The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1875-02-11
The Length Of Human Life.
BY REV: W. S: PLUMER,r D. D.

The eagle lives hundred years, the ass
hundred and fifty, the elephant four hundred;
and whale a thousand; yet there is no living;
| moving thing that was in existence when Jesus
| Christ was upon earth. Some have said that
there are olives trees in Judea and pines in Cal:
| ifornia, which were growing when Jesus was
born. Whatever probability may attach to
these conjeetures, perhaps no one regards the
| evidence as conclusive. ;-.,-v ..T
1t seems to be certain that since the birtE of
Christ no one has lived two centuries And yet
there havs been sonle!c cases of remarkable lont
geyity. think the books state. that Louisa
Pruxo lived to be one hundred and seventy-fye
years old. When I was young I often con:
versed with man who was one hundred and
six years old. During the summer of 1873 I
sixth generation of that mans descendants.
Some years ago I visited, in Cumberland
county, Virginia, Syphax Brown when he was
one hundred and fifteen years old. He was of
African origin. During the war of Independ-
ence he was the body servant of Colonel Tuck
er, the step-father of Randolph of Roanoke.
When saw him, there stood by him All old
gray headed woman who was his grand-daugh-
ter. The constitution Of the old man had evil
dently been excellent. When I saw him he
was still erect, and his gate was firm.
Yet the longest human life is really short
short compared with the ages of the patriarchsj
or with the age of the world, or with eternity,
At the age of one hundred and thirty Jacob
said. "Few and evil have the days Of the
years of my life BEEN"
Moses wrote the Goth psalm. Some thiukhe
composed it in view of his own immediate Geath,
In that ode his: mind seems deeply impressed
with the brevity of life: "Thou earliest them
away as with food; they are as sleep in
the morning they are like grass that. groweth
up. In the morning it hourisheth and groweth
up in the evening it is cut down, and wither-
eth. We spend our years as a tale that is
told"
Inspired writer's have used almost every apt
figure to teach the swf.ness of time and the
shortness of life They compare our earthly
existence to weavers shuttle that flies so fast
that one cannot trace its course with the eyej
to one riding FAST who presses on day and
night and never stops; to vapor that appears
for a little time and then vanishes away to d
span which is the breadth of four fingers to q
moment, and to little moment. Much as men
differ on most things nearly all sober men agree
that life is short. The poets sing about an inch
of time. r.,
Yet on this point Of time hang the most
WeignCy ana tue WOSC Solemn tnlHgS. rus
everlasting destiny of the soul turns upon the
course it takes in time. They, who live unite
God, shall forever reign in glory. They, who
despise his goodness and waste their precious
moments, shall awake to shame aud everlasting
contempt. Never were such crowns and vctos
ries lost or won, never were such treasures Of
Joy or grief laid up as n this short life. =. ae,
Short as life is, it is long enough for the evil
disposed to do world of mischief, and for the
we'll disposed to do an immense amountof goods
See how busy, and successful the wicked are in
treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath:
Behold the success of those who seek for glory,
good foundation against the time to come.
Blessed is he who seizes the happy moments
lays hold on eternal life, make peace with God,
works righteousness, sows beside all water
courses, and gathers fruit unto life eternal
M.w York Observer. .- --l !.