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

Yes, gentlemen, there is one personal, one vast felicity, which no man can share with him. It was the daily beauty and towering and matchless glory of his life which enabled him to create his country, and at the same time secure an undying love and regard from the whole American people. "The first in the hearts of his countrymen!" Yes, first! He has our first and most fervent love. Undoubtedly there were brave and wise and good men before his day, in every colony. But the American nation, as a nation, I do not reckon to have begun before 1774, and the first love of that young America was Washington. The first word she lisped was his name. Her earliest breath spoke it. It still is her proud ejaculation; and it will be the last gasp

er expiring life! Yes; others of our great men been appreciated-many admired by all-but we love; him we all love. About and around we call up no dissentient, discordant, and disfied elements-no sectional prejudice nor biasarty, no creed, no dogma of politics. None of shall assail him. Yes; when the storm of blows darkest and rages highest, the memory 'ashington shall nerve every American arm and every American heart. It shall relume that ethean fire, that sublime flame of patriotism, devoted love of country, which his words have ended, which his example has consecrated.

With his protecting hand,
Like Freedom's angel stand
The guardian of our land,
Our Washington.

Then with each coming year, Whenever shall appear

That natal sun,

Will we attest the worth,
Of one true man to earth,
And celebrate the birth
Of Washington.

Traced there in lines of light,
Where all pure rays unite,
Obscured by none;

Brightest on history's page,
Of any clime or age,

As chieftain, man, and sage,
Stands Washington.

Name at which tyrants pale, And their proud legions quail, Their boasting done;

While Freedom lifts her head, No longer filled with dread, Her sons to victory led

By Washington.

Now the true patriot see,
The foremost of the free,

The victory won.

In Freedom's presence bow,
While sweetly smiling now,
She wreaths the smiling brow
Of Washington.

Then with each coming year,
Whenever shall appear

That natal sun,

Shall we attest the worth
Of one true man to earth,
And celebrate the birth
Of Washington.

WASHINGTON AND OUR SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES

BY CHARLES W. ELIOT

The brief phrase the schools and colleges of the United States-is a formal and familiar one; but what imagination can grasp the infinitude of human affections, powers, and wills which it really comprises? But let us forget the outward things called schools and colleges, and summon up the human beings. Imagine the eight million children actually in attendance at the elementary schools of the country brought before your view. Each unit in this mass speaks of a glad birth, a brightened home, a mother's pondering heart, a father's careful joy. In all that multitude, every little heart

bounds and every eye shines at the name of Washington.

The two hundred and fifty thousand boys and girls in the secondary schools are getting a fuller view of this incomparable character than the younger children can reach. They are old enough to understand his civil as well as his military achievements. They learn of his great part in that immortal Federal convention of 1787, of his inestimable services in organizing and conducting through two Presidential terms the new Government, services of which he alone was capable,— and of his firm resistance to misguided popular clamor. They see him ultimately victorious in war and successful in peace, but only through much adversity and many obstacles.

Next, picture to yourselves the sixty thousand students in colleges and universities-selected youth of keen intelligence, wide reading, and high ambition. They are able to compare Washington with the greatest men of other times and countries, and to appreciate the unique quality of his renown. They can set him beside the heroes of romance and history-beside David, Alexander, Pericles, Cæsar, Saladin, Charlemagne, Gustavus Adolphus, John Hampden, William the Silent, Peter of Russia, and Frederick the Great, only to find him a nobler human type than any one of them, more complete in his nature, more happy in his cause, and more fortunate in the issues of his career. They are taught to see in him a soldier whose sword wrought only mercy and justice for mankind; a statesman