Lögberg-Heimskringla - 03.01.1963, Blaðsíða 2

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LÖGBERG-HEIMSKRINGLA, FIMMTUDAGINN 3. JANÚAR 1963
Canada's Heritage
Text of the speech given by
Christopher Westdal, second-
place winner in the Manitoba
School Trustee’s Oratorical
Contest.
* * *
Canada, as a nation, has one
of the highest standards of
living in the world. Canada,
as a country, is one of the
richest lands in the world.
Canadian diplomats are noted
throughout the world for their
ability and their incessant
drive for peace. Indeed, Can-
ada should have one of the
finest civilizations in the
modern world. But, Canadians
as people, as every day people,
lack one of the basic funda-
mentals necessary for a nat-
ion’s success. They lack a
pride in their country, they
lack a knowledge of their
country and, worst of all, they
refuse to realize that their
country is on the verge of
falling into cultural oblivion.
This attitude of apathy and
unconcern must not be al-
lowed to continue.
Canada has a history. It has
a story that every Canadian
can be proud of, a story that
every Canadian should be
proud of. That story is of a
strong people, a proud and
different people, who sought
freedom from a world of op-
pression fettered by the long-
outdated yoke of feudalism.
The story is of a people who
sought a world where they
could practise what they
believed — a word of free-
dom. And that is the world
they found — in a strange
new land, a rich land, and a
proud land.
Tljat is my heritage. That
is your heritge. That is the
heritage of every person here.
Heritage. What does the
word mean? The dictionary
defines it as meaning “that
which is in-herited, that which
is handed down”. — Yes,
Canadians, we have been
handed, free of charge, a live
exciting and human past, a
golden past, and a golden
heritage. But that past has
been tarnished by our neglect,
it has died in the eyes of our
indifference.
Many Canadians have not
even heard of some of our
Prime Ministers. What do we
know of our great men? of
LaVerendrye? — of the
voyageurs? even of the history
of the Lower Fort, only a few
miles from our homes. The
point is that Canadians know
extremely little about Canada.
They apparently seem to care
even less. There is no such
thing as Canadian national
spirit. Canadians have no
common customs. They are the
customs of other lands,
brought with the people from
other lands.
And while we’re on the sub-
ject of other nations, how did
their people achieve a sense of
national pride, how did they
develop distinct character-
istics?
It has not always been so.
History in this regard, is quite
new. Nevertheless, we must
go back two hundred years or
more, if we are to understand
a little of the spirit of other
nations today.
After the French Revolu-
tion, and during the beginning
of the Romantic Age, men
began to turn to the native
environment around thern to
inspire théir ideas in the arts.
They threw off the older
forms, which they found too
restricting, and they express-
ed the spirit of their country
by using its natural resources
and beauty. As they used this
new wealth of material at
their disposal with originality
and a sense of beauty, so
began to evolve certain char-
acteristics Which were in-
herently a nation’s right.
There are many examples of
this — to hear the music of
Greig, is to see and hear the
waterfalls and fiords of Nor-
way. — In Germany, Schubert
attained perfection in the im-
mortal poetry of Goethe. —
England has given the world
a rich history, and traditions
which are' the Englishmen’s
heritage, as well as a language
which is richer than any living:
tongue spoken today.
The list is endless, and all
too intriguing, for one can
never cease to explore, but the
realization is always the same.
Each country has used its own
living breath to speak in its
own idiom.
There are traditions in
Canada also. But, up to now,
we have been living with
them, adopting them, and,
not realizing, that no matter
höw personal they may seem
to "us, they are the birthright
of other nations, not of our
own.
Bearing this in mind, we
must now admit that Canada
is on the threshold of her mat-
urity. Behind her lies a turb-
ulent history made up of many (
parts. It is up to the gener-
ations who now live and to
those who will follow, to fuse
those parts into one whole
idea or pattern, from which
will emerge Canada.
If we úse the same techn-
ique as other nations, we must
first remember that North
American democracy is first
and foremost forest — born.
From this primeval land,
which has yielded its riches to
us, we must give of ourselves
completely, and then begin to
find amongst the flowers and
forests, the streams and rivers,
the mountains and valleys, the
native people, their customs,
their heritage — from these
we must suffer and experience
a new-born desire to speak in
our own idiom.
From the Artic Circle to the
forty-ninth parellel, we must
search the land, and return to
the ideals of those intrepid
men Who gave their lives to
the belief that this new land
would one day take its place
among the greatest nations of
the world.
Tum again to the journeys
across the vast continent. We
must try to see it through the
eyes of the first white men —
LaVerendrye, Thompson,
Grosielles, Fraser, the names
are there forever — but have
we forgotten the spirit with
which they were forged? Has
it all become too easy — too
comfortable? Have we lost
Christopher Westdal
heart in our journeys? We
have been greedy and selfish.
Now is the time to return in
some measure all that has
been given to us. Only in that
way can we begin to sow the
seeds of a real Canadian Her-
itage, a really Canadian pride.
In the words of John F.
Kennedy “Do not ask yourself
what this country can do for
you, ask yourself what you
can do for this country.” Can-
adiáns, do something for
Canada that has never been
done before. Give her a spirit,
give her a pride, and add to
the heritage that she already
has.
We must breed a new gen-
eration of Canadians. We must
produce people who are Can-
adian, have Canadian customs,
and can be recognized abroad
as such. Above all, they must
be different.
The past is glorious, but it
is like a tapestry, woven from
fibres of many different lands,
races and creqds — each full
of value, each profoundly in-
fluenced by Canada, yet each
still clinging to its own
origin, none uniting. From
these strands we must weave
our f u t u r e. From their
strengths and their weak-
nesses, we must absorb their
colours, and reproduce them
in a far more vibrant, a far
more vivid pattern than ever
before.
