Monmouth weekly herald. [volume] (Freehold, N.J.) 1854-1860, 1855-01-31
OLD AGE,

What beautiful thing is old age which
crowns a noble life, rich or poor. How
fair are the latter days Of many woman
wife, mother, sister, aunt, friend-whom
you and / have knowpl How proud
were the last years Of Washington; the
old age of Frankfurt How beautiful in
the late autumn is Alexander Won Hum
boldtl The momentum Of manliness bears
on the venerable man in his four and eigh-
tieth year. There you see the value Of
time. It takes as much to make great
life as to make great estate. No amount
Of genius that God eyer gives man could
enable one to achieve at forty what Won
Humboldt has oaly ,aSaeu at more than
Eeighty. It ~ 81 astUs, Plato,
Aristotle, Leibnitz, every great man has
awed the world by the action of mighty
intellect, with correspondent culture.
These men are OIL. high talent, station,
genius, perhaps But the old age of a
Quaker tailor in Philadelphia and New
York was not !, viii ess fair. The phi
lanthropy Of Isaac Hopper* blessed the
land; in his manhood it enriched the world.
in his old age i identified his own life,
giving an added glory to his soul
How many farmers, mechanics, traders,
servants, how many mothers, wives and
aunts, have you and known, whose last
days were a handsome finish to hand
some life; the Christian ornament on the
tall column of time? There old age was
the sfowlsetting of the sun, which left
" The smile of his departure spread,
Der the warm colored heaven and raddy mountain
head"
Thereis a period when the apple tree
blossoms with lis iT'sslgsoWs of the wood and
field. How fair time It isl All nature
is wooing and winning; the material world
celebrats its vegetable loves; and the
flower bdls, touched by the winds Of spring
usher in the universal marriage of mature.
Beasts, birds, insect, fish, plant, lichen,
with Their phophetic colors spread, all
float forward on the tide of new life. Then
comes thu summer Many blossom falls
fruitless 3 the ground, littering the earth
with beatty never to be used. Thick
leaves hile the process Of creation, which
first blusled public in the flowers, and now
unseen gees on. For so life's most deep
and fruitful hours are hid in mystery
Apples are growing on every tree; all sum
mer long they grow, and in early autumn.
At length the fruit is fully formed; and
leaves begin to fall, and the sun approach
es more near. The apple hangs there yet
not to grow, only to ripen. Weeks
long it elings to the tree; it gains nothing
in size and weight. Externally, there is
increaseof beauty. Having finished the
form withins - brings out the added
graces OF coloFs II IS not tricky fashion
painted on, but an expression which Of it.
fself comes slsg GRANGE and lowell
ness of the spphs innermost. Within, at
the same time, the component elements
are changing. The apple grows mild and
pleasant. 1t softens, sweetens; in one
word it melIows. Some night the vital
forces of the tree get drowsy, and the au-
tumn, with gentle breath, just shakes the
Dough; the expectant fruit lets go its hold
full colored top, and with plump and hap
Ply sound the apple falls into the autumn's
lap; and the springs marriage is com
plete.
Such is the Natural process which fruit
goes through blooming growing, ripen-
ing.
The same divine hw is appropriate for
every kind of anim5l, from the lowest rep
tile up to imperial nan. 1t is very beau
tiful. The parts Of the process are per-
feet; the whole is complete. Birth is hui
man blossom; youth, manhood, they are
summers growth; old age is ripeness.
The hands let go ssiIe mortal Dough, that's
natural death. 1t is a dear, good God
who orders all for he apple-tree and for
mankind. 1AeodorS Parker.
isaac Hopper was brother of Joseph M. Hopper,
OF this village.-[ED's Mon. WEEKLY HERALD