~~The Talk.~~

"It was fifty years ago, boys and girls, that the terrible war between
the North and the South was in progress. On both sides the soldiers
were bravely loyal to their cause, for the reason that each great army
believed it was right; each side rallied round its flag--and loyalty
was the thing most necessary. In most conflicts, as in the case of one
nation fighting with another, it is only necessary to bring a war to a
point where the weaker is convinced of the superior strength of its
enemy. Then the war ends and the weaker is still a nation and has lost
only that which was destroyed during the course of the struggle,
together with that which may he demanded as concessions by the
victorious army. Both nations retain their existence as before. It was
not so with the struggle between the North and the South. Before this
terrible war could end, it was necessary that one or the other of the
fighting governments be wiped out entirely _as a nation_.
Otherwise there could never have been any peace. This is what made the
war one of the most terrible in the history of the world.

"It was a time when loyalty was demanded by both sides to the
conflict, when men were summoned to rally round their flags. On the
side of the North the soldiers bravely gathered in hosts of hundreds
of thousands around this flag, which is now beloved throughout our
reunited states (while the South was just as true and brave and
sincere in the belief that they were right, in their convictions, and
for which they fought).

[As you draw the United States flag, in red, white and blue, Fig. 27,
have the school sing "The Red, White and Blue," or have the song sung