In summary, we Canadians
are wasting a golden history
and a glorious heritage. We
have a story more real, a story
more exciting, than the story
of any other nation on earth.
Upon that story could be built
a proud nation. And yet,
Canadians are not proúd.
We must only begin by
knowing the past, we must
not dwell there, but merely
use it as a stepping-stone to
a far greater goal — that of
finding Canada’s soul.
It was Professor Arthur M.
Lower, in his book “Colony to
Nation” who said that “If the
Canadian people are to find
their soul, they must seek for
it not in the English language
or in the French, but in the
little ports of the Atlantie
provinces, in the flaming
autumn maples of the St.
Laurence Valley, in the port-
ages and lakes of the Can-
adian Sheild, in the sunsets
and relentless cold of the
prairies, in the foothills,
mountains and sea of the west,
and in the unconquerable
vastnesses of the north. From
the land Canada, must come
the soul of Canada.”
Cullinan demanturinn
Það var eitt kvöld í júní-
mánuði 1905, að Frederich
Wells, umsjónarmaður Pret-
oríunámunnar, var á venju-
legri eftirlitsferð, og kunningi
hans með honum. Leið (þeirra
lá fram hjá háum hóli. Sýnd-
ist Wells !þá flaska standa út
úr hólnum ofarlega, og gat
hann sízt skilið í hvernig hún
væri þangað komin. Hann
kleif því upp hólinn af for-
vitnisökum til að athuga þetta
betur.
En hann kom aftur í hend-
ingskasti og stóð á öndinni.
— John, John, þetta er dem-
antur! stundi hann upp.
Hann var með stóran stein
í hendinni. Og nú störðu þeir
báðir agndofa á þennna stein
um hríð og ætluðu ekki að
trúa sínum eigin augum. Svo
tóku þeir sprettinn til skrif-
stofu forstjórans. Þeim var svo
mikið niðri fyrir, að þeir
gleymdu að kveðja dyra, en
æddu inn í skrifstofuna. John-
son forstjóri varð undrandi á
þessum aðförum. „Hvað geng-
ur á?“ sagði hann, en komst
svo ekki lengra.
Wells hljóp að demantsvog-
inni og kallaði:
— Komið hingað og lítið á!
Forstjórinn hélt helzt að
þeir væru gengnir af göflun-
um, en þó gekk hann að vog-
inni. Þar stakk hann skyndi-
lega við fótum og saup hvelj-
ur, er hann sá steininn.
— Nei, þetta getur ekki ver-
ið rétt! hrópaði hann svo.
Svona stór demantur, hefir
aldrei verið til.
— En þetta er nú samt dem-
antur, sögðu þeir. Við skulum
leggja hann á vogina.
— Vogin tekur hann ekki,
sagði forstjórinn. Hann er á-
reiðanlega meira en þrjú þús-
und karöt.
Samt lagði hann steininn
með gætni á vogina og þeir
störðu allir með eftirvæntingu
á hvernig vísirinn færðist.
— Þrjú þúsund tuttugu og
fjögur karöt, mælti forstjór-
inn í hálfum hljóðum og eins
og við sjálfan sig. Svo sneri
hann sér að þeim hinum og
sagði: — Hér höfum við
stærsta demantinn sem til er
í heiminum.
Þetta er sagan um það
h v e r n i g hinn heimsfrægi
Cullinan-demantur fannst.
Frederick Wells fékk 2000
Sterlingspunda verðlaun fyrir
að finna hann. En svo vissu
menn ekki hvað átti að gera
við hann, þangað til árið 1907
að Louis Botha, fyrrverandi
hershöfðingi Búa, fann upp á
því að gefa steininn Játvarði
VII. Bretakonungi.
Það var miklum vandkvæð-
um bundið að koma þessum
ómetanlega dýrgrip til Eng-
lands. Hann var nú orðinn
frægur um allt, og það hafði
kvisast að hann skyldi sendur
til Englands. Mátti því búast
við að einhverjir bófar mundu
vilja ræna honum. Þess vegna
var sú frétt breidd út að
steinninn mundi fenginn í um-
sjá skipstjóra, er væri á leið
til Englands, og skyldi skip-
stjórinn sjálfur vaka yfir hon-
um í káetu sinni.
Svo var það eitt kvöld, að
tveir menn gengu upp land-
göngubrúna á skipi, sem var á
förum til Englands. Annar
þeirra var með þungan og
rækilega innsiglaðan böggul í
vasa sínum. Varðmenn komu
á móti þeim á skipsfjöl og
leiddu þá fyrir skipstjóra.
En um sama leyti var í éin-
hverju pósthúsi í Suður-Af-
ríku tekið á móti brúnum
böggli, sem átti að fara til
Englands í ábyrgðarpósti.
Þessi böggull var talinn 5
Sterlingspunda virði aðeins —
en í honum var hinn ómetan-
legi Cullinan-demantur!
Brúni böggullinn komst
með skilum til Englands, og
þar var hann geymdur í
bankahólfi um tveggja ára
skeið. Það þótti sem sé sjálf-
sagt að steinninn væri klofinn
og fágaður áður en Botha af-
henti hann konunginum. En
í Englandi var enginn maður
fær um að kljúfa steininn, og
enginn maður í heimi var tal-
inn fær um það nema J.
Asscher í Amsterdam í
Hollandi. Og nú varð að koma
steininum til Hollands.
Sonur Asschers kom gagn-
gert til Lundúna að sækja
steininn, og fór með hann í
vinstri buxnavasa sínum, en
hafði marghleypu í hægri
vasanum. Með honum fór
vopnaður leynilögregluþjónn.
Þegar steinninn var lagður
á vinnuborð Asschers, var sem
Frh.. bls. 7,