Reading High School - Arxalma Yearbook (Reading, PA)

Page 26 text:

20 THE RED AND BLACK SINCERITY VALEDICTORY-BY EDWIN R. IIAAG not an uncommon sight to see ' venders of pottery display their wares along the streets of the city. The mere fact that they did display their wares is of no consequence to us. But the undisguised method of con- ducting their sales cannot fail to im- press our minds, In the process of manufacturing earthenware, many pots were often damaged. 'These the skill- ful Romans could repair with wax so that the human eye might not distin- guish between the defective and the per- fect pots. Nevertheless, these venders were un- questionably honest. They separated the unwaxed pots from the waxed and dis- tinguished them by marking them with the words sine vera, meaning without wax. In this manner, the prospective buyer was safe -guarded against fraud not by the laws of the empire, but by the in- tegrity of the venders. h N the days of imperial Rome, it was 1 . With the fall of Rome, centuries ago, this custom passed away. Yet those two words, once the symbol of the purity and the perfection of pottery, have come down through the ages to designate that which is true, unadulterated, and without de- ception. Many times are they used in our daily intercourse. Very often do they appear in our letters. Yet very few per- sons recognize them in the familiar word sincere. full of Latin Our English language is derivatives. These tend to give it beauty of expression and a certain flow of dig- nity. There is, however, not another Latin word in the language, which is more beautiful in expression, in the thought that it conveys, or in the emo- tions that it excites. Nor is there an- other Latin word, which bears with it more of dignity, both in sound and in the images which it conjures in the m-ind. To be sincere is to be without wax. To be without wax is to be what you are, not what you seem to be. And to be what you are is to be pure and true. Sincerity in every undertaking, sincer- ity in every walk of life is essential to success. Insincerity and deception lead to destruction. Truthfulness alone is a never-failing staff. If we would conquer, we must be siiircre-wo must be without wax. The pages of history disclose ample evidence of this fact. Sincerity of pur- pose has overcome many obstacles and gained great victories. Insincerity has resulted in defeat, death and destruction. I refer you to Greece during the Persian Wars-to the pass of Thermopylae, lead- ing between a high mountain and the sea from Northern into Central Geeece. More than 2000 years ago the dauntless Leoni- das and his lion-hearted Spartans stood here to defend their homes against the hordes of Xerxes. For two days they pre- sented an invincible front to the barbar- ians, and then the insincerity of a coun- try-man, a Greek, doomed the immortal Leonidas and 1100 Greeks to fall under the Persian sword. I refer you to an instance in American history-an affair with which you are all familiar. In 1776 the spirit of patriotism was waning. The Americans were de- pressed by constant reverses. Washing- ton knew that he must strike a heavy blow to revive a dying cause. On Christ- mas night he crossed the Delaware to Trenton. The Hessians were carouslng instead of keeping watch. They were mercenaries. They were insincere. They were paid to fight whether George of England or George Washington should rule America. The Americans surprised them and put them to rout. In a moment the struggle for independence had been renewed, and the tide of the Revolution had been turned. Today the United States is a mighty nation. It has grown to be the queen among the world-powers, so that we deem it an honor to be called Americans. Yet underneath this vast structure, upon which it rests, is the rock of sincerity, impregnable as Gibraltar and as enduring as adamant. In the sincerity of men like Washington this nation found its incep- tion. In the sincerity of men like Lin- coln it found a safe haven while the storm of secession loudly roared over the land. And in the sincerity which char-

Page 28 text:

Guns CLVH