Freeport High School - Clarion Yearbook (Freeport, ME)

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10 'run omnion. lessons that our future life shall bring. Yet as those of us who are fortu- nate enough to obtain a High School training stand upon the graduation platform, how apt we are to feel our student days forever past, to say to ourselves that we have spentsuflicient time in the drudgery of study, and that henceforth the practical affairs of life may claim our whole attention. Some will continue their studies in College, while a few will devote their whole lives to professional, literary, or other intellectual pursuits, but few indeed are they that do this from any motive other than the furtherance of their own p1'ivate interests. Of still greater significance, however, is the fact that the great majority of per- sons, unable to obtain other than a common school education -or lack- ing, perhaps, even this - yield with- out eiiort to the force of circum- stances, and refuse to spend even an occasional leisure hour in the thanli- less and unprolitable occupation of acquiring'knowledge. True, the high- er education is looked upon in a far diiferent light to-day than lifty years ago. The College, or even High School, graduate is admitted to pos- sess an advantage, in whatever line of work he may select, over a person of equal natLu'al ability but devoid of such trainingg but the prevalent feel- ing of the American people upon this subject seems still to be that mental development is merely a private ad- vantage, to be secured if convenient, nothing more. Those even who en- dure great hardship and privation to pass four years within College halls to often aim only at obtaining' a more advantageous position in the race for wealth. lint to-day a great awakening' is taking place in the world of thought. Many a cherished conviction of the past is fading away before 'the radi- ance of higher ideals and nobler con- ceptions of life and duty than man has ever known. More and more loudly the voice of his better nature is sounding the great new truth which heralds the dawn ofa Higher Civiliza- tion: YW? Ml'LI9I,i7lfj of llumcm- Lift' is lfumcm P1'og9'12s.v. The object of each individual existence is the wel- fare of the nation and the world. The application of this principle places education upon an eminence of which we may never have dreamed, for we can fullil this duty unto others only by developing' to the fullest ex- tent our environment will permit all the possibilities that lie within our- selves. This does not mean that we a1'e to devote no time to recreation and exercise, does not mean that we should allow study hours to interrupt our relations with family and friends, does not mean that it is a duty we owe others to become versed in Latin and G-reelc, Chemistry and Trigonom- etry. It signifies simply that we are to develop ourselves, morally, mental- ly, and physically, for the common good, not submissively yielding' to a fancied fate, but making' the cultiva- tion of our higher faculties one of oin- great life tasks, sustaining its due proportion to the rest. The lessons of High School and College, and far more, may all be

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'ms o1.A1uoN. 9 it. As I drew near, the light, at first was blinding, but soon my eyes became used to the light, and I steered for asmall clump of bushes on alnank. Here I landed and after tying my table with a shoe-string, which I had with nie, I started out on my tour of inspection. As I proceeded, I noticed that everything was the color of gold, this probably being the cause of the great brilliancy of the moon. As I was thoughtfully regarding a large yellow stone, and speculating as to its value, I was dumfounded to behold some- thing step from the bushes at my right. On looking closer, I beheld a small and with eyes, that were so small as to be hardly discernable. But I was more surprised when this queer individual addressed me in pu1'e English, and demanded who I was. I told him, then asked him concerning the inhab- itants of this queer place. lvithout answering, he told me to follow him, and led me to a large house, which turned out to be the abode of the king. ' person, with very long hair, After being introduced to all pres- ent, I was shown around by the king, who then informed me I could stay on the moon but twenty-four hours, as I would be burned if I stayed longer. So, after a pleasant stay of about six hours, I was accompanied by the king back to the place where I had landed. A.sI approached the clump of bushes, to my horror, I discovered that the table l1ad broken loose, the string not being strong enough to hold it, and had left me alone on the moon. Knowing that my case was desperate, I turned to the king and asked his advice. He acknowledged that he could see no escape for me, but he said that in live hours the moon would be within 30,000,000 miles of the earth, and that, if I wished, I could try to jump the distance. Always noted for my jumping abil- ities, I determined to make the at- tempt, though the chance of success seemed small. At the right time, I prepared myself for the great leap. At the word, I sprang with all my might into the air. I seemed to whirl through space and then struck. Crash! I opened my eyes. lVhere was I? I was lying on the door with the table' between me and my chair. My room-mate was standing in the door-way laughing at me. In answer to my question, he said that while sleeping in my chair, I had suddenly leaped from the chair over the table, and the lamp on the table, and struck upon the hard floor. The lamp and table together made it a leap of fully seven feet. So I am, really, the champion jumper, but on account of my modesty I have never before let that fact become known. 7711! YHIGIIJEH iS'Il'1IO0L. The advantages of a High School education have formed the subject of many a themeg and it is generally ad- mitted, I think, that those advantages consist not so much in the additional knowledge that we gain as in the broadened views and ideas of life, and increased ability to understand the

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'run CLARION. 11 mastered by those of us who have nev- er spent an hour within those institu- tions, merely by employing a portion of the time we daily waste. The theory that self-education isa duty we cannot avoid is, however, drawn from the proposition that we are to live only for the good of our fellow men, and as we are still hesi- tating sponsibilities which this truth in- to acknowledge the vast re- volves, let us test it in its practical application to the subject in hand. The crying necessity of the hour is a moral and intellectual activity that shall be in some proportion to this tremendous material advancement of the present age. We can perceive the need in every phase of our national life. The American Republic was es- tablished amid conditions which call- ed forth the strongest emotions and the noblest impulses that ever thrill- ed in the heart of any people. Its very foundation was the most exalted conception of Liberty and Justice that the accuiirulated intelligence of ages past could form. But as it was built upon such a spirit, upon the continu- ance of that spirit its stability and permanence must depend. Each one of its myriad sovereigns is individual- ly responsible for the welfare of all. Nvllfzll we each accept this great re- sponsibility and strike hands for the common good, then will g.rovernment of, for, and by the people be realized in theory and in fact. But in the midst of our enjoyment of the :ulvantagns won for us at the cost of many an heroic life laid down on the iields of the Revolution, we have already drifted far from our an- cient ideals. All the energies of a growing nation have been concentrat- ed upon material things, until we now find ourselves all but incapable of managing the complicated social machinery we have constructed. If our boasted Republic is to outlive the perils which it must surely face, we must fit ourselves to peiform the great duties we have assumed. lVe must study, conscientiously and care- fully, not dead languages and higher mathematics, but the great principles that envelop and permeate every libre of our national life. Vile are not to blindly follow the leadership of un- scrupulous politicians, but are to ac- quaint ourselves with the laws of So- cial and Political Science, and by these form opinions of our own that shall be sincere and freeg are not to curse the stupidity and lack of patri- otism ofthe men we have placed in our Legislatures, while we Surrey our votes to be nulliiied by the vfiles of the party boss who manipulates the ignorant, vicious, and criminal classes of our population, but are to rise together and crush out with irre- sistible force the corruption which has stained American politics with shame. It is idle to contend that purer morality alone is needed. Although too often separated in individual life. when applied to that of a nation in- telligence and morality will be found to go hand in handg and this is the more completely true as the voice of the people in their own Government is the greater. XVe must have knowledge