The Lexington dispatch. [volume] (Lexington, South Carolina) 1870-1917, 1894-07-18

was president OF the United States and
the Cctogcnarian farmer entertained ule
until II O'Clock at night, telling me
what great things he saw in his sons
house at Washington, and what Daniel
Webster said to him, and how grandly
Millard treated hie father in the White
House. The old mans face was ilium-
| ined with the s!ory until almost The
midnight. He had just been visiting his
son at the capital. And l suppose 1t
was something Of The same Joy that
thrilled the heart Of the old shepherd as
he stood IN the palace Of tho prime Dlln
ister.
It's q great day with you whan your
old parents come to visit you. Your
little children stand around with great
wide open eyes, wondering how anybody
could be so old. The parents cannot
stay many days, fer they sre little
restless, and especially at night'aI!, be-
cause they sleep better in their own
bed, but whils they tarrY you somehow
feel there is a benediction in every room
in the house. They are little feeble,
and you make it as easy as you can Tor
them, and vou realize they will proba.
bly, not visit you very ofteu-perhaps
never again You 60 to their room after
they bave retired at night to see II the
lights are properly put out, for the old
people understood candle and lamp bet
ter than the modern apparatus foc lllu-
minstion. In the morning., with real
interest in their health, you ask than
how they rested last night.
Joseph, in the historical scene of the
text, did not think any more OF bis Ia
ther than you do Of your parents. The
probability is, before they leave your
house they halfspoil your children with
kindness. Grandfather and grandmoth.
er are more lenient and indulgent to
your children than thsY were with you.
| And what wonders Of revelation il the
bombezine pocket CT the ore and the
sleeve Of the other. Blessed is that
home where Christian parents come to
visit! Whatever may have been the
st7le of architecture when they came, it
IS a palace before they leave. If they
visit you so times, the two most memo
rable visits will be the first and the last.
Those two pictures will hang in the
hall Of your memory while memory lasts
and you will remember just how they
looked, and where they sat, and what
they said, and at what figure OF the car
pet, and at what 0oorsill they parted
with you, giving you the final goodbye.
Do not be embarrassed if your father
come to town and ne have the manners
of the shepherd, and if your mother
come to town and there be in her hat no
sign of costly millinery. The wife Of
the Emperor Theod0sius said wise
thing when she said, Husbands, re-
member what you lately we're, and re.
member what you are, and be thankful"
By this time you all notice what kind
| ly provision Joseph made for his father,
Jacob. Joseph did not say:'' can't
have tie old man around this place.
How clumsy be would look climbing up
these marble stairs and walking over
these mosaics! Then he would be put
ting his hands upon some of these fles'
Goes. People would wonder where that
old greenhorn came from. He would
shock ali the Egyptian court with his
manners at table. Besides that ne might
get sick on my hands, and he might be
Querulous, snd he might talk to me as
though were only boy, when am
the second man IN al the realm. Of
course he must not suffer, and If there
is famine in his couutry-and | hear
there isl will send some provisions,
but can't take a man from P&danaram
andlptroduce him into this polite EgYp'
tian court. What nuisance it is to
have poor relati0nsn
Joseph did not say that but he rushed
out to meethls father with perfect aban.
don of affection and brought him up to
the palace and introduced him to the
emperor and provided for all the rest Of
the fathers days, and nothing was too
good fot the old man while living. And
when be was dead, Joseph, with militia.
ry escort, took his fathers remains to
the family cemetery. Would God ell
children we're as kind to their parents!
If the father have large property, aud
he be wise enough to keep it in in his
own name, he will be respected By the
heirs, but how often it is when tho son
finds his father in tamine, rs Joseph
found Jacob in famine, the young people
make it very hard tor the cid mau! They
are go surprised he eats with knife IN
stead Of a fork. They are chagrined at
his antediluvian habits. They are pro-
voked because he cannot hesr IS well as
be used to, and when he asks It over
again, and the son has to repeat it, he
! baWls in the cid mans ear, II hope you
hear thatW How long be must wear
the old coat or the old hat before they
get him q new one! How chagrlned
they are at his independence Of the Ea.
gliah grammar! How long he hangs on!
Seventy years and not gone Yet! Seven
ty Eve years and not gone yet! Eighty
years and not gono Y5t! Will he ever
&C? They think it is Of 40 use to have a
doctor in his last sickness, and 60 up to
the drug store, and get dose Of some
thing that makes him worse, and econo-
m:ze on coffin, and beat the undertak-
er down to the last point, giving note
for the reduced amount which they never
pay. have CfIiciated at obsequies
aged people where the family have bean
80 inordlnatelY resigned to providence
that felt like taking my text from
Proverbs, "The eye that mocketh at
| its father and refuseth to obey its moth
er, the ravens OF the valley shall pick il
out, and the young eagles shall eat it. ;"
In other words, such an Migrate ought
to have flock af crows for pallbcarers!
1 congratulate you If you have the
honor OF providing for aged parents.
The blessing Of the Lord God Of Joseph
and Jacob will be On you.
Irejoice to remember that, though
my father lived in a plain house the
most of his days, he died in mansion
provided by the flial piety Of u son who
had achieved fortune. There th9 oc.
togenarian sat and the servants waited
on him, and there were plenty OF car
risges to convey him, and q bower in
which to sit on long summer afternoons,
| dreaming OF the past, and there was not
| q room in +ha hfu2a whp~a he was not