Part 4

The noblemen, one by one, come in with great dignity, go to the front of the throne, kneel and salute with their swords. Then they go to the right of the stage.

Finally the music sounds a more triumphal note, announcing the approach of the hero of the occasion. Columbus is preceded by his page, carrying the banner of the expedition. The page kneels to the king and queen, then goes to the left, where he is to stand just back of the place reserved for Columbus.

As Columbus approaches the throne, the king and queen rise and come forward to do him honor. Columbus kneels, kisses the queen's hand, then rises and points out to the king and queen the treasures which his sailors have brought. He also brings forward one of the Indians. The king and queen regard everything with interest. After this, at a signal given on the piano, all kneel to give thanks for the discovery of the New World. The Te Deum Laudamus is chanted or the Doxology is sung.

This is the end of the reception.

* * * * *

This scene may be simplified, if desired, and given in the form of two tableaux. Columbus kneeling before the queen and king and Columbus telling his story may be given separately. There need not be as many characters in the scene. See the picture, "Reception of Columbus" (adapted from the picture by Ricardo Balaca) in "America's Story for American Children," by Mara L. Pratt.

It would be easy to give the substance of this entertainment in any schoolroom and without costumes. Even with these limitations the story of Columbus would become more real to the children in this way than it could be made by any description.

A good description of the reception of Columbus in Spain after his first voyage is given in the "Life of Columbus," by Washington Irving.

A description and picture of the banner of the expedition may be found in Lossing's "History of the United States," volume I.

Music that may be used: "Columbus Song," taken from "1492"; the "New Hail Columbia."

THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA

It was on the morning of Friday, 12th of October, 1492, that Columbus first beheld the New World....

No sooner did he land than he threw himself upon his knees, kissed the earth, and returned thanks to God with tears of joy. His example was followed by the rest, whose hearts indeed overflowed with the same feelings of gratitude.

Columbus then rising drew his sword, displayed the royal standard, and ... took solemn possession in the name of the Castilian sovereigns, giving the island the name of San Salvador. Having complied with the requisite forms and ceremonies, he now called upon all present to take the oath of obedience to him, as admiral and viceroy, representing the persons of the sovereigns.

The feelings of the crew now burst forth in the most extravagant transports.... They thronged around the Admiral in their overflowing zeal. Some embraced him, others kissed his hands. Those who had been most mutinous and turbulent during the voyage, were now most devoted and enthusiastic. Some begged favors of him, as of a man who had already wealth and honors in his gift. Many abject spirits, who had outraged him by their insolence, now crouched as it were at his feet, begging pardon for all the trouble they had caused him, and offering for the future the blindest obedience to his commands.

_Washington Irving_

IMMORTAL MORN

Immortal morn, all hail! That saw Columbus sail By Faith alone! The skies before him bowed, Back rolled the ocean proud, And every lifting cloud With glory shone.

Fair science then was born, On that celestial morn, Faith dared the sea; Triumphant over foes Then Truth immortal rose, New heavens to disclose, And earth to free.

Strong Freedom then came forth, To liberate the earth And crown the right; So walked the pilot bold Upon the sea of gold, And darkness backward rolled, And there was light.

_Hezekiah Butterworth_

All hail, Columbus, discoverer, dreamer, hero, and apostle! We here, of every race and country, recognize the horizon which bounded his vision, and the infinite scope of his genius. The voice of gratitude and praise for all the blessings which have been showered upon mankind by his adventure is limited to no language, but is uttered in every tongue. Neither marble nor brass can fitly form his statue. Continents are his monument, and unnumbered millions, past, present, and to come, who enjoy in their liberties and their happiness the fruits of his faith, will reverently guard and preserve, from century to century, his name and fame.

_Chauncey Mitchell Depew_

Little wonder that the whole world takes from the life of Columbus one of its best-beloved illustrations of the absolute power of faith. To a faithless world he made a proposal, and the world did not hear it. To that faithless world he made it again and again, and at last roused the world to ridicule it and to contradict it. To the same faithless world he still made it year after year; and at last the world said that, when it was ready, it would try if he were right; to which his only reply is that he is ready now, that the world must send him now on the expedition which shall show whether he is right or wrong. The world, tired of his importunity, consents, unwillingly enough, that he shall try the experiment. He tries it; he succeeds; and the world turns round and welcomes him with a welcome which it cannot give to a conqueror. In a moment the grandeur of his plans is admitted, their success is acknowledged, and his place is fixed as one of the great men of history.

Give me white paper! The sheet you use is black and rough with smears Of sweat and grime and fraud and blood and tears, Crossed with the story of men's sins and fears, Of battle and of famine all those years When all God's children have forgot their birth And drudged and fought and died like beasts of earth.

