The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1897-10-08

it very hard for the old man. They are
so surprised he eats with knife in
stead of a fork They are chagrined al
his antediluvian habits. They are pro
voked because he cannot hear as well
as bs used to, and when he asks it over
again and the son has to repeat it ne
bawls i'll the old man S ear, II hope
you hear tIat!" How long he must
wear the old coat or the old hat before
they get him a new one! How cha
grined they are at his independence of
the English grammar How long he
hangs on Seventy years and not gone
yeti Seventy-five years and not gone
yet! Eighty years and not gone yet!
Will he ever go? They think it of no
use to have doctor in his last sickness
and go up to the drug store and get
something that makes him worse and
economic on coffin and beat the I'M
dertaEer down to the last point, giving
a note for the reduced amount which
they never pay, l have officiated at OBJ
sequies of aged people where the family
have been so inordinately resigned to
Providence that felt like t;sE Y my
text from Proverbs, "The eye that Lock
eth at his father and ref Iseth to obC'
it's mother, the ravens Of the VII =
shall pick it out and the young a les
shall eat it. - In other words. such an
migrate ought to have flock Of crews
for pallbearers, l congratulate yoa if
you have the honor Of providing Tor
aged parents. The blessing of the Lord
God of Joseph and Jacob will be on
you.
| rejoice to remember that though my
father lived in plain house the most
of his days he died in mansion pro-
vided by the tilial piety of son who
had achieved fortune. There the oeto-
genarian sat, and the servants waited on
him. and there were plenty of horses
and plenty of carriages to convey him.
and a bower in which to sit on long
summer afternoons, dreaming over the
past, and there was not a room i'll the
! house where he was not welcome, and
there were musical instruments of all
sorts to regale him, and when life had
passed the neighbors came out and ex-
pressed all honor possible and carried
him to the village Machpelah and put
him down beside the Rachel with whom
he had lived more than half a century
Share your successes with the old PEG
pie The probability is that the princi-
Piles they inculcated achieved your for
tune. Give them Christian percentage
of kindly consideration. Let Joseph di-
vide with Jacob the pasture fields Of
Goshen and the glories of the Egyptian
court.
A Tribute to the spinster.
And here l would like to sing the
praises of the sisterhoOd who remained
unmarried that they might administer
to aged parents. The brutal world calls
these self sacrificing ones peculiar or
angular but if you had had as many
annoyances as they have had Xantippe
would have been an angel compared
with you 1t is easier to take care of
five rollicking, romping children than
of one childish old man. Among the
best women of our land are those who
allowed the bloom of life to pass away
while they were caring for their par
ents. While other maidens were asleep
they We're soaking the old mans feet
or tuczing up the covers around the
invalid mother. While other maidens
were i'll the cotillon they were dancing
attendance upon rheumatism and spread
ing plasters for the lame back of the
septuagenarian and heating catuip tea
for insomnia.
In almost every circle of our kindred
there has been some queen of self sacrifice
towhom jeweled hand after eweled hand
was offered in marriage but who staid
on the old place because Of the sense Of
filial obligation until the health was
gone and the attractiveness Of personal
presence had vanished. Brutal society
may call such a one by Il nickname.
God calls her daughter, and heaven
calls her saint, and | call her domestic
martyr. A half dozen ordinary women
have not as much nobility as could be
found in the smallest Joint Of the little
finger Of her left hand, Although the
world has stood 5000 years, this is the
first apOtheOsis Of maidenhood, although
in the long line Of those who have de
clined marriage that they might be Quali-
fled for some especial mission are the
names of Anna Ross and Margaret
Breckenridge and Mary Shelton and
Anna Etheridge and Georgiana Willetts,
the angels Of the battletields of Fair
Oaks and Lookout Mountain and Chan
cellorsville and Cooper Shop hospital,
and, though single life has been hon
ored by the fact that the three grandest
men of the Bible, John and Paul and
Christ, were celibates
lover the Hills to the Palace"
Let the ungrateful world sheer at the |
maiden aunt, but God has a throne
burning for her arrival, and on one side .
of that throne in heaven there is vase
containing two jewels, the one brighter
than the Kohinoor of London Tower
and the other larger than any diamond .
ever found i'll the districts of Golconda .
the one jewel by the lapidary of the .
palace cut with the words, "Inasmuch .
as We did it to father" the other jewel .
by the lapidary of the palace cut with
the words, "Inasmuch as We did it to
mother. lover the Hills to the Poor
house" is the exquisite ballad of Will