Anaheim Union High School - Colonist Yearbook (Anaheim, CA)

Page 25 text:

today trying to undermine the government. The nation will never be rid of cults who try to influence the people to overthrow the laws, but the upright American citizen, with head erect, will defend his country and the laws which have given him the right of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. The Constitution must be left unpolluted to shine on in deathless splendor, the light of law. This will be the heritage of the coming generations on to eternity. THE LANGUAGE OF THE FLOWERS How few people are natural enough to understand the language of the flow- ers. And yet, there is a language-a language that is vital, alive-and there are some who understand. Celeste stood in the garden. She wore no hat and ber hair shimmered like gold in the sunshine. She was simply dressed, and she was beautiful, with the beauty of a flower that blooms, then fades. For, like the flower, she is kept alive only by bright sunshine and happiness. Under care and sorrow she would wither and fade. Celeste looked around, the love of flowers reflected on her face. She caressed a flower tenderly with her lips, her eyes straying dreamily toward the far horizon. The elder bent swiftly toward the mayflower, and whispered compassionately, Celeste loves and is loved. The mayflower nodded, as did all the brothers and sisters, and the velvet petals of the red rose became softer and more beautiful as they heard. The red rose told the honeysuckle, and the honeysuckle the forget-me-not, until the whole garden reflected the mood of the red rose. Celeste turned, picked a blue violet, and smiled. The flowers nodded wisely for they understood the choice. It was faithfulness. She walked swiftly toward the house and her slender flgure soon vanished. lfVithout her the garden seemed desolate and forsaken and the flowers whispered forlornly among themselves. The China Astor alone seemed unchanged, and her tiny voice from the pure depths of her heart quieted them all. The flowers knew of the fate of the violet. lt had gone its way sealed in a letter that did not reach its destination for many days. Celeste waited for an answer. It did not come for a long time, and the flow- ers were puzzled at the mysterious something in the air, and then it came. The letter must have made Celeste happy, for she picked the everlasting and the white clover, and together they followed the violet. ' But the flower had seen a milfoil slip from the letter, also, Celeste had picked it up, crying a little as she did so. lt meant but one thing to the flowers and her- self, and that was war. Days passed, and the flowers in the garden bloomed more abundantly than they had in years. Under Celeste's loving care the weeds were banished, the vines trimmed, the garden cleared, and the whole garden was radiant with beauty. In Celeste's room was a chest. It was large and roomy, and mysterious. When she was not working in the garden she was sewing on dainty things that always l24l

Page 24 text:

ment has every right to check the power of the others. Therefore there is no fear of one body or individual becoming too powerful. It took fifty-five men only eighty-five days to compose the Constitution. Their vitality and devotion gave life to the document. Interpreted and unfolded by the greatest men in America, it has become our heritage in its full meaning. VVash- ington laid the foundation, Hamilton built it, Madison championed it, XVebster expounded it better than any other oratorg Lincoln humanized it, and now the Constitution comes down to us with a fuller meaning than when it was written. The Constitution of the United States has well proved itself worthy of its title, the 'fCitadel of Freedom. No world power at the present time has a gov- ernment which reaches back without a break as far as ours. No other power of today has escaped one or more complete changes of government since our Republic came into existence. Europe, today, is no further along, governmentally, than were the thirteen States under -the Articles of Federation. In no country in the world is the individual so protected from oppression at the hands of government. No other nation has equaled our own in generous friendship toward other nations. None has proved stronger under Civil strife or more invincible from without. A truly sound government must have as its first foundation the divine light of the Christian religion. We may be thankful that our country's foundation was thus laid, and fully preserved and protected by the Constitution of the United States. Another important factor in this maintenance of a stable government is education of the masses. We may be thankful that education is encouraged and provided for in the free school system. VVho would wish for other tribute to his country than to say her first existence was with intelligence, her first breath the inspiration of liberty, her first principle the truth of divine religion. Our internal improvement and industrial development followed the establish- ment of the Constitutional government. The small group of colonies on the Atlantic coast has grown to a great nation, stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from Canada to Mexico, and to the Isles of the NVestern Sea. A nation of great cities, thundering traffic, railroads, canals, gigantic factories, millions of productive acres, where once were only prairies with thundering herds of buffalo and wandering Indian tribes. Science and invention have advanced beyond the most cherished dreams of our forefathers. In short, the Constitution of the United States, the product of a few great minds, composed to protect the rights of the individual, has come down to us after one hundred and thirty-six years, comparatively unchanged. It has weathered the storm of liberty to the world. It has marked unprecedented development and advancement. Through this government we are bound to maintain public liberty and by example of our own systems, to convince the world that law and order, religion and morality and the rights of the individual can be secured by a govern- ment purely elective. Our ancestors at the close of the first century looked with joy and admiration at the progress of the country. How much more emotion ought we now to feel looking back over one hundred thirty-six years of advancement. Our Constitution is not simply a constitutional compact but the fundamental law, and if there be one word in the language which the people of the United States should understand, it is that word. We know what the bonds of our union and the security of our liberties are and we mean to maintain them. Agitators are l23l

