Lancaster High School - Mirage Yearbook (Lancaster, OH)

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3 1833 01841 1584 ; 977.102 L22l.ll, 1908 THE NEW HIGH SCHOOL BUILDING.

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VOL. I. LANCASTER, OHIO, JUNE 9, 1908. No. 1. The Pathways to Our Greatness. The stately march of history re- veals with equal clearness, and develops with equal majesty three converging: lines of advancement, distinct yet harmonious, along which the generations of the past have fought their way, and at whose summit lies success for our nation, and hope for the hu- man race—the pathway to civil liberty, the pathway to religious liberty, and the pathway to uni- versal intelligence. Since the dawn of creation the mind of man has been occupied in seeking a form of government, which would give to its citizens more civil rights. The republic of the Grecians, the empire of the Romans, the democracy of the Americans all testify to this striv- ing of the human intellect after a perfected form of government. As we look back over the history of the past, we note with deep human interest the struggle of man in his efforts to secure civil liberties. We see the people demanding from King John their civil rights in the form of the Magna Charta. We read in the determined faces of Cromwell’s round heads,” that struggle for justice as they defeat- ed Prince Rupert and led Charles I to the scaffold. And although this spirit of liberty which flour- ished under Cromwell was crushed by the return of Royalty, it was not destroyed, but, wafted across the Atlantic we see it take pos- session of the souls of those brave pioneers, who sought a home on these shores. And the struggle is renewed with all the earnestness and fierceness of its life in the old world but under better conditions. The spirit of personal liberty had emerged from the accumulated crust of the centuries—from roy- alty with its divine right of kings; from tradition with its hopeless- ness for the masses, and had turned her feet to the shores of a virgin soil where man was to be- gin life anew under conditions of equality and justice. But on the very threshold she must turn and gather her forces, and in the Rev- olutionary war she gave the op- pression and tyranny of the old world a last stinging blow. Man freed from these conditions swings now to the other extreme; through fear of a monarchy, he becomes suspicious of all unified government; and driven by the hopelessness of the masses he rushes to the verge of anarchy. Liberty calls again for her de- fenders: men to wield not the sword but the pen; and at her call the hills and valleys of America echo with the stately tread of those noble literary warriors — Hamilton, Jefferson, Franklin and Adams. And how well did they perform their work? They pro- duced and set in operation that in- instrument of government which Gladstone pronounced, the great- est govermental document that ever emanated from the human mind.” A document whose spirit went ringing around the world, dethroned kings and despots; revolutionized France; wrested the scepter of tyranny from King George, and gained the independ- ence of America. Today it sends a thrill of terror through the breast of Russia’s Czar, Germany’s Kais- er, and England’s King, for they see the power of the individual, but are not willing to recognize his rights. But how long was it unchalleng- ed; how long undisturbed? The voice of Hayne in the United States senate was but the prelude to that mighty struggle whose closing strains were the awful harmonies of the roaring cannon and bursting shell of Gettysburg and Appomat- tox. All along this perilous but glor- ious pathway, whether in the leg- islative hall, upon the field of bat- tle, or fighting the evils of today; this spirit of civil liberty granting dignity to American citizenship and safety to American homes has won its victories, by facing with fearless courage and patriotic de- votion the dangers that have ap- peared upon every newly won vantage ground. Running parallel with this strug- gle for civil liberty we see the pathway of another conflict just as fierce and as determined— the struggle for religious free- dom. Starting with the teach- ings of the Christ we can trace its footsteps through the smok- ing arena of Nero. We hear its cry on the public square of Florence from the lips of the saint- ed Savanaorla. We go farther and again we behold this spirit in the soul of the patient martyred Huss, as it wings its way from the burning faggots of persecution to the pearly gates of Paradise. We hear its voice defiant even in de- feat from the lips of the lion- hearted Luther. What has been accomplished by the sacrifice of these prophets and leaders of the old world? What is the message they have brought to the new world? Was it not this spirit which shed its life-giving rays upon the soul of Jonathan Edwards, Roger Wil- liams, or John Wesley; tempering their hearts like steel and purify- ing their consciences, until these unfold and blossom forth, and with their children and children’s children make the atmosphere of our country fragrant with the blessings of a consecrated citizen- ship? Has it not walked beside that rugged, ungainly youth in the hills of Kentucky, whispering its won- derful message into his soul, until with transformed and glorified personality, this backwoodsman becomes the emancipator of the American Negro? Today its most signal service is the separation of Church and State, here it has opened the door of useful citizenship to every con- scientious, God-fearing American. And whether he be William Mc- Kinley with his Methodist faith or Theodore Roosevelt with his Re- formed doctrine, or any other statesman, without question of creed or political belief, we bid him use his talents to fight the wrong and build up the right. Christian citizenship so long sep- arated and weakened by unimpor- tant differences of creed and doc-