Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1878-07-04

has been with US, when all the lovely hues
and aerial distances seemed to be portions
OF the legion to which we travelled, and
into which the coming years we're surely
to bring us; no single dash OF color in
the sky fills us with unspeakable delight
and longing after tho unknown; We do
not lean out into the star-Iit nights with
conscious com panionship of the spirits Of
the stars and the deeps and the dark-wc
are little afraid Of the aamps and the
draughts and rhcuinatis,ns; we remember
all these things: we do not feel them
atresh. Nor do the same books please us,
We find, that once we read and rc-rcad
the poems that wcruined with our pencil
marks md under scoring have ceased to
charm, and the volumes that in the days
of those pencil-marks we would have
scorned, now attract us at first sight; the
bread and butter novel moves US to de-
rision 1--WE feel sufficient acquaintance with
life and its passions and subtle motives
and secret springs to read the books of
darker dealings. Dancing does not seem
to Us, either, the pleasantest way in the
world in which tc spend time.
We do not think youth of twenty
one OR twenty-five the ideal being TO-.
whom the heavens and earth were Gre
ated. Possibly We prefer lamp light and
people to all the moonlight and solitude
in the world. What then? 1t seems
that middle age has its pleasures, which 1t
would not exchange for those of youth
why will We persist in looking back SO
rcgretfully on those of youth, which it
seems we would no longer enjoy if We
had them? If We do not wish t. dance,
why do We envy those who dog If a
dried date does not taste to us rich
with all the spicy favors of unknown
lands, but like commonplace sweet
meat, compensation comes in the fact
that we have NO craving for the date
And yet it seems to be insufficient COM
pensation; we wish we had that craving,
remembering the pleasuse of its satisfac-
ton. We axe not like the old pfoverb' 5
dog in the manager, that neither wants Il
thing himself nor is willing that another
should have it; on the contrary, we are
much more like the little boy who eats
his cake and wants it, too. Nothing
would induce US to forego the various
happinesses of the period to which we
have arrived, the calmness and rcpose,
the clear-headed comprehension of vexcd
problems. the wealth Of memory, the
power of looking out on the world and
ami not only seeing, as in youth, but of
summarizing and philosophizing on
what you see.
Yet for all that We remember how
round was the cheek Of youth, how delic-
ious was life at the dawning: and here is
the shadow Of the Unknown Future be-
ginning to tall over us and full soon shall
we feel the breath of the lark River; and
we seen fresh meaning in the words Of the
old Preacher; "lruly the light is sweat,
and q pleasant thing it for the eyes to be-
hold the sun; but if man live many
years and rejoice in them ali,
yet let him remember the days of dark
ness, they shall he many" As the mon
arch considers a demand for the surrend-
or OF his sceptcr, so do we hate to lay
down our sovereignty. to retreat as the
new generation becomes regnant, to be-
come not only the mere colnmoners and
superannuaries Of the present, but the pen
sioners Of the past, to feel perhaps,
passing remembered and reflected thrill
of the keen, quick joy at the fragrance Of
wind, at bell notes on the evening air,
at so many other delightful things that
once we felt in full, but to feel, when that
wind blows, and that bell rings, and that
love story is sung, and the evening air
grows purple, that our thrill is only the
memory of the thrills of years and years
ago, to known that multitude of choic-
est pleasures, now are no more the object
of actual experience, but are only an ina
palpable procession Of bloodless ghosts.
Hnrper's Bazaar.