Page 26 text:

went into the chest when Hnished. There were lovely summer dresses and mar- velous hats, for Celeste's slender fingers worked with incredible swiftness. The spider orchids told the flowers that Celeste would soon be a bride. And Celeste herself was not long in whispering to the flowers the wonderful news. But soon the stream of letters ceased to come. and Celeste with anxious face paced the garden paths. The flowers hovered near in an effort to comfort her, but she did not seem to heed their whispered words of cheer, until at last they drew back, repulsed for the first time in their fragrant lives. Years slipped by and we find Celeste in the same sweet garden, though she herself has grown old her care-free youth gone forever. Her eyes have faded, her hair is white and her hand trembles as she reaches for the red rose. She turns away, her eyes fixed dreamily on the far horizon. Perhaps she is thinking of an unmarked grave-the flowers do not know. The Elder, as in years gone by, voiced the knowledge of the garden, Celeste, still loves and is loved.', And Celeste smiledffor she understood the language of the flowers. Lois REES. MY PARADISE A place which I shall always think of as mine, was discovered to me during a recent vacation in the mountains. During my visit, there had been one continual round of merriment all through the day and half the night. But as Nature so willed it, several forest fires broke out in the nearby woods, and every young man available set out to fight fires, consequently stopping our fun, somewhat, in the camp. Being unusually lonesome one afternoon I set out for a walk, and, Finding no one to fit into my extraordinary mood, I continued by myself. Somehow, as I strolled along the dusty road, I began to wonder what the folks down home were doing, where every one was and if they missed me as much as I did them. This thought grew on me until I had to find some place, somewhere, that would give me a view of the valley and home. And some two miles away from the cabin I found just such a place. The trail to this particular spot was somewhat misleading, since it led through a small valley and up over a peak that had been ravaged by a mountain's worst enemy, fire. And so, on rounding a point, I came wholly unaware, onto the most beautiful, awe-inspiring scene I had ever witnessed. Away off inthe distance, the golden sun, in a halo of glory, was just sinking to rest. The valley went on for miles until it, too, vanished with the sun. Some- where, away out there was homesand mother. As the last rays of the sun faded, a stillness, so intense and yet so comforting, crept around me that my very soul responded to my pent up feelings. How long I stood there I do not know, until tiny starry-like lights peeped out one by one in the valley. A gentle breeze sprung up, wakening me from my reverie enough to notice my nearby surroundings. Two feet in front of me was space for I found myself seated on the edge of a precipice made up entirely of huge boulders. Some two hundred feet directly below me lights were appearing in our neighboring camp, casting a somewhat mysterious air over the majestic pines behind which a silvery fall was playing at hide and seek. LEORA HEALTON. i251