Give me white paper! One storm-trained seaman listened to the word; What no man saw he saw, and heard what no man heard. For answer he compelled the sea To eager man to tell The secret she had kept so well; Left blood and woe and tyranny behind, Sailing still West that land newborn to find, For all mankind the unstained page unfurled, Where God might write anew the story of the world.

_Edward Everett Hale_

The fame of Columbus is not local or limited. It does not belong to any single country or people. It is the proud possession of the whole civilized world. In all the transactions of history there is no act which for vastness and performance can be compared with the discovery of the continent of America, "the like of which was never done by any man in ancient or in later times."

_James Grant Wilson_

With boldness unmatched, with faith in the teachings of science and of revelation immovable, with patience and perseverance that knew no weariness, with superior skill as a navigator unquestioned, and with a lofty courage unrivaled in the history of the race, Columbus sailed from Palos on the 3d of August, with three vessels, the largest (his flagship) of only ninety feet keel, and provided with four masts, eight anchors, and sixty-six seamen. Passing the Canaries and the blazing peak of Teneriffe, he pushed westward into the "sea of darkness," in defiance of the fierce dragons with which superstition had peopled it, and the prayers and threats of his mutinous seamen, and on the 12th of October landed on one of the Bahama Islands.

_Benson J. Lossing_

COLUMBUS[B]

[B] From complete works of Joaquin Miller, published by the Harr Wagner Publishing Company of San Francisco.

Behind him lay the gray Azores, Behind the Gates of Hercules; Before him not the ghost of shores, Before him only shoreless seas. The good mate said: "Now must we pray, For lo! the very stars are gone. Brave Admiral, speak; what shall I say?" "Why, say 'Sail on! sail on! and on!'"

"My men grow mutinous day by day; My men grow ghastly wan and weak." The stout mate thought of home; a spray Of salt wave washed his swarthy cheek. "What shall I say, brave Admiral, say, If we sight naught but seas at dawn?" "Why, you shall say at break of day, 'Sail on! sail on! sail on! and on!'"

They sailed and sailed, as winds might blow, Until at last the blanched mate said: "Why, now not even God would know Should I and all my men fall dead. These very winds forget their way, For God from these dread seas is gone. Now speak, brave Admiral, speak and say--" He said: "Sail on! sail on! and on!"

They sailed. They sailed. Then spake the mate: "This mad sea shows his teeth tonight. He curls his lip, he lies in wait, He lifts his teeth, as if to bite! Brave Admiral, say but one good word; What shall we do when hope is gone?" The words leapt like a leaping sword: "Sail on! sail on! sail on! and on!"

Then pale and worn, he paced his deck, And peered through darkness. Ah, that night, Of all dark nights! And then a speck-- A light! A light! At last a light! It grew, a starlit flag unfurled! It grew to be Time's burst of dawn. He gained a world; he gave that world Its grandest lesson: "Oh! sail on!"

_Joaquin Miller_

He failed. He reached to grasp Hesperides, To track the foot-course of the sun, that flies Toward some far western couch, and watch its rise-- But fell on unknown sand-reefs, chains, disease.

He won. With splendid daring, from the sea's Hard, niggard fist he plucked the glittering prize, And gave a virgin world to Europe's eyes, Where gold dust choked the streams, and spice the breeze.

He failed fulfillment of the task he planned, And drooped a weary head on empty hand, Unconscious of the vaster deed he'd done; But royal legacy to Ferdinand He left--a key to doorways gilt with sun-- And proudest title of "World-father" won!

_George W. W. Houghton_

With all the visionary fervor of his imagination, its fondest dreams fell short of the reality. He died in ignorance of the real grandeur of his discovery. Until his last breath, he entertained the idea that he had merely opened a new way to the old resorts of opulent commerce, and had discovered some of the wild regions of the East.... What visions of glory would have broke upon his mind, could he have known that he had indeed discovered a new continent, equal to the whole of the old world in magnitude, and separated by two vast oceans from all of the earth hitherto known by civilized man; and how would his magnanimous spirit have been consoled, amidst the chills of age and cares of penury, the neglect of a fickle public, and the injustice of an ungrateful king, could he have anticipated the splendid empires which were to spread over the beautiful world he had discovered, and the nations, and tongues, and languages, which were to fill its lands with his renown, and to revere and bless his name to the latest posterity!

_Washington Irving_

ON A PORTRAIT OF COLUMBUS

Was this his face, and these the finding eyes That plucked a new world from the rolling seas? Who, serving Christ, whom most he sought to please, Willed the great vision till he saw arise Man's other home and earthly paradise-- His early thought since first with stalwart knees He pushed the boat from his young olive trees, And sailed to wrest the secret of the skies. He on the waters dared to set his feet, And through believing planted earth's last race. What faith in man must in our new world beat, Thinking how once he saw before his face The west and all the host of stars retreat Into the silent infinite of space!

