Knoxville journal. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1874-1986, 1876-02-03

Prof. Swing, of Chicago, recently de-
livered the following sermon TO young
men, choosing for his text the twelfth
chapter of Ecclesiastes:
Ii, as is commonly supposed, this chap
ter was written by Solomon our boasting
century must award him the honor OF
having penned passage not to be sur
passed for beauty and wisdom and psthos
by anything in modern literature. Upon
the theme, Youth, its Duties and Priv
ileges, Solomon ought to have written
well. II, as is often said, no eloquence
can come from an empty heart, from Sol
ornon's heart, full of final failure and bit
terness, there should have come easily
just such an eloquence of sadness and pen
itence as appears in this address TO the
young. The great King had wasted his
gifted life. He had loosed the silver
cords; had broken. the pitcher at the
fountain. The windows out of which he
had once seen beautiful world had be-
come darkened. We may confess that
Solomon must have written the chapter,
for only out Of his full heart could such
eloquence have poured.
What a sublime multitude was in his
mind when he called up before his mag
ination all the young men OF his empire!
But the multitude was sublime beyond
the vision OF the writer, for hundreds OF
years after not only Solomon and his
throne had persisted, those words were TO
pass from Hebrew TO Greek words, from
Greek 70 Latin, from Latin to German
and English, and be read and loved by
millions in continents then unknown.
Strange things happen in the world Of
mind. When the poor, blind Homer was
singing his songs in old villages 1900
years ago, his poverty stricken heart could
not have dreamed that in all the subse-
quent ages the greatest men OF all nations
would read bis verses with inexpressible
delight. Solomon may have written this
chapter in his chamber, only tor mis- own
instruction and relief, just as full heart
will often weep in secret, but unawares
Solomon addressed the whole world. The
walls OF his chamber were taken sway and
all the centuries saw the weeping thinker
and the sad thought.
Let Us leave, now, the old, unhappy
King and spend our half hour beside that
great stream Of life called youth" No
science has yet told us when youth termi-
mates. This must come from the fact that
there Is no definite boundary TO that beat
tful state. Ii begins, indeed, at the cradle,
but just where It's precious period ends
and where middle life begins, no one has
been able To announce. Perhaps God has
mercifully hidden the dividing line, that
we may not weep as we pass over IT, but
may go onward with light heart, MOI
knowing that the light Of the spirit is be.
coming mingled with shadow. Let US,
then, accept OF the ipdefniteness of ma
ture and declare youth to be u period
reaching from the cradle out into the area
OF life, but without exact confines. As
day fades into night, thus youth fades,
and after time the soul looks up and
says, night has come" While these
boundaries are indefinite, yet there are
hundreds here to-day who know that they
are living in this period declared SO gold
IN not only by poets but by philosophers,
They know 1t not only by The mere
count Of years, but by the buoyancy and
nope OF their hearts. As yet the world
lies nN back Of them but before them
Like children Of Christmas, they ART
happy not because the day has come bu
because lite light is about 10 dawn. The
human heart is great only when IL Is capa
Die Of great inspiration. When those
years are upon man In which the morrow