Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1902-02-01


time of the struggle. l adjure you, in
Gods name and by Gods grace. make it
the greatest achievement. My prayer is
for all those IN the tremendous crisis of
the thirties. The fact is that by the way
you decide the present decade OF your his
tory you decide all the following decades.
Next / accost the for,ies. Yours is the
decade of discovery. l do not mean the
discovery of the outside. but the discovery
of yourself. No man knows himself until
he is forty. He overestimates or underes-
Inmates himself. BY that time he has
learned what he can do or what he cannot
do. He thought he had commercial genius
enough to become a millionaire, but now he
is satisfied to make a comfortable living.
He thought he had rhetorical power that
would bring him into the United States
Senate: now ne is content il he can sue.
cessfully argue a common case before a
petit jury. He thought he had medical
skill that would make him n Mott or a
Crosse or Willard Parker or a Sims;
now he finds his sphere is that of fam
lily physician. prescribing for the ordinary
ailments that afflict our race. He was sail
ing on in fog and could not take 4 reck-
oning. but now il clears IN enough to allow
him TO find out his real latitude and long
itude. He has been climbing, but now he
has got to the top OF the hill. and he takes
long breath. He is half way through
lfle JOuEnts 1T icdSA- t.lu tlt Is itt u posi-
ton to look backward o. forward. He has
more good sense than he ever had. He
knows human nature. for he has been
cheated often enough TO see the bad side
OF it. and he has met so many gracious
and kindly and splendid souls he also
knows the good side OF it. Now. calm
yourself. Thank God io- the past and de-
hberatcly set your compass for another
voyage.
You have chased enough thist,edown:
YOU have blown enough soap bubbles: you
have seen the unsatisfying nature OF all
earthly things. Open new chapter with
God ard the world. This decade of the
forties ought to eclipse all it's predecessors
II worship. IN usefulness and IN happiness.
The word was made to work. There re.
maineth rest for the people OF God, but
il is in a sphere beyond the reach OF tele
scopes. The military charge that decided
one OF the greatest battles OF the ages-the
battle OF Waterloo-was not made until
O'Clock in the evening. bat some OF you
propose to go into camp at > o'clock in
the afternoon.
Nv subject next accosts those in the SET
cnties and beyond. My word TO them Is
eongratulation. You have got nearly ii not
quite through. You nave safely crossed
the sea OF life and are abou; 10 enter the
harbor. You have fought at Gettysburg,
and the war is over-here and there a Skin
Iulsu with TIE Si1 Oh your OWN
heart and the sin of the world. but l guess
you are about done. There may be some
work for you yet on n small or large scale.
Bismarck OF Germany vigorous in the
eighties. The Prime Minister o; England
strong at seventy-two. Haydn composing
his oratorio, The Creation at seventy
years OF age. Isocrates doing some of his
best work at seventy-four. Plato busy
thinking Tor all succeeding centuries NJ
eighty-one. Noah Webster. after making
his world renowned dictionary. hard at
work unit! eighty-five years old. Rev.
Daniel Waldo PRAYING in my pulpit at 100
years OF age. Humboldt Producing the
immortal ''Cosnos" at scventy-siS years.
William Blake at sixty-seycn learning ltal-
Ian so as to read Dante in the original
Lord Cockburn at eighty-seven writing his
best treatise. John Wesley stirring great
audiences at eighty-five. William c. Bryant.
without spectacles. reading in my house
''Thantaposis" at eighty-three years of age.
Christian men and women in all depart
ments serving God after becoming septua-
genarians and noEagenarians prove that
there are possibilities of work for the
aged. but l think you who are passed the
seventies are near being through.
How do You feel about il? You ought to
be jubilant, because life is a tremendous
struggle, and if you have got through re-
specially and usefully you ought to feel
people CsOst uI a summer
day seated on the rocks watching the sun
set at Bar Harbor OF Cape May or Look
out Mountain. i am glad TO say that most
old Christians are cheerful. Daniel Webs
ter visited John Adams a short time before
his death and found him in very infirm
health. He said to Mr.. Adams: Il am
glad to see you; | hope you are getting
along pretty we'll" The reply was: "Ah.
sir, quite the contrary. find | am a poor
tenant, occupying a house much shattered
by time. II sways and trembles with every
wind, and what Is worse, sir, the landlord,
as near as l can make out, does not intend
to make any repairs
An aged woman sent to her physician
and told him of her ailments. and the doc
tor said: What would you have me do,
madam? ! cannot make you young again.
She replied: Il know that. doctor. What
| want you TO do is to help me to grow old
a little longer" The young men have
their troubles before them; the old have
their troubles behind them. You have got
about all out OF this earth that there Is IN
IT. BE glad that you. an aged servant
of God. are going to try another life and
amid better surroundings. Stop looking
back and look ahead. o We in the seven
ties and eighties and the nineties. your
best days are yet to come, your grandest
associations are yet to be formed, your
best eyesight is yet TO be kindled, your
btSt Is yet 10 Dt dM0htuSu- toui
greatest speed is yet to be travelled, your
gladdest song is vet to he sung. The most
of your friends have gone over the border.
and you are going to join them very soon.
They are waiting for you, they are watch
ing the golden shore TO see you land: they
are watching the shining gate to see you
come through: they are standing by the
throne to see you mount.
What a glad hour when you drop the
staff and take the scepter, when You quit
the stiffeaed Joints and become an immor-
tai athlete, Bat hear, hear; remark per
tinent to all people whether in the TWEEN
ties, the thirties. the forties, the fiftie
the sixties, the seventies or beyond.
But the most OF you will never reach
the eighties or the seventies or the sixties
or the ffties or the forties. He who passes
into the forties has gone far beyond Tie
average OF human life. Amid the uncer-
tain;ies take God through Jesus Christ as
your present and eternal safety. The long
est life Is only 4 small fragment OF the
great eternity We will all OF us soon b.
there.
Eternity, how near il rolls.
Count the vast value OF Your souls.
Beware and count the awful cost
What they have gained whose souls are
lost.
copyright. 1872. L. Klopsch.l
Many a man who is honored with col