_George Edward Woodberry_

Of no use are the men who study to do exactly as was done before, who can never understand that today is a new day. There never was such a combination as this of ours, and the rules to meet it are not set down in any history. We want men of original perception and original action, who can open their eyes wider than to a nationality--namely, to considerations of benefit to the human race--can act in the interest of civilization; men of elastic, men of moral mind, who can live in the moment and take a step forward. Columbus was no backward-creeping crab, nor was Martin Luther, nor John Adams, nor Patrick Henry, nor Thomas Jefferson; and the Genius or Destiny of America is no log or sluggard, but a man incessantly advancing, as the shadow on the dial's face, or the heavenly body by whose light it is marked.

_Ralph Waldo Emerson_

ADDRESS TO AMERICA

(_From a Commencement Poem, Dartmouth College. 1872_)

As a strong bird on pinions free, Joyous, the amplest spaces heavenward cleaving, One song, America, before I go, I'd sing, o'er all the rest, with trumpet sound, For thee, the Future.

Sail--sail thy best, Ship of Democracy! Of value is thy freight--'tis not the Present only, The Past is also stored in thee! Thou holdest not the venture of thyself alone-- Not of thy western continent alone;

Earth's résumé entire floats on thy keel, O Ship-- Is steadied by thy spars. With thee Time voyages in trust, The antecedent nations sink or swim with thee; With all their ancient struggles, martyrs, heroes, epics, wars, Thou bears't the other continents; Theirs, theirs as much as thine, the destination-port triumphant, Steer, steer with good strong hand and wary eye-- O helmsman--thou carryest great companions, Venerable, priestly Asia sails this day with thee, And royal, feudal Europe sails with thee.

_Walt Whitman_

AMERICA

O mother of a mighty race, Yet lovely in thy youthful grace! The elder dames, thy haughty peers, Admire and hate thy blooming years; With words of shame And taunts of scorn they join thy name....

They know not, in their hate and pride, What virtues with thy children bide; How true, how good, thy graceful maids Make bright, like flowers, the valley shades; What generous men Spring, like thine oaks, by hill and glen.

What cordial welcomes greet the guest By thy lone rivers of the West; How faith is kept, and truth revered, And man is loved and God is feared, In woodland homes, And where the ocean border foams.

There's freedom at thy gates, and rest For earth's down-trodden and opprest; A shelter for the hunted head; For the starved laborer toil and bread. Power, at thy bounds, Stops, and calls back his baffled hounds.

O fair young mother! on thy brow Shall sit a nobler grace than now. Deep in the brightness of thy skies The thronging years in glory rise, And, as they fleet, Drop strength and riches at thy feet.

Thine eye, with every coming hour, Shall brighten, and thy form shall tower; And when thy sisters, elder born, Would brand thy name with words of scorn, Before thy eye Upon their lips the taunt shall die.

_William Cullen Bryant_

THE WESTERN LAND

Great Western land, whose mighty breast Between two oceans finds its rest, Begirt by storms on either side, And washed by strong Pacific tide. The knowledge of thy wondrous birth Gave balance to the rounded earth; In sea of darkness thou didst stand, Now first in light, great Western land.

In thee the olive and the vine Unite with hemlock and with pine; In purest white the southern rose Repeats the spotless northern snows. Around thy zone a belt of maize Rejoices in the sun's hot rays; And all that Nature could command She heaped on thee, great Western land.

Great Western land, whose touch makes free, Advance to perfect liberty, Till right shall make thy sov'reign might, And every wrong be crushed from sight. Behold thy day, thy time is here; Thy people great, with naught to fear. God hold thee in His strong right hand, My well beloved Western land.

_Caroline Hazard_

OUR NATIONAL IDEALS[C]

[C] Used by permission of, and by special arrangement with, Houghton Mifflin Company, the authorized publishers.

Foremost among the ideals which have characterized our national life is the spirit of self-reliance. The very first chapter of our national history records the story of a man, who arose from among the toilers of his time, and whom eighteen years of disappointed hopes could not dismay. It tells how this man, holding out the promise of a new dominion, at last overcame the opposition of royal courtiers, and secured the tardy support of reluctant rulers. And when, at Palos, Columbus flung to the breeze the sails of his frail craft, and ventured upon that unknown ocean from which, according to the belief of his age, there was no hope of return, he displayed the chief characteristic of the American people--the spirit of self-reliance.

What is this spirit? Emerson has expressed it in a sentence: "We will walk on our own feet; we will work with our own hands; we will speak our own minds." This was the spirit which animated that little group of colonists who preferred the unknown hardships of the new world to the certain tyranny of the old; who chose to break old ties, to brave the sea, to face the loneliness and perils of life in a strange land--a land of difficulties and dangers, but a land of liberty and opportunity....

