Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1904-05-17
Miststtaneuas 8eadins.
THE DECAY OF REVERENCE.
Is Experience and Wisdom Being Dis
counted by Thoughtless Ignorance.


ence for the Sabbath, nor for the
church, nor yet for that holy name
which ought never to be thoughtlessly
and flirpantly taken upon our lips.
No, not for reverence in these respects
as sacred as they certainly are and
as essentially important as they are.
Rather would I lay claim for rever-
ence for age.
Abstractly considered, age has its
claim upon us outside of any thought
Of personal worth or Of its opposite.
The physical infirmity incident to a
long life e. g., the gray hairs and the
bent form, makes an appeal-a distinct
appeal-to ingenious youth and to
those in more mature life for polite
and respectful consideration. A point
here may be easily made to any one
who will stop to think. Restricting
my remark to one sex for obvious and
deferential reasons, a point here may
confidently be made to one who Is
gentleman and the son Of gentleman
Let me ask my reader to consult his
Bible, with the help Of a good con-
cordance, and to read and compare
passages where elder, as a noun, oc-
ours. He. on a consideration Of these
collated Scriptures, will, am quite
sure, come to the conclusion that age
is the standard Of personal dignity and
the qualification for official responsible
ity in the church in the older as in the
present dispensation- See here Gods
estimate of experience and character
as these two stand related to length
of days.
But to the immediate purpose Of this
communication. My contention is that
in the mad rush Of these latter days
we are becoming, If We have not al
ready become unmindful Of the def
erence due to the generation OF old
men, or of those in nascent old age,
who are rapidly in the course of ma
ture passing from the stage. / make
a plea for the sanity and gravity Of
their conservative advice and opinion
in the various lines Of thought and ac-
tion familiar to my readers.
To be old does not necessarily mean
to be wise. Certainly not. But other
things being equal. wisdom is more
likely to be found as the result and
product Of heightened experience than
in the necessary absence Of such ex-
perience. One may be Bourbon who
forgets nothing and learns nothing.
But such is an exception and not the
rule, and we'll may be mentioned here
to emphasize the fact that we are not
to accept the views Of one simply and
only because he Is old and has exper-
ience. Only don't let us reject the
views Of such a one on the general
presumption that he Is an old fogy-
behind the times and that for this
reason he has lost both his opportu-
nifty and fitness to counsel the present
generation.
1 have recently read an article from
Mr.. Box, the accomplished editor, in
which he explains, If he doesn't also
justify, why young men do not attend
church. The gist Of the article Is
that young men did not get anything
there worth going after. Not that they
would not hear the "old, old story
the gospel intelligently and pathetically
preached Not that. The fault Is
found by young America in what Is
not a fault at all but what is virtue
and constitutes the strength and glory
Of the pulpit, namely, the old fashion,
ed gospel We associate this old fash
ioned preaching with old fashioned
preachers they older or younger
men. Now the prominent desire of
many is for something sensational
in the pulpit-something out OF
the usual order-something outre.
The preacher must be a hustler
and his preaching must be. we'll
up to date, whatever they may
mean. Now, all this I write may
have an unfamiliar sound to my
average reader. All will, however. ac-
knowledge that there is a tendency
that way. The old preacher with con-
servative ways and his old fashioned
preaching Is not so much in demand
as his younger brother who knows
how to draw. The fact is they (who?)
are drawing an imaginary dead line
which Is to say that after a preacher
| is a certain number of years old ne
is after that no longer wanted; he
may be wanted" in the sense Of be-
| ing needed, but not In the sense OF
being desired. Surely have found
here an instance and an example OF
the decay Of reverence.
| One of the most pathetic sights l
have ever witnessed-Oh! it was pitt
full as well!-was the bowling down
of a distinguished public servant or
our state. He was an aged citizen
and was a veteran with the fine rec
ord of yeoman services, but that
amounted to just nothing when he
dared to counsel his fellow-citizens IN
the spirit Of a southron and a patriot.
Is the strenuous administration or
our executive at Washington In keep
ing with our just conception OF what
the national dignity demands? Is 1t
not next akin to public reproach that
the millionaire promoter OF SEN
sational yellow journalism should be
even mentioned for the presidency by
a considerable minority Of a great
political party? What about the decay
of reverence in the average American
voter? How does all this that con-
fronts us comport with the early days