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  • April 1, 1876
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The Masonic Magazine, April 1, 1876: Page 29

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    Article THE OLD FOLKS' PARTY. ← Page 2 of 5 →
Page 29

Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

The Old Folks' Party.

what we shall be at seventy , we should entirely fail to recognize ourselves , and should fall to disputing which Avas which . " " Yes , and Ave shall doubtless have changed as much in disposition as in appearance , " added Henry . " NOAV , for

one , I ' ve no idea what sort of a felloAV my old man will turn out . I don ' t believe people can generally tell much better Avhat sort of old people will groAv out of them than Avhat characters their children will have . A little better perhaps , but not

much . Just think IIOAV different sets of faculties and tastes develop and decay , come into prominence and retire into the background , as the years pass . A trait scarcely noticeable in youth tinges the old man in age . " " What striking dramatic effects are lost

because the drama of life is spun out so long instead of having the ends brought together , " obseiwed George . " The spectators lose the force of the contrasts because they forget the first part of every role before the latter part is reached . One fails in consequence to get a realizing sense of the

sublime inconsistencies of every life-time . " " That difficulty is what Ave prcrpose , in a small Avay , to remedy next Wednesday night , " replied Henry . Mary professed some scruples . It Avas queer , she thought it must be Avrong . It

was like tempting Providence to take for granted issues in His hands , and masquerade with uncreated things like their own yet unborn selves . But Frank reminded her that the same objection Avould apply to any arrangement as to what they should do next Aveek .

" Well , but , " offered Jessie , " is it quite respectful to make sport of old folks , even if they are ourselves ?" " My conscience is clear on that point , " said Frank . " It ' s the only way Ave can get even Avith them for the deprecating , contemptuous Avay in Avhich they will allude

to us 0 A er their snuff and tea , as callow and flighty youth , if indeed they deign to remember us at all , Avhich isn ' t likely . " " I ' m all tangled up in my mind , " said Nellie Avith an air of perplexity , " betAveen these old people you are talking about and

ourselves . Which is Avhich ? It seems odd to talk of them in the third person , and of ourseh'es in the first . Aren ' t they ourselves too ?"

" If they are , then certainly we are not , " replied Henry . " You may take your choice . " " The fact is , " he added , as she luoked still more puzzled , " there are half a dozen of each one of us , or a dozen if you please ,

one in fact for each epoch of life , and each slightly or almost wholly different from the others . Each one of these epochs is foreign and inconceivable to the others , as ourseh'es at seventy now are to us . It ' s as hard to suppose ourselves old as to imagine

swapping identities one Avith another . And AA'hen Ave get old it will be just as hard to realize that we Avere ever young . So that the different periods of life are to all intents aud purposes different persons , and the first person of grammar ought to be used only Avith the present tense . What Ave Avere , or shall be , or do , belongs strictly

to the third person . " " You Avould make sad Avork of grammar Avith that notion , " said Jessie , smiling . " Grammar needs mending just there , " replied Henry . " The three persons of grammar are really not enough . A fourth is needed to distinguish the ego of the past

and future from the present ego , whicn is the only true one . " " Oh , you ' re getting altogether too deep for me , " said Jessie . " Come , girls , Avhat in the Avorld are Ave going to get to Avear next Wednesday ?"

" Sure enough ! " cried they with one accord , Avhile the musing look in their eyes gave place to a viA'acious and merry expression . " My mother isn ' t near as old as Ave ' re going to be . Her things won ' t do , " said Nellie .

" Nor mine , echoed Jessie ; " but perhaps Mary ' s grandmother Avill let us have some of her things . " " In that ease , " suggested Frank , "it will be only civil to invite her to the party . " " To be sure , why not ? " agreed Jessie . " It is to be an ' old folks' partyand her

, presence will give a reality to the thing . " " I don ' t believe she'll come , " said George . " You see being old is dead earnest to her , and she Avon ' t see the joke . " But Mary said she would ask her any-Avay , and so that was settled .

" My father is much too large in the Avaist for his clothes to be of any service to me , " said George lugubriously .

