Lancaster High School - Mirage Yearbook (Lancaster, OH)

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MIRAGE 9 OUR NATIONAL HOLIDAYS By ELLEN HENRY. A HOLIDAY, as we often think of it, is a day on which we are freed from our common duties; but a mere limited use of the word and the one which we shall take is that of a day set apart from the others by custom or by state or national authority. Now. as to the purpose of these days. To be sure most of them commemorate the doing of some great deed or the birth of a renowned person, but there is a still deeper purpose. They are days on which we should think and days which should be marked by a striving for higher ideals. Our first holiday, New Years, Is of ancient origin and brought to us by custom. It has, in England and Scotland, for many years, been celebrated by games and feasts. It has long been the custom to see the old year out and the new one in. The day is as we term it, a milestone on the road of time. It is the day on which one looks back at the departing year and on to the future one, a time when a mingled feeling of pleasure and seriousness takes possession of us and when we face the future with new' determination, saying witn Lincoln, “Let us more highly resolve.” And now these next days belong to the American people alone. Two of them, days in February, are the anniversaries of the birth of two men to whom we are indebted for the preservation of this country. In Virginia, on February twenty-second, in seventeen hundred thirty-two, George Washington, the father of our country, was born. He was only a young man when he gave himself and his labors to be used for his country; and through all his labors and sufferings we see not the least sign of a selfish desire for honor or praise, it was he who first put the wheels of the government in motion. On the twelfth of February, eighteen hundred nine, Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky. He, contrasted with Washington, was born almost into poverty, but similar to Washington, was born with a strong intellect and a noble heart. By his efforts our country was again freed, this time from the bonds of slavery. Now the observance of these days is not chiefly to do honor to Washington and Lincoln; they do not need it now; but do not the people of today need the example and guidance of the lives of these men as

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LANCASTER HIGH

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10 MIRAGE well as the others needed their labor? And if we think of these lives at all we can not help seeing their virtues beaming forth. They showed by their faitn and trust that the only sure and strong founda- tion for either an individual or a nation is reliance on the strength and power of God. If we observe these days as true Americans should, we shall certainly feel their influence and go forth better citizens. At the close of the Civil War there was no rejoicing over the defenseless men, women and children; and no boastful conqueror wearing a wreath of laurel as in olden times. Broadly contrasted with such a scene think of that picture of General Grant at Appomatox standing with his hands behind him, firmly refusing the precious sword of General Lee. Never was such a great war fought and never such a noble one. Each force seemed to be fighting for what it thought right. Neither do the commanders, good and noble, as they were, receive all the glories. But on the thirtieth of May, each year, we recall the many sacrifices and the grave of every man and boy who sacrificed his life for his country, is, if possible marked by some remembrance. We are sure of this much, that as long as a Union or Confederate veteran remains alive, Decoration Day will have the power to appeal to all the patriotism that there may oe within us. And now we approach the great day of Americans, the anniver- sary of our independence. It was in Philadelphia, on July 4, 1776, that the final Declaration of Independence was signed. John Adams, one of the signers, prophesied that in coming generations the day would be celebrated as an anniversary festival and gave us a famous quotation as to its celebration. He said, “It ought to be commemor- ated as a day of Deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bon fires and illuminations from one end of the cont:nent to the other, from this time forward forever more.” As we think of these words, we come to the conclusion that we have kept very well the latter part of them; but the danger is that we have forgotten the first part and thus have a day degenerating rather then uplifting to our minds and hearts and lessening instead of strengthening our patriotic spirit. But as we look back on that Declaration we find it standing out as one of the grandest monuments in the progress of human freedom. On the first Monday in September, we celebrate a day for the working men, who have come to have such a great part in American life. It was inaugurated by the Knights of Labor of New York,