Hamilton Collegiate Institute - Vox Lycei Yearbook (Hamilton, Ontario Canada)

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Easter YHX L YVICI I92 Arknnwlehgvnwnt ,I PRESENTING TO YOL7 THIS, OLTR HAMILTON NUMBER OF THE MYOX LYCEI. IT AFFORDS US GREAT PLEASURE TO BE ABLE TO EXPRESS OUR DEEPEST CRATITUDE FOR THE UN- STINTED EFFORTS OF EVERY MEMBER OF THE STAFF AND OF THE SCHOOL WHO BY THEIR EAGER ASSISTANCE HAVE HELPED TO PLACE THIS ISSUE BEFORE YOU. TO OUR PRINCIPAL, TO THE MEMBERS OF THE FACULTY, TO MISS CHRISTIE AND TO OTHERS WHO HAVE ASSISTED US, WE ARE VERY CRATEFUL. WITHOUT THEIR KINDLY ASSISTANCE OUR MANY TASKS WOULD HAVE BEEN DOUBLY DIFFICULT. IT IS OUR HOPE THAT THIS NUMBER MAY BE ONE WHICH IN DAYS TO COME MAY BRINC BACK HAPPY REMINISCEN- CES OF THE HAMILTON COLLECIATE INSTITUTE. 57

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Easter Y O X L Y 1' E I 1921 13 I 13 A PICTURE GALLERY H M. Perney. N that gallery of the imagination where- in are hung the portraits of those fair ladies of fiction and drama, no sweeter, finer or nobler characters can be found than wise Portia, witty Beatrice, or mirth- ful Rosalind: nor can there be found any natures so gentle, meek and so misjudged as those of forgiving Desdemona and sad Ophelia: and yet one of such towering ambition or fatal determination of a Lady Macbeth. Ah, yes! there hangs the wise Portia's portrait. Her gentle face depicts many a fine quality, many a deed of goodness, and her tender smile shines forth as Ha good deed in a naughty world. Portia, if all were like you uchapels had been churches and poor men's cottages princes' palaces. Your generous spirit which never did repent for doing good, your wisdom and enthusiasm, are an inspiration for the whole world. There, in the court, cloaked in the mantle of the law, fired with a holy passion to free your husband's friend, did you reach the very heights of oratorical power when you told the jew that mercy was not strained, and forced him by the law to give up his foul design. Though it would be heaven to stay and look longer at your portrait, time presses and it must not be. Beatrice, you too, instil into the mind a something noble and divine. You have many of the wise Portia's virtues, and though you were to speak all mirth and no matter, one cannot forget that pas- sionate loyalty you showed your cousin when she was foully slandered. Your pic- ture, also, is a precious thing in the gal- lery, but for the present we must move on. Next, photographed in the costume which she wore in the Forest of Arden, stands Rosalind, that sweetest rose which man could ever find. Your happy laughter and sweet tenderness were like some pretty flower in a desert spot, and for those with with you in the wilds, it was a paradise. One look at the shrew, Kate, will suffice: the interest we have in her now is as a perfect wife. Though happy faces are a joyous crea- tion, in this corridor of fame there are also sad ones and so it is now that we come to Desdemona's portrait. O, Des- demona! those tear-stained eyes are sad to look upon: it even seems that your gentle lips tremble their heart-breaking tale. Your lot was a hard one: fair lsa- bella went on her way rejoicing after the sadness she suffered, whereas you had to endure death at the hands of a jealous husband. You too, Ophelia, did suffer much un- happiness, caused by the ranting of that egotistical Hamlet. Two gentle ladies, meek and helpless, at the blows of this cruel world, your fate was harsh but per- haps it might have been harsher had you but lived. At last to Lady Macbeth we turn. Her haughty features express an indomitable spirit and that cruel mouth speaks defi- ance to the world. lt is hard to believe that such a picture could be so near to that of fair Portia, whose gentle mien in- spires the best which is in one. Haughty queen! you may cry to the spirits to thick- en your blood and stop up the access and passage to remorse, but your bloody deeds were well punished and your name lives as a symbol of inhospitable cruelty and unattained ambition. The end is reached, draw slowly down the veil which thus divides the fancies of the mind from the world of realities, and as the curtain softly folds around and hides those queenly figures from the world, remember that though the phantoms fade away they are not lost. A heavenly thing, an imagination gallery is, wherein hang all, both good and bad alike.

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Easter 'X' O X L Y if E I 1921 - . . 00oAonoooooncwnoaooonooooooonooo0ooo:ononooo0oooooooeonocooN:oocooooosocosonoooooooo .0 Om 3 7'O'O'O'O! 3.n'O'O9O'O'O'O'O.O' 0ooococonooooococotosoncnoncocmosooonoooececooq. -o 1 tooo:'loUOUO0OIuD000OoooIC2OOI0loIOlO0OIO0OIO0QODIOOOOOUOQOOOCOQQQOQOOO Q . . o 9 0 Q n 9 O o 0 9 oo 0. n 0 C S , , .0 .' 'a .Q Q 0 Q' 0. .0 0- as OJ ' 0 - Q IC' gg oo L oaonocc'0+wooooUotoonin0sooo000oooloocoooolooooooololoocloloooloooooool0n000009100olcootooooooooolooooolggia 28gaeaesgggsegagloooIOOOBOCO0DI00000000O0OQOOOIO00000000loCO0O000000UooololciooololooololonIOOOOOOOOOOOICOCOQUDOOI0 4 D The following letter, received from one who, last year, was a student at the H.C.l., shows that the alumni of the school still continues to take an interest in the Col- legiate. Giving, as it does. a vivid description of a clime different from ours, it will be read with interest. Allenwater, Ont., March 4, l92l. To the Vox Staff: Good luck to your Easter Vox! l hear its going to be an unsurpassable number. lt will be appreciated by this Old Boy, even a thousand miles away. Up here, in Northern Ontario, you get so used to Bush Life that the civilized world seems odd. Here it is all lakes and rocks and trees: and just now, nothing but snow, which is so deep that if you make one step off the packed path you sink three feet in the soft snow. Nearly all the time you have to wear snowshoes, either through the bush or across the lakes. Most of the towns up this way have less than one thousand inhabitants. Here there are just three families, rather seven- teen people. There's one store, a station, the section house, and the school, where l spend live hours or more every school day teaching three industrious little pupils. Teaching is so different from be- ing taught! Also is the city school differ- ent from my little log school house, where my only inspector is a friendly partridge, which peeps in at the window every day. Most of the buildings are made of logs, with the cracks and crevices stuffed with moss. They are good shelters from the cold north winds, which are certainly not very infrequent at this time of the year. The weather in this country is very much subject to extremes. One day it is stormy and H40 below, and the next day it is warm enough to be spring. But 40 below here isn't as cold as zero at home. ln fact, the lndians, the majority of the inhabitants, wear no heavy coats, just sweaters, and on their heads, silk shawls. These lndians bring in the raw furs, and trade them at the store for gaudy dress goods and candies, mostly. They travel for many miles on snowshoesg the men with heavy pack sacks strapped to their shoulders, and the women with papooses strapped to theirs. When l come back to Hamilton l'll look back on my sojourn in the wilds of North- ern Ontario as one grand long adventure, in a land of wonderful sunsets, and even more wonderful Northern Lights. Wishing you every success in your Easter Vox, l am, Very sincerely, EVELYN C. SMITH.