him tidings of his mother and sisters, but I found that he already knew of their being well and happy.

3. "Then they are expecting you?' I said.

"Yes, since the morning; but I have come along slowly.'

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In consequence of fatigue, no doubt?'

"The young soldier shook his head.

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No, indeed, sir; but, on approaching home, one recognizes everything. The eye is attracted at every turn by old familiar objects; it is so delightful to recall one's youth. For the last few miles, I may say, there is not a tree nor a house on my route that has not had something to tell me.' 4. "I understand you,' I said. 'You felt inclined to greet these old friends of the roadside.'

"Yes, sir; and then, recollect the great change that has taken place, besides: I am now returning “to settle at home," as our colonel says, and am about to commence a new life. On that account, you see, it is well for me to pause a little. When we reach the last stage, it is time to reflect, and to look about us.'

5. "Having said this, he bowed, and continued his journey, with the firm bearing and regular step of a soldier.

"I was struck by those last few words of his :-' When we reach the last stage, it is time to reflect, and to look about us.'

6. "And have not I, I asked myself, reached that last stage? Have I not also received my discharge from the social regiment? Is not my goal a few steps beyond here -that supreme goal which separates the visible world from a world unknown? What else am I than a soldier who has laid aside his arms, and is completing his last day's march, just before arriving at the place of final repose?

7. "But have I nothing more to do? I asked myself. Is old age to cut off, alike, my duties and my enjoyments? Is there nothing more to interest me on this side of the boundary that separates me from the unknown? Dwell

ing upon this subject, I fell into the following train of reflections:

8. "Old Age! Old Age! Climax of all things here below-moment of supreme expectation-what shall prevent me from discovering the resources you still possess ? The majority of men, indeed, hate or fear you; for they regard you as associated with the dismal train of selfishness, of inactivity, of sorrow, and of infirmities. In their eyes, to grow old is to put off life. Ah! let me teach them, on the contrary, that its true character is to perfect it; that old age is the crown of maturity, but a crown of flowers, or of thorns, depending upon whether it comes to us as a reward or as a punishment.

9. "Others have written the history of their prosperous years, and of their struggles in the prime of life; I, for my part, will record the impressions of my later days-I will record, at this period of decline and farewell, all that rejoices, consoles, or strengthens me. I will, in fact, set down, day by day, for my own improvement, and the improvement of those who come after me,—

"First, The occupations of a still active mind, whose labors are now finished ;

"Second,-The pleasures of an old age unaccompanied by the possession of influence or wealth;

Third,-The consolations of a home where death has created a solitude.

10. "In short, like the soldier whom I had just met, I said to myself, I desire, henceforth, to complete my last stage, looking about me, and reflecting.

"As I had resolved, so I did; and the course which I had thus marked out for myself, with the recording of my reflections, has proved one of the most agreeable occupa

Verse 8. In addressing" Old Age," what figure of speech is used ?—Why is Old Age said to be the “climax of all things here below"? Why said to be the "crown of maturity"?

tions of my declining years; and now, as I turn over the pages of the diary which I have kept so long, it is like looking into the face of a long familiar friend, whose sympathies always respond to my own."

11. After listening to these remarks of Mr. Bardou, I said, "That is the true spirit of Christian philosophy." Then, as I reflected upon the life-long temperate habits of our aged friend, and read their moral teachings in the lesson before me, I asked myself, "Are there many whose well-ordered lives have been such that the infirmities of age have so few reproaches to cast upon the indiscretions, errors, and follies of youth?" At another time Mr. Bardou continued his remarks in this wise:

No. II.-In which Mr. Bardou introduces his Friend Roger. 1. " I must give you a little account," said Mr. Bardou, "of my friend Roger, and of the conversation I had with. him upon this same subject of old age. When Roger, who was nearly as old as myself, called upon me one day, I chanced to turn the conversation upon the subject which, for some time, had been occupying so much of my thoughts. It happened in this way.

2. "Roger, who is a man of genius and education, and whose goodness of heart has not been deadened by the many trials of life through which he has passed, is still alive to everything that can interest or benefit mankind. Wherever the human mind makes an effort at advancement, Roger hastens there, encouraging and aiding according to his powers.

3. "He had been expatiating upon some recent discoveries in science, and had just described to me the golden rays of Progress which he perceived dawning from every point of the world's horizon, when I said to him,

"Continue to cherish this ardor and these hopes: grow

young again yourself, in the eternally-recurring spring-time of the human race, for it is the surest means of escaping from the tedium of old age.'

4. "The tedium!' exclaimed Roger. 'Do you venture so far, then, as to calumniate old age? Learn that I regard it as the happiest period of my life.'

5. "As I shook my head, 'Yes, the very happiest,' he repeated, striking the ground with his cane,—' the happiest, both from a physical and a moral point of view.'

6. You forget the infirmities which accompany it,' I remarked, wishing to draw him out by a seeming opposition to his views. And you, my dear Bardou,' he replied, 'do not think of the passions which it leaves behind. What more cruel infirmity than ambition, which keeps us day and night panting up that slippery path of success;—than love, which makes slaves of us;—than hatred, which turns us into tyrants;—than idleness, which whispers into one ear, "Rest and sleep," while necessity cries into the other, "Awake and be doing!"

7. "But the diminution of our powers?' I suggested. "Is compensated by the lessening of our obligations.' "So, then, you are satisfied to have lost your hair?' “I have a wig which keeps me warmer.'

"To feel your sight growing weak?'

"With my spectacles, I can see as well as at fifteen.' "And to have lost all your teeth?'

"Zounds! they caused me suffering enough; now I have false ones, which save me from the dentist's care.'

"I could not help laughing.

8. "You think I am joking!' exclaimed Roger, impatiently, but I am not, upon my honor. Mankind are unjust toward old age; they expect from it the resources of another period of life, instead of using those which are really its own. It is thus that the human soul is filled with foolish regrets, and that in youth we sigh for childhood, in manhood for youth, and in old age for our departed vigor.

Old age is the final step; therefore we have not the opportunity to regret that.'

9. "Continuing in this manner for some time, and regarding the past as merely a preparation for the present, he concluded as follows:

"Let others adore what they no longer possess: as for me, I prefer what I have. Old age has a charm in my eyes, because it has brought me the independence which is the reward of labor, together with the experience which teaches me how to enjoy it, the moderation which economizes our pleasures, and the leisure which enables us to appreciate them. Let the world chant in doleful strains its regret for the years of youth; I, for my part, will not cease to laud the pleasures of old age."

10. More extracts from these philosophic talks may be expected, and some gleanings, which our friend has promised us from his diary; but another letter from our "foreign correspondent" awaits us in the next chapter. The reading of it was assigned to Mr. Agnew, who asked Eddie Wilmot to read, from a volume in the library, the entire poem entitled "A Leap for Life," for Eddie had once committed it to memory.

CHAPTER X.-AROUND THE WORLD.-No. 6.

FROM GIBRALTAR TO ROME.

I-Gibraltar to Marseilles.

1. We spent a couple of days in the town and harbor of Gibraltar. Rising above the town, to the height of fourteen hundred feet in some places, is an immense hill or mountain of solid rock, three miles long, on which, and within which, is the British fortress of Gibraltar.