Lansingburgh High School - Odyssey Yearbook (Troy, NY)

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'5' '-' THE ODYSSEY '3' - - W Our history text-books do not tell of the remainder of Arnold's life. That is where they miss the chance of driving home a real lesson. No matter how much like preaching it may sound, it is nevertheless true that no fifth act of a tragedy was ever more impressively moral than the last twenty years of Arnold's life. The practical side of his life was a constant struggle, he was dis- regarded in his search for military advancement, and the world at large held a cold contempt for him. Insults and open slights were not uncommon. There is an old family tradition that when Arnold was near death. he had his old Continental uniform brought to him and put it on, mut- tering, God forgive me for ever putting on any other. It seems a wide gap from Benedict Arnold to George Washington, but in a way the men are similar. They were contemporaries, they were both great strategists, inspiring leaders, distinguished by bravery and magnanimity. However, here the diverging of the comparison comes. One goes to black disgrace, the other is firmly intrenched in the hearts of American patriots forever. Why is this? Both Arnold and Washington were assailed with ambition of equal intensity. But the ambition of Arnold was a retaliation against the country which he thought had slighted him-a retaliation that entirely blotted a wonderful career, Washington's ambition was a desire for high service to this same country. It would be possible to tell praises of Washington almost endlessly, but this would be only a repetition of what has been said so many times. Two of the characteristics that made him great were extreme patience and courage, bolstered up by his faith in man and God. In spite of hostile criticism, small forces, poor equipment, treachery and plots, these two qualities, always foremost in his character, were potent factors in winning the Revolutionary War, and afterwards were of great aid in keeping the head of the young republic above water in those first troubled years. These thoughts bring to mind those oft-repeated lines of Long- fellow: Lives of great men all remind us, We can make our lives sublime And departing, leave behind us ' Footprints in the sands of time. Men like Washington and Lincoln are immortal for the reason that they live on in the hearts and minds of all Americans. It is true that Benedict Arnold has in this respect attained immor- tality, but it is an immortality that can be likened to the fires of hell. It is a wise man who profits by the errors of those who go before him. If experience is the best teacher, does it matter, if the individual is keen. whether the experience be his own personal one or not? By a backward glance we can easily see the fate of men or nations obsessed with a material over-ambition that infringed on the rights and territories of others-Napoleon, Kaiser Wilhelm, Rome. Germany. Napoleon, the Corsican. who conquered half of Europe, is one of the most picturesque figures in all history. There is one outstanding characteristic of Napoleon which is a guide to all of his actions-that active mind of his was always iilled with an overweening ambition to accomplish whatever desire filled his soul. It is difficult to estimate just how much great service would have befallen mankind, if this man's ambitious energy had found expression in affairs of another nature-in invention, science, literature, or art. We wonder when we see the effect of his greatest work, the Code Napoleon. 21

