Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1902-02-13

bunch your arm; you have not always
worn spectacles. Grave and dlgnifed
as you now are, you once went coast
ing down the hillside or threw Off your
hat for the race or sent the ball flying
sky high. But youth will not always
last. 1t stays only long enough to
give as exuberant spirits and broad
shoulders for burden carrying and an
arm with which to battle our way
through difficulties. LIES path, il
you follow it long enough, will come
under frowning crag and cross trem.
bling causeway. Blessed old age. II
you let 1t come naturally! You cannot
hide it. You may try to cover the
wrinkles, but you cannot cover the
wrinkles. II the time has come for
you to be old, be not ashamed to be
old. The grandest things in all the
universe are old - old mountains, old
rivers, old seas, old stars and an old
eternity. Then do not he ashamed to
be old unless you are older than the
mountains and older than the stars.
How men and women will lie, They
say they are forty, but they are sixty.
They say they are twenty, but they are
thirty. They say they are sixty. but
they are eighty. Glorious old age if
found In the way Of righteousness!
How beautiful the old age OF Jacob.
leaning on the top Of his staff; of John
Quincy Adams, falling with the har-
ness on; Of Washington Irving. sitting,
pen In hand, amid the scenes himself
had made classical; Of John Angel
James, to the last procaiming the Cos
pei to the masses of Birrningham; of
Theodore Frclingbuysen. down to fee
bleness and emaciation devotng his
illustrious faculties to the kingdom of
God. At eventidc it was light!
( See that you do honor to the aged. A
philosopher stood at the corner of the
street day after day saying to the
passersby: You will be an old man;
you will be an old man. You will be
an old woman; you will be an old wom-
an" People thought that he was crazy.
| do not think that he was. Smooth
the way for that mothers feet they
have not many more steps to take
Steady those lettering limbs; they will
/ soon be ut rest. Plow not up that face
with any more wrinkles; trouble and
care have marked it full enough
| Thrust no thorn into that old heart: It
! will soon cease to beat THE eye that
mocketh its father and refuseth to obey
Its mother the ravens of the valley
shall pick 1t out, and the young eagles
shall eat it," The bright morning and
hot MONDAY of life have passed with
many. 1t Is 4 o'clock, 3 o'clock, G
= o'clock! The shadows fall longer and
thicker and faster. Seven o'clock. 8
o'clock. The sun has dipped below the
horizon; the warmth has gone out of
the air Nine o'clock. 10 o'clock The
heavy dews are falling; the activities
of lifes day are all hushed; it is time
to go to bed. Eleven o'clock, II o'clock
The patriarch sleeps the blessed sleep,
the cool sleep. the long sleep. Heaven s
messengers of light have kindled bon
fires of victory all over the heavens.
At eventime it Is light. Light.
The Latter Day of the Church.
Again, my text shall find fulfillment
in the latter day Of the church Only a
| few missionaries, few churches, a
| few good men. compared with the in.
stitutions leprous and purified. 1t is
early yet in the history Of everything
good. Civilization and Christia nifty are
just getting out Of the cradle. The
light of martyr stakes, flashing up and
down the sky, is but the flaming of the
morning, but when the evening of the
world shall come, glory to Gods con
quering truth, it shall be light. Wars
sword Changing back in the scabbard
intemperance buried under ten thou
sand broken decanters; the worlds i'm
purity turning its brow heavenward for
the benediction, BLESSED are the pure
in heart" the last yestige of seltishncss
submerged in heaven descending chart
ties and China worshiping DR.. Abcel's
Saviour; all India believing in Henry
Martyrs Bible; aboriginal superstition
acknowledging David Brainerd's piety
human bondage delivered through
Thomas Clarksons Christianity: va
grancy coming back from its pollution
at the call OF Elizabeth Fry's Redeem
er; the mountains coming down; the
valleys going up; "holiness" inscribed
on horses bell, and silkworm's thread
and brown thrashers wing, and shells
tinge, and manufacturers shuttle. and
chemists laboratory. and kings scep
ter. and nations Magma Charta. Not a
hospital, for there are no wounds; not
an asylum, for there are no orphans
not prison. for there are no criminals
not an a!mshouse, for there are nc
paupers; not a tear. for there are nc
sorrows. Tie long drge of earth'S
lamentation has ended in the triumph
al march of redeemed empires, the for
ests harping it on vine strung branch
es, the water chanting it among the
gorges, the thunders drumming il
among the hills, the ocean giving il
forth with its organs, trade winds
touching the keys and Euroclydon's
foot on the pedal.
want TO see John Howard when
the last prisoner is reformed; | want
to see Florence Nightingale when the
last saber wound has stopped hurting
| want to see William Penn when the
last Indian has been civilized; ! want
to see John Tluss when the last flame
of persecution has been extinguished
want to see John Bunyan after the
last pilgrim has come to the gate of
the celestial city-aboye all, ] want to