Weekly graphic. [volume] (Kirksville, Adair Co., Missouri) 1880-1949, 1883-03-30
RErRosPEcrIuS.

In plarin. my tame on your pro
Crane for an essay, or, more properly
a paper, you avow your dc ire for some
thing little cut OF the present style o
the times. The youth OF this genera
ton are said to know so much more
than their predecessors and you show
thit longing for change SO inherent III
human nature; that desire for some
thing new even If it is crude and ole
fashioned My production must O
necessity be old fashioned, for l can
not recall the vanished years. nor l.ope
to walk far with you along the paths O
knowledge wh,chyo youthful feet are
so eager to tread. God grant they
may not weary of the road before they
reach the goal for which they are striv'
Ing.
To one who has passed the prime
Of life, the aching sense of loss is ex.
tremely painful, SO near and yet SO far
seems the past. AS the poet says
lust thin narrow door shut between;
just far nevermore. a near forever y
We aged ones miss the supple buoy
ancy o youth, the activity of mind, and
the elasticity of spirits which are the
heaven-bestowed gifts to the young.
But VIZ claim that the long, lone
watches of the past, have taught us
that patience and self.control so nee.
cessary in the journey of life and which
is so hard to obtain.
Cage has higher wisdom learned,
than youthful hearts can know" To
make old age useful and beautiful,
should be one of your highest aims
while in the flush of youth and health.
Not long will it take your feet to. cross
the Rubicon of life. Whittier says:
Life is only shaft from Natures CIV
er, cast into the future from the past -
and We scarce grasp it ere it is gone.
Espe cially is this true.of youth a very,
very few years are allotted to this
period OF life. The man of twenty
FIVE and the man of thirty, often feel
that youth has departed; and wrecked
hopes, lost treasure, or disappointed
ambition has so discouraged them that
they feel too old to shape out anew
their course, and so float along the
tide of time until they are out of our
sight and they drift, we know not
whittier. Such things should not be in
this age, when everyone has the op-
portunity OF acquiring a good educa-
ton; where the government itself
takes up the work and encourages the
development Of the arts and sciences,
where every means for cultivation and
refinement and for obtaining know
ledge, Is placed within the reach TT
every one.
When | compare the educational
systems OF the present day, with what
they were when i was young, l heartily
wish my natal day had dated three or
tour decades later, as what l have
missed by being born too soon, is to
me ever a source of regret.
But my young friends, it rests with
yourselves what kind of OLD folks you
will be. Will you be strong, steady,
and cultured with minds stored
with useful knowledge, and able
to advance the human rare in its
pursuit o. wisdom; or will you be
narrow minded, ignorant, and selfish.
Only yourself can decide this ques-
ton.
Fifty years ago We en]oved no such
in the west, as we do here
now. Such thing as a literary soci-
ETY. outside Il the larger cities was
unknown. The height Of a parents
was that their sons should
earn to read. write, and cipher, and
the girls--learn to read. Many
thought it entirely unnecessary for
girls to learn to write, for what need
1ad women for hook larnln';;' and
besides 1t they could write they nigh;
carry on correspondence with Joe or |
ohm, and if they did not know
low, this would be impossible. !
A man who owned a few books was
bought to be quite a scholar, and if
my one happened to be the possessor
If Milton or Shakespeare he was con-
idered a prodigy of learning and con-
iderably above common mortals. This
efers to the people OF the rural dis
lets west of the Alleghanles where I,
'as raised. In towns and villages
iuch better chances for mental
aiming was enjoyed, and mary edu-
ated and intelligent people were to
e found, but the difference between
len and now is wonderfully great.
'La ro,Eort ,,J ,oo,ao,a,,a of.L