
The American Soul
The American Soul
Patriotism - Part 2 - Celebrating Courage and Patriotism: The Power of Narrative in Shaping National Identity
Unlock the powerful legacy of patriotism and heroism through the captivating prose of George Frisby Hoare's "Love of Country." This episode invites you to grasp the vital role of poetic and romantic narratives in shaping our collective national consciousness. We pay homage to the oft-overlooked heroism of women, from the resolute Spartan mothers to steadfast pilgrim matriarchs, who have profoundly contributed to the ideals of bravery and loyalty. Through heartfelt tales like that of Lady Rachel Russell, we explore the indomitable courage that women have imparted to their families and communities, nurturing a deep-seated love for country alongside them.
Join us as we share the inspirational power of patriotic literature in molding young minds and how stories of noble deeds serve as moral compasses during times of trial. We recount how eloquent expressions of national pride can instill a lasting sense of duty and courage in children, serving as a beacon of strength in their formative years. With vivid examples, including a Civil War veteran drawing solace from Daniel Webster's words, this episode encourages rediscovering and cherishing the rich tapestry of heroism and patriotism. Together, let's pass on these invaluable stories to inspire future generations.
The American Soul Podcast
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Love of Country by George Frisby Hoare, out of the Book of Patriotism, part of the Young Folk's Library, volume 18. Then you come a little later back again to the realm of poetry and romance. Later back again to the realm of poetry and romance, to the poetry and romance which is, after all, truer than the soberest fact, to Abu bin Ad-Din and the presence that told him that the name of him, who loved his fellow men, let all the names of those the love of God had blessed, and too the boy stood on the burning deck and Bryant's waterfowl and Hallux, marco Bazarus and John Sterling's, alfred the Harper and many others. Heroism and patriotism are for the little girl also. I sometimes think that the heroism of women, with their patience and their love, which look for no reward of fame or glory but only if it may be for love in return, is higher and better than anything man can ever give to the country. Let the little girl learn all the stories of noble women, of the Spartan mother who told her boy to come back with his shield or on it, and of the pilgrim mothers and of Jephthah's daughter. These things may seem commonplace to us, but they will be new to the child. Let all American girls know what their mothers went through in the days when the country was born and the wolf and savage roamed in the forest by the log cabin. Where the brave mother was left alone with the children inside. Where the brave mother was left alone with the children inside. Tell them the story of the comfort woman has been to husband and son throughout the whole story of heroism. Let every American girl learn to give her husband and her brother and her son high counsel so that he may never be tempted to fail in any hour of trial by thinking of her.
Speaker 1:Let every American girl know by heart the story of Lady Rachel Russell. When her husband died on the scaffold for English freedom and for ours, she sat by his side through the trial with a courage equal to his own. And then, when the hour of his doom came, bishop Burnett, who was with him, says Lady Russell returned alone in the evening At eleven o'clock she left him. He kissed her four or five times and she kept her sorrow so within herself that she gave him no disturbance by their parting. As soon as she was gone he said to me Now the bitterness of death is past, for he loved and esteemed her beyond expression, for she well deserved it in all respects. He ran out into a long discourse concerning her, how great a blessing she had been to him and said what a misery it would have been to him if she had not had that magnanimity of spirit, joined to her tenderness as never to have desired him to do a base thing for the saving of his life.
Speaker 1:Fill the boy's soul with the inspiring literature of patriotism. Teach him the noble story of his country. There are not many passages of shame or disgrace or failure. These, if any such there ever shall be. It will not hurt him to skip. But let him learn the catalogue of the brave deeds that have been done for the country and the lives and deaths of our heroes. He will not forget them after he has once heard or read the story. Let him learn word for word, the eloquent passages which express the lofty emotions in which love of country has been clothed, whether in prose or verse. Let him learn to love them and he will remember them. That is what is meant by learning by heart and not by rote. Take those that are in verse or in rhythmic verse, so he will hum them like a tune. They will come up to him in times of danger or temptation and will be his sure reliance when any enemy demand that he surrender.
Speaker 1:Just after the statue of Webster given by New Hampshire was placed in Statutory Hall in the Capitol at Washington, I had a letter from a veteran of the Civil War who had just read what had been said in the Senate. He told me that one night he was on picket duty in a lonely place near a wood where two Sentinels in succession had been shot down at night. At night, just before he said that, as he paced up and down, expecting every moment that his death shot might ring out from the thicket, he kept up his courage by repeating to himself, over and over again, the great peroration of Webster's reply to Hank, ending with Liberty and Union. Now and forever. One and inseparable George Frisby 4.