The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1902-02-11

ises! Light from the throne! Stream
ing. Joyous, outgushing, everlasting
light
The Glory of Old Age.
Again. the text shall find fulfllment
In the time Of old age. 1t is q grand
thing to be young, to have the sight
clear and the hearing acute and the
step elastic and all our pulses march
ing on to the drumming Of a stout
heart Midlife and old age will be de-
MED many Of Us. but youth-we all
know what that is. Those wrinkles
were o always on your brow; that
snow was not always on your head:
that brawny muscle did not ALWAYS
bunch your arm: you have not always
worn spectacles. Grave and digniied
as you now are, you once went coast
ing down the hillside or threw off your
hat for the race or sent the ball 1ying
sky high. But youth will not always
last. 1t stays only long enough to
give Us exuberant spirits and broad
shoulders for burden carrying and an
arm with which to battle our way
through difficulties. LIES path, If
you follow it long enough. will come
under frowning crag and cross trem-
bling causeway. Blessed old age. IL
you let it come naturally You cannot
hid it You may try to cover the
wrinkles, but you cannot cover the
wrinkles. II the time has come for
you to be Did. 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 be ashamed to
be old unless you are older than the
mountains and older than the stars.
How men and women will liei 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 g if
found in the way Of righteousness!
How beautiful the old age of Jacob.
leaning IN 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 proclaiming the gos-
pei to the masses Of Birmingham; of
Theodore Frelinghuysen. down to fee
bleness and emaciation devoting his
illustrious faculties to the kingdom OF
God. At eventide IL 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 WON
an" People thought that he was crazy.
| do not think hat 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 at rest. Plow not up that face
with any more wrinkles: trouble and
rare have marked it full enough.
Thrust nc thorn into that old heart: Il
will soon cease to beat. The Y that
mocketh its father and refuseth to obey
its mother the ravens of the val;cy
shall pick IL out. and the young eagle;
shall eat it," The bright morning AM
hot MONDAY of life have passed with
many. 1t is 4 o'clock. 5 o'clock. 6
o'clock! The shadows fail longer anu
thicker and faster. Seven o'clock. =
o'clock. The sun has dipped below TIE
horizon: the warmth has gone out of
the air. Nine O'Clock, 10 o'clock. The
heavy dews are falling: the activities
of life's day are all hushed; it is time
to go to bed. Eleven o'clock. - o'clock.
The patriarch sleeps the blessed sleep.
the cool sleep. the long sleep. Heavens
messengers of light have kindled bon
fires of victory all over the heavens.
At eventime it is light Light.
The Latter Gay Of the Church
Again. MY text shall find fulfillmen,
in the latter day of the church. Only Il
few missionaries. Il few churches. a
|, few good men. compared with the in.
situations leprOuS and purified. 1t is
| early yet in the history of everything
| good. Civilization and Christianity are
| Just getting out, of the cradle. The
Eight Of martyr stakes. flashing up and
| Gown the sky. is but the flaming of the
| morning. but when the evening of tEf
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 d%ecanterS; the worlds i'm
purity turning it's brow ~heavenward fol
the benediction. blessed are the pure
| in heart" the last veStige OF ~SelfiShneSs
| submerged in heaven descending chart
ties and China worshiping DR.. Abeel':
Saviour: all India believing in Henry
Martyrs Bible; aboriginal superstition
acknowledging David B%rainerd's piety
human bondage delivered through
Thomas Clarkson's 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 thrasher's wing. n she'll:
tinge. and manufacturers shuttle. anc
chemists laboratory. and kings scep
ter. and nations Magma Charta. Not &
hospital. for there are no wounds; no
an asylum. for there are no orphans