Woodville Republican. (Woodville, Miss.) 185?-current, 1902-06-21

lives will be one of grace. David says
that the days of our years are three
score years and ten, but if by reason
of strength they be four score years
yet is their strength labor and sorrow
Poor old man, he did have troubled
life. He sinned and he repented il
great anguish as he exclaimed: "MJ
sin is ever before me-" Solomon saith:
"The day of ones death is better thar
the day of ones birth" And Job said
"Cursed is the night when was born
Jeremiah's life was one of lamentat ion
The maxims and precepts of these old
prophets and preachers are wonderful.
ly beautiful and have never been
equaled, but great men are not always
wise, and even Solomon fell from grace
and died accursed The man who said
'Reioice in the wife of thy youth and
be thou always ravished with her love, y
forsook his own and consorted with
thousand others of all nations
creeds and colors. He reigned eighty
years and died a disappointed, dis
honored, degraded and miserable old
man. But old age is not necessarily
unhappy. The poet speaks of
IAN old age serene and bright
As lovely as a Lapland night"
and another poet says: "The world is
very lovely. Oh, my God, thank Thee
that live" Our old age is very much
what we choose to make it. 1t is a
sad thing to be weary and tired with
the weight of years. 1t is pitiful to
look upon an old man who never smiles,
who has outlived all social pleasures
and whose company is neither sought
nor desired. For the sake of our
neighbors and friends it is our duty to
be cheerful in their company. We
should sometimes smile even if we have
to force it. Let us grow old gracefully
have now in mind just such an one
a hale, healthy old time gentleman Of
four score years, whose presence is al
ways welcome and whose children,
grandchildren and neighbors and
friends give him a glad greeting
when he comes. He will be
missed when he dies, for the world is
better that he lives in it. His Chris
tian faith, his moral conduct, his good
example and his cheerful disposition
are a benediction to the community.
But I was thinking about my wife's
birthday. There are thirty-seven
birthdays in our family, and she knows
them all and never forgets them. They
average about three a month, but this
one of hers is a very notable one, for
she is the maternal ancestor, and this
day fulfills her years and crosses the
line. Seventy years ago she was born,
and not long after that the stars fell.
OF course they did. Seventy is a nu-
neral of sacred significance. There
were seventy elders of Israel and sew
enty wise men compiled the Old Tesla
ment. The Jews were kept in captivity
seventy years. The Lord sent out sew
enty of His disciples to preach and
teach the people, and seventy years is
the allotted age of mankind. But my
wife is not old. Time has writ
ten no wrinkles on her brow nor
burrows on her cheek nor silvered her
raven HEAR. If the long war had not
INTERVIEWED she would not look more
than fifty years now. But the wear and
tear of the war and anxiety while
fleeing from the foul invader, with six
little hungry children tagging after
her, made years of months and weeks
of days. But women, especially moth
ers, can endure more distress and suf-
fering than men. The maternal in
stinct keeps them up. They can suffer
and be strong. 1t looks like the moth
erhood of ten children would wear
woman out, but they seem to thrive on
it, and late in life they take on flesh
and round up all the corners. But they
never stop work. Ny wife has made
over five thousand little garments and
is still making them, for the little
grandchildren keep coming on. Her
reputation for nice needlework and
making butonholes has been long es-
tablished, and she is proud of it. She
never stops sewing until she loses her
spectacles, and then she borrows
mine. No, she is not old. James Rus
sell Lowell said of Julia Ward Howe on
her SEVENTEEN birthday that it was
better to be seventy years young than
forty years old. 1t is this endurance,
this cheerfulness in adversely that
makes the women outlive the men.
There are three times as many widows
in this community as widowers. There
are seventeen in our little Presbyterian
church and only four widowers, and
the war was not the cause of it. Ma
ternal love is preservative of health.
1t is tonic, a promoter of digestion,
a panacea, whereas a man will pursue
money until he loses his digestion. st.
Paul said that "The love of money is
the root of all evil" but he had no
thought of applying 1t to woman, for
she has no love for money. If she gets
any she is not happy until she spends
it. The girls said their mother wanted
a new bonnet, so they bought one
for her birthday, and all had to do
was to pay for it. She always lets me
do that. She is a free trader and will
keep me in decent clothes whether I
want them or not. She always was
free trader. I was q merchant before
we were married and she vas my best