Excerpt from The Birthdays of Washington and Lincoln Superintendents and Teachers of North Dakota: The State Department of Education wishes to call your attention to the proper observance of the anniversaries of the birthdays of Washington and Lincoln. The twelfth and twenty-second days of February are legal holidays in this state by virtue of statutory enactment. That these days should be properly observed by setting apart a portion of each for exercises which will impress on the minds of the pupils of our state lessons of patriotism and devotion to civic duty. The country, which is without national heroes, is one in which the people are not patriotic. We do not advocate hero worship, nor that a man should be honored for things he has not done, but we do wish to teach that the great men, who, by their patriotic devotion to this country, made possible the liberty which we now enjoy, should be revered by succeeding generations and their deeds should be reviewed in such a manner as will best bring to our boys and girls a sense of the responsibility which rests on the citizens who are active in carrying on this government at present and those which will in a few years rest on them. Washington was a patriot whose memory should be venerated, not alone for his deeds of valor on the field of battle, not alone for his devotion to the trust imposed in him as the first president of the young Republic, for which he fought so bravely, not alone for the purity of his private life, but for all of these. The soldier in the field is entitled to all honor for his patriotic bravery, but the civil officer who, without fear or favor, performs the duties which devolve upon him, is entitled to as much honor as the soldier. Nor is it necessary that a patriot be an officer. The private citizen whose object in life is the uplifting and making better his fellow man, is as great a patriot as either the soldier of valor or the officer of highest motives. In Abraham Lincoln, we find exemplified the traits of character which make men truly great. Born in lowly circumstances, in an obscure Kentucky home, he rose through all the grades of life and, at the end of his eventful life, he received the plaudits of a grateful and devoted people. His fame and patriotism are not circumscribed within the bounds of this country, but are known and honored by all civilized people. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.