Barringer High School - Athenaeum Yearbook (Newark, NJ)

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ATLANTIS. 7 every good, nature in all its different as- pects, the mighty forests and the eternal hills, the crystal waters and the grassy plains, stand and shout aloud its triumph. The ceaseless ebb and flow of ocean, the endless march of time from eternity to eternity, the nightly marshalling of the hosts of heaven upon the measureless fields of space, attest truth’s immutability. ATLANTIS. BY HELEN I- TUTTLE, '79 AWAY down the distant ages, borne to us on the swift wings of the flying centuries, there comes an old legend : a legacy left us by those ancient ancestors of ours, who feared Mars, adored Venus, and re- vered Jupiter. The dead and gone gen- erations speak to us with these words. Once, long ago. there lay in the sweet waters of Atlanticus, westward far away, a land beautiful beyond description ; fair beyond mortal conception. The balmy winds of the south played round it, the warm skies of the east bent over it, the icy finger of the north drew round it a magic circle, and the western waters lapped its golden sands. Brave men built its cities, and tilled its fields. Beautiful women dwelt in its palaces. Neptune himself held the reins of State, and the love of the gods guarded from all ill. And the fame of this fair Atlantis, this paradise on Earth, spread far and wide through all lands, over all seas ; and many there were who would fain leave their allotted tasks unfinished, and hie them to this blessed country ; and the gods saw and knew it was not well; so they wafted the happy island beyond the bounds of mortality, while the unsatisfied ones sought, and found it not. Thus saith the ancient oracle. To-day there lies a region in the coun- try of nowhere in the realm of King Nihil, as bright and beautiful as that land of old, where all fond hopes are realized, where all happy dreams come true. There the fountain of perpetual youth pours forth its sweet waters. Wealth untold awaits the poverty-stricken. Fullness of joy is there for the sad. wisdom for the ignorant, peace for the troubled, rest for the weary. And this happy place is called Utopia. Many have wandered hither and thither on this broad earth, searching for this far-famed kingdom ; yet the way leading to its lofty mountains and fertile valleys remains undiscovered. But there lies still another country be- yond this world of ours, fairer than ancient Atlantis, more beautiful than modern Utopia; whose inhabitants shall no more say—I am sick. “ And there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor cry- ing. “And The Lamb is The Light thereof.” No one can miss the path to this heavenly city, since the crucified Christ stretches his pierced hands to the sinful world, saying—“ I am The Way.

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6 TRUTH WILL TRIUMPH. false foundation is not durable ; and its few remaining hours of existence soon glide by. from the very fact that falsehood is its governing principle and injustice its only standard of justice. The empire of the first Caesars in the spring time of its existence, was the most powerful and the most extended the world has ever known. It embraced all the then known world. It comprehended all the lands of the earth and races of men from the jungles of India, to the blue Atlantic: from the burning desert of the south, to the icy waters of the north. Its govern ment was based upon a true foundation. Its fountain-head of justice was pure and free from all the corruption of falsehood. Hut when, in after centuries, the first seeds of luxury and vice were sown, then, also, were implanted the germs of decay. The years which brought to Rome the effemi- nacy of the east, brought also as a conse- quence, the Hun from the north and the Vandal from the south. Truth has in its nature the surety of eternal existence. In the very fact that it has lived through ages in the world’s history when it seemed that the only object left for man to strive for, was a position ren- dered secure by bloodshed and crime—in this very fact lies the assurance that it will live forever. The silent power of truth in nature is one of the grandest of the Almighty One’s grand creations for the welfare of the world. And as well might a worm attempt to rebel against its Maker, as the skepti- cism of this world strive to oppose or re- tard the laws of nature. It was to this mysterious, silent power of nature, which yearly clothes the earth with living green, which causes the grateful rain to descend upon the thirsty soil, and the sea to roll perpetually upon the strand—it was this unknown power to which the ancient Greeks dedicated a temple with the in- scription “ to the unknown God. There have been times in the history of man when any virtue which might have existed was so enshrouded in the all-per- vading mists of sin, that it was impercep- tible,—times when crime prevailed in all its many forms. Truth is the Archimedean point by whose aid the lever of progress has set the whole world in motion- has lifted it from those dark and stagnant waters of almost absolute evil and ignorance. There arc truths which arc positive and which cannot be refuted by all the powers and sophistry of falsehood. It is self-evi- dent that a straight line is the shortest distance between any two given points, and it is a recognized truth that the earth revolves around the sun. Hut there are truths higher and nobler far than these. It is an absolute truth that an honest, up- right character, when compared to a char- acter, its opposite in all things, will surely triumph, and its light—the light native to truth -appears still brighter by the com- parison. There is unlimited evidence of this in the lives and deaths of many of the noblest mortals the world has ever known. The martyrs died for truth, all it was in the power of man to do. Their lives, their deaths, the Reformation and all the prin- cipal events of the ages are grouped to- gether, as one mighty witness to the vic- tory of truth over falsehood. Truth is the common source whence proceed all actions productive of good, the common center from which and toward which diverge and converge all the events which have furthered the ultimate object of truth in the progress of the human race toward that condition of life, where false- hood, with its accompanying train of evils is unknown. And around this common center of

