Cedar Falls gazette. [volume] (Cedar Falls, Iowa) 1860-1895, 1867-08-02
God BLESS the Old Folks!

We were shown few days ago star
patchwork quilt which was worked
by q lady seventy-two years OF age
Mrs. Fish Of Edyville--n woman
whose whole life is said to have been
one gentle chapter of good works, char.
ity and peace. There are two hundred
and forty-four stars I'm the quilt, and
the sewing that hand trembling close
to its grave has done upon the quinque-
follated figures will compare favorably
with the neat and regular stitches Of u
deft seamstress of twenty-five, or n
beautiful trail left on garment as 1t
dances away from the foot pad of the
sewing machine. We can conceive Of
no present which should be more
gratefully received or more previously
valued than that which is formed by
the laboirous and tedious workmanship
Of hand that has been clasped In
prayer before God for seventy years,
aud which, although numbered In the
frosts of the grave, will not let palsied
mucles or crampcd tendons deter them
from leaving at the Threshold of etern-
ity last pledge to show the imperish-
ability of the fact that age but intensi-
fies an affection which only grows
stronger as the heart tramps out its
life In fainting beats.
God has blessed the earth with his
grayhaired guests Without them, an
awful chasm would spread its bridclcss
tide between the altar of christianity
and the shores of tho christians final
home. Warriors, with battles NIL
fought heroes with no withered lau-
rels or dropping flags; victors untarn-
ished with records of shame besmirch-
ed with the blood ofinnocence--they of
have fought their way through rocking
storms and treacherous calms, and now
stand as faithful sentinels on the
skirmish line of eternity.
The t0ttering steps of nged feet upon
the hearthstone, the tears that tricklc
down the furrowed cheek Of the bowed
and bent form In the arm chair ut the
tireside, the prayer that comes I'm bated
terms from aged lips offering homage to
God at the family altar--all bring with
them blessings I'm whose train glitter
jewels that borrow their lustrc
from the light OF another world. In
some homes these treasures are guar
ded with fond care by hands whose
gray haired idol from the ills OF life and
tho approach of death; but arc there
none who read this limo that feel as
they read, the shifting Consciousness
that In the hour of carclessness or the
strain Of passions, words have been ut,
tered that went like barbed arrows In.
to quvering hearts which never had a
fiutter of joy but what thrilled respon.
sive to the bounding pulses of tho
hand that in sunshine caressed, but In
the hour of weakness or rage had nc
action but one of stinging rebuke oil
cruel neglect? The toughest rasp thai
the youth can draw over the trembling
heart of age is that drawn by the hauf
of neglect. The most cheerlcss scat or
earth ID tho one occupied "only By
grandmother" sitting i'm solitude un
disturbed by the patter Of feet OF
the blith esome tones of caressing en-
dcarment. Alone, alone! !n-allead
the grave--behind, life of reckone
monuments not more desolate in thei
ruin than the crowded throng of crush
cd hopes I'm the close-shut sepulchre o
the aged breast that has felt the fret
ting blow of the one until IL prays fo
the oblivion and rest of the other
Many good father and fond mothe
arc now tottering into cherries old ag,
through desert that the hand of sol
or daughter should strew with flower
of unfading brightness, but instead, al
low a criminal neglect to come, ant
with its blighting power change th,
pulses of the heart into one dul
throb OF ceassless agony.-Des Moine
Rp0isfer