Natick High School - Sassamon Yearbook (Natick, MA)

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6 THE SASSAMON forbidden his governors to pass laws of pressing importance, he had refused to pass laws for the accommodation of the people, unless they would in turn relinquish some of their rights. The fact that independ- ence was sought, not for its own sake, but merely as a means to an end was made quite clear in the Declaration itself, b-y its author. We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are endowed by their Cre- ator with certain inalienable rights, that, to secure these rights, gov- ernments are instituted among meng that whatever form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute a new government. Then Jefferson went on to show that the British government had become destructive to the ends for which governments were instituted, with item after item of appalling indictment of bad government. Thus the whole document was a complaint of and a protest against bad government and a pledge to establish and maintain good governmentg a burning desire on the part of the colonists for good government was the reason for the Dec- laration, it was the purpose of the revolution, it was the end to which independence was only a means. When Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence he put into form ideas that had found expression time and again in the colonies. He caught inspiration from sturdy New England, the Middle colonies and the sunny South. The air was charged with independence and every man who breathed it became a patriot, ready to subscribe to the Declaration, Give me liberty or give me death, yet not until blood was shed did absolute independence rise defiant. It is difficult was us, even now, to appreciate the courage and faith of the fathers in founding a republic on the principle that man. as God created him, may b-e trusted with self government. History af- forded them' no precedent. In Athens both political and personal free- dom were unknown to the mass of the people. The Roman republic was a patrician class. The republic of Italy were limited and aristo- craticg those of Switzerland were a group of cousinsog and that of Po- land a republic of guilds and land-holders. F'or the first time in history the fathers made a declaration of the political equality and right of self government of all men. When later they had won their independ- ence and framed a constitution of government, they stood before the world as the first completely free and democratic nation which has ever existed. This might never have come to pass if the clear-sighted Jefferson had not had unbounded faith in the mass of the people. He alone had divined the fact that they were competent morally and mentally for self government. I am sure, he wrote in 1796, that the mass of cit- izens in these United States mean well, and I firmly believe that they will always act well whenever they can obtain a right understanding of matters.

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ADDRESS GF WELCOME AND ORATICN One of the pleasantest tasks that fall to the lot of the president of the Senior Class is the extending of the class 'greetings to parents, teachers and friends on this happy day, which is second only to gradu- ation in its joys. p ' To our parents, first of all, we give a hearty welcome. They have followed our careers with the keenest and most unseliish interest, al- wayslready to encourage and to inspire, to praise us when we succeeded and to sympathize when we failed. D To our teachers, who, during our school hours, act as guides, phil- osophers and friends, we also extend our Welcome with a word of appreciation, which we hope does not come too late. s To all our other friends whose presence here attests their high regard for us and their interest in our welfare, we give our kindest greetings. l The coincidence of the graduation of this class of 1926 and our nation's 150th Anniversary makes it fitting that we, who have been associated together during the past four years in this system of public education, should on this occasion, pause a few moments and consider the Declaration of Independence, which gave us our democracy and to whose author our perpetual thanks are due for the tremendous impetus he gave to the then new idea of public education. On July 2, one hundred and fifty years ago, Congress adopted a resolution That these United colonies are and of right ought to be free and independent states, and on July 4 American independence was pub- licly proclaimed. There were no longer thirteen British Colonies, but in their place a new nation. the United States of America, The Declar- ation of Independence was received with enthusiasm throughout the country. 'Everywhere it was read aloud t'o the people. who gathered to hear it amid the booming of guns, the ringing of bells and the dis- play of fireworks. The Declaration of Independence was inevitable, it was forced into existence by circumstances over which no one man or group of men had control. It came about despite the opposition of strong men who later yielded to the demand for it and became its most ardent sup- porters. I The circumstances which forced the Declaration into existence were summed up in the signers' complaints against King George. He had refused his assent to laws necessary for the public gfioodg he had

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YEAR Book, 1926 7 Jefferson's lifelong endeavor was to enable the people to form this right understanding by educating them, and to this education he de- voted himself tirelessly. This is clearly shown in a letter to Governor Tyler: I have indeed two great measures at heart, without which no republic can maintain itself in strength: first, that of general education, to enable every man to judge for himself what will secure or endanger his freedom, second, to divide every country into hundreds, of such size, that all the children of each will be within a central school in it. These little republics would be the main strength of the great one. Educate and inform the whole mass of the people. Enable them to see thatit is to their inter- est to preserve order, and they will pursue them. , The simple inscription on his tomb, at Monticello, sums up in his own language as no orator- can, the character and career of Thomas Jefferson: Here was buried Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declara- tion of Independence, of the Statute of Virginia for religious freedom and father of the University of Virginia. Political freedom, religious freedom, and the education that makes them possible and safe were the ends for which he strove, the monuments by which he desired to be remembered. Neither power nor honor, office, popularity, nor fame entered into the mighty heart that stirred that mighty soul. On this eventful day of our lives, as we give serious thought to the significance of the Declaration of Independence and its author. let us call to mind the word of Justice Story: Let American Youth never for- get that they possess a noble inheritance, bought by the toils and suf- ferings and blood of their ancestors. The structure has been erected by architects of consummate skill and fidelity, its foundations are solid, its compartments are beautiful as well as useful, its arrangements are full of wisdom and honor, its defences are impregnable from without. It has been reared for immortality, if the work of man may justly aspire to such a title. It may nevertheless perish in an hour by the folly or corruption or negligence of its only keepers, the people. Finally we can but conclude that this is the message which our beloved country gives to us who are graduating in this year of her 150th anniversary. That we renew our faith in the Declaration of Independence, that we keep in mind the lesson taught by the interven- ing years, that in order to have our American Democracy realize its great ideals, and solve the problems that will confront it in the future, we, as future citizens must help develop and maintain throughout the land a citizenry of enlightened, united and self-sacrificing Americans, dedicating to the task if need be, as did the men of 1776, our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.