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8 THE PRESBYTERIj OUT OF THE DEPTHS. Art thou feeeding on husks in a foreign land; Like the prodigal son in the parable old? Who longed for the clasp of a father's hand, And the home of his youth?so the tale is told.? l>o you grieve to think of your wasted years, And long for something life's cup to sweeten? Jesus can lighten your burdens and cares; And "restore the years the locust hath eaten " Hare pleasures failed you, have friends deceived, Have the hopes and dreams of youth fled by? Have none of the creeds that you once believed Given you that which can satisfy? Has Mammon, the god that you trusted in, Stripped you, and left you bruised and beaten? Jesus can heal you?can cleanse every sin? And "restore the years the locust hath eaten." ?John Richard Moreland. YOUTH AND AGE. By a Bishop. The thought of the age all runs in the direction of the youth, the oncoming men. It lays especial stress upon the position, the possibilities and the opportunities incident to youth. And, if there is any truth in the line, "The child is father of the man," too much of the right sort of emphasis can not be placed upon the position and possibilities, and opportunities of a human being from the earliest period of waking intelligence on up through the years of growing manhood. DiscinlinP tVin mncf Mrlinloc/Mvin ? iU? ? ??, , ?>v wi nuuivouuis liailiiu^, liic lllUb I appropriate ideals, the truest and high'est should be employed to give the right direction and inculcate the aoblest aims, and engender the lofty ambition to live the best life, and accomplish something worth while early in life. Notable Examples. The names of men who have won honor and achieved fame before their thirtieth birthday are numerous. John de Medici was made a cardinal at fifteen. The learned Grotius was a leading legal light at seventeen. Lafayette distinguished himself as a friend of the American republic at nineteen. Newton worked out his law of attraction at twenty-two. Calvin wrote his "Institutes"- at twenty-seven. Marconi discovered wireless telegraphy at twenty-four. Napoleon made r ?u. 1 i: Mi.. c -r .t t ? - ? iiiitiov.il me icituiug iuuiiciry ngure 01 xne aay Dy taKing the bridge at Lodi at twenty-seven. These examples which might be considerably multiplied are sufficient to inspire any young man with the desire and determination to be something, and to expend his energy and effort in some useful undertaking and worthy achievement. But it should be remembered that achievement is not entirely in youth. Some, however, seem to think so, and this fanaticism is measurably responsible for the prevailing spirit of irteverence for age, and for the disposition to disparage the undertaking of anything new by aged men, and, also, for the displacement of hoary-haired men by mere youths in the various offices and trilStQ and nncitinnc /if 1if/? T-T/?n/?z? !? *,WUVV., 1L V.UIIIWO to pass, as a kind of necessary custom or fashion, that when one reaches fifty years of age, to yield the battle, desist from nseful effort, abandon the field, retire; and patiently wait for the visitation of the death angel. Very many seem inclined to do this, but every such case reveals a fatal defect in one's make-up. The mind which has been properly trained and which has \N OF THE SOUTH. October 13, 1909. gathered rich stores from observation and experience, and which is habitually used, is an ever-living center of varied and surprising resources. Achievements of Age. The pages of history afford the most striking mafir mations of this statement. Socrates learned to play music when an old man; Plutarch mastered the Latin language when past seventy ; Cato acquired proficiency in Greek when eighty; Theophrastus began his greatest work at ninety; the antiquary, Spelman, abandoned farming at fifty and then laid the foundation of his fame as lawyer and scholar;.the "French Anacreon," St. Anlaire, did not begin to write until he was seventy; and about the same age Dr. Johnson applied himself to learn the Dutch language. Drvden was sixtv-five when he published his "Virgil"; Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" were not begun until the poet was fifty-four; and Franklin was forty ere he commenced his investigations into the subject of electricity. Browning wrote "The Ring and the Book" at fifty-seven, and subsequently wrote the larger portion of his poems; Tennyson completed "The klylls of the King" at seventy-six; and Gladstone was fifty-six when made leader of the House of Commons; sixty-five when he turned his attention to literature; seventy-one when he was made leader again, and later put into operation his reforms. Lord Kitchner was made commander T>r er.- - luv v-iiuiv. xjiiiisn iuiccs ai miy-eignt; iviorse invented the telegraph at sixty-five, and Edison, the "wizard" of electricty, who is now nearing his four score years is steadily working every day and is constantly turning out some new product. And, perhaps, the most remarkable instance of what old men have undertaken are the "Memoirs" of Ludovico Mondalesco, which he wrote at the age of one hundred and fifteen. These men did not bury their talents, but used them, and doubled them even in old age. The Waiting World. It is frequently said that the world is waiting for the oncoming youth. That is true; for the world must obtain its supply from the oncoming vouth. notwithstanding, there never was a time in the history of the world when circumstances so favored the man of age with individuality and experience and energy. There never was a time, perhaps, when he had such an opportunity for personal assertion and achievement in almost every realm. The industries and enterprises are organized into vast combinations in which the single member of society is lost, and the development of the individual is rendered impossible by the ma tinnc-iiKe routine. i nus tne essential singleness of the individual is sacrificed which means that manhood counts for little. Society is rapidly tiring of this species of manslaughter and the world is calling to men with individuality and experience and energy. The age of the old man, so to speak, who has trained his individuality, and kept his powers from atrophy is at hand. The world will eventually open all its doors to him. Indeed, it is now calling to him all the way from the farm to the pulpit. It is true that "There's a fount about to stream, There's a light about to gleam, There's a midnight darkness changing into day; Men of thought, and men of action, clear the way,'* however old in months and years.