Fayette County herald. [volume] (Washington [Washington Court House], Fayette County, O. [Ohio]) 1860-1???, 1878-08-22

some well-chosen and highly appreciated
remarks by Rev. P. LeCIare Haskell, and
a short address by Joseph Hfdy, jr.,
which, by the request of many friends, is
given below.
The afternoon was enlivened by music,
and while the young folks made merry in
their own way, the older persons enjoyed
themselves equally in the "reminiscences
of old times, and the renewing of old
friendships.
ADDRESS
Friends and Relatives:
In what l shall have to say to you 1
wish to direct your attention to the OBJ
ject and meaning of these meetings.
Aside from the social features OF the Oc-
| casion, which we enjoy in common with
the friends who have gathered with us
here, this meeting has a peculiar signifi-
cance for us, as members of the family,
as descendants of the aged pair about
| whom we are gathered. We call this a
family reunion and, as such, it has a
special meaning for us. History furn-
ishes no record of any other institutions
of society so ancient, so universal, and so
enduring, as the family; it bears even
date with man's first recognition of his
! position as a social being.
The Patriarchal, the oldest form of
| government known to history, was mod
eled after it and based upon it; and the
Republican, the ripened fruit of political
wisdom, and experience, finds it the mod
| ell of its excellence and the cornerstone
of its existence. The family is the unit
of society, upon which are builded all the
| relations of life. Within the family cir
Gle are moulded those characters which
shine in the wider circle of the world.
| The democracy of the fireSide is the safe
| guard of our national liberty. Then,
Whenwe add to these considerations ali
| the eHdearing recOllectiOns of childhood,
| which for the middle-aged among us
cluster around this old hOmestead-the
| hOuses the barn, the trees, the well, the
| l.cree the OrChard-each putting on its
old pillar aspect, and appealing to them
VI utstretched hands, laden with the
IL oils of the past, their eys fill, while
Enae yFolls back the flood of years till
again.the bright sunshine steal
ough the trees, and spreading its
aFpets Oflight and shade, and hear
ne ytlles in the meadow in those old
times when they were boys and
ere, before the moving and reap
aehines had robbed::oup5 barvests of
cir toll and all theirfoetry.E :
and girls, of my own age, this is
4E9t 1oreqs! The tables are spread we have
partaketl, with the rest, of the good cheer
1Sof family gathering; but, there is
ans feast to which we are not invited !;
Fathers and mothers memory has
gspreadra feast of whose sweets
4w nothing; to it are borne all the
ul recOllections, all the tender and
hing influences of their lives; on
Ies~ are seen the rich wines in whose
GLOW sparkles the sunshine of fifty
all the loves and sorrows of half a
.y are there; they are cheered by
0TN.tI Nf
I weddings, and the prattie of haH9t hun
.dred children; and they are touched and
! sOftened by = the last accents of buried
| love- They Come -tOgether around that
! board to grasp each othek by the hand
/ and say words of cheer and encourage
ment, and theyturn away, with regret
! to take up their old accustomed burdens
till next ye9T shallvhave sped, bringing
new viands to nfemOry's feast.R But this
| gathering has another meaning for us Z: il
is al expression of the veneratiOn due
from us to these, our aged parents; and
Whoabut feels that it is good for us to be
here. Though we come with our hands
filled with garlands, and our hearts filled
| with love and respect, to crown them
wOrthiest of our name, we will go away
NOR erichly ladened than we came, bear
ing blessing from their green old age
| We can but esteem it a privilege, that we
are allowed to have these old people
among us. The advice of young man
is the advice of sign-board, which points
out the way it has never travelled; the ad.
vice of age is the advice of a traveller who
has explored every step of the road, who
knows every hill and every valley, every
crossing and every turning; who knows
where the treacherous quicksands lie, ,anC
where the grateful waters that lave the
travellers feet.
+ Then, too, they are the links which
| hind the O1naTSfinnC tnGnthQp Olyr
us realize more fully the existence of the
past. They are the representatives of al
older time, the witnesses OF events nov
past into history. [ was reading, only
few days ago, what a learned man ha
said about the lessons an aged tree may
teach; how, within the limits OF 40, 80 Of
! go consecutive rings, are measured thu
lives of men; few inches of growth ,anC
we have passed the dates of the birth anC
death of Shakespeare, few more circle
of growth and we take in the age of Mil
ton; then comes JOhnsOn's life, and her
is the span of Napoleon's career. MAJ
! we not learn similar lesson from tn
aged people among us? Have any grea
: events transpired since the beginning 0
= our grandfather's life? Yes, there
5 measured i'll his century span of life NOR
OF human progress, more of historic in
terest than in any other equal period sine
history was written. Think of it, boys
anu lCG yOuI NCL0IdIIOu anu respect u
= increased by the thought, that you
: grandfather has lived the contempory O
more history than any historian has re
, corded in the annals of five centuries. H
was babe i'll arms when that great strug
gle which secured our independence wa
drawing to close. He was a boy i
o Pennsylvania when the Articles of Cor
e federation were superseded by our Fedel
a al Constitution and we first truly too
: our place among the nations of the eartl
: A Virginia lad, he witnessed the purit
. of the administrations of Washington an
Adams; he heard the news of the Frenc
+ Revolution when its crimes and eXcesse
r first thrilled to the hearts of the civiIize
e world and called blush to the patriot
cheek at the name of liberty. He sa'
i Napoleon rise to greatness, his overthro
and Punishment, his return to pOwe
/, and heard the news, still fresh, of tn
:. battle of Waterloo. When Thomas Je
n ferson was President, he came, a yOun