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

y
has been with u, when "a tho lovely huee
and aerial distances seemed to be portions
Of the region to which We travelled, and
into which the coming years wefe surely
ITO bring US; no single dash tof color III
the sky fills Us with ,asspeakable delight
and longing, after tho unlaown awe do
not lean out into the gtar-lit nights with
conscious companionship Of the spirits Of
the stars and the deeps and the dark-we
are little afraid of the t1amps and the
1dra6ghts and rheamAtisihs; we remember
all these things; we do not feel them
afresh. Nor do the same books please us,
wo ind, that, once we read and ,re-reatl;
the poems that we ruined With our pencil
marks and under scoring have ceased to
charm, and the volumes that in the days
of those pencil~marks we would have
soorned, now attract us at first sight; the
bread and butter novel moves US to-. de.
rision 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. 49,
We do not think youth of twenty
one or .tweuty.two the ideal being 70.
whom the heavens and. earth were Gre.
ated. Possibly we prefer lamp-likht and
people to al the moonlight and solitude
in the world. What theh9 It seems
that middle age has its pleasures, which it
would not exchange for those! of youth !;
why will! we persist in looking back So
regretfully oh those of youth, which it
seems we would no Ion ger enjoy if We
had thema If we do not wish to dance,
why do we envy those who dot If
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,
remcm bering the pleasuse Of its satiifac-
tion.. We are potalike the old proverbs
dog in the manger that neither wants
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 rs. to forego the various
happinesses of the period to which we
have arrived, the calmness and ,repose,
the clear-headed comprehension of vexed
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 VI, and full soon shall
we feel the breath of the lark River; and
we seen fresh meaning in the words of the
old Preacher; "rruly the light is sweat,
and pleasant thing it for the eyes to be-
hold the sun fbutif a man i've many
years and rejoice in: thcm:I ali,
yet let him ;remember) the days, of dark
ness, they shall be many" As the mon-:
arch considers a demand for the surrend-
er Of his sceptcr, so do we hate to lay
down our sovereignty, to retreat as the
new generation becomes reg nant, to, be-
come not only,th Mere co1nmonen and
.superanpuaries Of the present, but the pen
sioners Of the past, to, feel perhaps, a
passing remembered and reflected thrill
Of the keen, quick Joy at the fragrance Of
a'wfnd, at bell notes on the evening air.
at 50 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 a multitude of choic-
est pleasures. now are no more the object
of actual experience, but are only an i'm
palpable procession of bloodless ghosts.
Hampers Bosar.