Daily Republican. [volume] ([Wilmington, Del.]) 1874-1890, 1886-10-20
FATHER mErHUsELAu.

I |
Fresh Ideas About the Grand Old MAI
VINO stood on Father Time for Ter
Centuries.
l have just been reading James
Whltcomb Riley's responses to s.the
| Old Man" at the annual dinner of the
indianapolis Literary Club, and his
reference to Methuselah has awakened
In my mind many recollections and
"reminiscences of that grand old man.
we frst met Methuselah in the ca
pacity OF q son. For three hundred
years Enoch and Methuselah logged
along together in the capacity of father
and son. Then Enoch was suddenly
cut down. 1t was at this tine that
little Methuselah first realized what il
was to be an orphan. He could not at
hrst realize that his father was dead.
de could not understand why Enoch,
with no inherited disease, should be
shutfied out at the age of three hun
dred and sixty five years. But the
doctor said to Methuselah: "My son.
you are indeed fatherless. 1 have
done all could, but it is useless. |
had told Enoch many a time that if he
went in swimming before the ice was
out OF the creek it would finally down
MIN, but he thought he knew better
than | did. He was a headstrong man.
Enoch was. He sneered at me and
alluded to me as fresh young goslipg,
because he was three hundred years
older than / was. He has received
the reward of the wilfuI, and verily
the doom OF the smart Aleck is his -
Methuselah now cast about him for
some occupation which would take IN
his attention and assuage his wild,
passionate grief over the loss of his
father. He entered into the walks of
men and learned their ways.
1t was at this time that he learned
the pernicious habit of using tobacco
we can not wonder at it when we re.
member that he was now fatherless.
he was at the mercy OF the coarse.
rough world. Possibly he learned to
use tobacco when he went away to at.
tend business college after the death of
his father. Be that as it may, the
noxious weeds certainly FASTENED his
death, tor six hundred years after this
we find him corpse!
Death is ever surprise, even at the
end OF long illness and after a ripe
old age. To those who are near it
seems abrupt; so to his grandchildren.
some of whom survived him, his chill.
dren having died of old age, the death
OF Methuse came like a thunderbolt |
from clear sky.
Methuselah succeeded in cording up
more OF record, such as it was, than |
any other man Of whom history in
forms US. Time, the tOmb-builder
and amateur mower, came and leaned |
over the fr mt yard and looked at Me-
thuselah, and ran his thumb over the
jagged edge OF his scythe, and went
away whistling low refrain.
He kept up this refrain business for
nearly ten centuries. while Methuse-
lab continued to stand out amid the
general wreck of men and nations.
Even rs the young, strong mower,
going forth with his mower for to
NOW, spareth the tall and dignified
irab hornets nest and passeth by on
the other side, so Time, with his ia
nous hour-glass and his overworked
hay knife over his shoulder, and his
ong Mormon whiskers and his high.
SLICK dome of thought, with its gray
ambrequin of hair around the base of
If 1t, moved all around Methuselah
md then passed on.
Methuselah decorated the graves of
hose who persisted in dozen differ
mt wars. He did not enlist himself.
or over nine hundred years of his
life he was exempt.
He would 60 to the enlisting place
md offer his services, and the officer
would tell him to go home and encour-
'ged his grandchildren to go. Then
hethuselah would sit around Noah's
ront steps, and smoke and criticise
he conduct of the war, also the con-
luct of the enemy.
1t is said OF Methuselah that he
lever was the same man after his son
Iamech died. He was greatly attached
o Lamech, and when he woke up one
light to find his son purple in the face
With membraneous Group, he could
lardly realize that he might lose him.
The idea of losing boy who had Just
ounded the glorious morn of his fifth
ear, had never occurred 10 him. But
cath loves shining mark, and he
arnered little Lammie and left Methu-
elah to moan and mourn on for a cou-
lie more centuries without him.
Methuselah finally got so far that be
ould not sleep any after O'Clock in
he morning, and he didn't see how
ny one else could. The older he got
nd the less valuable his time became,
ne earlier he would rise, 80 that he ,
euld get an early start. AS the centu-
les filed slowly by, and Methuselah
OF where all he had to do was to
huffie into his loose-ftting clothes and
est his gums on the top of a large,
eek-headed cane and mutter up the q
Kinney, and then groan and extricate
imself from his clothes again and re-
re. He rose earlier and earlier in the !,
forming, and muttered more and more .
bout the young folks sleeping away
he best of the day, and said he had
0 doubt but that sleeping and snoring v
II breakfast time helped to carry of d
am. BIT one day old Father Time b
ame along with q new scythe, and he 6
rev his whet-stone across it few .
mes, and rolled the sleeves of his red p
annel undergarments up over his
rarty elbows, and Mr.. Methuselah
assed on to that undiscovered country
18th ripe experience, and long,
lean record. Il
We can almost fancy how the ply. II
clans, who had disagreed about his IL
ase all the way through, came and II
,sisted on post-mortem examination