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Show OLD FOLKS' DAY. Some Charming Reflection of the Event of Tuesday Last. ( Communicated. It matters little who first said "The lion and tho lamb shall lie down together.'; to-gether.'; It is merely the utterance of a conviction common to many minds in all ages and -countries when and where man has ever been civilied, that humanity was tending steadily toward perfection. Tho sixteent h anniversary, on Tuesday, of Old Folks' Day, furnishes fur-nishes proof that such is a fact. See! Monday an exciting election in Salt Lake followed a week of earnest, bitter partisan work in which much of the worst passions that sway men had been aroused by nightly harangues; the pioneer, pio-neer, or Mormon portion of the city had been defeated iu purposes dear as life to themselves; the celebration of (he day had originated with them; from them came the invitation to all seventy years and over, regardless of creed or church, religion or race, politics or position. po-sition. To be a man or woman constituted (ho qualification. It included tho race. Tuesday, ami Old Folks' day followed. A thousand more of tho wrinkled and withered mothers and fathers from far ami near assembled as guests of Salt Lake people. Free transportation from all points had been provided; free transportation trans-portation in street ears and carriages throughout the city; tallies adorned with (Towers and loaded with luxuries, suited alike to the needs of age ami youth, presided over by youth and lieauty; every want anticipated. And other thousands gathered in joy to welcome wel-come their white, blue, anil red badgetl friends, though too few of years themselves to wear the colors. More than this! The men who had waged the week's warfare in the political lield vied with each other in utterances of purest sentiment, of t'emlerest regard lor those now waiting in life's evening twilight, after having bourne her burthens, bur-thens, harvests from which they were now reaping. Marked as are such contrasts, they buoy the hopes of the philanthropist that brighter days for humanity are coming nearer and nearer as each advance step in science is taken. Let no one say our race is degenerating.- For such as utter it, the same noble impulse as found expression Tuesday lias kindly provided public assylttm. One feature of the programmo of the day can justly bo criticized. It partook too much of a sombre hue. Very many of those who wore the badges, men and women, could havo joined in the old-time old-time dances. They would have gladly done so had proper arrangements been mado and the invitation given tliem. As evidence: An old lady was detected de-tected in the south end of the gallery taking graceful steps to the rythm of the music by tho band in the extreme north, and she was applauded, and, on appeal, two more withered with-ered mothers joined in an olden-timo olden-timo figure. Pray let there be dancing ligures in the programme for the seventeenth Old Folks' anniversary, anniver-sary, Some of the old folks may read this. As one who wroro the red among you permit a few thoughts and suggestions: sugges-tions: I read in tho lines of many of your faces evidence that you had suffered suf-fered much in your life struggles. And it warranted a conclusion thai, much of that suffering had proceeded from the mind. Recalling my own experiences, tho conclusion was that much of your slmgglo has resulted from a vague, indefinable in-definable fear engendered by teachings of thoso who have represented themselves them-selves ns chosen of an infinite power to acquaint you with your relations to that power. It is an axiom; therefore, cannot be argued, that such teachers know no more, have no means of knowing more than you or ntyscf. That whatever higher power rules us called by whatever name is our friend, is on our side, and wo can have nothing to fear from that source. That whoever claims atithoritity to speak to us iu tho name of that higher power is a pretender, pretend-er, and unworthy of our coulidence. That all so-called revelations, purporting purport-ing to have como from such higher powor, have como from tho mouths of just such pretenses. It may bo harder for us in our declining years to commence com-mence an impartial inquiry into the merits of this great question than it would have been a half century earlier. Hut if we have been mado victims and siill'erers through the baseless assumptions assumpt-ions of the designing or ignorant, until our steps are feeble and tottering, it is no reason our minds should not be freed from tho thraldom of fear before we "wrap tho drapery of our couch about us and lie to peaceful sleep," or wake to joyful fruition of hope or knowledge. l)ear Old Folks, it is craven to fear. Let ns vanish it and look so much of the infinite in tho face as is possible for the Unite to grasp. II. L. It. Jones. |