Page:American Boy's Life of William McKinley.djvu/326

278 "Has patriotism died out in the hearts of the people? Witness the 250,000 men springing to arms and in thirty days organized into regiments for the Spanish war, and a million more ready to respond, and the more recent enlistment of 70,000 men, with many other thousands anxious to enlist, but whose services were not needed.

"Has American heroism declined? The shattered and sinking fleets of the Spanish navy at Manila and at Santiago, the charges of San Juan and El Caney, and the intrepid valor and determination of our gallant troops in more than forty engagements in Luzon, attest the fact that the American soldier and sailor have lost none of the qualities which made our early army and navy illustrious and invincible.

"May we not feel assured that if we do our duty, the Providence which favored the undertakings of the fathers, and every step of our progress since, will continue His watchful care and guidance over us, and that the hand that led us to our present place will not relax His grasp until we have reached the glorious goal He has fixed for us in the achievement of His end?"