the great struggle for national life. We hear the sounds of preparation, the music of the boisterous drums, the silvery voices of heroic bugles. We see thousands of assemblages, and hear the appeals of orators; we see the pale cheeks of women, and the flushed faces of men, and in those assemblages we see all the dead whose dust we have covered with flowers. We lose sight of them no more. * * * We see them all as they march proudly away under the flaunting flags, keeping time to the wild, grand music of war, marching down the streets of the great cities, through the towns and across the prairies down to the fields of glory, to do and to die for the eternal right. We go with them one and all. We are by their side on all the gory fields, in all the hospitals of pain, on all the weary marches. We stand guard with them in the wild storm and under the quiet stars. We are with them in ravines running with blood, in the furrows of old fields. We are with them between contending hosts, unable to move, wild with thirst, the life ebbing slowly away among the withered leaves. We see them pierced by balls and torn with shells in the trenches by forts, and in the whirlwind of the charge, where men become iron, with nerves of steel. We are at home when the news comes that they are dead. We see the maiden in the shadow of her first sorrow. We see the silvered head of the old man bowed with the last grief. These heroes are dead. They died for liberty. They died for us. They are at rest. They sleep in the land they made free, under the flag they rendered stainless, under the solemn pines, the sad hemlocks, the tearful willows, and the embracing vines. They sleep beneath the shadows of the clouds, careless alike of sunshine or of storm, each in the windowless palace of rest. Earth may run red with other wars; they are at peace. In the midst of battle, in the roar of conflict, they found the serenity of death. I have one sentiment for the soldiers living and dead: Cheers for the living, and tears for the dead.—Robert G. Ingersoll.

[It was a Southern soldier, Theodore O'Hara, of Kentucky, who wrote the immortal lines above since cast in bronze, and placed in the national cemeteries where lie the soldiers who fell for the Union. This refers to last stanza only.]

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SALUTING THE FLAG.

It is well for each boy and girl to own a flag—small and inexpensive,—or for each district to furnish a sufficient number. The flags can be lightly fastened upon the wall, transforming bare and cheerless spots into a bright glow of colors; or, if patriotic pictures are on the walls, the flags may be draped about them with excellent effect. Another plan is to “stack” the flags on the platform or stage, or place them in a rack provided for the purpose.

Now, let us suppose that the day is so fair, the weather so fine, that the flags can be displayed out-of-doors. Good! give the children the blessed tonic of the fresh air. At a given signal, let each pupil take a flag from wall or stack or rack. Marshalling them into line, preceded, if convenient, by a standard-bearer carrying a goodsized flag or the school banner, let them march—singing a patriotic verse or two— till they come to the flagstaff on the school green, or to a spot whence they may see the flag at the roof-peak. Then, at a proper signal from the teacher, let them salute the flag and repeat in unison any one of the five pledge-forms printed below—then march back, “stack arms” and resume seats—ready, if time permits, for any one of the many programs of this book. If the weather is so bad that the flag and the children must both stay in-doors, let the salute and pledge be given as before, and any ten-minute program be taken up,—theonly difference between this and the out-door exercise being, that in this the flags are left in their places on platform or walls.

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THE FLAG

PATRIOTIC PLEDGES.

No. 4.

I pledge myself to stand by the Flag that stands for Loyalty, Liberty and Law!

No. 5.

The Youth's Companion “Pledge of Allegiance.” (Right hand lifted, palm downward to a line with the forehead and close to it, standing thus, all repeat together slowly:) “I pledge allegiance to my Flag and to the Republic for which it stands; One Nation indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for All.” (At the words “to my Flag,” the right hand is extended gracefully, palm upward, towards the Flag and remains in this gesture to the end of the affirmation; whereupon all hands immediately drop to the side.)

No. 6.

CIVIC CREED FOR THE BOYS AND GIRLS OF THE GREAT REPUBLIC.

God hath made one blood all nations of men, and we are His children, brothers and sisters all. We are citizens of these United States and we believe our flag stands for self-sacrifice for the good of all the people. 'We want, therefore, to be true citizens of our great country and will show our love for her by our works. Our country does not ask us to die for her welfare only,—she asks us to live for her, and so to live and so to act that her government may be pure, her officers honest, and every corner of her territory a place fit to grow the best men and women, who shall rule over her.

SPEECH AT TRANSFER OF FLAGS.

Color-bearers of the public schools: When on the 17th of May last, the flags which you now bear were presented by the two posts of the G. A. R. of this city, you were chosen to represent your schools, because you were thought worthy.

The veterans of the Civil War from whose hands you received them were men who had shown their loyalty upon bloody battle fields. They felt that they were honored in intrusting to you these banners. Young hearts that should beat loyally through the years to come. Young hands that should ever be ready to strike in defense should the time ever demand it.

After carefully guarding these banners for the time they have been in your custody, you are about to surrender them to other hands. They who follow you will in turn be as proud as you. In the years to come all of you will look back to your school days, and feel that the greatest honor bestowed upon you by your school was your selection as color-bearers.

My children, you who are delegates from the various schools, this day and ceremony mean much to you. It is not the flag, with its stripes and stars of red and white, its field of blue, that of itself means anything. The language it speaks is what you should heed, is that which makes it the flag of freedom. Read lessons from its beautiful folds as unfolding in the fresh breezes of the morning they are kissed by the bright sunlight. It tells us that it is not the flag of war, but the flag of peace and good will. Its mission is the friendship of the nations.

But it also tells us that should it ever be necessary to strike against wrong that the blow will be heavy. If ever it is necessary to draw the sword in behalf of wronged or oppressed humanity that that sword will not be sheathed until the wrong is righted, and the hand of the oppressor raised.

Learn that it teaches us to be good citizens, that in all civic affairs we should be upright and not seek office for the sake of pelf. It teaches us that public duty is a trust which should be faithfully performed for the good of our country and not for personal aggrandizement.

Go from here to-day impressed with the thought of being better men and women because you are to be citizens of this great country, and that you will do your !;Jest to make it better because you are citizens: then my children you shall best honor the flags, which we intrust to your color-bearers to-day.—W. H. Scott, G. A. R. veteran.