The Farmville herald. (Farmville, Va.) 1957-current, 1961-06-13
Individual Freedom and its Responsibilities

mentS were expressed about the ADDRESS
of W. Perkins Hazlegrove at the 1861
commencement exercise of Prince Ed
ward Academy that we publish it here
with for the information and perusal of
all our readers.
The only good reason for a speaker to
have subject or title for his remarks,
or a preacher to have text is to put
some limitation upon his wanderings. To
follow precedent and at the same time
escape such limitation, l have chosen as
a title Individual Freedom and Its Re-
sponsibilities.
Many commencement speakers praise
the graduates on their achievements,
brighten them of the future and try to
appear learned to the adult audience.
None of these things shall 1 do tonight.
You graduates have achieved some
thing, in completing the required tasks,
some by hard work. but all only by using
the talents that God gave you. Remem-
Der, there are many millions of others
who have done equally as well and many
better
You did some of it willingly or from
pride in the exercise of limited free
dom, but much of what you have done so
far was the result of the control of your
parents and teachers.
AS young child you were completely
dependent upon your parents for your
every need and in turn under their com
plete control with little freedom You have
already been largely emancipated from
this parental control, and soon you will be
a free agent to 60 and do as you see
fit. but this new-found freedom carries
nd
Advice to high school graduates is
rarely listened to and never followed
Even so, shall waste one little bit of
advice.
Choosing LIES Work
Everyone must sooner or later make
his own decision as to what he will do in
life. If he is fortunate enough to make a
wise choice by selecting an occupation or
profession that fits his talents, furnishes
him an opportunity to do that which he
likes to do. his or her life will be a sue
ceSSful and happy one. If he makes an
unhappy choice and endeavorS to force
himself into an occupation or profession
for which he has no love, then his life
Will be unsuccessful and unhappy
Most all young children want to be
cowboys or soldiers but, fortunately, this
is not lasting ambition. urge each of
you to await a reasonable maturity and
give careful thought to what you want to
do, and. having made your choice stick
to it.
To those of you who intend to follow
your educational pursuits, do not be pre-
cipitate in making your decision. train
your mind with general academic edu-
cation and for
cation, whether it be teaching, medicine.
engineering law, agriculture or any other
field of endeavor, until you have attained
mental maturity The time spent in
the mental gymnasium with Latin and
Mathematics and Chemistry will not be
wasted even if your life's work be that
OF mere lawyer.
Human Struggle
The great struggle for individual lib
erty by the human race has been against
their own government. History shows that
governments become more and more DOW
erful and tyrannical until finally the en-
shaved people arise. the government is
changed and the struggle starts all over
again.
Until comparatively recent years gov
ernments in practically all countries have
been imposed upon and not created by
their people, and unfortunately this still
prevails in many countries, notably those
in the communist world.
The first and perhaps the greatest.
single step toward the attainment of indi-
vldual freedom was the enforced signing
by King John of the Magma Carta at
Runnymede on June Is, 1915. Even this,
however. was not charter for freedom
Tor the people but was only declaration
OF the rights OF the Barons to impose their
own feudal system on the people as op-
poSeu TO the absolute supremacy of the
hlng. Out OF this. however grew several
great freedoms. which gradually through
the centuries have become the property of
the people. These are the great rights
OF habeas corpus. whereby the individual
IS given the right to appeal to a court
Tor his freedom against unlawful arrest
or imprisonment, second. the right of
trial by jury of his fellows rather than
solely by judicial appointees Of the GOV
eminent, and, third a restraint on arbi-
trary taxation. While the restraint against
arbitrary taxation had for centuries be-
come a part of England's body of law
it was not even in 1776 extended to her
colonies, and hence the Boston Tea Party,
the Declaration Of INDEPENDENCE, and the
Revolutionary War.
U. S. Fortunate
Through the centuries from Magma
Carta. the freedom-loving peoples of the
world have struggled against the TYRANNY
Of an imposed government.
We fortunate people in the United
United States have had no imposed gov
eminent since the Revolutionary War. We
have created our own government. and
by the power of the ballot the govern
ment is controlled by the people.
We elect our representatives at every
governmental level, who, under our con
st1tutions. are our only lawmakers. In re-
cent years some of our courts. and nota