Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1850-03-05
THE TWO OLD MEN.
BY L. C.. T,

/ 1t was a day OF holy rest-a bright anG
beautiful Sabbath.
At the sound of the church going-bell,
hurrying feet sped with alacrIty to the
appointed places for the worship of God.
Among those consecrated places OF
worship was one fair and goodly church
it matters not to the reader whether it
was brick, stone, or marble-it was an
edlfice meet for the Masters use There
sat the grave and gay, the devout and de-
cent, awaiting the entrance of the oticla-
ting clergyman.
Fellow pilgrims, here they have met
together for a brief moment, TO enjoy rest
and refreshment OH this oasis in the
worlds desert; here they may quaff from
the pure fountain of truth: here they may
gain strength for their pilgrimage heaven
ward.
The gauds and glare Of earth, the
pompS and vanities of this wicked world,
are excluded from the holy place where
man humbes himself in the presence of
his Maker, and learns his duty to his fell
low-man.
An aged man, leaning upon staff,
slowly totters through one Of the long
aises. The venerable stranger has pass
ed on, nearly the whole length of the
aisle, and no hospitablc door was opened,
no one bids him be seated.
And now, another old man, whose hair
is like the frost, passes up the same aisle
with rapid steps. Surely benevolence
has given him the alertness of youth -
He is about to offer the stranger a seat in
his own pew.
Alas, no
He rushes by the feeble old man, en-
ers his pew, carefully fastens the door,
and then knccIs--and prays.
The stranger leans upon the pew door,
covers his face with his handkerchief, and
does he weep?
God forbid
Why does he stand in the aisle, while
the other guards his pew as though 1t
were a besieged castle
Ali, there is a vast difference, in the
eyes Of the world, between these two
men. The poor sheep from which the
coat Of tie aged stranger was made had
the misfortune to be covered with very
poor wool. Did his fellow sheep, of 6"cr
wool. IcSpse and avoid him on that ac-
count? Silly sheep! They had not an
inkIrg Of man worldly wisdom, and did
not discriminate between covering Of
aristocra,c fncncss and one of p!ebcin
coarseness. But the old man, the pew
owner knows the difference. He com
placentIy smooths his fine beaver hat as
he places it carefully under the scat, and
contrasts it with the hat Of muskrat, or
some other low quadruped, which intrudes
itself over the pew dOor-a hat whose
owner has no right to a place in the House
of God
Alas Has ii come to this The re-
Iigion whose distinctive glory was, that
the poor had The gospel preached to them
has il come to this
From all the blindness of heart; from
pride, vain-glory, and hypocrisy; from
envy, hatred, and malice, and from all
uncharilableness," solemnIy sounds from
the ips Of the clergyman.
The rich old man audibly responds,
d" Good Lord, deliver us"
From all nordinate and sinful atlec-
tions; and from all the deceits Of the
world, the flesh, and the devil"
Again the rich old man loudly responsed,
I" Good Lord, deliver us.
Aside from the sleeps wool and the
muskrat of which both pensioners upon
the bounlies of the Creator availed them
selves, aside from these, and few other
eXternals, what was the mighty difference
between these two gray voyages to eter-
nifty p
Were they not born equally dependent
and helpless Have they not alike felt
The ills that flesh is heir to ? Is not the
unerring dart Of Death already aimed at
both Will they not soon lie down be-
meath the green sod ? But their souls
their never dying souls There may be
the infinite difference between them
God knows. We can follow them no
further.
The FOLLY OF PRIDE.-The very wit