Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1902-08-09
IICH lHt LUTU LUJ 7
Honor Old Age.
fnl Gnrr1nn ctni

A beautiful German story relates
how one day little girl named JEAN
nette witnessed a great army review.
Thousands upon thousands Of specta-
tors crowded around the stand, before
which the emperor was to watch the
passing regiments. While Jeanette
was seated in the stand she saw an
old feeble woman trying very hard to
get where she could see. TIE little
German girl said to herself: 1T is not
right for me to sit here. when | am
strong and well and can stand. while
that poor. feeble old woman can seq
nothing. ! ought to honor old age as
l want some one TO honor me when |
am old" Then she gave up her seat
to the old woman and went and stood
in the crowd But while Jeanette was
standing upon her tiptoes trying in
vain to see Il cOurtier of the emperor.
covered with gold lace. elbowed his
way TO her side as he said. Little
girl, her majesty would be pleased to
see you in the royal box" When the
abashed child stood before the en-
press, she graciously said: Come here.
my daughter. and sit with me. | saw
you give up your seat to that old wOm-
an, and now you must remain by my
side" SO God honOrS those who honor |
his servants. God especially honOrs |
those who honor the aged and seem |
ingly helpless disciples whose earthly |
are nearly ended.
The aged Christian Is living evi- |
dence that for mCst of us earthly life
is to be very short. Therefore what |
we are to do for Christ we must do |
soon or we shall never be able to do it
at all. Sixty or seventy or eighty years
are very long time to live. but most
Of us will never live so long. Aye. most
Of us will never reach even middle life
If you speak to an aged Christian, you
will find that he is like Il November
eaf hanging almost solitary and alone
after the thousands and the tens of
thousands of autumnal leaves have
been torn from their branches by the
|
most of his contemporaries died when
le was comparatively young. that
nearly all the rest died when he was
n middle life and that only a very
ew companions of his youth are alive
o walk by his side. The statisticians {
Ieclare that third of the human race
lie in infancy. At least one-third of | {
he remainder die before twenty-One |
ears Of age have been reached. and
My or per cent of the human fam
ly live to be sixty years OF age or ,
ver So the mere presence in this I
world Of an aged Christian. with 93 {
r 94 per cent of his contemporaries q
one. is perpetual warning that we /
aust be about our Fathers business G
r the death summons will come and r
'e shall find that we have accomplish \
d nothing. Q
The Present Is the Time. n
The aged Christians ought to appeal u
} us in the same way that the final q
eview Of the Potomac army appealed {
, the spectators in Washington In T.
s65. In that passing army the places a
The dead were kept vacant AS reg Il
nent after regiment and brigade after c
rigade marched TAst the president Of e
le United States there were in some y
mes only ten or fifteen men. The va el
int places showed that hundreds
pom hundreds and thousands upon Of
Iousands of soldiers who went forth tC
battle never came back. Those fl
gged lines and those torn battlefags ST
lowed that there was another great ol
nv Of the Potomac that day sleep