I will endeavor to make her reach her magnificent ideals of enlightenment, freedom, brotherhood, not simply for her own sake, but in order that thereby she may be able to help lift up the whole world into the realization of humanity's magnificent ideals of enlightenment, freedom, brotherhood. The real greatness of my country shall consist not in the achieving of strategic positions and larger territory upon the surface of the earth by means of her force of arms, not in achieving commercial supremacy by virtue of her superiority in merchandise and her tremendous present advantage as the greatest neutral nation of the world, but the real greatness of my country shall consist in that enlightenment which she can give to nations which sit in darkness; in that freedom which she can give to peoples still in the bondage of superstition, unjust government, and false religion; in that spirit of brotherhood which she can succeed in establishing between all the nations of all the world!" Perhaps, after all, our beautiful national hymn is just a bit self-centered after the manner of the old idea patriotism: Long may our land be bright With freedom's holy light. Very well. But why not add the larger prayer? God of all peoples, Thou Lord of humanity, To Thee we pray. May our great land, thrice blest, Bring to the world opprest, Truth, light, and liberty. Hail! glad, bright day. RECESSIONAL RUDYARD KIPLING (1865 God of our fathers, known of old, The tumult and the shouting dies - On dune and headland sinks the fire — If, drunk with sight of power, we loose Thy Mercy on Thy People, Lord! Amen. THE STORY OF OLD GLORY1 Who suggested the combination of stars and stripes which makes Old Glory the most beautiful banner in all the world? Nothing really authentic on the subject is known. Various ideas have been suggested. Some writers claim that they were taken from George Washington's coat of arms. Others claim that the stripes were taken from the thirteen stripes in the banner of the Philadelphia Troop of Light Horse. But we do know that the first flag from which this combination of Stars and Stripes appeared, was made by Betsy Ross, who kept an upholstery shop at her little home, No. 239 Arch Street, Philadelphia, a place of great interest to visitors at the present day. That was the birthplace of Old Glory.2 The first time that the new flag of the United States was flown in battle was at Fort Stanwix, renamed Schuyler, where Rome, New York, now stands. The first salute ever given to Old Glory by a foreign power was when the ship Ranger, commanded by Paul Jones, entered a French harbor in 1778 and received a salute from the harbor forts. For a period of seventy years before the War of the Revolution took place, the red ensign of Great Britain was the flag generally used by the American colonies. This was called the Union flag because in the upper corner was a red cross of St. George representing England and a white cross which represented Scotland. 1 From anonymous pamphlet in library of State Normal School, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 2 Commonly believed, though not definitely established. During the first two years of the Revolutionary War, all kinds of battle flags were carried on land and sea. Some of the designs were serious, many of them were comic. One of the most peculiar emblems used on flags of that period was the Rattlesnake. The motto on these Rattlesnake flags was, "Don't Tread on Me!" Another favorite device was a pine tree, of which several varieties were shown. These were frequently used in the early part of the Revolution. The first flag to show thirteen stripes, but having, in place of the stars, the crosses of St. George and St. Andrew, was what was known as the Great Union flag hoisted over the American camp at Cambridge in the year 1776. The design of this flag came very close to being the StarSpangled Banner. It is peculiar that two trees are closely associated with the history of our flag. First, the Pine Tree, which, as explained was used on some of the earlier flags. This device also appeared on silver coins of the Massachusetts colony as early as 1650. The second tree, and one far more important, was the Liberty Tree. This was a grand old elm, which stood in a grove on what is now Washington and Essex Streets, Boston. The location of this tree is at present marked by a building on the front of which is a bas-relief of the tree, with the words, "Liberty Tree." This old tree was the scene of many patriotic meetings. November 3, 1773, the citizens of Boston gathered under this tree to consider resolutions prohibiting the consignees of the cargoes of tea which were on board ship on their way to Boston, from selling the tea on American soil, and demanding that it should be promptly returned to London. The resolution by the colonists was ignored, resulting in the famous "Boston Tea Party," which took place December 6, 1773, when hundreds of chests of tea were cast into the bay. In 1777, by a resolution of the Continental Congress it was provided that the flag of the United States be thirteen horizontal stripes, alternate red and white, and that the union have thirteen stars. In 1794, after two states had been admitted into the Union, Congress changed this so that the stripes and stars should be fifteen each. But as the number of states rapidly increased, it was found necessary to change this law again, and in 1818 a resolution was presented to the House of Representatives providing that the flag be thirteen stripes, that the union have twenty stars, and that on the admission of a new state one star be added. This became a law on April 4, 1818, when the bill was signed by President Monroe. Since that time, whenever a new state is admitted the stars in the union are slightly rearranged so as to accommodate the extra star. The thirteen stripes will in all probability forever remain as they are, thus preserving for all time to come the remembrance of those thirteen original states upon which this great nation was founded. When the stars were added to the thirteen stripes, there was a good deal of dispute as to the arrangement of these stars. Captain Samuel C. Reid, commander of the famous privateer, General Armstrong, was invited to suggest a design for the proposed arrangement of stars. He recommended that these be formed into one large five-pointed star, symbolizing the national motto, "E Pluribus Unum," and that a star be added for each new state. It was soon found that such a plan would not be practicable, as it was clear that, as the number of states in |