Freeport High School - Clarion Yearbook (Freeport, ME)

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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

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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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12 THE CLARION. that we may comprehend the ever increzising' obligations revealed by an advancing' civilization 5 chftrftcter, that we may live the truths we know. We are all moulded 1at1'g'e1y by our environment, yet I believe there is not one of us that cannot make his life in some degree better and truer and nobler, if he will. And when We consider that by the sum total of our own characters we are de- termining that of the coming' gener- ation, for better or for worse, we may faintly imagine what possibilities this fact contains. Let us cnet :tside our childish dependence upon unyielding' fate, and realize that, small though they seem, our own thoughts me deeds to-day shall build for us our fu- tures, and shall make humanity the nobler or the bztser throughout the endless years. In the studies of The Higher School, our faint recognition of this great truth shrill be qnickened into the btuning fire of imp ulse, until we all may be enabled to leuvechar- rtcters purer and nobler than ourselves could ever possess its un everlasting heritage to men and women yet un- born. An infinite opportunity is present to us every one. The re:-sult of our action will be at good or an evil induenoe that shall never die, and in that action manhood and wonmnhood must meet their suprerne test. F. C. D. IDLE 7710 UGHYN. ny CHILLA ETHELYNDE 'i-ownsmm, '5l2. Oh ! Birdie, brown birdie, what ure you suying High up in the old elm tree? You keep talking und talking, you seem to he scolding. Now what are you telling me 1' Are you chiding me, then, for being so lazy? The folding of idle hands As I lie in the hammock, so cosily swaying Halfdrifting to dreamy lands 1' 'Jl'hy, Birdie, Vin tired: while you luwe liven idle l've worked the long summers clay: And now at its close, it'l rest for rl, while Ani l to he seolrlell, pray '.' ' It is nothing like that! then what nm I sloing To cause your hulyship pnin 'I I'll stop it this moment. il' you'll kinslly ts-ll ine, And try not to do lt again. Sit up and look 'round inc, how can I lie tlozing This beztutiful summer-'s eve. When spread out before ine, it picture more lovely Than mortal has ever conceived '? The sun's dying rays frunie the onrtli with u luilo, The scent ol' llowers iills the ltlr. - Does my soul never thrill with nnuttererl long- ings At zu. scene so mrlinntly mir? - Little bird you're wrong, while you talk I wus thinking, As I watch old Sol sink low, Flaming the sky into nn oeenn ofglory, Birthing the land in its glow. 'l'ln1t this glorious light is 11 lnretuste ol' lirlcn. A light so enehu.nl.ingly sweet It never wuei caught hy the brush ofnn urtlsl, N or portrayed hy it poet-luurr-utc. I'm ot' the earth, eurthyg hut us l lie watching The deepening tints in the West, With vague uwe l wonder, ifu more holy null- ance Shines o'er the hind ofthe hlest. '1'he land ol' the blest where no sunlight is nevflell By day, or the moon by night, Where the light of His counteuztncc gives to llls people llnspeukuhle glories hrielu. lt's not given to know ull the bmutiesofllenveu To nnln on earth, while he lives, lintl can conceive ofnaught more exquisite 'Flmn it July sunset gives. The shadows have deepened, the lunrlseupr- looks misty, Faded the rnystieul light. And Birdie you're silent, l know you are sleeping. Sol will hid yon flood night.