Colebrook Academy - Clipper Yearbook (Colebrook, NH)

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ideals for his country. We are in the midst of a war waged to make certain that those American ideals of government and life may survive. We look forward to victory that will mean those ways of living, of feeling, and of thinking that seem to be the marks of our people and our history, We find that it is our heritage that has made us what, we are. Looking back into the past, we can see many prophets who have voiced the American spirit. Abraham Lincoln managed to get the whole thing into a sentence: HAS I would not be a slave, so I would not be a mastcr.n This portrays well our idea of equality. A great American loves his country and believes in its high destiny. He is a man of vision. Washington and Lincoln caught thc vision of a great united people--the American Nation. To establish and preserve this nation they dedicated their lives. And so must we dedi- cate our lives for the real ideals of truth, honor, bravery, justice, kindness, and faith. Truth to our country, our fellmfmen, our church, ourselves is a necessity. Honor and bravery lie close together in the fields of conflict, battle, and strife. Kindness, as we all know, should be everywhere. Faith is the hope of the world, a foundation for everything, and without it there can be nothing. A great man is a just man. He is one who recognizes the truth that the power for good in the world is greater than the power forevil. He believes that right makes might and must prevail. he knows that no question is ever settkd intil it is settled on the basis of justice. All these ideals added together make a great American. If you bel eve that race, creed, or color makes an American--then you are wrong. If you believe in your class before your country, your section before your nation, your own self-interest before the nation's need-- then you have not lived up to these ideals. In America men and women come together in freedom to make their own laws, to worship as they choose, to build for the future with hope, to plan for the present with daring, to get along with neighborliness, and to live in the faith of the free. These are pretty big meanings for any persong they are what Americanism means. And our lives, in our time, shall be measured by how we live up to those intentions. Jean Walker '45 SELF-ALLEGMANCE In times of stress such as these, when a nation's existence hangs in the very balance, patriotic zeal is high. Everyone's enthusiasm in the national effort is unquestioned. However, in days of strife, it is well for.man to search his own soul to discover his true standards, cms- cerning not only the principles of the state but also his personal V ideals. Every thinking man sooner or later recognizes the fact that allegiance to himself and to his own code of living preeeeds allegiance to his country. The poet aptly phrased this thought through Polonius who said, uThis above all: to thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.n How shall one be true to oneself? ,The first step is the setting up of ideals and principles as standards to be attained. Among the most de- sirable are honesty, courage, and adherence to some religious concept. Let us consider the abstract quality of honesty. Honesty in government and in all dealings among people can only be as high as the ' 459-

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our conviction that injustice, cruelty, and oppression shall be forever blotted out and that people shall be free. Richard Annie '45 SA L UTATCJRY ALLEGUXNCE TO AMERICAN IDEALS As a member of the class of 1945, I wish to welcome all citizens of Colebrook and our faculty to our graduation exercises this evening. We thak you all for helping us to make a success of our four years in Colebrook Academy. Today--as never before--Americanism is a foremost thought in the mints of most people. We have heard it discussed and have read about it, yet have we ever thought as to what makes Americanism and that for which it stands? A man is like a tree. Just as a tree strikes its roots deep into the soil and draws nourishment from it, so a man, although he owes mucl physically and spiritually to the race from which he springs, finds tm his life is directed by the environment in which he develops. That environment must be directed by some pattern of life--the most natural and perfect--democracy. Democracy is not merely a word, nor a word with merely political meaning, but one with an almost religious depth. It is a success when the truth, beauty, and goodness in each man come forthg but it is a failure when regimentation, absorption in things, worldliness in business, and corruption in politics crush and almost kill the divine right that is in each man. Democracy stands as a great bulwark of libery in a world that has gone mad in a search for power. This is not a dead relic, ready to be relegated to some musty vault for future generations to look upon with f. ' rw' ' 1 ' lr . -urioeity. It is a living, working instrument that guards the liberties or one hundred thirty million men, women, and children. No dictator can arise and seize power so long as it is functioning properly. No form of despotism can rule over this nation so long as its citizens fully realize and remain true to their many privileges that are gained by their allegiance to the ideals of democracy. ' It is not just in books of definitions that you will find the man? ing of democracy. It is written in books of Plato and in a modern foctvall story. Democracy begins with the individual. HThe duty of man,n the Greeks said, His to see that human life is so conducted that it does us credit. Now we are all greatly concerned by what it means to be an America We are deeply moved and because of the very depths of our emotion, wc are unusually eager to be clear about what it is for which we are readg to give the last full measure of devotion. It is the man himself--what his strength and character contributes to the life of the community--that counts. A true American holds high E' -o8- '

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anchor to windward. It is equally imperative honor of the individual. If the individual lacks this quality, it will be found wanting in the social group.. You have heard it said of one man that his word is as good as his bond. Such a man is genuinely honest with himself. Men of this integrity would never desecrate their nation's honor. Contrast this with the man who says one thing and does another or offers a pledge of faithfulness and then displays treachery. This war has brought outfstriking illustrations of this form of deceit and trickery. This same quality of individual honesty applies equally to busi- ness. uFor there is an honor in business which is the fine gold of it: that reckons with every man justlyg that loves lightg that regards :indness and fairness more highly than goods or prices or profits.n Business executives with such concepts have established and always will establish reputable firms. Need one fear this kind of man? Indeed, phere is a crying need for more like him. Then ds not ths.kind of honor thick the battlefield calls forth, but rather, that which the daily I xperiences of life bring to light. Every real man has at times this .oncept of honor. ', Man who is true to himself offers full allegiance to another - fuality--that of courage. This means not only courage that is displxwd ,n the battlefield but also the exhibition of moral courage. Indivimud tzourage is not found only in warg it is found in the everyday walks of life during peace. There is courage among men to build the foundation sf the futureg there is the courage of youth facing the future. Fre- quently man is called upon to display allegiance to his convictions, a form of loyalty which only a free man can demonstrate. No nation made up of men enslaved under the hand of a dictator can express indiv- idual fancy. Such people have sold their birthright for a pittance p themselves. As a people, such because, individually, they were false to disaster would not have befallen them had they possessed, in their individual selves, such moral courage,for oxamele,as that of our mothmn of today. Loyalty to oneself, a strong will, and a determination to mm keep people in the fight to live. There is a third ideal to which man should offer full allegiance. it is adherence to some form of religious belief. That it is inherent .n man to have faith in some form of God, the record of human events nears out. Man's faith in a Supreme Being has been one of the greatest activating forces in the history of the world. Striking examples of this are shown in times of war. Joan of Arc's divine inspiration lei mer people to victory. General Washington at Valley For e Abs h , - g 18 am nincoln during the Civil War, and our own president in this struggle-- ll h ' ave asked the help and guidance of God. dardly a message comes from General MacArthur but he attributes his victories to God. Indeed L it seems that war amplifies the faith of man. The president who steers Ehis nation through war, or a peacetime panic, or a depression has iaith in God, in himself, and in the people of his countr Tf . . y. 16 student las faith in his teachers. Such confidence is good for man, but it is nl thr h Q y oug faith in One Being that man acquires faith in himself and mis friends. This faith in God in times like these is perhaps man's strongest that his sense of honor nd his oersonal coura e be hi hl va clearly, if hardily, know himself--probably is,whatever the family, . L g g y lued and ,ttained. Man should make it his business to .is most difficult lesson. In the last analys 60