The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1911-01-21
Preparing for Old Age.
(By Elbert Hubbard.) }

! pN Siioii VIC NC "heH we reacn Ely
SUM %
And the answer was:
We shall be the same kind of peo-
| pie that we were here"
If there is life after this we are
preparing for it now, just as l arn
preparing for my life tomorrow.
What kind of man shall 1 be to-
! morrow? Oh, about the same kind
of man that l am now. The kind of
man that l shall be next month de-
pends upon the kind of man 1 have
| been this month
| If l am miserable today it is not
within the round of probabilities that
shall be supremely happy tomor-
row. Heaven is a habit. And if we
are going to heaven we would better
be getting used to it.
Past life is preparation for the tu-
ture; and the best preparation for
the future is to live as if there We're
none.
| We are preparing all the time Aor
| old age. The two things that m AXE
old age beautiful are resignation and
a just consideration for the rights of
others.
In the play of Ivan the Terrible"
the interest centers around the man,
the Car Ivan. AS played by Rich
ard Mansfield we simply got a
glimpse into the life of tryant. who
runs the gamut of grunt, growl,
grumpiness and crouch.
| incidentally this man had the pow
er to put other men to death, and
| this he does and has done as his
whim and temper might dictate He
| was vidictive, cruel, quarrelsome,
trannical and terrible. Now that he
| feels the approach of death he would
make his peace with God. But he
has delayed the matter too long He
didn't realize in youth and middle life
that he was then preparing for old
, age.
| Man is the result of cause and ef-
feet. and the causes are to "a degree
in our hands. Life is fluid, and well,
has it been called the stream of life
we are going, flowing somewhere.
| Strip Ivan Of his robes and crown
and he might be an old farmer and
live in Ebenezer.
| Every town and village has its Ivan.
To be an Ivan just turn your tenn
per loose and practice cruelty on any
| person or thing within your reach,
! and the result will be a sure prepara-
tion for a querul0us, quarrelsome,
| pickety. simplify, fussy and foolish old
| age, accented with many outbursts Of
wrath that are terrible in their fu-
tility and ineffectiveness.
Babyhood has no monopoly on the
! tantrum.
The characters of King Lear and
| Ivan the Terrible have much in COM
| the writer of Ivan had felt the in
| completeness of Lear and had seen
| the absurdity of making a relodra-
| matte bid for sympathy in behalf of
this old man thrust out by his daugh-
| ter.
Lear, the troublesome. Lear to
| whose timber tongue there were con-
stantly leaping words unprintable
| and names of tar. deserves no soft
pity at our hands. All his life he had
| been training his three daughters for
| exactly the treatment he was to re-
| ceiye.
All his life Lear had been lubrica-
ting the chute that was to give him
quick ride out into the midnight
storm
"Oh, how sharper than a serpcnt's
tooth it is to have a thankless child"
he cries.
There is something quite as bad
as a thankless child, and that is a
thankloss paront-an irate, irasciblc
parent who possesses an under
ground vocabulary and a disposition
| t. use il.
1.e false note in Lear lies in Civ
ing him a daughter like CordcIia.
| Tolstoy's portrayal rings true. and
! Ivan the Terrible is what he is with
out apology, excuse or explanation.
Take it or leave it-.f you do not