The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1875-04-15
From the chronological Journal.I
The Other Side Of Youth.

OuGn- 1OeLS nave Nlou Will O1O eAA'
other in striving which could most un
reasonably estimate ii; while the ma
jority of those who have written from thu
other side have taken it at its most lu
gubrious point, perhaps just after they
have discovered gray hairs or lost
tooth. and so all life has become ashen
hued or corrugated.
1t is but Just to take into consideration
what one author has termed the "lnertlf
of an impression" and the difficulty o
dislodging from the mind a thought thai
has once become fixed in it. Having beer
told all our lives that "Y outh is the mos
desirable period of existence, we accept
the dogma as we do our first simple con
victions, without inquiring as to the cor
rectness of the premises by which they
were attained
Youth, however, left to its own in
stincts, knows vastly better; he tosses
all such platitudes from him, and pushes
on with ever-increasing delight toward
manhood, with its duties. prerogatives
and honors. 1t is nothing to him that
older heads prate of youth as the one and
only charming period of existence; his
keen, penetrating vision pierces through
all such illusions. and he knows what he
knows. that to manhood are accorded the
OPPOA anu VI me
Without doubt the remoteness of the
far-distant future lends it to the attrac
tiveness which distance generally as
sumes; but who shall say that it is not
this same remoteness which renders
childhood and youth such delightful
retrospect to age.
Childhood may be beautiful to age, but
what is it to itself2 Ordinarily, what
ever it's advantages, it is, as yet, incapa
ble of appreciating them. All the fortu
itous conditions by which it may be sur
rounded, and which are looked upon by
maturer eyes as blessings, are usually
regarded by youth as only so many i'm
pediments to happiness. Whatever re
strcts the free play of life, physical and
natural, can never be regarded by child
hood in the light of a blessing.
The truth is, that torn dresses, soiled
garments, stumbles, and bruises gener-
ally, vexatious proprieties, mistaken con
ceptions of right and wrong acted out to
theNletter- and rewarded accordingly
sundry and constant admonitions, both
gentle and otherwise, constitute the ac
tual experiences of our early lifef and
the honest recollections of our matureT
years.
Looking back we see now what we
were but pretty ones, our improprietieS
forgetable and remedial, our limitatio rs
and the requirements exacted of us NC
essary to our right development and fC-
ture usefulness This is why we regard
in later days so indifferently the tribula
tions of our childhood but then-ah
then they did not appear to US in any
such soitened guise.
And what have we lost by losing youthi
Some things, no doubt, of actual value
which we recognize now, but which then
did not enter the realm of our selfcon
sciousness.
Not long ago lady put this same ques
ton to a gentleman; after some hesita
ton, he made reply: well, l don't
think like green apples quite as well as
l used to-" And Oliver Wendell Holmes,
in his poem Il would | were a Boy
Again. finds, long before he had finished
analyzing the sentiment, that unless he
can take with him the dearer joys of his
manhood, the others would be lamenta
bly, and ludicrously deficient by compari
son.
Youth, with all its ignorance, its pow
erlessness its uncertainties. and its bur
dens, is rather an object of compassion
than of envy or rivalry Youth in the
sions of life, rushes on blindly against
the unknown future, opening doorway
here and there, unmindful whether II
bring to him food of sunshine or {
tempest of storm.
Maturity, who has gath cred strength
by the mistakes of the past, who ha!
left the passion and turmoil of youth fol
the serener atmosphere, and the more
spiritual pleasures of age, who has gath
cred knowledge and wisdom and expert
ence is too often overlooked by the side
OF fresh, giddy, thoughtless youth.
But what are the facts of the case which
we are so apt to disregard in our un
thinking fashion? upon whom are the
honors, the emoluments, the dignities o.
life conferred? Almost without an ex
ception, youth is passed by that the
scepter of power may be placed in the
hands of age and experience.
Youth is admired; age is honored
Youth is looked down upon; age looked
up to. Youth has achieved nothing; age
if worthy, has achieved much. You'll
does not know its weakness; age ha!
learned its strength. Youth is uncharit
able and exacting; age is tender ant
forgiving Why, then, should we under
estimate the latter, that we may incom
mensurably exaggerate the former?
1t is false, then, to teach youth tina
youth only is to be priced and cherished
A right understanding and appreciation
of age. a correct Interpretation of all tina
it should symbolic to us of dignity
worth, honor, and experience, woulC
readjust our social opinions more right
fully, if not more righteously.
In no country does youth need thi
lesson more than in our own, where age
| is continually hidden to move aside 70
his advancing footsteps. Here a man i
expected to step down and OUT jus
when, in England, he would be consid
cred ripe to enter upon his countrys SCI
vice. He need not wonder, however
that the lesson which has been impressed
upon every child from his babyhood ur
that youth is the one golden period O
existence, should bring forth fruit sucl
as might come from such grating
Not long ago 1 heard a mother say, il
the presence of her children, "Oh, dear
it's awful to grow old; can't bear t
| think Of itl and | could not but wonde
if the measure of her own example NIGH
not be meted out to her in years to come
Instead of passing onward in life wit
accumulated sweetness and dignity, sh
stood shiverlng, looking backward t.
ward that narrow, circumscribed pas
from which it was her privilege t
emerge with daily-increasing honor
upon her head.
at seems to me have reached til
most beautiful period Of my life,
friend remarked to me the other da,
who had attained her threescore year
II have come to the Sabbath of my e.
istence; there is no longer any fret
worry; if / can not have my own way,
has ceased to be trial for me to yield
my days go on, each one Sabbath
me, quite freed from either friction
| onviatv - And vat thiS wOmon'S 90 ~