The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1889-07-19
hAPPlness oE 1hE OLD.
They .irc beyond Sslh.hncss aud Have
Forgotten IuNN.

They ire beyond ~sln.hncss aud Have
Forgotten Envy.
Tho old are also uotoHously strong
I'm matters Of Judgment, even though
their knees be weak. What SO pleasur-
able as 10 sit in the seat Of censorP
Is man ever too old.~or the benchP
The longevity and the halencss OF our
moro considerable lawyers are con-
yiucing testimony for the advantage
BUSINESS OF their position. But every
old man stands towards the commun-
ity at large like judge toward his
Grim mails. Each year broadens his
horizon extends his pleasure and his
plstime. Mcthusclah was a man im-
mcu,cly Co bc cnyied. What varied
lore, what an endless series OF gradu-
atrd pictures he must have stored
within him rs the centuries passed
and left him high and dry among his
pigmy fcllow-mcn
Nothing Is easier, il may be said.
than TO cast together the evils which
commonly wait upon old age and
thereby TO provo that it is absurd To
suppose that happiness can exist In
the midst of them. or course nothing
Is easier than ~ catalogue these pos
siblc Affections; but, on the other
hand, contend with my bettcrs, that
happiness, contcntment. or what you
please 10 call the "summum bonum"
we strive for, Is quito independent OF
these Affections. The prudent person.
when old, expects TO be tried In this
way. lie is prepared, and that is half
the battle. Nor must it be forgotten
that even rs his energies have wancd
with his increase of years so also has
his body changed into n condition well
suited 10 bear physical trials which In
his youth would have been insuiTcra-
bic. As "A STRIPPING hoGrumbled with
out ccasing when n toothacho or n
sprained ankle kept him within doors
as an octogcna rian the chair TO which
he Is confined good many hours of
the day Is TO him by far the most COM
Portable place in all the world; nor
would hc exchange IL for the Popc's
throne, II the throne were only Co be
won by journey TO Rome.
But TO return TO the moral aspect OF
the matter Is IL not fact that
good mans goodness Increases as he
grows older? There Is nothing In the
world more venerable than good old
man or woman. Surely that IL much,
for are not respect and affection just
the two things for which We fight
hardest during the fighting part of our
cnrocrP And they may be acquired
without effort
at Is only older people, a'tcr all.
who are quito unsclnsh. and feel the
greatest pleasure in Witnessing the
happiness Of Others" Miss Thackoray
was right whom she wrote this. IL
constitutes the kocncst Joy OF reverend
old ages a joy TO which the wild intox-
icant-, which in youth we call pleas
urcs, are as nothing at all II is
almost impossible, made as we are, for
the young 90 be disin'orostcdly happy
In the happiness Of others. Envy and
jealousy are ever on the alert 20 mar
Nh'h a. Wv lH' l'n7i'Hi'g' 'Nh Ah'
old are doubly gladdcned by the visi-
Bile joy OF others They are generous
enough 20 rejoice because others nro
proGtcd. And this is not cyncism-
they often also find cause 90 congratu-
late themselves that their own snug
tranquility is not In pcril Of being dis
turbed by the like boistcrous agents
OF felicity
II Is for their peace and resignation
that | most admire the old. They
have attained Niryana. The worlds
game. conlcsscd.y y not an amazing one.
Is known 90 them. They are on the
heights OF pisgah, whereas VIC arc
warning on the plain, or groaning In
the valleys about the tcdium Of our
days.-All the Year Round.