The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1897-03-01
NURSERY SONGS
Cherokee Philosopher Passes His Seven
ty-FirSt Birthday.
CAESARS LANGUAGE QUOTED
Barlow Sage Declares that Moses Had
the Blues and Lots of Trou-
bleSome Times.


"IIow many miles TO MilybrlghtT'
'-Three score and ten"
can't help thinking of that old nursery
song. for l have just passed my seventy
| first birthday and am therefore Just seven
~ years old 1t is like crossing the Rubl-
| con. ana Ike Caesar may say the die IS
| cast" have reached the allotted a6e;
and now every day that live Is a PERSONA
! prlvilege-a favor not promised nor ue
| served. There is something solemn anu
serious in the word. for scripture ana an
| clent history seem TO have made II slBhih-
cant. There were seventy elders Oh lsrdel
/ and the Lord sent out seventy missioha-
| ries: seventy learned men translated the
! OLD Testament, and mans age was cut
down by degrees from 800 to seventy anu
there the Lord called halt ana Moses
! saith that all the excess IS labor anu sor-
row. Moses was feeling very blue when ne
/ wrote that. The old man lived 10 De lzO
ana had 4 troubled time. but know some
men and many women who lived past
eighty and whose last days were their pest
| Gays. Those who have lived right or trleu
TO and have been unseliish and are blessed
with good wife or good husband ana
/ loving children can take an the risks
| that attach TO four score years. Labor ana
sorrow do not necessarily follow old age.
/ Sydney Smith said, when he was seventy
four. II am at ease in my circumstances:
in tolerable health. tolerating church
man-mucn given to talking. laughing ana
noise: 1 am. on the whole. happy man;
have found the world an entertaining world
and am thankful to Providence Tor the
part allotted me In it"
Longfellow lived to be seventy-five
When he was seventy he wrote his friend
Childs: 1T is like climbing the Alps you
and h.
hind you the deep valley stretching miles
miles away, and before you other
SUBMITS higher and whittier which you
may have strength TO climb you may
not. Then you sit down and mediate.
and wonder which It will be. This IS the
whole story"
Dr. Homes saw so much fun in every
thing that he couldn't help making funny
| rhymes about an old man.
"But now his nose IS thin
And It rests upon his chin
Like Il staff;
And n crook is In his back.
And "A melancholy crack
Is In his laugh"
Then he was sorry that he wrote It, for
/ he says;
~ know II IS a SIN
For me 20 sit and grin
AT him here"
Tho doctor didn't expect to live to DO
eignty-nve, for long ago he said; our
pralns are sevcnty-year clocks: the angel
OF lie winds them up once for all. then
closes the case and gives the key to the
angel OF the resurrection"
But au old man is not Obliged 10 have
q crook in his back nor a crack in his
laugn. We see many aged men who are
straight as an Indian and have not lost tho
musical tone OF their voice. Habit and
pride OF person have much TO do with this.
l know an aged matron. a neighbOr Of
ours. who when she Is sitting hardly touch
tho back of chair, and yet she is
stiff or Observation-Disclosures graceful, always
beautiful. She Is kind and gentle in her
age, and has warm welcome wherever
sne visits. If she cannot hear ali that Is
said she is not embarrassed for she says
what she lacks IN hearing she makes UP in
seeing and reading and is thankful for
the iacuiucs mat are stIll left her / never
saw her with a troubled look, though |
know she has had trouble ana deep grief
Now. contrast such n woman with one who
IL always complaining of her hard lot. or
saying something disparasing about her
neighbors.
But the old-time mothers had some excuse
for bent shoulders for il was the fashion
to sleep on pillow and bolster. and it was
fashion to lean to the child while IL
WAS lSluS- lidbllS ptpuU III tnlluhppu
and continued in motherhood will never
be broken in the decline Of life. ] believe
that tne habits OF the girls OF this genera
ton are an Improvement on those OF the
pact. They do not lace like they used to.
and they carry themselves more gracefully.
1'hey have better fitting shoes and Corsets.
They have more comfortable seats az
school and are not allowed to lean for
ward 70 their books or slate or writing pad.
The life Insurance companies have at last
discovered that women live as long az men
II not longer and policies are issued 70
them on equal terms. The longevity OF
both scxes IS increasing. slowly but surely.
and the only drawback is intemperance-
whisky and opium. Were it not for these.
the three-score-and-ten limit would soon
be advanced to four score and give us a
stronger and handsomer race OF people.
Shakespeare gave us some types of old
age that seem to have fitted the times in
which he lived. but they are very rare in
ours. Prince Hal said to Falstaff: Have
You not all the characters OF age-a moist |
eye. dry hand, yellow cheek. a white
beard. a decreasing leg. an increasing cor
porosity? Is not your voice broken, your
wind short. your chin double. your Wit
single and every part about you bloated
with antiquity?"
/ deny the picture. As somebody said,
I deny the allegation and defy the alli-
gator. There is some of It that does not
fit me- | know. These poets are too fond
Of poking fun at old men. The she bears
ought to come along. The scripture says
that old age is honorable ana that the
young men shah rise up when the old men
come in at the gate The old men are
the balance wheels OF all the machinery
OF government. If II were not for them,
the boys would run away with the wagon
There must be wheel horses with breech-
ing on to hold back when going down
hill. What are here for? We can't
climb q tree or jump ten rail fence any
more. nor kick a college ball nor ride
bicycle, hut these things are non-essentials
and don't have to be done We can look
after the grand children ard point
moral and tell them a tale and teach the
Young idea how To shoot without carrying
n pistol in n hip pocket. Solomon says that
the glory of an old man is his childrens
| children, and he might have said that the