Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1902-02-14

thing to be young, to have the sight
clear and the hearing acute and the
step elastic and all our pulses marching
on to the drumming of a stout heart.
Midlife and old age will be denied many
of us, but youth-we all know what
that is. Those wrinkles were not al
ways on your brow; that snow was not
always on your head; that brawny mus
Gle did not always bunch your arm;
you have not always worn spectacles.
Grave and dignified as you now are, you
once went coasting down to the hillside
or threw off your hat for the race or
sent the ball flying sky high. But youth
viii 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, win come
under frowning crag and cross trem-
bling causeway. Blessed old age, if you
lett come naturally! You cannot hide
it. You may try to cover the wrinkles,
but you cannot cover the wrinkles. If
the time has come for you to be old, be
not ashamed to be old. The grandest
things in all the universe are old-o,d
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 1iei They
say they are 40, but they are so. They
say they are 20, but they are so. They
say they are 60, but they are so.
Glorious old age if found in the way
nf rio hoo fI11* ho
old age of Jacob, leaning on the top
of his staff; of John Quincy Adams,
falling with the harness on; of Wash
ington Irving, sitting, pen in hand,
amid the scenes himself had made
classical: of John Angel James. to
the last proclaiming the Gospel to the
masses of Birmingham; of Theodore
Freiinghuysen, down to feebleness
and emaciation devoting his illustri-
Gus faculties to the kingdom of God.
AT eventide 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
passerby: "You will be an old man;
you will be an old man. You will be
an old woman; you will be an old
woman" People thought that he was
crazy. I do not think that he was.
Smooth the way for that mothers
feet; they have not many more steps
to take. Steady those tottering
limbs; they will soon be at rest. Plow
not up that face with any more wrin-
kles; 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 it's moth
er the ravens of the valley shall pick
it out, and the young eagles shall eat
it," The bright morning and hot
MONDAY of life have passed with
many. It is four o'clock. five o'clock,
six o'clock! The shadows fall longer
and thicker and faster. Seven o'clock.
eight o'clock! The sun has dipped
below the horizon; the warmth has
gone out of the air. Nine o'clock, ten
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, twelve o'clock! The
patriarch sleeps the blessed sleep,
the cool sleep, the long sleep. Heav-
ems messengers of light have kindled
bonfires of victory all over the heavr
ems. At eventide it is light. Light.
I want to see John Howard when
the last prisoner is reformed; 1 want
to see Florence Nightingale when
the last saber wound has stopped
hurting; I want to see William
Penn when the last Indian has been
civilized; I want to see John Huss
when the last fame of persecution
has been extinguished; 1 want to
see John Bunyan after the last pill
grim has come to the gate of the
celestial city-above all, 1 want to
see Jesus after the last saint has
his throne and has begun to sing
his triumph.
You have watched the calm
ness and the glory of the evening
hour. The laborers have come from
the field; the heavens are glowing
with an indescribable effulgence. as
though the sun in departing had
forgotten to shut the gate after it.
All the beauty of cloud and leaf |
swims in the lake. For star in the |
sky. star in the water; heaven
above and heaven beneath. Not a |
leaf rustling or a bee humming or |
grasshopper chirping. Silence in the |
meadow, silence among the hills. |
Thus bright and beautiful shall be I
the evening of the world. The heats |
of earthly conflict are cool; the |
glory of heaven fills all the scene |
with love, joy and peace. At even
time it is light-lightI
Finally. my text shall find fulfill |
ment at the end of the Christians |
life. You know how short winters !
day is and how little work you can |
do. Now, my friends, life is short |
winters day. The sun rises at eight |
and sets at four. The birth angel |