The San Francisco call., 1904-03-14


CAuthor q The Redelnpttcn of David ccrsor,
etc.
fCopyr1rhi. 1900, by Joseph B. Bcwiss)
Talk about the dangers ana tempta-
lions OF youth. They are mere popguns
TO the Mauser rifles OF old agei Youth
tries the flesh. bu. Old age tests the
soul. When a man runs up against gray
hair. wrinkles. disbursements, ad-
vsncing shadows bursting bubbles,
open graVes-he begins. 70 know what
The real strain Of life is.
And age tests institutions as well as
individuals. Take marriage. It is hard
for a young couple to iove unbrokenly
through poverty. child-bearing and the
period Of discovery, when a thousand
undreamed Of faults and even vices re-
veal themselves. But the real pinch
comes when a woman begins 70 have to
brush the dandruff and pick the gray
hairs of from the stopped shoulders of
an old man. In this the young hero to
whom she gave her budding affections
this old dotard who is losing his mem
ory and manners? What is there TO
love about him?
And il comes TO the man even sooner.
What a cold chill those wrinkles and
that false front send down his back.
He married red cheeks and bright eyes
and pearly teeth and a plump figure
not this thin. sallOW. faded old Womani
AS for himself, he feels as young as he
ever did. His eye is not dim and his
natural force is not abated (Or so he
thinks. the dunce). and the idea that
he. who is still so young and hand
some (and who could still have any 16-
year-old girl for the asking). must pass
the rest Of his days bound by the
chains Of matrimony to this venerable
female person excites a spasm of re-
belIiOn.
II is a good thing that these tremend-
Gus changes do not come all at once
like lightning out Of a clear sky or a
snOwstorm in August. Nature is merci-
less sometimes. 1t isn't an easy thing
10 discover evidences of kindness in her
letting these shocking alterations come
al all. But if they have TO come it is al
least an act Of grace upon her part to
afford little premOnitiOns now and then
as a single leaf falling at intervals fore
tells the naked tree. They give US q
start. The heart stands still at even
these slight intimatiOns of the ap-
preaching winter Of old age. But il is
at least not like having the flowers
frosted in a single night.
There is a very dramatic story of q
young woman whose lover fell into the
crevasse Of a glacier and who remained
unmarried in the fond hope of seeing
his body when at the end Of fifty years
he e. Of fn ifaa r-fT- ch
10 an open place in the mountains.
The day arrived, the body appeared
and the wrinkled old lady received q
fatal shock at sight of the pink-face6
boy whose countenance she imagined
would be wrinkled like her own,
Well. it is TO be said that if she found
il hard TO love this beardless boy, she
would have probably found it still
harder to have loved parchment
faced old man.
The great problem of married life is
old age! 1t is not the problem as t.
whether grizzled old couples will sepa-
rate or be divorced. There comes &
time when sheer inertia viii keep then
together. But the problem is, viii
they continue 10 lover
Upon this problem let US advance ar
observation. In the first place. the
sooner we recognize the futilfty Of oul
efforts 70 maintain a hold on eacf
other by mere bodily charms the bet
ter. The delusion that love is phys.
ical dies hard. There is evidence
enough 10 support it, We seem Il
know the soul by its material mani.
festation alone. How can a beautiful
soul be IN an unbeautiful body? wher
the body is old, will not the soul be
old also? Reasoning thus, we resor-
10 hair dyes" and "plumpers' TO feeC
the dying fires Of passion" But il /.
like feeding flames with cold water ol
gray Tnists.
In the second place. we can Ouiy keer
love alive by becoming more beautiful
in character. Do you not know thai
kindness is always beautiful Unset.
fshness viii transfigure even a de.
formed body as the candles on an alta,
transfgure dark and ugly catredra
windows. II you have been kind be.
fore. be doubly kind when you are OLD
II you want to keep love captive. you
must bind MIN now, not with rec
cheeks. but with gentleness and devo.
tion. This is the time TO let all youl
graces effOresce. II you are sour and
irritable, as well as wr;nkled and gray
your doom is sealed.
Nothing can be so beautiful. bu
nothing can be so ugly as old age. Tt
be adorable was 50 easy when your
step was light and your figure wa.
round and vital force was issuing from
every pore. To be adorable now de
mands toll and conservation.
Be courteous, Courtesy is On the es
sence) appreciation. and therefore be
longs in its brightest manifestation I,
advanced years. There is no chivalr,
like that u the old gentleman. Their,
Is no courtesy like that Of the old lady
Gentle Discipline.