Brilliant High School - Blue Devil Yearbook (Brilliant, OH)

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ls it not practical to think for peace, to hope for peace, and to believe in peace: to value it as we value our liberty of speaking, of thinking, of writing and of voting: to make it practical as we have made these practical? This should be an age of progress, not of war: of defense, not of destruction: and of life, not of death, .Xnd may the coming generations sec that peace, that which stands for what is most ideal upon earth. and for all ambitions for eternity, is grander than war: that to live for a worthy object is more glorious than to die: that nature and human courage are more poetic than flowing blood an l frenzied patriotism. Let us labor for that blessed time that shall last for ever when nation shall not lift up sword again nation. neither shall they learn war any more. And then what of the world's tomorrow? The power of prophecy dwells no more with men, yet the straining eye ever strives to pierce the secrets of the future. Come, let us look forward into the future and see. There, sntfnsed in the softened light of the dying day. resting upon a greensward, its wheels half- sunken in the earth, lies a cannon. lts threatening mouth is choked with roses, over its cumbrous form. a trailing vine elambers and creeps, chaining it to earth as if 'twould bind it down forever. lVhat does it symbolize? It symbolizes the banislnnent of earth's great armaments. a vine at every door, roses on chilclhood's cheeks, a song on woman's lips, no heart without its home, no soul without its hope. Down the dark future, through long generations, The echoing sounds grow fainter, and then cease: .Xnd like a bell, with solemn, sweet vibrations, l hear once more the voice of Christ say, Peace, l'eace: and no more from its brazen portals, The blast of XYar's great organ shakes the skies. llut beautiful as songs of the immortals, The holy melodies of love arise, . All the nrlifa at Saranac All the world's a stage. .-Xnd all the men and women merely players: They have their exits and their entrances: And one man in his life plays many parts. So it was three hundred years ago when the great Shakespeare penned these immortal words and so it is today. This world wherein we live is the great stage whereon we. the men and women, act our parts as we go about performing the daily functions of life. VVe ourselves determine by our own action and preparation whether we will be a principal or a minor character: whether our livesgshall be one of influence or one to furnish itself a stepping stone to others as they play before the public in this great drama.

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of some nation tries to suppress its inferior classes, certainly a revolt would be justifiable. There may be a few other instances that we might cite, but what do they all signify? These are only instances of barbarous attacks, and with the civiliza- tion that we claim to possess we would never be justified in making an attack upon some other nation. But it would be our duty to defend ourselves should any such barbarous nation attack us. Certainly the present European war is not justifiable. For what will vic- tory mean to either? Wife no longer live in the age when it is believed that victory is accorded to the right, for we know that it is brute force that conquers. It is true that the victor may gain some material advantage, or -wealth, such as the acquisition of new territory, or some indemnity. But their loss is considerably- greater. Once they may have needed territory, but now their 'citizens are gone, and the territory they might have used will be of no use, and money can never fill the place they occupied. Modern warfare means the extermination of one or both contestants. VVhat must be the agony of these contestants has they go nobly to their grave no one can tell. Do not mothers rear their sons for some nobler and more useful purpose than to be slain on the battlefield, or to be killed by the atrocities of war? s On a beautiful, sunshiny afternoon just a short time ago, the news Hashed across the water that the giant steamer, Lusitania, had been sunk, and fourteen hundred people went to a watery grave. Think of what must have been the suf- fering of those men, women and children! And we have such conditions as these in the light of the twentieth century. On every Sabbath, the world over, temples are thrown open, and men and women assemble to worship Him who is the Prince of Peacef' Yea, just in our own United States, this land of liberty and freedom, far more than 50,000 temples are thrown open. Is this a reality? Or is our Christianity a romance, our profession a lie? And so public opinion is crying against this slaughtering of the human race. Wle do not urge a sudden disarmament of the powers of the world, but we do ask that peace be upheld before the coming generations as the one goal toward which we should strive. As cities and states might be controlled by law, so might nations be controlled by international law. Enthusiasm for the hero placed Europe at Napoleoifs feet, enthusiasm for peace can organize the world. So that, instead of the clank of arms, the tramp of the war horse, and the pitiless scenes of death, decay and famine, we may behold the nations of the world of every religion, race, and color bound to- gether by the ties of the Universal Brotherhood of Man. Then let us pray, that come it may, As come it will, for a' that, That sense and worth o'er a' the earth, May bear the gree and a' that, For a' that and a' that, lt's coming yet, for a' that, That man to man, the world o'er, VV ill brothers be, for a' that.

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But whatever we may choose to make ourselves we shall at some time in our life come to the point where we shall choose to change our cast, and step forth into the foreground or recede into the background, whichever our previous actions may require. A leader must have ability. And it is not everyone of us who can possess this ability to such an extent as to become the leading actors, but must content ourselves with some more common role. ' There are those of us in life whose sole purpose is to amuse those about us: and again there are lives that pass that seem to be a comedy throughout their whole extent. They know no seriousness but, like the butterfly, tlit about beauti- fying all life with their constant humor. This man we shall call the comedian of life's Drama, and a spacious place must be accorded him. But he has his oppo- nent, whose sole mission is to inspire the people about him with the horrors and awfnlness of the world wherein they live. This man we shall call the tragediang and much is the sorrow he has brought to bear not only upon those who have played casts in the phases of this drama wherein he has played his part, but also upon the public at large, which has been an audience to the working of his awful crime. W'e little realize the influence which these two classes may have upon us, until it is too late and our lives have been marred of their beauty. Then we see their effects. So let us as we journey through life so blend these two factions that our influence may not be as a flaring meteor that passing through the air draws after it a trail of light, and then after a brief space of time passes into oblivion. lint let us be as a shining star which for centuries has diliiused its light upon the entire universe, undimmed, unstinted by the time through which it has shown. Wie cannot all be leading characters. ln the real stage setting only one out of about every one hundred is permitted to play this part: and in life this pro- portion is considerably smaller. Here only one out of thousands or even millions can play the leading part. In fact there can be but one leader in any nation. There is only one emperor, one king. one president. All the rest are only subor- dinates to him as he plays in the arena of life. They bring forth the setting, the rising action, the climax, and conclusicn. The general as he leads the nation into war is but making clear the entrance through which his hero must sooner or later pass. And whether he comes forth victor or vanquished, he has made the back- ground before which his chief must appear. Thus we see that we cannot all be leading actors, but let us improve the opportunities which, though they may seem insignificant, are foundations that lead to something higher. Our name may never go down in history. XV e cannot hope to be another Pericles. an Alexander. a Caesar, a Hannibal, a Napoleon, a Vtlashington, or a Lincoln. These men had their realms to rule and we have ours. Then whatever ours may be let us rule it well: For he who would be master of the world must first conquer himselff' After one has mastered himself by constant toiling and effort. other powers will come to him, for it is a well- lmown adage that 'flly diligence we prosper. Our lives are our parts to play, and may we so play them that when the time for our exit has come we may rest under honest conviction that we have played well our part.