The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1888-07-26
COMMENCEMENT ESSAY.
Read at the Crcsco High School Commencement,
June Is 1883.
THE THREE CASKETS.
BY LOIS C. KIMBALL.

Two ALTERNATIVES ! lie hit Wis W GHOOSc
one OF three caskete, AMI il lie were for
tunate enough to selec! that containing
flair Portals" portrait. to marry her: bnt
il he chose either Of the otllerr, lie must
60 away. say nothing oi his choice. ard
never marry. Many suitors cane, but
all except three preferred the second al
tentative, which was to 20 away, and
never come again. One OF these three
chose the golden casket, which bore the
inscription, "Who chooseth me shall
gain what many men desire thinking
that must be the lady. but it contained a
skull and cross-bones. He learned from
a scroll in the casket that "all that gilt
ters is not gold" Another chose the sill
yer casket bearing the inscription, "Who
chooseth me shall get as much as be de-
serves" but that contained the portrait
of an idiot. He had gained the knowl-
edge that
"Some there be that shadows kiss;
Such have but a shadows bliss,
There be fools alive. wis,
Silvered DER, and SO was this
At last came my Lord Bassanio,' and
he, not caring for the outward appear
ance, pondered upon the inscription on
the Ieaden casket, "Who chonseth me
must give and haEard all he hath" and
chose that, finding to his great joy. that
it contained the portrait. We might ask,
Why did Bassanio choose as he did? The
secret of his success wis this; he knew
that many Of the most beautiful and val
liable things, like precious stones, are Of
ten concealed under IN Ynattractiye COW
ering. He chose accordingly, and OBJ
tanned the prize.
It sometimes happens that nations are
obliged to choOse one OF two courses, as
the suitors for the hand OF Pprtia were.
Once, long ago, such q time came to
Greece. While defending her colonies,
Greece brought down upon herself the
wrath of Persia by accidentally burning
Persian city, Sardis. The Grecians were
Immediately commanded to send earth
and water, the symbol OF submission,
cities did instantly as they we're hidden,
but few held out little longer. For
several days the people were undecided
whether to submit to the yoke OF Darius
or go to war. After serious deliberation
the latter course was chosen, and on
the field OF Marathon, with force only
one-tenth as large as that OF the Persians,
the Grecians met the hosts OF Darius,
and defeated them. Had the Persians
been victorious, Greece would have been
snbjugatel, many OF her inhabitants kill
ed, and greatest OF all, standing az she
did on great battle field, Greece rolled
back the tide ct Persian barbarism and pre-
pared the why for the learning and Chris
tan civilization Of our great European ma
tions, and Of our own country. Was It
not then wise choice the Grecians made
in deciding to fight for Liberty or tleath?'
| Another instance where life. liberty,
everything, depended upon the choice OF
the people. is IN the history OF our own
country. During the years OF oppression
and 'taxation without representation" the
people tried to influence the King ard
Parliament TO alleviate their distresses.
Finally their existence became unendur-
abba, and they decided to make stand
against their opnressors, and fight for
liberty. We all know the consequences;
but had the people never made that
stand. the United States might never
have existed. The GLORIOUS Fourth" still
commentaries the event, and we show our
gratitude on that day by reading the
message the c0lonists sent to the King
aud to the world, the Declaration OF In.
dependence.
There comes time in our lives whe
we must choose one OF many careers.
But the broadest courses are two; VIZ, a
worldly, ambitious life, aud an unselfish
career. Everyone must choose, and abide
by his selection. All our happiness and
usefulness in this world. all the esteem
of our fellow-mcn, all the praise OF com
ing generations, lenend npon our choice
Socrates, the great Ereclan philosopher
chose the unselfsh life, and how often
he proved the wisdom Of his choice! HI
led pure and noble life; but at last, ow
ing to the theories he advanced ID &C
cordance with his philosophy. he wa.
sentenced to drink the fatal hemlock
Although many chances were offered hin
for escape. he refused all, saying, Il vii
set nat such an example before the younR;'
and he discoursed IN his lasr moment,
on the immortality OF the soul.
Exactly opposite in character to thi!
noble man was Alexander the Great. HI
chose the worldly, ambitious lie, and al
often as Socrates showed the wisdom o
his chuics, 60 often did Alexander SHOW
the folly Of his. Although Alexander
career was wonderful. and he subjuga:e.
country after country, history record
how selfish. passionate, and nnprinciple.
be was. While only good things are re
sofdsd at Socrates, We remember how
Alexander sat down and wept becans
there were no more worlds to conquer
and how lie killed his friend Clitus whil'
infnriated with wine.
One reason why these men, boil, Wel
educated, chose so differently was th
difference in their ideals. A!exa;ac
took as his model the savage Achilles
whlle Socrates made tue perfect life hi
pattern.
Like Socrates and Alexander. we ii
have onr ideals. however they may liife
from each other. aud The cioicc Of on
careers. as wt II us our whole lives, vii
be. to some extent, Influenced by Ties
models. 1t is the height Of every one
ambition to make his life grand sue
cess, and We all know which, saIscr th,
world considers the successful one. How
often we find people contrasting Bene
diet Arnold with George Washington
Aaron Burr with Alexander Hamilton
Robert Ingersoil with President Garfield
, Ind Florence Nightingale with the fash
ionable women at to-day! Always MAX
ing the life which they consider success
more glorious. anC that which they con
slider a failure more gloomy and undc
sirable.
We, too. must choose one II these
courses, aid We must prepare for oul
choice by getting true edIca:ion; thu,
is. by getting both TN intellectual and
q moral education. II we are educated
in that way, we will find that although
tue uuseliish life, like the leaden casket
may not at first appear attractive. IN the
end it will be far more beautiful aud sue.
cassful. We who have just finished our
High School education ought especially
to consider tins matter. We pass mile
stone in the way OF life to-day. Leaving
the school-room, the text books, the
faithful teachers, our school-mates, all
pleasant memories Of the past, now We
m, ST turn onr face to the future. 1t beck.
OILS us onward to It's conflicts, its defeats,
its victories. Outside OF onr text books
we will find other knowledge We may
learn by observation, by our own exper-
fences, from history, from nature, that
we may find tongues in trees books in