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1826, } Reminiscences. 307 
our. fire-sides, and,quietude and peace possess the throne of our hearts, 
and gratitude. inspires. thansgiving for the many mercies, of our long 
wayfaring, the,asperities of our path will be smoothed by the feet of our 
children, and the darkness of our destiny enlightened ‘by the suany 
smiles of affection. Those spirits are doubly blest who, amid the 
adversities and’ trials of sublunary being, have allowed no: shade» to 
obscure their brightness, no stain upon the mirror of their hearts; whose 
intercourse with their fellows has been in affectionate brotherhood, shun- 
ning all evil, and doing as they would be done unto. Thrice happy aré 
they whose hearts,are withered only by the hand of age—whose rigour 
is impaired, only, by the gradual decay of life, whose hands are unstained 
bysdeeds: of ill, and whose’ consciences are pure as in the holy days of 
childhood; ‘no: music is so delightful as that which flows from an old 
instrument, whose! tones are mellowed, not impaired, by vibration, and 
which rolls forth the full volume of its early sound without the inequalities 
of its former use. While the rapid current of being wears away the 
strength of our manhood, and effaces from the agitated surface the 
images of many whom we loved, the chords of the human heart wind 
closer, around the few who are left, and attach with unceasing interest 
tothe shadowy forms of those whose names now dwell only on the 
silent but eloquent lips of memory. Nor is the melancholy pleasure, 
with which we behold the past, confined solely to man; we look upon 
the ancient trees, whose shade was over us in younger days, and on 
whose massive trunks we graved our names in rude mis-shapen cha- 
racters, with that mingled feeling of joy and sorrow which allies itself 
with eyery thought and emotion of age. We behold the scenes of our 
boyhood changing into. the lapse of time; the old oaks are withering as if 
in,sympathy. with our fate, the bowers have disappeared where once we 
gaily dwelt, the long rank grass has. grown over, the sepulchres of our 
friends;»and. every object warns us that human life, like all things else 
in this transitory state, is perishing and sinking into dust. While these 
thoughts are passing over our minds, like the rays of a setting sun over 
broken clouds when the tempest is passed, we cannot fail to admire the 
infinite wisdom which ordained a period to the life of man; we must 
adore that Power which diffuses rigour over all the operations of his 
creatures, by. withdrawing the weak and the aged from the scene, and 
sending, forth the young, the aspiring, and the undaunted. In pur- 
i of these: reflections, we correct the past and the present; while 
sms the grave is opening for our last couch of rest, behind us rise 
in. melancholy beauty the images of all we esteemed and loved. . Here, 
in ‘the freshness of his youth and the ardour of his hope, a friend faints 
by the way-side and is seen no more; there, in maturer trust and higher 
promise, another companion leaves us and wanders we know not where: 
we cannot pause to comfort them—the arrow is behind us and we are 
SOR ahi maintain their places by our side in the journey of life, 
those, few,. like; us, are. now waiting for the sound of that voice 
h will summon them. to, the silent halls of death. 
slid ollowing with solemn steps, the deviating path of by-gone years, we 
meet, often withthe, swelling mound which tells of human frailty: we 
pause, and contemplate ; .we remember and lament: here lies the as- 
jate,of our happier years—the. confidant of our feelings, the partaker 
aE 404/851006 whole, spirit flashed far onward in the maze of futurity, 
‘and becokned vividly amid those shades which have closed around his 
forgotten name. We remember the last fond grasp of his clay-cold hand 
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