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VALLEY FORGE
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beauty that it takes the breath away. Through a humble arched door—as lowly as the doorway of suffering through which the nation came to birth—one enters a shrine of color where the history of the republic is carved in stone. The tall windows blaze with blue and scarlet. A silk Stars and Stripes, hanging by the stone pulpit, waves gently in the cool wind that draws up from the valley and through the open door. The archway into the cloister frames a glimpse of green. In every detail this marvelous little Westminster Abbey of America shows the devoted thought of Dr. Herbert Burk, the man who has lavished his heart upon this noble symbol of our national life. With his brown eyes glowing with enthusiasm he will explain how the religion, the romance, the pathos and humor of a century and a half are woven into every line and tint of the fabric. The magnificent stained windows—windows that recall nothing less fine than the most splendid cathedrals of the middle ages—were planned by Doctor Burk and executed by Nicola D'Ascenzo. The marvelous oak carvings of the choir stalls and pews, the carved lead lamps, the organ, all were done here in Philadelphia.

This amazing poem in stone, endless in lovingly elaborated beauty, can no more be described than any great poem can be described. It is as perfect, as unique, as "The Eve of Saint Agnes"; as rich in color and as thrilling in meaning. On these hillsides, where men "tramped the snow to coral,"