XV 



LAST DAYS 



HE is something more than a strong man who, 

 after passing the extended limit of fourscore years, 

 does not feel that life's fires are cooling down and 

 its former energies growing weaker. And yet it 

 scarcely seemed, until my father had reached this 

 age, that his natural force was to any great extent 

 abated ; certainly his mental faculties at that time 

 were as clear and active as ever they were. It is 

 true his bodily frame was less vigorous than of 

 yore, but, as he often thankfully acknowledged, he 

 felt as well in health as ever he .did. This gradual 

 weakening of physical power made itself felt in 

 various ways. He could not, for instance, walk 

 the long distances he had been accustomed to do, 

 and his pace, though never what would be called 

 slow, even to the end, lost not a little of its wonted 

 quickness and elasticity. Frequently would he 

 allude to this gradual failure, though never but to 

 look upon and own it as a kind warning of his 

 Heavenly Father. This confession was with him 

 no form of speech, though few, surely, needed such 

 a warning less than he, whose whole life was spent 

 in a practical realisation of the fact that he was 



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