Pickering College - Voyageur Yearbook (Newmarket, Ontario Canada)

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The Voyageur f Que ? George MCC onan C' HERE NOW my brothers? I ask you Wh-at course shall humanity take- The one she has just come over- Or a. new one that you shall make? Shall there be true peace-or false truce? Shall men love each other-or hate? Shall nations work gladly together. Or shall state ever strive against state? These are the foundations, my brothers, Un which shall you build your world. When the trumpets declare the triumph, And You The The You One the victory flags are unfurled? are the helmsmen, my brothers, wheel will respond to your hand, way lies wide open before you- have but to command' ...... course looks broad and well-travell,d Its heralds beckon you on, They call to you of old wonders And the glory of days bygone .... But look you again, my brothers, Past that first haze of light, The way is palled with the darkness Of a dull, relentless night. That course winds back, not forward, ,Twill lead to hatred and greed, To prejudice and privilege And dated, out-worn creed . . . The other way looks narrow. Treacherous, filled with gloom. Yet do not despair, my brothers, 'Tis not the pathway of doom, For see, there, beyond the blackness Of hardship and, travail, ls the triumph of Truth and Beauty Where Justice and Peace prevail .... The storm is subsiding, my brothers. The ship is now ready to sail, Prepare yourself well for the journey, But beware, lest again you fail . . . . The time is the present, my brothers, The future you cannot refuse, She asks you which way you will voyage- I charge you, my brothers, choose! 21 9

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The Voyageur Greater than his physical courage, however, was his moral courage. Jesus said to His disciples: 44Woe unto you when all men speak well of you. It is only now that Roosevelt is dead that all men can see him in his true perspective. For while he was a much-loved man, he was also a much hated man. Consistently misrepresented and purposely misunderstood by many in his own country with great interests and great power, he took his opposition with a smile and never gave way, publicly, to bitterness or personal resentment. From wh-ere did such strength and courage come? This is a dillicult question to answer. Although he was a regular member of his own church, l am not certain that he was a ureligiousw man in any narrow or restricted sense of that term, but l am sure that he felt, that his own life, his purposes and his work, were all in tune with the inlinite-the great fundamental purpose of the universe. I know that he loved that hymn: Cod is working his purpose out, as year succeeds to year: Goa' is working his purpose out, and the time is drawing near- Nearer and nearer draws the time--the time that shall surely be, When the earth shall be filled with the glory of God as the waters cover the sea. Not only did he love that hymn but he did not hesitate to say so. l have met his old schoolmaster, Dr. Endicott Peabody. I like to think that F. D. R. owed something of his vision and his strength to his old teacher. To the Headmasters' Association, on one occasion, Dr. Peabody told of a conversation with him. Said Dr. Peabody: als it very hard work being president'?,' aYes,,, replied the President, 6'Very hard work but very great funlw We may safely leave the rest of the judgment to history. l am sure it will not dispute the well-earned place of Franklin Delano Roose- velt. A poem was written by Sir Cecil Spring Rice, who had been British Ambassador to the United States during the last war, and who had spent twenty-five years in the service of his country. This poem was written on January 12th, 1918. The author of these words died on the night of the 13th of January. The vow recorded in this phrase had been kept by him long before he put it into words. l am quite certain that these lines express equally well the attitude of Franklin Roosevelt to his country and also his vision for all mankind. lvow to thee, my country-all earthly things above- Entire and whole and perfect, the service of my love, The love that asks no question, the love that stands the test, That lays upon the altar the dearest and the best, The love that never falters, the love that pays the price, The love that makes undaunted the jinal sacrifice. And th-ere's another country, live heard of long ago- Most dear to them that love her, most great to them that know, We may not count her armies, we may not see her King, Her fortress is a faithful heart, her pride is suffering, And soul by soul and silently her shining bounds increase, And her ways are ways of gentleness and all her paths are peace. 20

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The Voyageur DN HDHEBQLMEHEB MEN THE YOUNG WARRIOR returned from the battle with the neighbour- ing tribes, he went to the elder. And in the shade of the palm trees they sat for a long time looking at the fading sun. And the Old one said:- Even as the sun has given us Light, and Warmth, and Hope, and even as it now leaves us for a while, so you, my son, have left us, after bringing Light to our eyes, Warmth to our hearts, and Hope to our souls. You have now returned, just as the sun will return tomorrow, with the singing of the birds. And again you will Offer Light, Warmth and Hope. But these words only made the warrior sad, for in him there seemed to be nothing that would bring comfort to his friends. He said:- MI have killed young men like myself, burned villages like ours, de- stroyed years Of toil of old men like you. How can I rise again, and build and dream? How can I look at our land, without thinking that some day, all will be destroyed, by men like me, who hate to destroyiw The old man looked with weary eyes into the dying sun, and said:- 4'NOthing, my friend, that man does, is only good. We are still in the dark, groping our way to the light that is yet to come. But for every step we take backwards to the cave, we advance five towards the clouds. You ourself, bv our thoughts, show that there is 0 Y . Y rn. . yet ho e, that man IS not a beast that love has et its lace in the breasts . th Pa, 9 Y P O men. And with these words he gave the soldier hope, for he thought that not everything was lost. And the young man said:- alt is good, father, to know that some of you, in the village, still see the world in the way it should be seen. It is good that we can come back and find a few, who know what is important and what is not. It is good to End peace in your heart, as well as in your villagef, With these words the Warrior left the elder and rejoined his friends in the village. And he became a great builder Of peace. -JOHN MEISEL 22