Malden High School - Maldonian Yearbook (Malden, MA)

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THE MALDONIAN ©ration The Undaunted Spirit Ernestine Westcott In the fields of science and exploration, as perhaps in no others, we read of the lives of those men who, by their undaunted courage and explicit faith in their calling, inspire us who are living in an age teeming with opportunities to follow the examples which they set for us at a time when it was necessary to fight always against odds. Why did these men do this? Why did many of them actually give their lives to what they believed was a sacred charge? It was just that—they believed they had a sacred charge! The martyrs to science and exploration knew that they had been called by a divine power. They scorned the questions always hurled at them—“What have you to do with this?” “Why does this concern you?” Their convictions were so firm and strong that they knew within themselves the inevitable answers to such questions. They knew that to them these things were ever-present and ever-calling! If we could only believe as these men believed, when difficulties assail¬ ed them, that such set-backs sharpen the wits and strengthen the mind! If we could only realize when, in striving towards our goal, we are tempted to give up at the first disappointment, that difficulties fall to the lot of every man who essays to try his hand at something new. If we could only have the thought ever-present that man’s success depends on the Supreme Power of the Almighty Being together with his own efforts and courage—with how much more determination would we smile at disappointments, laugh at discouragement, and, with hope high in our hearts, set our footsteps firmly on the onward path. No better example of such spirit and courage is given in all the annals of history than that of Sir John Franklin—his trials, his sufferings, his disappointments, and then cruel death robbing him of his life at the very height of his glory. What a picture is presented when we read of his band struggling in the relentless grip of fate! At one time we see them hemmed in by ice¬ packs—unable to go after help, unable to receive help. At last, in des¬ peration, they abandon their ship and it seems that almost in the shadow of victory they will be forced to turn back. Instead, blindly, doggedly, Page 38

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THE MALDONIAN forcing of the negro at the point of the bayonet to vote when he was decidedly incompetent for such a privilege. What an insult to white women; what an incentive to women of vision! Though discomfited, yet still undaunted, they turned with brave hearts to start anew. It was a slow progress from 1869 to 1920, but because, these unselfish, far-sighted ones were not crushed by defeat and because they never lost an unshakeable faith in self-government and in the eternal destinies of the human race, they pressed on like Columbus of old until they achieved. “They kept their heads when all about them Were losing theirs and blaming it on them; They made allowance for the doubts of men And kept their faith though men were scornful then. They were lied about yet did not deal in lies, They were hated yet did not give way to hating; They did not look too good nor talk too wise, They waited and were not tired by waiting. They heard the truths that they had spoken Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools; And watched the cause they’d given their life to-broken Yet bravely built again with poor cheap tools. They sailed on when there, was nothing in them Except the will which says, “Sail On.” Thus for sixty years marched on the suffrage soul And felt no doubt to reach the final goal. Thus filled they up each fleeting minute With sixty second’s worth of distance run, And now theirs is the Earth and everything that’s in it, Rejoice, applaud, be glad,—they’ve won!” VALE Classmates: We have reached the inevitable hour when we must go forth from this place that has become so dear to us. The future, enveloped in silence and mystery, beckons us on and we would not hold back if we could. The work of the world is never finished; every generation faces its own particular challenge and just how we are to respond depends upon each one of us. We have a wonderful heritage; be assured also that life will give us our opportunity. Let us, therefore, taught by the lives of the great, remember that success comes only after hard, unremitting, courageous toil. Opposition only made Columbus firmer in purpose; ridicule intensified his zeal. He had no time to lose in talking—two words were sufficient for his needs— Sail on! Let us follow the vision of the full-rigged ship, with sails un¬ furled, prow pointed squarely into the unknown sea, firm of purpose, each with his hand upon the tiller confident of this everlasting truth—“I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my Soul!” Classmates of 1926A we bid the past farewell! Page 37

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THE MALDONIAN they stumble forward, silent in their agony, brave to the last, when worn- out nature gives way and they sink down one by one, till none is left alive, and only the still figures, lying face downward on the frozen snow, bear mute witness of how they had neither wavered nor faltered in their duty but had died, sacrificing their lives to science and the world. Again we turn to the story of Adolphus Greely and his band to see how men of such calibre take their difficulties. One of their number has written a most vivid account of their trip, in which we read that they, too, had abandoned their ship and were struggling forward on foot. Their situation was desperate. Any moment the ice might crumble under their feet and the sea swallow up the whole company. Their provisions were dangerously low, yet they danced and sang. Adversity in any form, no matter how sharp, failed to dampen their spirits. Again, we read that towards the end of the journey, provisions were so low that each man was allotted only fourteen ounces of food a day. For over a month they had been slowly starving on an amount of food for a whole day that a normal man could easily eat at one meal. For four, seemingly never- ending, more months they must suffer constantly from the sharp pangs of starvation, almost entirely in the long cheerless dark of the arctic winter. Yet, they did not give up. We, read how they accepted the fearful conditions of their situation without a murmur, buoyed up by their indomitable spirits, sure in their calling, and striving towards their goal. And so through the ages, the world has been inspired by these men, knowing no such word as “failure,” who have gone on, fighting against fearful odds, heart-rending disappointments, horrifying sufferings, al¬ ways with a steady conviction, striving towards the glorious achievement of their dreams, urged on by that same whisper which sent forward the explorer in Kipling’s poem, by its constant calling, “Something hidden. Go and find it. Go and look behind the Ranges. Something lost behind the Ranges Lost and waiting for you. Go!” Page 39