The Cass County Republican. [volume] (Dowagiac, Mich.) 18??-1880, 1879-07-02

eApTtSSeu, the manner easy ana
pleasant and the young lady's voice
peculiarly adapted to express the
sentiments contained in the essay.
The quartette rendered fine piece
of music and Miss Ida Arens came
forward with
ISOLATED.
] In the midst of the lonely ocean
there rises mighty mountain, reach
ing from sea to cloud. The gentle
wave has Tapped its rugged side. the
breeze has kissed its brow. Yet
when the storm rises it hurls back
the wild waves with means of despair
to their lonely home and looks calm
ly down on the wild scene, quietly,
lonely, through all times and all sea-
sous. In lonely waste, in little
oasis, there rises a solitary tree
Around all is bleak and desolate, yet
still it stands with the same strength
and fortitude as if surrounded by its
fellows.
In deep, dark dungeon, is the
figure of man, man or fiend? Shut
out from the beautiful sun, from the
brightness of life, entombed in liv-
ing grave, waiting only for tardy
death that comes too quickly for 9th.
ers.zAlong the streetapushes Pc
tdestrian. BY and through the hurry
ing throng, wrapped in thoughts of
self as closely as the mantle about
him. He is alone. Alone as much
as the mountain, the tree or the
prisoner. And yet, if isolated" be
written ON all these, is it not OH
every human heart? Are we not all
alone and must ever be? Alone in
the burdens we each must bear, III
our responsibilities and trusts, in
rearing the temple of character. AS
we each differ. SO does our work and
duty differ. In the grand chorus OF
earth's music, all must do part to
make the harmony complete. And
what higher can we rise than to iso-
late ourselves by perfection labor
iously obtained?
All life and substance is a part of
the universe, yet never is one life
wholly submerged in another. Each
should be complete as whole. To
do, to labor, ip ashieve, is the part OF
each, and upon ocean, storm, and
every page of Natures book is writ
ten this law and all obey its magic
spell.
Through evident embarrassment
Miss Arens struggled to make her
really fine production understood
and while listening to real merit one
often wishes that confidence and abil.
ity marched hand in hand.
A TURNED DOWN PAGE,
by Miss Belle Mason. While read.
ing some beautiful production of q
master poet, we see some glimpse
of his inner life, some passage whsre
he has laid his pure soul bare, we
involuntary turn down the page OF
place between the leaves fragran,
flower that we may again find the
beautiful creation. Natures book
is full of turned down pages, and
marx 81 fHs& aS SRA l Ssssg
History too has les marked places
lplaces where the book opens easily
and We find recorded there the histo-
Try of noble deeds, grand names,
mighty achievements. Socrates, Gle.
gro, Newton's apple, Franklin's kite
here page and there page. And
of our own lite, which pages do We
choose, light or dark? Yet the vol.
ume fills, here with beautiful passa.
ges and there with soiled and ruined
pages, and as We cannat pluck these
from the life book Of the past, let us
beware Of our character writing in
the future. Let US control self
achieve new victories in fields wer-
thy of our action, and when death is
reached may we find that all the sin.
colored pages have deem washed q
spotless white.
Miss Mason has done good work
in the past year and entirely corree.
ted the faults then observable. For
easy, graceful bearing, clear ennncia.
tion and having her subject we'll in
hand, she was not surpassed by any.
Mr.. w. F. Hoyt then came tor
ward TO deliver the
vALEDICTORY,
entitled "Motives." Science has ad.
duced the theory that all space is fill.
ed with systems, that each and all
are speeding on in their orbits, and
that each OF these is the center of still
other systems around which it's safe
lites revolve This mighty grandeur is
enshrouded by mysteries save the dim
glimpses afforded by science. Yet
eutranoing as this may be, man turns
to his fellow and himself and there
finds ample room for continual and
long study. He finds that the mo-
tiyes which actaate men to action Of
fer mighty scope for study and re-
search. 1t is motives that actuete us
to action, and there are but few but
what originate in either hate or love,
these two poles of the moral anti
pode. AS man does his basest deeds
through the motive arising in the
first, so he does the highest and best
from the pure motives of love. Yet
self-love seems ever to be the ruling
motive. This has seated men on
thrones, made them rulers over en-
pires. Love for others demands sac
rifice of self. Napoleon was an ex-
ample of selfleve. He placed all on
this altar, and despotic, ambitious, he
marched forward to brief victory,
and forth to lonely grave.