Pickering College - Voyageur Yearbook (Newmarket, Ontario Canada)

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The l'oyoge11r An address delivered by the heaa'moster on the occasion of the Roosevelt Memorial Service. April 15th, I..9i5. N THE HISTORY OF THE HUMAN RACE there have been periods of comparative peace when life has moved along more or less uneventfully and with a lack of serious tensions. During those periods the forces of progress and reaction seemed to be more or less evenly balanced. These periods of peace and lack of tension were broken by intervals of strife and struggle which frequently have broken into open warfare. At such times in history the fate of nations, and sometimes the fate of all mankind. has seemed to hang in the balance. From one point of view the story of the human race is a simple story of masses of ordinary people, working. playing. living and dying, striving always, though at times gropingly, to improve their own lot, and always hoping to pass on a better inheritance to their children and their childrenis children. But at the great critical moments in history, the hopes. the dreams, the yearnings, the strivings of the masses are crystallized in the personalities of the great leaders of the human race. From another point of view, therefore, human history can be told in the biographies of its great men. At times leaders. men of tremendous capacity, have been mistaken in their judgments. These in their turn have thus helped to create their own opposites and in the battle of the Titans which ensues. the progress of the human race is either advanced or retarded. Individuals may be lost in the intensity of this struggle: there may be delay. retrogression and appar- ent failure. But as one writer puts it. 'cHistory moves in grim cycles and man is broken on the wheel. but the road winds up., not down, forward not back.-and it is worth the travelling. If it were not so, man would have let the wagon mire long agofi 17

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The Voyageur of the School Committee, and a member of the 'L30 Club. We predict every success in the business career that he intends to follow. Galt papers please copy! lAdvt.l SMITH. DENIS--Denis, another newcomer, was here only until Easter, when he joined up. Wie wish him the best of luck in his army career. TUDOR-HART, JULIAN-A very versatile young gentleman from England, Julian has played a very important part in the intellectual and socialist life of the Senior Corridor. He has been active in athletics, a member of the Polikon, Dramatic, and Glee Clubs, student editor of the Cracker and the Voyageur. Julian is going back to England this summer and hopes to attend London University. We hope he can use his nimble lingers and witty tongue to the same advantage there as he used them here. As cartoonist and politician he forged right ahead at Pickering, although csome felt he was Stalin'. ezepsz... UR SUNDAY EVENING chapel services continue to be to us a source of inspiration and spiritual recreation. The Headmaster has been un- tiring in his efforts to challenge us to a realization of our opportunities, possibilities and responsibilities as future citizens of that 'brave new world' toward which we are striving. Some attempt has been made to Vary the form of service by making student groups responsible. Those who have partici- pated are: The Prep Department, the Grade XII English Class and the Grade XIII English Class. We are also indebted to Dr. Johnson, of New- market, Dr. Richard Brown, lately returned from China, Mr. John Garrett, Headmaster of St. Andrewis, Dr. Sydney Smith, President-elect of the Uni- versity of Toronto. Other speakers were: Bob Rourke, Harry Beer, Blackie, Barnie Jackson, Dr. Berhnhardt, and John Meisel. Vve would like to thank Fred Hagan for the contribution he has made to our services through his painting. We are also deeply appreciative of the kindness of Mrs. Jackson. Mrs. Beer, and Dunc McNab in helping to make our services more enjoyable. Some of the subjects upon which the Headmaster spoke this year are as follows: Victory in the Air The Call of To-morrow Abraham Lincoln Fit Leader for the People. For the interest of our readers, the last of the above addresses has been printed and .will be found on the following page. 16

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The Voyageur ln our own history we need only recall certain names, the roll-call of which is the story of our own mother island and our own race: Alfred-in the dim and misty past, Simon de Nlontfort and Wat Tyler-in the uncertainty of the Middle Ages: Pym, Eliot, Hampden and Cromwell-in the first of the modern struggles to make effective the power of the people, Burke-in the British House of Commons, speaking for the colonists, Pitt-summoning England to have Europe from an earlier enslavementg and others of as great or only slightly lesser stature. This list. of course, culminates in our own day with that leader who, by his own unaided voice, rallied England and the world just five short years ago to save itself. Other countries, too, have had their own leaders who incarnated the dreams and hopes of their fellow countrymen. They were dreamers. writers, statesmen:-Luther and Goethe in Germany, Mazzini, Garibaldi and Cavour in Italy, Rousseau and Voltaire in France, Sun Yat Sen and Chiang Kai Shek in China, Gandhi and Nehru in India. These latter four speak for the numberless millions of the Orient. This roll-call of heroes could be continued,--men who dreamed, believed and dared-who counted not the cost-who, each in his own country, in his own time, in his own way, had a vision and never flinched. ln the history of the United States there are probably only two names that rank in this illustrious roll, prior to him whose name is now added. The first of these is Washirigton, the father of his country, who laid sure and strong the foundations of the Union. The second is Lincoln, who felt the lash on the other manis back-Lincoln, the backwoods boy-the first, the true, the authentic American. He was uneducated except by nature and his own efforts, but he inspired, and inspires still, all who believe in the essential dignity of all members of the human race. To these two we now add a third-one who carried the load, not merely for his own nation but who gave to that nation a new consciousness of its world responsibilities and who himself provided the example. History will enshrine his name as the equal of his two predecessors' and perchance recog- nize it as the greatest of the three. For twelve years and one month his story is the story of the American people. ln the sense that every true leader does for his followers, he in- carnated their best hopes and fondest dreams. Even though reviled by those who differed from him in his solutions, he nevertheless could not help but express, even for them, their own deep yearnings for the welfare of the American people. In every sense he was wise and eloquent in his teaching and through his wisdom at a most critical time in history, fit leader of his people. Nothing much more needs to be said. True greatness requires neither gilding nor embroidery. The facts of his life are well known. He was born in 1882, the heir of considerable wealth, educated by private tutors, then at one of America's exclusive private schools and at Harvard Univer- 18