Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-04-02
SUNDAY MORNING TALK.
Youth and Age,


When is a man old? This seems to be
one of the burning questions of the day.
The facetious Mrs Partington answered it
some time ago by remarking that she did
not consider any one old until he became
an octagon or centurion; or, perchance
might have outlived the use of his factories
and become idiomatic. The old lady got
her words badly mixed, as she was in the
habit of doing; but there was at least a
glimmer of good sense in what she said. If
1t is true that
We live n deeds. not years; in thoughts not
bTeaths;
In feelings not in figures a DIAL
we have business to affix the epithet
+, odd to some men because they are forty
or sixty or even eighty.
Here comes a youth down the street,
hardly out of his teens. He is fautlessly
dressed, has the entree of the best clubs
| and socia lcircles, has been abroad several
times. You would judge from a casual
glance at him that he was in the heydey of
his youth But wait until you know him
better. You will find that the adjective
blase fits him exactly. He has been sur
| feited with the sweets of life; he has dipped
| into everything that is going. Alas! he has
altogether too much knowledge of the
| seamy side of life; he has no ambition and
| few expectations.
Here comes another man down the street
| His head is white with the SHOWS of many
| winters, but his form is erect: his face is
beaming with kindness and good will his
heart is young The world opens itself
! freshly to him with each new dawn He
! has the sense of wonder and authorization
| which we associate with little children. He
has had his share of struggle disappofnt-
| ment and sorrow, but he has kept his faith
! in God and his fellows. Now, why should
! you call him old, and the victim of ennui
! young? Or, if you would thus characterize
| either, why not specify exactly what yeu
| mean by the use of terms which II not
/ clearly defined, carry with them an undue
| measure either of commentator or oppro-
| brium?
What shall we do with old men? A great
| physician rises up and declares that they
| ought to be retired from responsible posi-
lions. His dictum starts the pen of the
| funny photographers the country over and
an sorss CT methods of disposing of septua-
| genarldns are proposed, ranging from
chiorof0rming to shooting in cold blood
| But when we come right down to the seri-
! Gus point of issue We must admit that the
! increasing valuation placed upon Young
| men in business and professional life rem
| ders Old age precarious season for many
! OF our fellow men. New Zealand has met
| the emergency by its system of old age
| pensions; and DR.. Edward Everett Hale in
| THIS country advocates state provision for
| men who have passed a certain milestone
personally we may have little to do with
| sowing TINS question on its economic side
| nut we ought to maintain the trua nro
| spective. Old age need not necessariIv he
drug in the market. Think of the stored
up wisdom and experience in the minds and
hearts OF od men whom you know. Young
men must fight the battles and do the hard
work of the world; but their energy and
initiative need to be balanced by the in
sight, judgment and conservatism of older
men. me world would swing too far and
too rapidly toward radicalism were It not
for men who have been melloVed rinened
ana bro3dened by many years of action.
But what can the old man do with him
SET: Wen, ne cannot begin all at once
When ne is sixty or seventy and say II will
nave happy and beautiful old age That
desirable status has to be planned for in
advance. If the advice, I'm time of peace
more valuable is the counsel ';in time of
youth prepare for age" Lay I'D the dollars
II you can, so that you will not be depen-
cent upon others; but lay up even more
sedulously those inward resources which
will alone make life bearable at that season
ana make your company agreeable to
others. You don't want to be in the class
OF people who are not wanted by and by.
LOOK well then to your inward resources
see that you keep your mental elasticity,
your spiritual susceptibilities. Add day by
DAY to your fund of courage and good
cheer. Acquire some reserves of faith and
hope and love, on which you can draw
when the grasshopper becomes a burden
IN othef words, as the body ages, let the
spirit grow young and strong. There are
certain preventlves against the aging of the
spirit. A man is as old as he feels himself
to be in his Utmost heart, and not a day
older And one of the best safeguards
against the aging of the soul is to wrap it
round with sense of Immortality; the
sense that life here merges sooner or later
into a life ampler and grander beyond the
grave The statistical difference between
youth and age fades away when We think
or the years of eternity in comparison with
which even the longest earthly life is like
the swift passing of a summers day
THE PARSON.