The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1918-06-22
LARGEST Glass
YET CRADU4TED
CONTINUED from first page,

ideal book IA but a transcript of life. or
a necessary substitute for life al first
band. The stories that most delight are
1ories Of action. Deeds, not thoughts
aud words Robinson Crusoe is a thor
oughly human man Of action, the sym.
boil Of every brave spirit who stakes his
life upon the red. The perennial charm
of old ballads Of adventure, those songs
of the Scottish border and of Robin Hood
that stir MS like trumpet, lies largely
in their directness Of approach to the
root Of the matter.
In our youthful reading we demand
not only action, but action that is out OF
| the common. Any newspaper man will
/ tell you that the public Graves as a chief
| feature OF its news, the unusual the ex-
| traordinary incident which happens TO
but few men. True appreciation Of
the woodworking present in which we
live is impossible without the knowledge
Of the past which only books can bring
A true saying. The past has no value TO
us unless we can link IL with the present.
The age that is most disposed TO reject
the teachings of the past Is the age that
needs these teachings most. Never was
out past more closely linked with our
present than in this very hour, Never
was it more necessary for loyal Amer
leans, young and old, TO read our early
history.
Let us trace some of the stages of de-
velopment in our reading. Our earliest
liking is for the hero, the adventurer
who wanders through the world, battling
against dragons and giants for his own
glory and winning at the end a princess.
Yet many of those heroes are outrage
ously selfish. Later our favorite Is the
knight of King Arthur's court, and high
above the hero and the knight, our ripper
Judgment places the citizen, the patriot,
the soldier. Our American history, past
and present, abounds in shining examples
of sacrifice of self and 10 love of coun-
try. To the friends OF humanity and
democracy to-day forgetfulness of self
is exemplified in the lives Of Alan Seegar, |
Victor Chapman and John Poe, and other
college men who fell somewhere In |
France"
School days over, the college matricu |
liant is often hampered by four treuen.
dous limitations The first of these is |
his ignorance of the great books of the
world, his lack of literary background |
and perspective. A second handicap, far
too frequent, is lack of imagination.
There is in life no more pathetic con-
trast than that between the imaginative
child, delighting in the world of fancy,
in glimpses of regions lying beyond the
moon, and the unimaginative youth, i'm
mersed in activities and quite without
vision" A third great want is the lack
of intellectual curiosity, Closely asso-
ciated with the other limitations is the
lack of the reading habit. The cry is
raised that one of the saddest things of
our American life is the large number of
bookless homes, not always the homes OF
the ignorant
The young reader must needs become
aware that the aim Of literature is not
he mere imparting OF information, but
he revelation of truth and beauty and
oy. The kindling of imagination is as
leedful as the awakening Of comprehen-
zion. The tremendous idea, which it be
looyes us all 10 grasp, is simply this,
hat the progress of our reading, the ad ,
'ance in thought of each one OF us, has ,
Is close counterpart, as our history ,
)ooks show us, in the onward march of ,
America and Americans from individual ,
SIN, the struggle for self and personal /
through nationalsm, the fer
'ent love of country, to internationalism, {
dedication to the service of all humanity. !
Personal liberty in America has been J
reserved from license by the power of |
nationalsm THAT grows steadily apace '
t is strongly contrasted with the in .
ividualism OF France in the eighteenth :
entury and with Germanys present I
ay attitude. In stepping to interna. q
ionalism, the battle line in France to. .
ay may be described az a great inter.
ational university of khaki-clad stu j
ents. acquiring memorable lessons OF 4
'orldwide citizenship. .
An American system of instruction 4
ill never deny to the individual the
rec opportunity to develop his own pc A
uliar talent; it will insist more than I
ormerly upon the mans obligation to j,
is community and his country; but I'M A
'ss all present signs fail, it will look I,
lr beyond the barriers Of self or the
orders of the nation. A time honored II
aston at the University of Vermont d
,verently adorns our bronze Lafayette :,
18th cap and gown on the June class i
ay. In this investiture one readily dis 8,
,vers a fitting symbolism The gener- a,
is heart of the brave soldier in more \,
ian one war for the liberation of hui a,
anity would have beaten in lively ac- .;
,rd with the spirit of these school q
aimed youth, whosh> hopes soaring far "
,yond the borders Of self and nations, :,
i'd their full realization in the broth "
hood of man, the federation of the
orld."
The Presentation of Diplomas. I
n
As the exercises FASTENED toward the &c
lal and most important event in their IN
hool lives, the seniors sang "Rouse Ye u
merica" tNewtonl, afterward march III
g slowly to the stage, where Principal a
ekson presented the diplomas. In ten nj
ring them to the class president, Mr. sd
.ckson emphasized the fact that the m
rolls were mere scraps of paper unless VI
e recipients in the future make the
ost of what they stand for. The class &c
en- faced about and with feeling rem 10
red the school hymn, Lead, Kindly IN
CHIT" The audience remained seated an
lille the graduates. accompanying the wa
hool march, passed through the aisles ci'
pa