The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1890-03-07
LOVER THE TEA-CUPS."
Thoughts on Old Age by the Autocrat Of
the Breakfast Table.

the Breakfast Table.
am afraid that old people found life
rather dull business in the time Of
King David and his rich old subject and
friend, Barzillai, who, poor man, could
not have told teal from canvas-back,
nor enjoyed symphony concert, if they
had had those luxuries in his day.
There were no pleasant firesides, for
there were no chimneys. There were
no daily newspapers for the old man to
read, and he could not read them if there
were, with his dim eyes, nor hear them
read, very probably, with his dulled
ears. There was no tobacco, a soothing
drug, which in it's various forms is a
great solace to many old men and to
some old women-Carlyle and his mother
used to smoke their pipes together, you
remember.
Old age is infinitely more cheerful,
for intelligent people at least, than it
was two or three thousand years ago. 1t
is our duty, so far as we can, to keep it
so. There will always be enough about
it that is solemn, and more than enough,
alas that is saddening. But how much
dens! If they that look out at the win
dows be darkened, the optician is happy
to supply them with eyeglasses for use
before the public, and spectacles for
their hours of privacy. If the grinders
cease because they are few, they can be
made many again by third dentition,
which brings no toothache in it's train.
By temperance and good habits of life,
proper clothing, well-warmed, we'll
drained and well-ventilated dwellings,
and sufficient, not too much exercise,
the old man of our time may keep his
muscular strength in very good con-
dition. l doubt if Mr. Gladstone, who is
fast nearing his eightieth birthday,
would boast, in the style of Caleb, that
he was as good a man with his axe as he
was when he was forty, but | would back
him-if the match were possible-for =
hundred shekels, against that over-con-
fident old Israelite, to cut down and
chop up cedar of Lebanon. / know
most excellent clergyman, not far from
my own time of life, whom | would pit
against any old Hebrew rabbi or Greek
philosopher of his years and weight, if
they could return to the flesh, to run
quarter OF mile on good, level track.
We must not make too much of such
exceptional cases of prolonged activity
l often reproached my dear friend and
classmatc, James Freeman Clarke. that
his ceaseless labors made it impossible
for his coevals to enjoy the luxury of
that repose which their years demanded.
wise old man, the late Dr. james
Walker, president of Harvard Univer-
sity, said that the great privilege of old
age was the getting rid of responsible
ties. These handwriting veterans will
not let one get rid of them until he drops
in his harness, and so gets rid of them
and his life together. How often has
many tired old man envied the super
animated family cat, stretched upon the
rug before the fire, letting the genial
warmth TRANQUILITY diffuse itself through
all her internal arrangements! No more
watching for mice in dark, damp cellars,
no more awaiting the savage gray rat at
the mouth of his den, no more scurrying
up trees and lamp-posts to avoid the
neighbours cur who wishes to make her
acquaintance! 1t is very grand to Idle
in harness. but it is very pleasant to
have the tight straps unbuckled and the
heavy collar lifted from the neck and
shoulders. Oliver Wendell Holmes, in
Atlantic