The American patriot., 1854-12-27

;s thst man who can adopt himself to all circum-
stances for with him there is neither sunshine or
shadow, but q tempered brightness that can be
compared only with the rays Of twilight when the
sound Of bells is on the air, rests upon him con-
finally. iJ a'9ai' D. W. sio@ isa '--a
The SNOW OF AGE.-We have just stumbled
upon the following pretty piece Of mosaic, lying
amid multitude of those less attractive f
,,s"No snow falls lighter than the snow Of age;
but none is heavier, for it never melts"
The figure is by no means novel, but the closing
part Of the sentence is new as well as emphatic
The Scripture reuresents age by the almond tree,
which bears blossoms Of the purest white. "The
almond tree shall flourish"-the head shall be
hoary. Dickens says Of one Of his characters
whose head was turning grey, that it looked as If
passing. ..4s ~sff
ut never melts-no, never. Age is inexorable;
its wheels must move onward; they know not any
retroerade movement. The old man may sit and
sing, II would were boy again, " but he grows
older Is he sings. He may read Of the elixir OF
youth, but he cannot fndit; he may sigh for the
secret Of the alchymy which is able to make him
Young again, but sighing brings it not. He may
gaze backward with an eye Of longing upon the
rosy schemes of early years, but as one who
eazes on his home from the deck of departing
ship, every moment carrying him further and
further away Poor old man! he has little more
to do than to die,
and sheds its white blossoms upon the valley and
mountain, but soon the sweet spring follows and
smiles it all away. Not so with that upon the
brow of the tottering veteran; there is no spring
whose warmth can penetrate its eternal frost 1t
came to stay; its single fakes fell unnoticed, and
now it is drilled there. We shall see it increase
until we lay the old man in his grave; there it
L. lnr fNr
there is no age in Heaven. ,,.g,.,
Yet why speak of age in mournfdl strains 1t
is beautiful, honorable and eloquent. Should we
sigh at the proximity of death, when life and the
world are SO full of emptiness? Let the old exult
because they are old; if any must weep, let it be
the young at the long succession of cares that are
before them. Welcome the snow, for it is the
raj crown, which shall fall at the gates of Para
disc, to be replaced by brighter and better.
ESome wag enumerates the following among
the "drops Of comfort generally administed by
friends: 7777 ~
Reading newspaper on . railroad, containing
an account Of Five and twenty lives lost ~ or
the same road, and near the same place, only thu
day before" e.,ft4. ~.
Loosing a small fortune in an unlucky specula
ton, and all your friends wondering how yo,
COulQ nave Oeen y SUCH lOoi" ,'H.
Putting on white neckcloth, which you fancy
becomes you, and being hailed all the evening Al
"waiter."
Breaking down before ladies in the middle of
song, and malicious rival calling out, "Encore
cncore!" sasa,s
, GRAT1TUDE-As river returns its waters +
the sea, whence it is supplied, so the grateful
man delights in returning benefit received.
E When man owns himself to be in al
error, he does but tell you in other words that h
is wiser than he was.-[Dean Swift
az There are men in whose presence we fes
no pleasure If they speak we are disguised; an
even if they say nothing, they annoy us.
Boys, what is all that noise in the school? It
Bill Skies sir, initiating locomotive. Come u
here, William; if you have turned locomotive,
is high time you were switched Off
CHARLES LAxB once said to brother willis
player, Martin Burney, whose hands were none Q
the cleanest:
Martin, If dirt was trumps what hand you
hayc!"