The Iola register., 1902-02-14

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
will not always last. It stays only long
enough to give us eXuborant spirits and
broad shoulders for burden carrying
and an arm with which to battle our
way through difficulties. Life's path,
if you follow it long enough, will come
under frowning crag and cross trem-
bling causeway. Blessed old age, If you
let it come naturally You cannot hide
it. You may try to cover the wrinkles,
but you cannot cover the wrinkles. IL
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
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 40, but they are 60. They
say they are 20, but they are 30. They
say they are GO, but they are So
Glorious old age il 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 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
| Frelinghuysen, down to feebleness
and emaciation devoting his illustri-
Gus faculties to the kingdom of God.
At eventide it was lightl
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 its 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. 1t 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, ter
o'clock! The heavy dews are falling;
the activities of life's day are al
hushed; it is time to go to bed
Eleven o'clock, twelve o'clockl The
patriarch sleeps the blessed sleep
the cool sleep, the long sleep. Hedv
ems messengers of light have lindled
bonfires of victory all over the heav
ems. At eventide it is light. Light.
| want to see John Howard wher
the last prisoner is reformed; l want
to see Florence Nightingale wher
| Al L. L. 1.
hurting; l want to see William
Penn when the last Indian has beer
civilized; | want to see John Huss
when the last flame of persecution
has been eXtinguished; | want tc
see John Bunyan after the last pill
grim has come to the gate of tn,
celestial city-above all, | want tC
see Jesus after the last saint ha,
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. a,
though the sun in departing hat
forgotten to shut the gate after it
All the beauty of cloud and lea
swims in the lake. For a star in tn,
sky, star in the water; HEAVIER
above and heaven beneath. Not
leaf rustling or n bee humming or
grasshopper chirping. Silence in tn,
meadow, silence among the hills
Thus bright and beautiful shall b,
the evening of the world, The heat
of earthly conflict are cool; tn,
glory of heaven fills all the seen,
with love, joy and peace. At even
time it is light-light!
Finally, my text shall find fulfill
ment at the end of the Christian
life. You know how short a winter
day is and how little work you cal
do. Now, my friends, life is shor
winters day. The sun rises at eigh
and sets at four. The birth ange
| ha al,