The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1872-10-10
Diclkens'Notion Of arandfathers

I often wish that Shakespeare had
not put that speech picture OF life in
the mouth of Jacques. jacques has o
! melancholy view of things. If be had
not been misanthrope, a baby might
have presented itself to his mind as
.chuckling and growing in the nurses
arms, and not as muliDg aud pu&ing.
In like manner he might have drawn
| q pleasant picture of q green and hap
/ py old age, Instead of insisting SO
much on leanness and slippers and
shrunken shsnks. The seven ages as
Jacques depicts them, may be in ac-
cordance with a certain rule of life !;
but, for my part, have met with very
many beautiful exceptions, an I I love
| to dwell upon them. 1t has been my
good fortune to know many old men
who, aftel the toll and strife of life,
retained all the original innocence and
simplicity of their earliest childhood.
have seen them and can see them
now, sitting in their easy chairs, their
| gums as innocent of teeth and their
heads as innocent of hair, as when
they lay in their mothers laps---sitting
there bidfng the Lords good time
patiently and cheerfally,v while sons
and daughters, and grandsons and
| granddaughters hoEered about them,
and paited them and smoothed their
pillows, and spoke to them in those
simple words which seem as we'll
adapted to the old man rs to4he child.
There Is o purifying influence, in old
aye which we all recognize, We may
know that the old man has led wick
Jed life but when old age comes upon
him, wrinkling! his brow, -blanching
his hair. and bowling him to the, earth,
it seems as if he had been redeemed
and purified by time. l can UNDER
stand why the patriarcns prayed so
frequently and so earnestly for length
of days; praying for lite until the pas
-sions and vanities OF human nature
should have passed over like Q, cloud,
leaving the heart to beat its last throb
on the peaceful shores of eternity. 1t
always seemed to me that at fonrscore
. man isneither of this world or the
next, but that he is in . position be-
tween the two, and can look calmly
on bath, ~ --...--.-,- ,iss,51
\ L think it must be pleasant to sit
upon the last shores thus and wait for
the boat, not impatient for, neither
dreading its coming, pleasant to hear
the splash of the oars and the distant
song of the rowers as they come to
bear you away to that golden land
where youth is eternal. find it diff
cult to talk of grandfathers otherwise
than In this strain. for I have never
known an old grandfather who, what
ever his previous life, did not wear an
aspect or innocence. Age is not alto
gether unkind. !. While it withars the
Beauty it also expuhges the race of
the evil passions. The film that comes
over the eye is a veil to hide the glare
of anger; the wrinkles that score, the
brow are strikes Of tines pen de-
signed to obliterate the frown and the
scosRl that passion has written there
30 boldly. 4 can recall many grand
fathers who were q practical testimo-
ny to the souhdness of the theory
which have just bRoaohed with re-
gard to the purifying influences Of age.
remember one, a little, CHEEKY, merry
hearted cid fellow, who had been o
terrible Turk in his young days. He
had been passionate, impious, violent,
md constant source of trouble to
lisiwife and terror to his children.
When he beeameali) old grandfather
,e was transformed into the most do
;ile creature imaginable. His own
lssAo SI1uACHuQFCu4 1COutu Tul0 HlHA
md make him do just as they liked.
" Do you remember, grandfather"
me Of them would say, "whenl eyoa
lsed to give tito yonr boys all Fe6nd
With the horsewhiPY tB53o5nneJ ~
No, no, my dear,n he would an
wer, hope 1 never did that"
But yen did, grandfather, and
says You used to get
runk and break the chimney orna-
nents," so.,5s r. saJ ss.3I ri .aes
=" Oh, fe, fe, my dear, says the old
nan, 1t co1ldp't have been ome, it
aust have been somebody celse.Y
And granny, strikes in and afilrms
hat he did the deed, completely
nashing i've china 5shepherdesses
hat had been in the family for CEN
lry, Which relation sends the old
nan into o ft Of laughter, 40 hearty
nd good humored that yon could not
onceiye that he could ever have been
apable ofthe violent conduct imputed
, him. dare say he can scarcely be-
eve il himself now,r when age has
lst the devil out of him.-AH the
ear R0uRd. HAr-9lJ5 a--'
foot frff-ftifI -st. D. l---: fT u. = a.. .-H