, 1890-09-04
"This Too shall Pass Away"


hELIGHT expands the bursting heart
U This, too, shall pass away
Fierce pain invades with wrencl
and smart
This too shall pass away
The day Is bright--but night will come
The night Is here, with murky gloom.
Yet dawn will soon the world iilume--
And this shall pass away.
Hope thrills us with pleasure rare--
o must this pass awayp
Despair broods over the stitiing air
This too shall pass away
Lifes Civilizations leap and dance
Life's grief o o'ershades tho countenance-
Joy sings--then sorrow hides 1t
glance
But oil shall pass AWAY.
Prosperity now nobly rides
Yet this shall pass away
Adversity, at porch abides-
Fen this shall pass away
This hour content. the next, q moan
To-day, with friends. tomorrow,
lone
Remembered now. ah soon, unknown
We too shall pass away.
o huctuating tide of Time
Thou too shalt pass away
o bell. with solemn toll or chime
Thy tono shall pass away
Though waves shall mount, or sink 10
calm
Sweet music mourn, or lift the palm
heart, sing daily lifes short psalm
"This too shall pass away"
Old Age.
The novels of Ouida and Daudet,
unwholesome and pessimistic,
abound in lamentations from women
who dread approaching old age.
They are, without exception, women
whose whole life has been absorbed
In social success, and the conquest,
30 called, of men. They perceive
the first gray hair, the insidious
wrinkle, the indifference, and the
wearlness which precede old age, as
wretch looking out of the bars of
his prison window watches the
scaffold grow into shape, upon which
he Is to end his existence.
And yet what Is more beautiful
and reassuring and comforting than
honorable and serene old age? The
character should be gem upon
which time, the lapidary, has ex-
pended his skill until every polished
face gives back light for light.
In business, in literature, In art,
1t requires long training to acquire
success. The work of the beginner
is blundering and awkward. He
must learn how to do, by constant
repetition, and attains excellence
only by avoiding those mistakes in
the future which he is bound to
make while he is learning. There
have qeen few youthful prodigies.
But DIR. Holmes has compared them
to fruit early ripened, which drops
speedily from the bough. II re-
quires the dew and sunshine, the
rains of the long summer, and the
mellowing frosts Of early autumn to
tmpart flavor and color and perfect
form.
A life Is what It's experiences make
1t, and experience and time, ordi.
narily, are one. The interesting
people, the people of achievements,
are those who have lived. A very
few manage to put much into briei
span, but the greater number mus,
have years in which to perfect and
develop.
IAN old womann used to be q
term Of contempt, and yet what Q
pleasant picture 1t may call up
There are those who have beer
soured and hardened by pain, dis
appointment, and failure, yes, anc
even by prosperity. They sneer anC
taunt and complain, having exag
gerated every Ill, and passed over
every good without comprehendinp
that 1t was good. A grabbed old
man, selfish, embittered old wo
man, what suffering they infiict
upon all with whom they come In
contact.
But there are others whose souls
have ripened and sweetened, even
under the chilling winds of adver
sity. Those whom they loved have
been taken from them; that which
they most ardently desired has beer
denied them; that which
they would not have chosen
has been laid upon them,
and out of it all they have ex.
tracted sweetness, patience, and
strength. These qualities draw tc
them the weak and the sorrowful
whom they send away with some.
thing Of that refreshment which the
ailing must have felt who followed
Christ when He laid his hand upon
them.
Next to mother the sweetest word
in the English tongue is grand.
mother, and the child who has not
known that tender, doting, spelling
love has suffered an irreparabie
loss. The name calls up the frag
rance Of sweet herbs and old fash.
ioned flowers, those which she
tended and loved to look upon
walking up and down the garden
paths in the dusk of the summer
evening with white-headed grand
children toddling by her side. It IL
synonymous with delightful stories
and brings back recollections Of the
tenderest eyes that ever shown
through spectacles, the ample lar
which was an ever-present refuge In
times OF trouble. Grandmotherly
intercession and grandmotherly in.
dulgence-they have their place and
part in all happy childhood. The
perfect old age Is that which is not
forbiddiug and censorious, and the
most delightful being in this world
is the old woman whose life has
been full and rich and fruitful. II
a. tho ovrr,ls,Yt m M. af opri o.f