The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-05-07
THE ELEVENTH. HOUR.
Part III. The Good Eleventh Hour.
INV CHARLES WAGNER.)

sflt & . i i (
l5sv -, ow let us speak OF the eleventh
N hour that Is well employed.
l& I'm There are some OF all kinds.
k:S First, there is tho eleventh
Il lG&&H| hour OF these who have not
& sIcceeded. but who. late In life, when
z they no longer expected 1t. SEQ some suc-
cess and encouragement como to them.
They have spent their days patiently,
t# one by one. and without result. A. man
waking up III the night strikes ono
ma tch after tho other without result; at
last only one remains, and that one he
succeeds in lighting. Thus sometimes In
the last period OF lifetime that has
been unsuccessful and full of worry, ore
~ OF those lives that make us say (but
wrongfully, for we should never say that
& that we have been unlucky, something
is left In It, and what Is left Is blessed.
This fact. that sometimes toward the
evening OF life patience Is rewarded with
Il SUCCESS has 80 struck human lmagina-
ton that tradition and old legends have
perpetrnted II in graceful pictures and
poetical creations.
s"D DO you remember that the whole OF
+ the sacred history rests upon Abraham.
who was old and had no .posterity? His
" son. Isaac, wns born TO him late IN life.
when he no longer hoped for any chill
dren.
TOPPER Columbus set forth with his
great belief In the sroundness OF tho
earth and that another route could be
found to the Indies. do you remember
that there was terrible moment In his
voyage OF discovery? A compact was
made between his companions, who had
revolted against the adventurer. and
christopher Columbus. who still obsti-
nately hoped on. Three days grace was
~ ,, n r11 Sy3 nm
day when all seemed lost. that the cry
/. OF land" Land" WAS heard.
# Thus one of the greatest events in his
tory and one OF the most wide import
Is nnce the discovery OF the new continent.
came as a surprise at the eleventh hour.
lit was the same. also. with Bernard
Palsy. After days and days OF study
and research he threw into the oven the
u last remaining sticks OF his furniture,
the last pieces OF his flooring, and he
found what he was seeking at the elev-
enth hour. II Fg5 ~
In congregation like this there are
n certa inly many people who have. read
TolstoY. You know that his thoughts
that have most stirred the world. that
have most struck our hearts, are those
that came to him after his fiftieth year.
What difference with those men who
! come to q full stop in their intellectual
as well ms moral acquisitions toward
their ithirty-fifth year, There are even
" some who have learned nothing more
s since they came out OF the big schools,
where their youth was spent In rapidly
absorbing as much science as possible.
& They have acquired this science so has
tily and With sn 81 badly arranged
method that they have como to@a full
i stop. tired out for the remainder of
their days. Tolstoy began new life at
fifty years OF age. i2 ks f
Fortunately, we also know many men
& whose beautiful old ago Is a renewed
youth. youth In another form. They
y no longer have In their heart the disturb
ing element Of passions. the dust Of life
amid which they formerly strove has
been laid, and with itsall the things that
sometimes. in the days of youth, prevent
men from being entirely wha they really
q are. They arc Mt peace, they are tran
quill. The eleventh hour has come with
that clear luminance that reminds one
OF a September landscape. All things are
y bathed In lighta the air is pure; distant
views come nearer; 1T seems as though
\ the earth was transformed and trans
figured. In a word. there is in man 5
q life, when 1t has been a long and active
one. n time that can be compared to
autumn: the fruit prepared by long ex-
perience has reached maturity;athe tillage
OF spring and the work OF summer have
produced the reward and harvest.
a man who respects himself who has
on ono hand sufficient strength and
health, and on tho other sufficient power
OF mind and conscience. when he reaches
certain time Of life toward the eleventh
hour. is so rich in memories and expe-
Fience that no Is as a king, crowned
with white hair, regning over a vast do
main ofthlngs. II he bestoWs them with
a generous hand without envy; II he
rr{,y yIft mir what
Y good can he not do at 1.-THE eleventh hour
IL What useful work, what fruitful labor
can he not cOndense in one %clear-sghted
counsel wherein Is united, as In a golden
ray, all the light that he has slowly
and patiently gathered through the hest
tations. the researches and the struggle
of his days?
1 know Of nothing more, useful TO those
In the first, In the third in the sixth hour,
that is to say,1to infancy in ITS morning
time, to youth In its beautiful flower and
to life in Its ripe maturity, than to have
frequent intercourse with those In the
eleventh hour who are still living. 1t is
even In the respect that we show to
our dear old ones, In the affection that
they inspire in us, that we find the
guarantee that the beautiful gold they
have amassed In their heart will not be
lost In the future With piQus hands the
young. standing on the threshold OF life,
gather the treasure to make Of It a
store of goodness.
Now we come to the eleventh hour Of
those who have wasted their life. They
have not noticed that they were alive
They have CROPPED about in, moral dark
ness or rusted away In Inaction, They
have not understood that If man has q
heart 1t is so that he may love his neigh
Dor. Until then they have not been
aware of the problem that is put before
every one Of us on this earth IN this