The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1875-05-06


is surely not worth q wish. When
all our faculties have left or are lsav-
ing us one by one, sight, hearing,
memory, every avenue of pleasing
sensation is closed, and -, debility
and mal-aise left in their places,
when the friends of their youth are
all gone, and = generation is risen
around US whom We know not, 10
death an evil?
Whan one by one our ties are torn
And friend from friend 10 sDatch'd forlorn.
When man is left alone to mourn,
OH then how sweet ii 10 to die!
When trembling limbs refuse their weight
And films, slow gathering, dim the sight;
When clouds obscure the mental light,
'Tis natures kindest boon to diel
really think so. I have ever
dreaded doating old age, and ny
health has been generally so good
that dread it still. The rapid de-
cline of my strength during the last
winter has made me hope sometimes
tha, | see land. During summer
enjoy its temperature, but / shuddsr
at the approach of winter and wish
could sleep through it with the DOR
mouse, and only wake with him in
spring, if ever. They say that Stark
could walk about his room. l am
told you walk we'll and firmly. can
only reach my garden, and that with
sensible fatigue. l ride, however,
daily; but reading is my delight.
should wish never to put my pen to
paper, and the moro because Of the
treacherous practice some people
have Of publishing ones letters with
out leave. Lord Mansfield declared
it breach of trust, and punishable
at law. l think it should be PEN
itentiary felony; yet you will have
seen that they have drawn mo out in
the arena Of tho newspapers. Al
though | know it is too late for me
to buckle on the armor of youth, yet
my Indignation would not permit me
passively to receive the kick Of an
ass.
To turn to tho news Of the day, it
seems that the cannibxls of Europe
are going to eating one another
again. "A Wal DctWCOA ASoUoi8 ouu
Turkey is like the battle of the kite
and snake; whichever destroys tho
other leaves one destroyer the less
for the world. This pugnacious
humor of mankind seems to be the
law of his nature--one of the obsta.
cles to too great multiplication pro-
vided in the mechanism of the uni
verse. The cocks of tho hen yard
kill one another; bears, bulls, rams,
do the same; and the horse, in his
wild state, kills all the young males
until, worn down with age and war,
some vigorous youth kills him. l
hope we shall prove how much hap
pier for man the Quaker policy 10,
and that the life of the feeder 10 bet
ter than that of the fighter; and it 10
some consolation that the dssolation
of these maniacs of one part Of the
earth is the means of improving the
other parts. Let the latter be our
office, and let us milk the COW while
the Russians hold her by the horns
and the Turks by the tail. God
bless you and give you health,
strength, good spirits and rs much of
life as you think worth having.
THOMAS JEFFERSON.
MR.. ADAMS REPLY. -
QUINCY, June IL, 1922.
DEAR SIR.-Half an hour ago |
received, and, this moment, have
heard read, for the third time, the
best letter that was ever written by
an octogenarian, dated June l. /
have not sprained my wrist but both
my arms and hands are SO over
strained that | cannot write q line.
Poor Stark remembered nothing and
could talk of nothing but the battle
Of Bennington; not quite so reduced
cannot mount my horse, but | can
walk three miles over . rugged,
rocky mountain, and have done it
within a month, yet | feel when sit
ting in my chair as if could not rise
out of it; and when risen, as if could
not walk across the room. NY sight
is very dim, hearing pretty good,
memory poor enough.
answer your questions death
an evil? II is not an evil. 1t is =
blessing to the individual, and % the
world; yet we ought not to wish for
it till life becomes insupportable.
We must wait the pleasure and con-
venence of the "Great Teacher"
Winter is as terrible to me as to you.
| am almost reduced in it to the life
of bear or torpid swallow. can
not read, and tax all my friends
most numerically and tyrannically
against their consent. The ass has
kicked in vain, all men say, the dull
animal has missed the mark. This
globe is a theatre of war; its inhabi-
tants are heroes. The little eels in
vinegar, and the animalcule in pepper
water, l believe are quarrelsoms.
The bees are as warliks as the Ro-
mans, Britons or Frenchmen. Ants,
oaterpillars and canker worms are the
only tribes among whom have not
seen battles; and heaven itself if We
believe Hindoos, Jews, Christians
and Nah ,mstans, has not always
been at peace. We need not trouble
ourselves about these things, nor
fret ourselves because Of other evil
doers; but safely trust the Ruler
with His skies. Nor need We dread
the approach Of dotage; let it cone
if it must; it seems J. still delights
in his four stories; and Stark rsnsn-
bered to the last his Bennington, and
exulted in his glory; the worst Of
the evil is that our friends will sufer
more from our imbscility than We
. ourselves.
In wishing for your health and
happiness l am very selfish, for /
hope for more letters; this 10 worth
more than Eve hundred dollars to me,
for it has already given and it will
continue to give mo more pleasure
than q thousand. Mr.. Jay, who 10
about your age, | am told sxpsrisases
more decay than you do.
Tam your old frissd,
JOHN ADAMS.
y To President jefferson.