Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1891-02-13
sincere one. And those who mourn over

sincere one. And those who mourn over
fading ideas and customs are as truly
grieyed as those who lament the death of
men. 1t was in the nature of the strong
and vigorous life that is now breaking out
everywhere in Virginia, that something
must die to make room for it. And yet
as each cherished custom passes away, we
cannot help wishing that there could have
been room made for it, that it might have
lived. t is but a few weeks ago that /
met one of the most sincere of mourners.
Naturally, 1t was an old man. had spent
the day going over a town which was
about to be developed. The company had
been formed and all was ready. After
nightfall, l sat in the cosy reading room of
the hotel awaiting the call of the porter for
the tram. In the corner of the room We're
bullets, and canteens, and swords, and
captured flags and other trophies Of a long
past war, gathered from q battle field
and kept as relicts for the enter
tainment Of visitors. A slender old gen
tleman with q white mustache, and wearing
Gne black frock coat and stock which were
the tone forty years ago, saluted me with
chat mixture of soft voice, shyness, and
perfect ease, that ! have never met outside
Of Virginia. He had thought l was a
member of the new company, and after his
mind was relieved OF that apprehension he
went on to give ME. i'll a half deprecatOry
way, as if he really had no right on this
modern subject to have any views at all, his
opinion OF the new enterprise, and those en-
gagged in 1t. Il IN afraid, y he said, 'that it
must end in failure. Why would you be-
lieve it, Sir, some of the men engaged in 1T
are not twenty-five years old. Mere boys,
Sir. Why, Sir, three month ago one of the
officers was nothing buta young clerk in my
sons warehouse. If you have looked over
the list of those directing it, Sir, you have
found that there is not a name of any of
our best families on it. They are new
society here, Sir" And then he drifted
away into the better days in the old State
when nothing WAS undertaken unless there
were prominent men, Sir, at the head of
it, and when the families of these men now
pushing themselves forward were unheard
of, Sir Where are we to get confidence,
Sir, for enterprises with not an eminent
name connected with it And then in a
deep stage whisper he Informed me that tile
father OF one of the officers had been only a
blacksmith, SRA very plain, honest per-
son, Sir, WHO had his shop on our estate.
"And do you know sir, in the tone of one
who had been personally robbed of that
amount, ''he is actually said to have made
a hundred thousand doll ars in the last two
years! just think of it Sir
| did think Of it, but I thought much
more of the old man Who was talking to
me. There are two sorts Of men to be
pitied. One is the man ali cad of his times
who frets and wears himself out in worry
that his fellow men do not mend their pace.
and who is angry with them for not bein 9
able to understand him. The other is the
man past whom the world is going, and
who stands on the roadside seeing no place
for him, and looking after it in hopeless
anaZement. The difference between tie
two men IS that one pities the world; the
other the world pities. There is nothing
sadder to me than the last of these two
men. He has done nothing to deserve his
fate; he is simply incapable Of understanding
change. He cannot help himself, nor can
others help him. Nothing can be done for
him. He is incredulous that the process
sion can move without him to anything
but disaster. The horde of young men
who have taken hold and are driving things
are regarded by him as usurpers, and the
blacksmlth's son IS to him the leader of a
band of conspirators bent on social revo-
luton.
[ could not help sympathizing with him
as he recounted the virtues Of the passing
civilization, its grandeur, and the great
men it had nourished at it's breast, but for
all that [ could not, as l listened to him,
help weaving a mental allegorical picture
The old man and the background of can
non balls and canteens were the Past,
while the glazing electric light which
played above his head was the Present.
They were too fu apart for human aid
to bring them together.