“The Masonic Magazine: 1876-04-01, Page 29” Masonic Periodicals Online, Library and Museum of Freemasonry, 16 June 2025, django:8000/periodicals/mmg/issues/mmg_01041876/page/29/.
  • List
  • Grid
Title Category Page
Monthly Masonic Summary. Article 1
SONNET. Article 1
THE WILSON MANUSCRIPT CONSTITUTION. Article 2
AN HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF MASTER AND FREE MASONS. Article 7
AIMEE. Article 11
LIGHTS AND SHADOWS OF SCOTTISH FREEMASONRY. Article 11
LINES Article 14
THE ANTI-MASONIC VICAR Article 15
TO A SNOWDROP Article 17
"MILKLAT "—THE CITY OF REFUGE. Article 18
ODDS AND ENDS OF WIT AND HUMOUR. Article 19
CONTEMPORARY LETTERS ON THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. Article 24
ORATION Article 26
THE OLD FOLKS' PARTY. Article 28
BENEFIT MANKIND. Article 32
CURIOSITIES OF THE POST OFFICE. Article 32
THE WOMEN OF OUR TIME. Article 34
BRO. DANIEL COXE—THE FATHER OF FREEMASONRY IN AMERICA. Article 36
THE ORIGIN AND REFERENCES OF THE HERMESIAN SPURIOUS FREEMASONRY. Article 39
HALF-WAY DOIN'S. Article 42
GODFREY HIGGINS ON FREEMASONRY. Article 43
THE SITE OF SOLOMON'S TEMPLE DISCOVERED. Article 44
NOTES ON LITERATURE, SCIENCE AND ART. Article 46
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

The Old Folks' Party.

what we shall be at seventy , we should entirely fail to recognize ourselves , and should fall to disputing which Avas which . " " Yes , and Ave shall doubtless have changed as much in disposition as in appearance , " added Henry . " NOAV , for

one , I ' ve no idea what sort of a felloAV my old man will turn out . I don ' t believe people can generally tell much better Avhat sort of old people will groAv out of them than Avhat characters their children will have . A little better perhaps , but not

much . Just think IIOAV different sets of faculties and tastes develop and decay , come into prominence and retire into the background , as the years pass . A trait scarcely noticeable in youth tinges the old man in age . " " What striking dramatic effects are lost

because the drama of life is spun out so long instead of having the ends brought together , " obseiwed George . " The spectators lose the force of the contrasts because they forget the first part of every role before the latter part is reached . One fails in consequence to get a realizing sense of the

sublime inconsistencies of every life-time . " " That difficulty is what Ave prcrpose , in a small Avay , to remedy next Wednesday night , " replied Henry . Mary professed some scruples . It Avas queer , she thought it must be Avrong . It

was like tempting Providence to take for granted issues in His hands , and masquerade with uncreated things like their own yet unborn selves . But Frank reminded her that the same objection Avould apply to any arrangement as to what they should do next Aveek .

" Well , but , " offered Jessie , " is it quite respectful to make sport of old folks , even if they are ourselves ?" " My conscience is clear on that point , " said Frank . " It ' s the only way Ave can get even Avith them for the deprecating , contemptuous Avay in Avhich they will allude

to us 0 A er their snuff and tea , as callow and flighty youth , if indeed they deign to remember us at all , Avhich isn ' t likely . " " I ' m all tangled up in my mind , " said Nellie Avith an air of perplexity , " betAveen these old people you are talking about and

ourselves . Which is Avhich ? It seems odd to talk of them in the third person , and of ourseh'es in the first . Aren ' t they ourselves too ?"

" If they are , then certainly we are not , " replied Henry . " You may take your choice . " " The fact is , " he added , as she luoked still more puzzled , " there are half a dozen of each one of us , or a dozen if you please ,

one in fact for each epoch of life , and each slightly or almost wholly different from the others . Each one of these epochs is foreign and inconceivable to the others , as ourseh'es at seventy now are to us . It ' s as hard to suppose ourselves old as to imagine

swapping identities one Avith another . And AA'hen Ave get old it will be just as hard to realize that we Avere ever young . So that the different periods of life are to all intents aud purposes different persons , and the first person of grammar ought to be used only Avith the present tense . What Ave Avere , or shall be , or do , belongs strictly

to the third person . " " You Avould make sad Avork of grammar Avith that notion , " said Jessie , smiling . " Grammar needs mending just there , " replied Henry . " The three persons of grammar are really not enough . A fourth is needed to distinguish the ego of the past

and future from the present ego , whicn is the only true one . " " Oh , you ' re getting altogether too deep for me , " said Jessie . " Come , girls , Avhat in the Avorld are Ave going to get to Avear next Wednesday ?"

" Sure enough ! " cried they with one accord , Avhile the musing look in their eyes gave place to a viA'acious and merry expression . " My mother isn ' t near as old as Ave ' re going to be . Her things won ' t do , " said Nellie .

" Nor mine , echoed Jessie ; " but perhaps Mary ' s grandmother Avill let us have some of her things . " " In that ease , " suggested Frank , "it will be only civil to invite her to the party . " " To be sure , why not ? " agreed Jessie . " It is to be an ' old folks' partyand her

, presence will give a reality to the thing . " " I don ' t believe she'll come , " said George . " You see being old is dead earnest to her , and she Avon ' t see the joke . " But Mary said she would ask her any-Avay , and so that was settled .

" My father is much too large in the Avaist for his clothes to be of any service to me , " said George lugubriously .

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