Brentwood College School - Brentonian Yearbook (Mill Bay, British Columbia Canada)

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Brentwood College Magazine ' ' Of course they are, he answered. Surely you realize that although they all take a great many things away with them, most of them leave some- thing behind. In fact the best leave so much behind them that you can hardly say they leave the school at all. I suppose I looked rather puzzled, because he went on to explain further — You see, what they leave behind are the things they did while they were here; the way they played that rugger match against University School, the keenness with which they ran or rowed or played cricket ; the discipline they maintained as Prefects : their willingness to help on Pioneer Parties : their laughter: their sense of honour: their pride in Brentwood and in themselves as Brentonians — ah, these things do not leave with them : they remain and become a permanent part of the school they have helped to build. You have probably noticed, he continued in a sadder tone, that some of the lockers are almost empty. They belong to the boys who just lived for themselves and had as easy a time as they could : the school didn ' t mean much to them, so, naturally, they couldn ' t expect to make much im- pression on the school. And he quoted very softly They are perished as though they had never been and are become as though they had never been born. They don ' t seem to take much away either, ' I commented. No, he agreed, a few moving picture magazines and gramophone records are not much to be proud of. Most of them do better than that though, he went on, as if eager to talk about more cheerful things. Can you explain, I asked, to help change the subject, why many of those who are leaving most behind them seem to be taking least away? That doesn ' t seem to bear out what I have often told them, that the more you give, the more they get. It does seem odd at first, answered the Spirit, until you find out that those are the boys who are really taking most with them. They have not cumbered themselves very much with the material things of the world, but a close look at them will show you that they are not being sent away empty. Those are the ones who have learnt, as Job put it, that the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil, that is understanding. They have been building up a standard of behaviour during their years here which will be an anchor for them in times of trouble. They know that it is not going to be easy to maintain that standard after they have left : the temptation to depart from it will increase rather than decrease, but they know, too, that as St. Peter puts it nothing can harm them if they be followers of that which is good. So, though their baggage seems light, their hearts are full and they will go on their way in the spirit of the valiant pilgrim that old John Bunyan wrote about. As he stopped speaking, one of those odd changes took place which seem so natural in dreams, for I suddenly found myself in the chapel, with the organ playing over the tune you have just sung. But when the singing Page Twenty-nine

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Brentwood College Magazine Headmaster s Address LOCKER INSPECTION YOU can quite understand that, at this time of the term, my thoughts tu rn very frequently towards those of you who are leaving. I wonder, of course, what you are going to do when you have finished your educational courses and how successful you are going to be : but most I wonder how much you have gained, during your time here, which is going to be of real value to you in the years ahead. Perhaps, then, it was only natural that I should have dreamed about you the other night. It was rather a dark room in which I found myself and I could not, at first, make out where I was, but as I grew accustomed to the light, I realised that it was a changing-room. There were the rows of lockers, with their doors opened, and standing in front of them, a line of about a dozen boys, each with a bundle in front of him. A man, whom I did not at first recognize, was wal king slowly down the line, checking over each bundle and entering notes in a book. Evidently some sort of locker inspection was going on. But I don ' t think he is being very efficient, I thought to myself, because in some of the lockers I could see quite a lot of things that seemed to have been left behind. The piles of belongings in front of each boy varied considerably : most of them contained some school books, but that was almost the only thing they had in common, and, even then, the quantity of books differed enormously. Some of the boys seemed to have concentrated a good deal on athletics : there were footballs, bats, racquets, cups and blazers stacked in front of them, and certainly one boy had an oai leaning against a nearby pillar. Others had less imposing heaps, but still interesting: an old pair of football boots and running shoes ; something made in the Manual Training shop, a play costume, a hymn book and a few black note books made up one fairly typical pile. One or two, I noticed, were gazing rather ruefully at heaps of old, tattered magazines, a few candy-bar wrappers, a crumpled packet of cigarettes and some cheap gramophone records. That seemed to be all they had, because their lockers were fairly well cleaned out. While I had been taking all this in, the Inspector had finished his job and was walking down to my end of the line. As soon as I saw his face, I recognized my old friend, the Spirit of Brentwood, though he seemed to have grown bigger and stronger since I saw him last. How do you do, he said, I was just having a locker inspection for the boys who are leaving. I like to see that they take away everything they ' ve got when they go. Well, I said, I hope you won ' t think I am interfering with your job, but haven ' t you overlooked quite a lot of things? Some of their lockers seem almost full still. Page Twenty-eight

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Brentwood College M a g a z i n e started, the words were not the same — they came drifting down the years to me from the end of a summer term at my own school in England, and this is how they went : Lord, thou has brought us to our journey ' s end; Once more to thee our evening prayers ascend; Once more we stand to praise thee for the past : Grant prayer and praise be honest at the last. For all the joys which thou hast deigned to share; For all the pains which thou hast helped to bear : For all the friends, in life and death the same. We thank thee, Lord, and praise thy glorious name. If we have learnt to feel our neighbour ' s need : To fight for truth in thought and word and deed : If these be lessons which the years have taught, Then stablish, Lord, what Thou in us has wrought. Valete C. M. B. Symons — Lower House Captain; Senior Matriculation; Head of School; Captain of Rugby; Captain of Boats; Basketball V. ; Editor of Maga- zine; Assistant Scout Master. A. H. Mitchell — Upper House Captain; Senior Matriculation and College Board ; School Prefect ; Rugby XV. ; School Crew ; Basketball V. ; Badmin- ton V. J. W. Asselstine — Lower House; Junior Matriculation; School Prefect; Rugby XV. ; School Crew ; Basketball V. J. A. Wells — Lower House; Junior Matriculation; School Prefect; Cap- tain of Cricket; Rugby XV; Assistant Scout Master. R. I. Ross — Upper House; Senior Matriculation; Rugby XV.; Cricket XL; Basketball V.; Squash IV. T. R. Bassett — Lower House ; Junior Matriculation ; Rugby XV ; Cricket XI; Badminton IV. P. Andrus — Lower House; Junior Matriculation and C ollege Board; Bas- ketball V. K. Cooke — Lower House; Grade XI;)Riugby XV. J. F. Ryan — Lower House; Grade XI; Rugby XV. C. Williams — Upper House; Grade XL; Rugby XV. P. Waterstrat — Upper House ; Grade XL ; Rugby XV. N. Beard — Upper House; Grade XL; 2nd Rugby XV. J. Mays — Upper House; Grade X.; 2nd Rugby XV. A. Hay — Lower House; Grade IX.; 2nd Rugby XV. Page Thirty