The Lexington dispatch. [volume] (Lexington, South Carolina) 1870-1917, 1898-05-11

of our earthly stay is only small part
Of our sphere. The flap Of the wing OF
the destroying angel that smote the
Egyptian oppressorS, the wash OF the
Red sea over the heads of the drowned
Egyptiaus, were all fulfllments of prom
ises four centuries old. And things
occur iu your life and in mine that we
cannot account for. They may be the
echoes of what was promised in the SIX
teenth or seventeenth century. On, the
prolongaticn ofthe divine memory!
Work For the Aged.
Notice also that Moses was so years
of age when he got this call to become
the Israelitish Geliverer. Forty years he
had lived in palaces as prince; another
10 years he had lived in the wilderness
of Arabia. / should not wonder if ho
bad said: "Take a younger man for
this work. Eighty winters have exposed
MY health; 50 summers have poured
their heats upon my head. There are
40 years that / spent among the ener-
waiting luxuries of a palace, and then
follow the 20 years of wilderness hard
ship. am too old. Let Inc Of. Better
call a man in the forties or fifties and
not one who has entered upon the
eighties. Nevertheless, be undertook
the work, and if we want to know
whether he succeeded, ask the abandon
ell brick kilns of Egyptian taskmasters,
and the splintered chariot wheels strewn
Oh the beach of the Red sea, and the
timbrels which Miriam clapped for the
Israelites passed over and the Egyptians
gone under.
Do not retire too early. Like Moses,
you may have your chief work to do
after so. 1t may not be IN the high
places of the field; it may not be where
a strong arm and al athletic foot and
clear vision are required, but there is
something for you yet to do. Perhaps 1t
may be to round off the work you have
already done; to demonstrate the pa-
tience you have been recommending all
your lifetime; perhaps to stand light
house at the mouth CT the bay to light
others into harbor; perhaps to show
how glorious sunset may come after
stormy day.
If aged men do not feel strong enough
for anv vthins else, let them sit around
in our churches and pray, and perhaps
in that way they may accomplish more
good than they ever did in TIE meridian
Of their life. 1t makes rs feel strong 70
see aged men and women all up ana
down the pewS, their faces showing
they have been on mountains Of trans
figuration We want in all our chur"hes
more men like Moses, men who have
been through the deens aud climbed mp
the shelled Leach on the other side. We
want aged Jacobs, who have seen lad
ders whic!, let down heaven into their
dreams. We want aged Peters, who bava
been at PertecostS, and aged Pai,ls, who
have made Felix tce,Hhlc. There are
here and there those who feel like the
woman OF 80 years who said &c Fonte-
nellie, who was S. years OF age, "Death
appears To have forgotten US. Hush,
said Fontenelle. the wit, putting bis
finger to hi: lip. No, my friend, you
have not been forgotten. You will be
called at the right tiEe. Meantime. be
holly occupied.
Let the aged remember that by in
creased longevity Of the race men are
not as old at 60 as they used to be at
so not as old a. 70 as they used to lie
at 60, hot as old at SO as they used TO
be ut 20. Sanitary precaution letter un-
derstood; medical science further ad-
vanced laws of health mere thoroughly
adopted; dentistry continuing for Ion
ger time successful lnastication; homes
and churches and courtrooms and places
of business better ventilated-all these
have prolonged life, and men and wom-
en- in the close Of this century ought not
to retire until at least u years later
than in the opening of the century. DO
not put the harness off until you have
fought a few more battles. Think Ct
Moses starting ont for his chief work an
cctogenariau; 0years Of wilderness life
after 10 years of palace life, yet just be-
ginning.
There lies dying at Hawarden, Eng
land, one of the most wonderful men
that ever lived since the ages Of time
began their roll. He is the chief citizen
of the whole world. Three times has he
practically been king Of Great Britain.
Again and again coming from the house
Of commons, which he had thrilled and
overawed by his eloquence, On Satur-
day, on Sunday morning reading pray
ers for the people with illumined coun.
tenance and brimming eyes end re-
sounding voice, saying: Il believe III
! God the Father Almighty, Maker OF
heaven and earth, and III Jesus Christ,
his only Son, our Lord.
The world has no other such man to
lose as Gladstone; the church has no
other such champion to mourn over. l
shall never cease to thank CCd that on
! Mr.. GladstoEe's invitation I visited
him at Hawarden and heard from his
own lips his belief in the authenticity
: Ct the Holy Scriptures, the divinity Of
Jesus Christ and the grandeurs CT the
! world to come. At his table and in the