In order that our country may continue this proud record of self-reliance, each one of us has a special obligation. Every citizen in his individual life should live up to the same ideal of self-reliance. The young citizen who relies on himself, who does honest work in school, never cheating or shirking, who is always, ready to do a little more than is actually required of him, who thinks for himself, acts rightly because he loves right actions--such a citizen is doing his part in helping to achieve our national ideal of self-reliance.

_William Backus Guitteau_

I believe in my country. I believe in it because it is made up of my fellow-men--and myself. I can't go back on either of us and be true to my creed. If it isn't the best country in the world it is partly because I am not the kind of a man that I should be.

_Charles Stelzle_

BIBLIOGRAPHY

See Bibliography at end of monograph.

THANKSGIVING DAY

Last Thursday in November

For flowers that bloom about our feet; For tender grass, so fresh, so sweet; For song of bird, and hum of bee; For all things fair we hear or see, Father in heaven, we thank Thee!

For blue of stream and blue of sky; For pleasant shade of branches high; For fragrant air and cooling breeze; For beauty of the blooming trees, Father in heaven, we thank Thee!

_Ralph Waldo Emerson_

THANKSGIVING DAY

ROY L. SHAFFER, STATE NORMAL SCHOOL, NEWARK

Among our national holidays Thanksgiving should be a red letter day. We need these days so that the modern tendency of reducing all days to the same mediocre level may be overcome. Such days, when contrasted with common school days, show a wonderful stimulation. Hence it is urged that the celebration of Thanksgiving take on the aspect of the play-festival. The play-festival will have a potent effect on the audience and the actors. The audience will be composed for the most part of the school body and on this body the festival program will have a unifying effect. For this reason it is further urged that an entire grade, or perhaps a group of grades, be employed to render the program. Such a rendition will be treated as a contribution from a part to the whole.

The festival to be effective must bind the entire school into one social group. The response of the audience will be complementary and the spirit and the pride of the school will give forth inspiration to the actor and the audience. The performer must make others feel what he knows, and thus his learning becomes intensified. The result is that the play-festival has two high values, the social and the educational.

The essential problem which arises, and which must be answered by every teacher, is, "What shall be done to provide a good program, and how shall it be done?" The answer will come from a careful survey of the needs, capacities, and make-up of each individual or group of pupils. The answer includes the utilization of the dramatic instinct, i. e., the play instinct, which finds expression through singing, speaking and dancing. The successful festival must be well organized, and this organization must be effected according to a suitable program. (1) The history of the day must be clearly brought to the attention of the pupils. (2) There should be a committee appointed to have supervision of the arranging of the festival. (3) A program full of content should-be arranged. (4) What constitutes the proper program for a Thanksgiving festival should have the careful thought of those in charge. The children should be actual factors in planning the program, as well as in presenting it.

In order that Thanksgiving Day may be celebrated in an appropriate manner it is necessary that its history be fully comprehended by the entire school. Teachers of all grades should use the historic material that will meet the needs and capacities of their pupils. This material should be correlated with as much of the regular school work as may seem advisable. It is essential that the entire school fully appreciate the historic foundations of the day, so that they may comprehend the setting which has so much to do with this holiday. Furthermore, a full comprehension of the history as a background for this festival will stimulate the school audience, so that they will receive from the program those things which we believe they ought to receive from the celebration.

HISTORY

The following extracts relative to the history of Thanksgiving have been selected because they are exceptionally interesting; they show that traditionally the celebration of this holiday is truly American; they also give hints as to the wealth of material that may be woven into a program for the play-festival.

The first year of the Pilgrim settlement, in spite of that awful winter when nearly half of their number perished, had been comparatively successful. The Pilgrims had planted themselves well, and it is easy to understand why this fact should have appealed to the mind of their governor, William Bradford, as an especial reason for proclaiming a season of thanksgiving. The exact date is not certain, but from the records we learn that it was an open air feast. It is evident that it must have occurred in that lovely period of balmy, calm, cool air and soft sunshine which is called Indian Summer, and which may be considered to range between the latter week of October and the latter week of November. It came at the end of the year's harvest. In confirmation, let us quote from the writing of Edward Winslow, thrice governor of the Pilgrims:

"Our corn did prove well; and, God be praised, we had a good increase of Indian corn, and our barley indifferent good. Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling that so we might after a special manner rejoice together after we had gathered the fruit of our labors."

We learn that as a result of this hunting expedition they had many wild turkeys, which the women probably stuffed with beechnuts, and they brought home wood pigeons and partridges in abundance. But, it seems, they must have lacked deer, since the Indians, with their king, Massasoit, volunteered to go out and bring in the venison.