The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1901-05-16
The Stages of Life.
HAPPY CHILDHOOD, FIERY YOUTH, MATURE
MANHOOD, OLD AGE, THE SUNSET.

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MANHOOD, OLD AGE, THE SUNSET.
Childhood is Foundation, Youth Build
ing, Manhood Ornamentation, Old
Age the Cap-sheaf-The Dead-line
Between Happy Years and Sorrow
ful, Between Days of Usefulness and
the Time of Uselessness, Difficult to
Draw With Exactness.
Says youth, the hardest years are
those of old age, the time of slippers
and dressing-gown. Mature manhood
adds agreement with the verdict Of
the fiery youth. Literature adds its
instances to emphasize the declara-
ton. Poor old King Lear has many
successors in story Old age is look
ed on as friendless, hopeless, cheer
less. 1t is sans everything" Shall
the old man be shot and the old
woman placed in State 'home?"
They are in the way. They have
done their work and are obstacles in
the path of progress The last wears
cannot be the best years as long as
such doctrine is true. But it is not
true. Old age may be honored, happy,
helpful. The face may wear smile
down to the very end Of the day death
comes. Old aye is the mellow time.
1t is then that memory finds its largest
value. The human mind is great
stOre-house, and in it are placed ex-
periences and observations large and
small. Old aye has the key to the
minh's store-house, each to his own,
and may wander at will therein. The
happy old age is that which has
storehouse fitted with things desir-
able to remember. 1t is not Junk
shop bat Il library. Its books arc not
blank or blotted, but written in fair.
round hand, with pages rich illUmined.
The youth may "mount up with
wings as the eagle" manhood may
run and not be weary" but high
happiness comes to old age which can
.'wslk and not faint"
The dead-line between happy years
and sorrowful, between the DAYS Of
usefulness and the time Of uselessness,
is difficult to draw with eXactness.
No one may say that just here the
best years begin or just yonder they
have ended. Each period of life has
its pleasures peculiar to itself. Child
hood is lake undi.turbed, youth an
ocean tossed with storm, manhood a
deep flowing stream, old aged gulf
unfathomabls and breaking in gentle,
tapping accents upon an eternal shore.
Childhood is foundation, youth build
ing, manhood ornamentation, old age
the cap-sheaf. The ideal years may
lie all along the way. The old-time
novel closed with the heroine safely
married. In the new century fiction,
the first pages have wedding cere-
monv The world is learning that
life is long lane and that flowers
grow all the way.
The best years OF his life are those
in which all the good in other years
is summed up. They carry the trust
fulness of childhood, the buoyancy of
the youth, the self-poise of manhood
the life-experiencc of age. They
/ have gained the wisdom Of years and
! have not lost the wisdom of youth.
! They have enriched themselves with
recollection and not impoverished
/ themselves by abandoning anticipa-
ton. Memory has come to be a guest
! in their homes, but hope has not been
sent away. 1t is difficult to put proper
emphasis upon the pleasure and OPP
portunities of the present day. Dis
tance ever lends enchantment. We
are apt to magnify what has past and
minify what is now. Happiness and
usefulness, which are twins, are best
realized when the right perspective is
secured, when the accent {. life is
put upon today, not yesterday on to,
morrow. To keep the mind always
alert, the heart always open to new
impressions and the entire self ready
to learn more and more the art oi
| living-which, next to the art of liv-
ing together, is the finest of fine arts
is to make the most of all the years
which are to man allotted. Man is
apt to place undue emphasis upon
| the dangers as well as the desirabili,
ties of other years. The man in mid
die life speaks earnestly of the
temptations of youth, while the youth
looks askance at the grim utilitarian
ism which attaches the half-century
time. Yet, middle life has its tempta
tions and youth its self-indulgent
practical side. In struggle there is
safety. The man who is continuous
" climbing upward, whether he be
TO js
safe. 1t is he who has quit struggling
and with folded wings sits down tc
take his ease who is in most danger
The best years of human life art
not the years in which some great
deed shone resplendent. The bes
years are those packed fullest of the
gentle things Of every day. 1t rest:
with the small incidents rather thar
the great achievements to make eacf
life useful and packed with JOY The
little things make men miserable OF
happy. The little things mar OF
build up. Three years ago the monks
made fast the tiles upon the roo
which overhung Da Vincis' LAS
Supper" Three hundred tiles were
made tight and fast. But one wa:
unremem bered. and, loosening, in the
lapse of years, let in the rain, which
made a ruinous streak across the cen
tral figure in the fresco. Life is made
up Of little things bound together
Lowell said the great reform move
ments are the summing up Of thu
humble deeds of humble people. Th'
best years are filled with small, goot
things, of quiet courtesies, of silen
faith, of accomplishing doing of th'
daily task. 1t is not age that makes
them best.
WALTER WILLIAMS.
Ladies' Can Wear Shoes
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