Norfolk High School - Milestone Yearbook (Norfolk, NE)

Page 6 text:

Baccalaureate §ei?Mon. KKV. J. J. l’AHKKH. “A Tiling of Beauty is a Joy Forever.” A BEAUTIFUL LIFE. Let the Beauty of the Lord our tfod be ujam us.—Psalm 90-17. I il k i.ovk o b uuty is a uaiv rs.il s mi! im oil, a i I its realiz ttion. ( ■ sun. degree. is within the reach of us all. It does not depend on rank, wealth or genius; it is not a matter of dress, h' aring, or etiquette; no tailor e;m make a young man a gentleman, no dancing master can make a young woman a lady; and you may study books which, have been written to teach good manners until you are gray, and yet not come within a hundred miles of the ideal of beauty. A handsome person has as little to do with it, as elegant manners, or superb attire, it is an internal, rather than an external, quality: it belongs to disposition, character, and conduct. A beautiful life must be simple, consistent with itself: not zig-zag. but straight; it must conform to some standard and l e guided by some principle. Our mother has put into our nature the faculty of conscience to do this work: many things seek to usurp its functions, but there is no other guide so simple, direct, and authoritative. We are creatures of impulse; passiou pleads for indulgence; and the desire to please others exercises great power over us; in fact. Mr. Darwin thinks approbativeness is conscience, or at any rate the social instinct out of which conscience has developed. And many people evidently confound the two. In one of Sheridan's plays, a servant is asked: What! have you a conscience against lying? No, lie replies, but I have a

Page 5 text:

• -tHei-Milestone..- ■ VOLUME II. NORFOLK, NEB., MAY 29, 1890. NUMBER 1. NUMBER 7yyo. EAR ago the MiI.KSTOXk wan bom. ith a spirit of enterprise tliat has 1 ever lieen a characteristic of them, theclassof ’89 instituted this publication, to be the medium through which the alumni and the graduating class, each year, may express their feelings of fellowship, as well as to preserve the choicest literary productions of the Senior class. The class of '90 recognize the wisdom of their predecessors, and. not wishing to be less progressive than they, have endeavored to make “Number two” all that its founders intended it to be. To the business men of Norfolk who have contributed so liberally to the Milestone's advertising columns, making it possible for us to publish it. we extend our sincere thanks. 1Y our readers, we will say, patronize those whose advertisements appear in the Milestone. They are the representative business men of the city, ami are worthy of your patronage. Hoping that our successors may profit by our editorial experiences, and make the future issues of the Milestone still better, we are, cordially, The Class ok '90.

Page 7 text:

TIIF. MILESTONE. i conscience against 1 » ir»y found out.” Reminding one of the mother who found her child playing on Sunday in front of tin house, and sharply rebuking him, said: “Why, don’t you know it is Sunday?” “fin and play in the hack ,ird ” “•Mother,” responded the child, “is it not Sunday in the hack ard too?” The fact is that conscience is a very different tiling from appro-hativness. Falstaff says: It is a blushing, shame-faced spirit that mutinies in man's bosom; it falls on one full of obstacles; it made me once restore a purse I found; it beggars any man that keeps it; it is turned out of all towns and cities for a dangerous thing: every man that means to live well endeavors to trust to himself, and live without it.” There is a world of philosophy in that. Take warning by it. Do not mutilate your nature by killing conscience, nor pe mit love of ease, money, or the desire to please others over-ride its dictates. If you would have your character kept clean of duplicity and distortion, and your life lifted upabive dishonesty, falsehood, and cowardice, take conscience as your companion and guide, submit implicitly to its dictates, ami it will be the best friend you car. have in the world. Upside this element of integrity, a.beautiful life should be thorough, earnestness and whole-hearted ness should enter into it. We like things that look finished, and a suggestion of completeness, whether it be a landscape or a poem, a picture or an address. We all have a dash of artistic genius, which makes us impatient of slovenliness, and all work that is ill-done; and therefore we ought to aim to be at our best. It is not neccessary that we should l e artists in order to do the work of life, but it is neccessary that we lay all our resources under tribute, and put our immagination. our skill, our energy, and our wit into all we do, so that our work shall be the completest expression of our life. Only in this way can we develop our hiddt n powers, and do work that will benefit mankind. When Darwin, the great naturalist, left college, he spent six years in a voyage of exploration, gathering specimens of animals and plants, observing natural phenomena, and collecting information: twelve more years were spent in experimenting, collating and in the process of reduction l»efore he wrote his “Origin of Species.” Hut then it is one of the greatest books of the century, and has made its author famous. And then if we would make our lives