FIFTH READER. LESSON I. Our Nation's Faith. Margaret J. Preston. Mrs. PRESTON, the daughter of Dr. George Junkin, was born in Philadelphia in 1825. Her father removed to Lexington, Virginia, in 1848, as president of the Washington College, where he remained in that position until 1861. In 1857 she was married to Professor J. T. L. Preston, of the Virginia Military Institute, her sister Eleanor being the first wife of Colonel T. J. Jackson, of the same institution. Mrs. Preston identified herself with the South, and her "Beechenbrook; a Rhyme of the War," contains the poems, "Stonewall Jackson's Grave" and "Slain in Battle." Her later writings are mostly short poems (many of them religious), articles for magazines and sketches of travel, all of which breathe forth a sweet and wise influence. 1. O God! beneath whose folded hand So long was hidden away The secret of the wondrous land We glory in to-day, 2. We thank Thee that, with faith profound, And claimed as henceforth hallowed ground (15) |