Whatever vicissitudes befall, we yearn to return to the old homestead, for there, and there alone, can we experience, in full measure, the reactions that came from our early associations with the old well, the bridge that spans the brook, the trees bending low with their luscious fruit, the grape arbor, the spring that bubbles and laughs as it gives forth its limpid treasure, the fields that are redolent of the harvest season, and the royal meal on the back porch.  The man who does not smile in recalling such scenes of his boyhood days is abnormal, disloyal, and an apostate.  These are the scenes that anchor the soul and give meaning to civilization.  The man who will not fight for the old home, and for the memory of father and mother, will not fight for the flag of his country and is, at heart, an alien.  But the man who is loyal to the home of his early years, loyal to the memory of his parents, and loyal to the principles which they implanted in his life, such a man can never be less than loyal to the flag that floats over him, loyal to the land in which he finds his home, and ever loyal to the best and highest interests of that land.  Never, because of him, will the colors of the flag lose their luster or the stars grow dim.  He will be faithful even unto death, because loyalty throbs in his every pulsation, is proclaimed by his every word, is enmeshed in every drop of his blood and has become a vital part of himself.

CHAPTER TWELVE

DEMOCRACY

In a recent book H.G.  Wells says that education has lost its way.  Whether we give assent to this statement or not, it must be admitted that it is a direct challenge to the school, the home, the pulpit, the press, to government, and to society.  If education has indeed lost its way, the responsibility rests with these educational agencies.  If education has lost its way, these agencies must unite in a benevolent conspiracy to help it find it again.  The war has brought these agencies into much closer fellowship and they are now working in greater harmony than ever before.  This is due to the fact that they are working to a common end, that they are animated by a common purpose.  The war is producing many readjustments and a new scale of values.  Many things that were once considered majors are now thought of as minors, and the work of reconstruction has only just begun.  Civilization is now in the throes of a re-birth and people are awakening from their complacency and thinking out toward the big things of life.  They are lifting their gaze above and beyond party, and creed, and racial ties, and territorial boundaries, and fixing it upon their big common interests.  More and more has their thinking been focused upon democracy, until this has become a watchword throughout the world.  About this focal point people’s thoughts are rallying day by day, and their community of feeling and thinking is leading to community of action.