Millersville University - Touchstone Yearbook (Millersville, PA)

Page 9 text:

CLASS ORATION. 5 weak. Those men who have skill in acquiring wealth are giving bountifully toward art, education, and morality. We have ceased to consider a successful man as one who has stored up his wealth at the expense of others. Such men are losing their standing in society. Cities are encouraging those who serve their fellows, by bestowing honor upon them. It is well for us to emphasize the principles of our duty toward others. But since the worth of the individual is being threatened, it seems necessary also to emphasize man’s duty of making the most of himself. This principle has been severely condemned, yet if man does not secure his own enrichment, it is impossible for him to help others. Plato says: “The granary must be filled before the poor are fed; knowledge must be gained before knowledge is given.” Another writer, in speaking about the preparation necessary for any vocation, said: “If I were twenty, and had but ten years to live, I would spend the first nine years accumulating knowledge and getting ready for the tenth.” To-day the measure of the influence of any man is the measure of his reserve power. The people who will rule the next generation are to-day storing up resources of knowledge and power. In our study of history we find that all the nations that have made much progress in civilization have been isolated. These nations were always situated on islands or peninsulas, and shut in by some natural boundary. A nation thus situated is thrown upon its own resources. By practice they find that society is more peaceful and prosperous when the rights of each individual are respected. As examples of this great intellectual growth take Greece and Rome. But when this civilization had time to develop, its influence overflowing the restraint of natural boundaries, was felt by all the surrounding people. Not only is this principle illustrated in history, but also in the lives of all our great men. It has lately been noted that the men who rule our cities are men who spent their early lives in the country. The country boys, living in an isolated region, develops individuality. They learn to depend for their knowledge upon their eyes and ears, and not upon books and journals. They do not have a journal or encyclopedia to consult in order to find

Page 8 text:

Class Oration. GROVER C. CHANDLEE. npHERE are two principles that govern all society. The first ' ■ is the principle of self-care and self-love. Every man is given charge of his own body, and the shaping of his life. As a result of this, there rests upon each individual the solemn obligation to make the most possible of himself. He is to store his mind with weapons against the day of battle which comes in every man’s life. But, although a man is responsible for his own growth and happiness, he is equally responsible for the growth and happiness of others. Just so much as he has secured his personal enrichment, so much is it his duty to secure the advantages of those about him. Love of one’s self at the expense of one’s fellows is criminal; but, on the other hand, to love one’s neighbors more than one’s self is self-destruction. Society is composed of individuals, but the aim of society is elimination of individualism. A destruction threatening the rights of many threatens the foundations of human happiness. This compels us to recognize that the weakness and injury of one are the weakness and injury of all. The law of the survival of the fittest applies very well. Thus, if a man possesses much wealth, he can achieve much. More opportunities are offered to the man of wealth than to the poor man. This rule will also apply in education; the more a man knows the more he can know. Every difficulty that we overcome gives us power to overcome the next difficulty. Sir William Jones tells us that he gave five years to mastering his first language, while he mastered his fourth dialect in six weeks. But as a successful man becomes more successful, so also will a weak man become weaker. If a man who seeks employment is shabby and old, this will increase, and his chances of securing employment will decrease. To-day society is recognizing the duty of the strong to the

Page 10 text:

6 THE HAMMER. out their opinion of some subject; but they think out their own opinions, and learn self-reliance. There are so many events in the life of a city boy that his mind is almost broken down by them, and his individuality has little chance to develop. Man driven to rely upon his own resources always most nearly approaches his ideal condition. Homer wrote the “Iliad’’ when he was blind. Dante wrote his “Divine Comedy” when he was in exile. Milton wrote his great poem, “Paradise Lost,” when he was blind, but he spent many years of his life in accumulating the material for the poem. Webster and Lincoln spent years in isolated homes, brooding and thinking. They afterwards became the greatest statesmen of their time. To-day the statesmen who will rule the next generation are preparing themselves for the work by making the most of their talents. In the last age the culture of individual worth has been neglected. One writer says that an age is great not through its multitude of humanity, but through its number of heroes. Modern educational methods are arriving at the cultivation of individual worth; yet Harrison says that in fifty years the public schools of Great Britain have turned out not one perfect mind. The few who have won renown in literature were well educated. The others, with the help of some tutor, have developed some special talent. Another cause of failure is the use of wrong methods in early education. Children who have enthusiasm and talent are so discouraged through the study of some subject that their enthusiasm is wasted. It is not until later years that they discover the cruel injustice brought upon them. We as an organized class are about to disband, and it is our duty as teachers, or in whatever position we may be, to become ourselves, and to help others about us to become truly successful. April 12—Mr. Roeder made a resolution to be good and never again to break any rule of the school. April 19—Mr. Roeder was snapping.