Barringer High School - Athenaeum Yearbook (Newark, NJ)

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NEWARK PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL, JANUARY 1, 1870. + Vf'.i No. f,. STORM THOUGHTS. •• itonlaai Rttitte. Aifatiut my window, the rain to-night 1 pattering, thick and faat: And the tree without moan weird and wild. In every freshening blaat. The wind increase, the etorm grow wild. And ahriek thro laboring tree»: While the deep’ninf roar from tho far aeo-ahore, 8peak the wrath of the angry ace . And here, in my warm and cheerful room, I I i» ten to »torm and rain ; And think of thone, who on hclplco wreck Are toeaed on the fearful main. I »cem to cc a» the lightning» fla»h, The wreck ’mid the dying »pruy ; And the hla»t in the tree aeem to echo a elirick, A» each binding m »t give» way. I »ee her ecudding before tho wind, No helm her cour»o to guido; I hear the cra»h, aa upon a rock. She part» 'mid the angry tide. Another flaah, and no ahip appear»; No wreck among tho wave ; But a bubbling eddy for a moment mark». The place of a hundred grave». Ah! many a child «ill cal) iu vain, And many a parent rave, For one» thoy loved, that deop in the aca. Now alecp in a coral cave. The wife will watch and pray in vain For the form aha will never aee: And her aad, »a l heart will tell her thin, Aa ahe ki»»e her child at her knee. The mother will mingle the name in her prayer . Of the »on ahe will never aeo: And dream, what ahe dared not think by day. That her boy waa drowned at aea. But these are thought , too dark and aad. Yea. darker than need to be; Por God, who ia God of the flowery land. I» God of the flowcrlc»» ae . BISMARCK'S ECCLESIASTICAL POLICY. PRIZE ORATION OF THE CLASS OF 75. UT J. PAUL HKYSOI.DS. A hundred years ago the spirit of inde- pendence and of nationality flrst stirred in the hearts of the American people. Then it was that thirteen heroic colonies, weak in aterial resources but strong in the conscious- •ss of right, appealed to the God of Battles r an idea and a principle. Then it was at in a conflict with the strongest military d naval power of the age, they triumphant- asserted the justice of the one and vindi- cated the truth of the other. Ten years ago a mourning nation was told that her heroes had not fallen in vain, but that on the field at Appomattox that other idea, the idea of the inviolability of hnman rights, and that other principle, the principle of unity and integrity of the State, were recognized and established forever. To-dsy there is another conflict for an idea, and a principle, a con- flict not yet, thank Heaven, made vivid by the horrors of war, but nevertheless a conflict whose issue is as vital to America and Ameri- can institutions as was that whose success made us a nation, or that other whose result assured our existence and gave it perpetuity. What ia this idea, this principle? Where the scene of conflict? The nation is in apparent harmony. No sounds or scenes of discord disturb our peaceful shore . No word of hostile demonstration flashes over our cables. But way down upon the south- ern slope of Europe, upon the historic banks of the Tilwr, where the crumbling monu- ments of Roman greatness mourn the depart- ed glory of the eternal city, and frown upon the degeneracy of a noble race, a voice, terri- ble in its historic associations, speaks to Christendom, denouncing in tones familiar to them only, of m disral despotism, denounc- j ing the “ audacity ” of modem, thought, of modern civilization, of modern liberty, demanding universal obedience, and de- claring all temporal authority subject to I the spiritual power. The idea of civil : allegiance, the principle of the suprem- acy of the State, this k the idea and this the principle that is availed, assailed by a power whose potent influence has made mem- orable twelve centuries of European history under that terribly significant title “The Dark Ages. But where is the scene of this conflict ? Prussia, long insulted and oppressed, emerg- ing from her vale of humiliation, fired with the spirit of her heroes, resolved to emulate the days of the great Frederick. She demanded a leader; a leader who would point her to the realization of her ambition —one great, united, Germanic nation. In Bismarck -Soldier,Statcsmsn, Philosopher she found one; snd from Dupe! to Konig- I gratz, from Koniggratz to Sedan, from Sedan to Paris, swiftly one after the other he swept away the obstacle to nationality, and forty million people of one country, one language, one destiny, became one great, free and happy nation. But sixteen of these forty millions owed a spiritual allegiance to the Church of Rome, the church in whose history the idea of religion is lost in that of an usurping political policy. The Church, in which to- day, in the language of a great English Statesman, “ Individual Servitude, however abject, will not satisfy the dominant party, the State must also be a slave.” Here then is the scene of this conflict of nationality and • Paparchy,” of society and intolerance. The antagonistic forces had met in the Ger- man Empire. Collision was inevitable. Rome had not changed since the days that witness- ed a German Emperor, smocked and barefoot in the snow, imploring absolution of a piti- less Hildebrand. She demanded submission; would accept no less. “ But, -said Bismarck, significantly. “ we are not going to Canoraa, either bodily or spiritually.” It would be long l cfore Pins IX. would play the Hilde- brand to the Emperor Frederick William. It was not a defiance to provoke Papal antago- nism. Uitramontanism was already an or- ganized political power, with principles of avowed hostility to German unity long before it was consummated at Versailles, and the new Empire st once liccame the mark of Its hatred, bitter, intense, powerful. Bismarck was not the aggressor. But in assailing the sovereignty of the Empire they touched the apple of his eye. Was be to accept defeat in the very hour of victory? Were German unity, independence, sover- eignity, the dream of her poets, the aspiration of her patriots, the vague longing of her people, to be thus rudely annihilated at the very moment of their realization ? Were tho interests of civil society and government everywhere to be surrendered without a struggle? No,' said Bismarck, and 4 no ’ was re-echoed by the German people, and by the voice of all nations. The State would never surrender, when surrender meant to vacate sovereignty. And so when Seminaries sup ported by the Stato were found to he nurse- ries of treason, controlled by ultramontane from Italy and devoted to the denationalize lion of clergy, loyalty to the State, and a good education were by law made prelimi- nary qualifications of the clergy. It was forbidden to employ church discipline for political ends, or for the injury of any one in person, property or liberty. It was declared that any person should be privileged to with- • draw from the church without sustaining censure or damage. Nothing restricting liberty of faith, of worship, or of conscience.