Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1878-12-31
A Septuagesimal Birthday.

age of the average man, we see n
improperly in according to hir
whose experience runs back owe
seven decades-other things beinj
equal-the honor and dignity of tw
men and a,half. Three score year
and ten of hope and disappointment
of prosperity and adversely, of jo,
and of sorrow! How natural, upol
such an eminence along the journey
to call in ones friends, especially
the few survivors among the com
panions of his childhood and youth
and for the hour rehearSe the ole
times, review the old scenes and live
over again the halcyon days ofyore
1t was my privilege to be an invited
guest at an interesting gathering Of
this character, in New Market, on
the 23d inst. Our respected friend
and fellow>citizen, Mr.. William
H. Moffatt, a man who, in
connection with the late Gen.
Brazelton, has been long and favor
ably identified with the leading bus
mess interests of a wide section
hereabouts, reaching the rare dis
tinction of a septuagenarian, in
vited few of his old associates,
and some of the friends of his later
days, to truly enjoyable gather
ing at the old family homestead.
1t was a suggestive assembly upon
suggestive spot. Rarely in the
same length of time have so many
thoughts crowded into our brain.
The venerable sire, and the gentle,
cultured matron! We would by no
means intrude upon the sanctity of
their inner experience. Surely
" every heart knoweth his own
grief, and stranger intermeddleth
not with his joy" But the
very countenances of such
are nOlens volens, IN large
degree, legible and speechful. Each
is a poem, a romance and a rich
history all combined. 1t should
awaken gratitude that our Heavenly
Father permits even few such to
linger on for the benefit of a more
thUughtless generation. And the
place-the home of the aged cou-
ple-everything pertaining to it is
rich in association. A portion of
the building is the oldest structure
in town, and yet, like its occupants,
its appearance is in no wise i'm
paired by age. The house, garden,
and surroundings generally are
neat, tasteful and attractive. Stand
ing amid such historic scenes, where
the present seems Immediately con-
nected with a remote past, l found
myself almost in the attitude
of listening for the echoes Of
the long ago. Indeed could
some mystic power awaken and
the long-stilled voices of
the curtained past, what tales of
love and grief, of orange bud and
cypress wreath would come floating
through the halls of the old man
sion! 1t does one good from out
of the rush and hurry of the pres
ent generation to retire to such
favored localities and linger awhile
amid the fruitful associations of the
good old times, too rapidly passing
away.
But we would, by no means, con-
vey the impression that our feeling
on the occasion was that of being
enveloped under the shadows of
mossrgrOwn and fading past, and
that every thing about us was
of a melancholy and sombre
tint. Far from it. To our
mind, Christian old age is the pc
riod when the shadows begin to flee
apace, and when the clear light
from the far country begins to fall
Were we an artist, we
would paint consecrated and faith
full old age not as a decrepit man
trembling on a staff at the foot of a
stairway landing upon the brink of
but We would paint shin
ing form, high upon an ascending
stairway, just entering luminous
cloud of glory, descending from the
land where no sunset is. Surely
such must be the triumphant
progress of all Gods faithful.
True, this long journey Travelled re-
minds US of approaching farewells /;
their increasing nearness to the bet
ter world of tender ties soon to be
,undered but let us remember their
gain, their victory, their crown.
But to return to present matters.
Our good hosts, SO far as we can see,
bid fair to remain with US and glad
len us with their CHEEKY faces many
NJ