by Tennyson, and notice how much it sounds like a bugle call, and how it makes you think of sunset time.

"The splendor falls on castle walls

And snowy summits old in story;
The long light shakes across the lakes,

And the wild cataract leaps in glory.
Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying,
Blow, bugle; answer, echoes, dying, dying, dying.

"O, hark, O, hear! how thin and clear,

And thinner, clearer, farther going!
O, sweet and far from cliff and scar

The horns of Elfland faintly blowing!
Blow, let us hear the purple glens replying,

Blow, bugle; answer, echoes, dying, dying, dying."

Now, read this paragraph of the Twenty-third Psalm from our Bible. The words make you feel peaceful and comfortable. You feel as if your mother's arms were around you:

"The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures,
He leadeth me beside the still waters,
He restoreth my soul."

Here is a very different-sounding paragraph. This one makes you feel angry, and eager and ready to fight. It is a part of the famous Liberty Speech by Patrick Henry:

"Gentlemen may cry peace, peace-but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale

that sweeps from the North will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"

This is a little poem which shows how much the English language is suited to the tender words we use for babies. It is a lullaby and you can hardly say it without wanting to nod your head and go to sleep!—

"The Rock-a-by Lady from Hush-a-by Street
Comes stealing; comes creeping;

The poppies they hang from her head to her feet,
And each hath a dream that is tiny and fleet -
She bringeth her poppies to you, my sweet,
When she findeth you sleeping!"

English is beautiful for poetry, and clear and powerful for prose. In English you can say everything you think, with force and dignity. It is a language which has been made by thousands of years of growth, and it has been built out of the speech of peoples who no longer live on earth. That makes it rich and varied, as America is made rich and varied by having been built out of so many races.

As a loyal American I will protect and cherish the English language. I will speak it well, for it is very

beautiful and very powerful. I will study the great stories and poems and plays of the English language. I will call no other tongue my mother tongue. The English language is my language, the language of America.

TH

or not.

XXIV

HE American flag protects all Americans whether they speak the English language well

But something very dangerous to freedom can happen if all Americans do not speak and use English.

Sometimes a great many Russians or Italians or Germans come to America at one time, and go to one place. They settle there and get work from Ameri

cans, and live in American homes, and send their children to American schools. But they live and talk as they did in Europe. The Americans around them talk about government and business, and education, and American ways of doing things. But the newcomers do not understand.

Then some bad man from the old country comes and talks to them in the language they do understand. And he tells them false things. He tells them that America is all selfish, that the rich rule and that every one must get all he can for himself. He tells them not to work faithfully for their employers, but to steal and lie.

If the newcomers could understand English, they would soon hear of the many wealthy men in America who serve their fellows with unselfish skill; they would hear of the many honest workmen who have become rich and powerful in this country; they would hear of the schools where all may learn trades and business.

But they do not understand English, and they believe the false stories.

Then comes a war. Some enemy of freedom threatens America. America needs every hand and every heart to fight for liberty and honor.