Year: 1873




the domestic society as soon as he be


gins to show the first weaknesses of age


The part which it Is natural for him tx


take in the intercourse of the household
| is looked upon as an invasion of the


rights of the younger members and he


is felt to be intruding where no priv.


lege has been granted him, when he


makes himself part of the company


and enjoys the pleasantries of the con


versation with the freedom from re-


straint to which his years entitIe him.
When the anecdote is told, it is not
meant for him and he is rebuffed for
the meek parental interest that makes
him hang inquiringly upon the lips of
the favorite son who relates it. The
laws of urbanity and poIiteness, which
| they observe toward all the world, are
suspended toward him ard in vain
does he look for one act of kindness,
sweetened by obliging gentIeness of
manner and the tenderness of fIial affec-
ton.


The youth of such families, changing
the maxim of Scripture, are persuaded
that folly is bound up in the heart of
age, and that, by incessant satire and
discountenance, it is to be driven fan
from him. They mark his steps with
inquisitorial eye, and, if everything
done and said by him is not nodded
into the most sensible form that can be
imagined, it Is marked with judicial
severity, or passed by in contemptuous
silence.


The natural infirmities that insensibly
grow upon age are regarded as volurta-
ry weaknesses, exercised gratuitousIy for
the annoyance of all about him. The
beautiful simplicities, the g,acefuI
slackening of the mental chord, that
are the chief attraction of hoary hairs,
excite perpetual Indignation in the
minds of the young and they suppose
they are paying a tribute to wisdom and
to good Sc. Sc, by meeting them, when
ever they appear, by some mark of dis
appreciation or contempt.


There is no stronger proof of the
shallowness of human nature, and the
proverbial folly of youth, than the fact
that children can discover anything in
the old age of their parents, calculated
to excite contempt; and that they do
not discover in them everything we are
accustomed to cherish with fondest ven
Grafton.


There is no object about family
mansion so beautiful or so auspicious,
as hoary-headed father or mother,
though with faltering gait showing
himself at its door, descending its steps,
and walking its grounds. No pillar, no
could SO connect the idea of
with the estate, or reflect so
much glory upon those to whom it is to
descend. The wisdom he has gathered /
a long course of action and the |
long experience of years, and by means /
of which he acquired his present pos
Sc siOns, is still at the head of affairs, |
and constitutes an almost certain secu- /
rity to the welfare of the family. The |
good fortune, too, which has attended .
him through life continues while he .
lives, to rest upon his house, affording
a ground of confidence to its members /
which no man of sense Will be ready to /
undervalue.


Age, further, is a valuable element in
a family circle, as it is a token of the /
of the eternal abiding on it,
and kind of guarantee for its cOntin- .
uance so long as that element remains. /
There is in the child an instinct that /
gives it a feeling of security whilst it
walks near its fathers side and the
same is found to operate in later life, /
in perfect consistency with the manifest /
fOrtitude. In every right-hearted man, /
the surviving life and presence of father /
or mother, though in their feebIest age,
is felt to be like temple or an altar, a
place of sacred refuge, where danger /
and misfortune will scarcely approach /
him. What is calculated to fill the T.
heart with nObler or frmer sense of /
and pride, than to have in our
bosom still, those who were the venera /
bic founders of our name, whose con- /
tinued existence associates us still with
whatever was prosperous or honorable +
in our history? Stronger motives than
these cannot be imagined, to cherish /
them with tender reverence, and, by as |
siduous care and gentIeness, to Iengthen /
out their lives to the utmost limit that
Providence will allow. A body of The
most precious advantages of life is ire
trievably lost at the moment of their
decease. All the collected wisdom, all
the charm of antiquity, all the kindness
of fortune and good will of heaven that
were settled upon the common roof
take their departure with them. This
part of the inheritance it is not in their
power to leave behind them. Each
member of the family must begin to act
in a new and separate field, where every /
thing has to be rebuilt; to revolve, as a
star, in a new and untried orbit, IN
which it will not often happen, that he
will rise to an equal hight of happiness
and glory with those that have Just
gone downs. p. Heron.


ALADY was much beset by her negro
cook for permission to attend the fune-
raj of some relative but, to compensate
her for the deprivation, her mistress
said. Rose, I really feel very sorry
for you, but you shall lose nothing by
staying at home. I promise that you
shall go to the first party that is given
by any of your friends, and stay all
night long" Rose, tossing her head,
replied, "Law Miss Susan, how kin
you talk like dat? You know I don't
set no vally on parties. Forty parties
ror1EIr5E nav y,,a l..