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8 CIIAKLKS XII OK SWKDKN. CHARLES XII OF SWEDEN. BY G. C. H . '79 BRILLIANT arc the scenes displayed in history ; the rise, the fall, the noon-tide, the splendor, the gradual decline, and at last the utter extinction of the most powerful nations; the lives and the deeds of heroes long since dead, kingdoms lost and won, kings dethroned, the age of chivalry, the crusades, the extinction of Feudalism, and the Reformation, all of which were truly grand events. About the close of the 17th century, Charles XII, a youth of sixteen, ascended the throne of Sweden. Sweden, at this time, stood at the- highest point of her power. The possessions of the crown had been increased, and the Treasury filled by the prudence and frugality of Charles XI. The fleet and army were in a good condition; much of the present territory of Russia was then under Swedish rule, the site now occupied by St. Petersburg being a swampy hollow on Swedish soil. In courage and military spirit, the Swedes were inferior to none. On the death of Charles XI, the rulers of Russia, Poland and Denmark thought that the time had come for depriving Sweden of the lands which she had conquered. They accord- ingly concluded an alliance, and proceeded to attack Sweden at different points. But, to the astonishment of Europe, the young king of Sweden, who had hitherto been looked upon as weak in intellect, suddenly displayed a lively and energetic spirit, and remarkable military talents. In a few months he had conquered Denmark, re- peatedly defeated the united armies of Saxony and Poland, and on the 30th of November, 1701, with a force of 8,000 Swedes, he defeated a Russian force of ten times his number, at Narva. Having de- posed the King of Poland, and placed a creature of his own on the throne, he next turned his attention to Saxony—the ruler of which country he completely humilia- ted. Whilst Charles was lingering in Sax- ony, Peter the Great, was not idle. He built vast fortresses, reclaimed after pro- digious labor the swampy valley of the Neva, and laid the foundation of the new capital—St. Petersburg. Had Charles, when he left Saxony to turn his arms against the last and greatest of his foes, marched directly against St. Petersburg, he might easily have destroyed the Czar’s new plans : but. fortunately for Russia, he proceeded to penetrate into the heart of the country. No Russian army opposed the fool-hardy king, who, at the head of his gallant forces, waded through streams, and marched across pathless morasses. But now came the turning point in the life of Charles. Instead of waiting for his General (Lowenhaupt), confident of victo- ry, he fought the battle of Pultowa, which resulted in a total defeat of the Swedish army. Charles, a helpless fugitive, barely saved himself, with about 2,000 followers in a shelterless desert in the dominions of Turkey: the remainder of the fugitives— some 16,000—were obliged to surrender. Not one of those brave warriors ever re- visited his home. They were dispersed over the vast empire, some died in the mines of Siberia, others as beggars on the highways. Thus perished this heroic band, as admirable in their endurance as in their triumphs. Charles was honorably received and generously treated by the Turks, but