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il 'I' THE ODYSSEY '5' ':' ians, notably'John Maurice Clark of Columbia University, that the present crime wave now rampant in our country is a result of the war. Plunge four million young men, many of them uniit for their careers, into a country which has no frontier, for an outlet of energies as this country had in previous wars, and something must happen. The stabilizing in- fluence of the frontier is no longer present and the inevitable balancing result must take place in some other form. These previous examples have shown the balancing result after an unusual event. We learn of the balanced symmetry of history, and thus we learn to expect and to prepare ourselves, with foresight, for results that must come about. Lessons of history are not confined merely to such things as results of wars or causes of ec-onomic depressions and crime waves. Carlyle has said, The history of the world is the biography of great men. The human element is one of the most interesting and enlightening phases, fraught with its human Weaknesses and human bravery. As Pope so aptly stated, The proper study of mankind is man. We often wonder what makes -one man a hero, and another man of similar experiences and similar station in life, a traitor? Perhaps two men who best illustrate this point are to be found in our own history of the United States. Benedict Arnold and George Washington are perhaps the greatest examples of a contemporary traitor and hero, excluding Jesus Christ and Judas Iscariot. Gamaliel Bradford says the following of Benedict Arnold: The complexity of Arnold's tragic adventure is what makes it fascinating and has led so many novelists and dramatists to use him as a central or a subsidiary figure. He was no mean, sneaking, cowardly, con- sistent rascal. He was a splendid fighter, a quick-eyed soldier, apparently a sincere and earnest patriot, admired and esteemed by thousands of his countrymen, praised and trusted by Washington. Yet he was guilty of the blackest treachery, and sold the personal trust of Washington for a cash reward. Could there be a soul more interesting to probe in its subtle mixture of darkness and light? In 1741 started this career of furious action. At the age of iifteen, Arnold plunged into the French and Indian War. He spent his early manhood in several adventurous affairs about New Haven and was active in the Revolution from the start. He was with Ethan Allen at Ticon- deroga, his naval enterprise on Lake Champlain is famous, as is his heroic march to Quebec in 1775. About this time he was slighted by Congress, when five major generals were appointed. However, he overlooked this neglect and took a hero's part in the Saratoga campaign, which is re- garded as one of the most important battles of all time. Because he was severely wounded, Washington gave him the military governorship of Philadelphia. This was the beginning of his downfall. He married a loyalist woman, lived extravagantly, made speculations, and in general irritated the citizens. He was finally tried by court martial and sentenced to be reprimanded by Washington. These factors, accompanied by a temper played upon constantly by furious passion, by need of money, by the baser elements of ambition, and by vanity, led him to start negotiations with the British for the delivering of West Point to them. Then follows the well-known story of Major Andre's capture, the discovery of the plot, and of Arnold's escape to the British. 20

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'3' - ' THE ODYSSEY ' '3' 73' This code of rational law is the foundation of the systems of practically every country of continental Europe even to this day. But the fact remains that he was assailed by several dangerous ambitions even from his boyhood. As a boy in Corsica his most intense emotion was his hatred of France and his desire to avenge his beloved Corsica against her oppressor. His boyhood ambition died after he escaped to France, an outcast from his native land. His next two ambitions were the conquering of Italy and Egypt. Now, desirous of power, he overthrew the Directory, and soon had himself proclaimed Emperor of France. Not yet satisfied, he set out to conquer Europe, and he almost succeeded. This overpowering ambition had made him supreme over half of Europe, yet it was this same inordinate desire making him try ever for more and more, that eventually brought about his abdication to Elba, and later his Waterloo and his subsequent exile to St. Helena. All these points have been presented to forward the idea that one of the main duties of history is to serve as our teacher and guide on affairs of nation, of state, of community, and of the individual himself. Everything turns on the point of view. The reader is the spec- tator of the pageant, he must be cool to judge and discriminate, with no bias toward praise or blame, content merely to observe as the constant stream unfolds itself in all its changing colors, but with mind ready to judge human actions and motives, an imagination ready to seize on the ever-living drama of fact, and a heart ready to respond to those countless acts of heroism that have ennobled great men and great races, and with them all humanity. Then and then only is he a pupil of History, the great teacher, and then only can he make himself entirely fit for service to his country and to his fellow-man. -RICHARD HOPKINS. Kfalledliicltory :ESF 'iqfilLASSMATES, we pause now at the end of four years of study Q, and four years of pleasant friendship, at the time when we j g must leave our beloved Alma Mater. The ever-present goal of Commencement Day We have at ' wif last secured with the aid and cooperation of those groups of people who rank as more than friends to us. To our faculty we owe our deepest gratitude for their unfailing and understanding efforts in furthering our best interests, to our prin- cipal we owe heartfelt thanks and praises for his able supervision and advice during our high school course, to our parents is due great appre- ciation for their many sacrifices and their sound advice, and to the Board of Education we owe grateful recognition of their ever-present desire to promote our welfare. For a long time now have our paths of life been close, and the direction parallel in all respects, but now comes the diverging of the ways-permanent, perhaps, for a few of us. Be that as it may, nothing will ever serve to drive from our inner minds the remembrance of the good times and friendships we had to- gether in Lansingburgh High School. Alma Mater, the class of 1931 bids you farewell! -RICHARD HOPKINS. 22