Plainfield High School - Milestone Yearbook (Plainfield, NJ)

Page 18 text:

te) a Eh ORACLE Isaiah’s face took on a bitter expression. “Oh, ambition, evil am- bition,’ he moaned, ‘what dost thou not force mortal hearts to do!” Just then some one began to speak. ‘Who is he?” Isaiah asked. “He is a very rich man, who has mines of money,” the angel replied. “How did he get it?” asked the prophet. “By fair means and foul. First he dealt with iron and other manu- factures. Then he watered his stock in order to deceive the multitude and to benefit himself.” “T do not understand why the people should allow this,” muttered Isaiah. “The people themselves do not understand and so are deceived,” con- tinued the angel. “But there are a number of wise men who can obtain money by means of watered stock, and this man is simply one of the wisest among them.” “But what has he to do with peace?” “He has nothing else to do. Money flows to him from every side. He is also very anxious to satisfy the voice of. his conscience and desirous of homage and he obtains it by preaching the gospel of peace.” At these words a cloud appeared on the forehead of the great prophet and an expression of sadness stole into his eyes. “Who is that?” he asked again, as a third man began to speak. “That is an ambassador sent by a great ruler.” “What is he saying?” “He is praising his master, the Kaiser of Germany, and declaring that he is the only man who can establish peace on earth. The Kaiser himself is continually boasting of having won great glory in war, although he is not a great warrior. The ambassador says that peace would be a good thing, if it could only be brought about.” Heavier and heavier grew the cloud on the forehead of Isaiah. “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity,” his lips murmured. “And what does that man say?” he asked, pointing to a tall military- looking man, who had just risen. “He is a general and praises the life of a soldier. He claims that a camp is the best school in which to learn love for one’s native land. It strengthens the body and the heart, he says. Moreov er, he cries that his nation is the finest, and his king the best.” “And who are those men, with the rows of raedaticd: and orders on their breasts?” Isaiah now asked his companion.

Page 17 text:

THE ORACLE 9 SAEU PATORY ESSAY PAP PROPEE IpisAbAH AT eA PEACE CONFERENCE, BY ROSE SIEGAL. About three thousand years ago, the Prophet Isaiah had predicted that a time would come when there would not be any war among the people of the land. He said, “They shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning knives; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, and they shall not learn any more war.” However, as matters appear now, his word has not vet been fulfilled. But who knows what will happen after the Hague Conference, which is to meet in June? Perhaps then Isaiah’s. prophecy will come true and all strife on this great, wild world will end. One day a number of men met at the Czar’s palace in St. Petersburg to discuss the Hague Conference and Isaiah, the originator of the problem of peace, resolved to come there to hear what they would say regarding the question which had been so dear to him three thousand years ago. He took with him an angel, who understood all languages and all secrets. They both stole into the apartment, took their places somewhere in the air, and prepared to hear what would happen. In the large, spacious chamber, where the delegation met, hundreds of electric lights were burning and winking joyfully at each other. A sea of light, mingling with the halo surrounding the angel, poured down upon the people present. Isaiah closed his eyes. “Too bright, too bright,” he murmured. “God knows whether the hearts of all these men are not filled with darkness and guilt.” At that moment a burst of applause resounded through the chamber. “What are they doing?” Isaiah asked the angel. “They are paying honor to this man (pointing to the Czar) who sits at the head of the table. He is the man whose father brought together the first Hague Conference and who tried so hard to establish a good consti- tution for his country. This man, too, is working for a Hague Conference, but he himself is the first to bring about war, and in his own land people are condemned to death without trial, blood is shed wantonly, and riots and revolts prevai l. He does not listen to the voice of his own heart, but to those who with fluttering words and smiling speeches steal away his own views of justice, and deceive him, in order that they may the more easily gain their desires.”

Page 19 text:

THE ORAGLE II “They are the leaders of riots, of court-martials and inquisitions, which have been shedding blood for the last century. They are those who preach that if a man slaps you on one cheek, you should turn to him the other. However, it is strange that they always wish to be the ones who strike and desire others to turn their cheeks to them.” The expression on Isaiah’s face changed. His countenance flamed, his eyes shot fire, and with scorn he cried, “Liars and hypocrites rule the people. Their tongues are smooth, but their hearts are black.” When the peace conference went to rest and refresh themselves after the noble work which they prided themselves on having done for mankind, the voice of the great Isaiah could be heard far in the sky, saying, “Oh, wicked people, people overburdened by sin, when will you learn the gospel of peace!” But the delegation kept on drinking champagne and paying compli- ments to one another, and heard not a word, VALEDICTORY ORATION PH SPIRIE OF MODERN CHARITY. BY FREDERICK MARTIN SMITH. The advent of Christianity marks the beginning of real charity in its modern sense. Before the Christian era, poverty was alleviated somewhat for economic reasons, but the followers of Christ infused a spirit of love into all attempts to relieve suffering. In the dark days of the early Roman empire, the Church and her emissaries furnished the only means of relief. Help was given generously, even lavishly, and without discrimination. “Give to every one that asketh of thee,’ expresses the characteristic spirit of the age. Until the ninth century, when hospitals were founded, no special institutions of charity existed, and the sick were cared for in their own homes. In the middle ages, the monks, and later, the orders of religious knights ministered to the needs of the poor, and with the growth of the idea that charity had an atoning efficacy, funds were liberally supplied. Such was the beginning in the Christian Church of the spirit of help- fulness which has now assumed such a variety of forms in its course of development. The 19th century has seen remarkable changes in the growth of all kinds of charitable work. The spirit of modern charity is scientific: