Two February Birthdays
(Exercise for the Schoolroom)
BY LIZZIE M. HADLEY AND CLARA J. DENTON
FOR EIGHT BOYS.
This dialogue, or exercise, is to be given by eight boys. While they and the school are singing the first song the boys march upon the stage and form into a semicircle, the four boys speaking for Washington on the right, the other four (for Lincoln) on the left. Portraits of Washington and Lincoln should be placed in a convenient position on the stage beneath a double arch wreathed with evergreens. The portraits should be draped with American flags. Each one of the boys should wear a small American flag pinned to his coat.
SONG. TUNE, Rally ’Round the Flag
We are marching from the East,
We are marching from the West,
Singing the praises of a nation.
That all the world may hear
Of the men we hold so dear,
Singing the praises of a nation.
CHORUS
For Washington and Lincoln,
Hurrah, all hurrah,
Sing as we gather
Here from afar,
Yes, for Washington and Lincoln,
Let us ever sing,
Sing all the praises of a nation.
Yes, we love to sing this song,
As we proudly march along,
Singing the praises of the heroes.
Through this great and happy land,
We would sound their names so grand.
Singing the praises of our heroes.
CHORUS
All: We have come to tell you of two men whose names must be linked together as long as the nation shall stand, Washington and Lincoln. They stand for patriotism, goodness, truth and true manliness. Hand in hand they shall go down the centuries together.
First Speaker on the Washington Side: Virginia sends you greeting. I come in her name in honor of her illustrious son, George Washington, and she bids me tell you that he was born in her state, Feb. 22, 1732.
All: ’Twas years and years ago.
First Speaker: Yes, more than a hundred and seventy, nearly two centuries.
All: A long time to be remembered.
First Speaker: Yes, but Washington’s name is still cherished and honored all over the land which his valor and wisdom helped save, and, for generations yet to come, the children of the schools shall give him a million-tongued fame.
Second Speaker: Virginia bids me tell you that as a boy, Washington was manly, brave, obedient and kind, and that he never told a lie.
Song: (Either as solo or chorus). Air, What Can the Matter Be?
Dear, dear, who can believe it?
Dear, dear, who can conceive it?
Dear, dear, we scarce can believe that
Never did he tell a lie.
O, surely temptation must oft have assailed him,
But courage and honor we know never failed him,
So let us all follow his wondrous example,
And never, no never tell lies.
And never, no never, tell lies.
Third Speaker: A brave and manly boy, he began work early in life, and, in 1748, when only sixteen years old, he was a surveyor of lands, and took long tramps into the wilderness. In 1775 came the Revolutionary War, and he was appointed commander-in-chief of the American Army. In 1787 he was elected president of the convention which framed the constitution of our country.
Fourth Speaker: In 1789 he was chosen first president of the United States. He was re-elected in 1793 and, at the close of the second term he retired to private life at his beautiful and beloved home, Mt. Vernon. He died there, Dec. 14, 1799, honored and mourned by the whole nation, and leaving to the world a life which is a “pattern for all public men, teaching what greatness is and what is the pathway to undying fame,” and richly deserving the title, “Father of his country.”
All: “First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen,” he was second to none in the humble and endearing scenes of private life.
Boys Representing Lincoln: Washington was a great and good man, and so, too, was the man whom we delight to honor, whose title, “Honest Abe,” has passed into the language of our times as a synonym for all that is just and honest in man.
First Speaker on the Lincoln Side: Kentucky is proud to claim Abraham Lincoln as one of her honored sons, and she bids me say that he was born in that state in Hardin County, Feb. 12, 1809. Indiana, too, claims him, he was her son by adoption, for, when but seven years old, his father moved to the southwestern part of that state. Illinois also has a claim upon him. It was there that he helped build a log cabin for a new home, and split rails to fence in a cornfield. Afterwards he split rails for a suit of clothes, one hundred rails for every yard of cloth, and so won the name, “The Rail-splitter.”
Second Speaker: In 1828 he became a flat-boatman and twice went down the river to New Orleans. In 1832 he served as captain of a company in the Black Hawk War. After the war he kept a country store, and won a reputation for honesty. Then, for a while, he was a surveyor, next, a lawyer, and in 1834 he was elected to the Legislature of Illinois.
Third Speaker: In 1846 he was made a member of Congress, in 1860 he was elected president of the United States.
Fourth Speaker: The Civil War followed, and in 1864 he was elected president for the second term. On April 14 he was shot by an assassin and died on the morning of the 15th.
SONG BY SCHOOL: AIR, John Brown’s Body
In spite of changing seasons of the years that come and go,
Still his name to-day is cherished in the hearts of friend and foe,
And the land for which he suffered e’er shall honor him we know,
While truth goes marching on.
CHORUS
Both Groups Together: To both these men, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, we, the children of the nation, owe a debt of gratitude which we can only repay by a lifetime of work, for God, humanity, and our country. Both have left behind them words of wisdom, which, if heeded, will make us wiser and better boys and girls, and so wiser and better men and women.
Two Boys from the Washington Group: Washington said, “Without virtue and without integrity, the finest talents and the most brilliant accomplishments can never gain the respect or conciliate the esteem of the most valuable part of mankind.”
Two Boys from the Lincoln Group: Lincoln said, “I have one vote, and I shall always cast that against wrong as long as I live.”
Two Boys from Washington Group: “If to please the people we offer what we ourselves disapprove, how can we afterwards defend our work?”
Two Boys from Lincoln Group: Lincoln said, “In every event of life, it is right makes might.”
All: O, wise and great!
Their like, perchance, we ne’er shall see again,
But let us write their golden words upon the hearts of men.
SONG: TUNE “America”
Turn now unto the past,
There, long as life shall last,
Their names you’ll find.
Faithful and true and brave,
Sent here our land to save.
Men whom our father gave,
Brave, true, and kind.
(Exeunt)