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Front matter

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Prefatory Note

Cicero, in his justly celebrated treatise on Old Age, says " it can not be supposed that Nature, after having wisely distributed to all preceding periods of life their peculiar and proper enjoyments, should have neglected, like an indolent poet, the last act of the human drama, and left it destitute of suitable advantages."

If this term Nature, as here used by Cicero, might be so defined as to include the God of nature as revealed in the Bible, the sentiment is not only eminently true, but in singular harmony with the spirit of divine revelation ; for in the light of the Bible, old age is not without its especial sources of enjoyment and its own peculiar rewards.

The calmness and tranquillity of this period of life enable the believer, as from an eminence, to

PREFATORY NOTE.

look back over the past with great spiritual profit, and to look forward with clear vision to an eternity of bliss not far distant. While those in advanced years may be incapable of fixed and long-continued attention, yet this period of life is not unfavorable to meditation. In its exercise, the truths of religion and the promises of the divine Word grow more precious, and yield great spiritual refreshment and comfort. Thus the aged are not only enabled to fof get many of their infirmities, but they are frequently more than compensated for the absence of many of the hurrying and bustling pleasures of earlier life.

As far as may be, to assist the aged in the performance of their duties and in the enjoyment of their privileges, this volume has been prepared. It contains such religious truth as is adapted to the wants of the aged, and is printed in such type as is best suited to their use. The articles are generally brief, and the work is designed to be a sort of Manual, to be taken up at odd moments for occasional perusal.

PREFATORY NOTE.

In the selection of materials for the volume, we have aimed to secure the greatest variety both of matter and form, and to gather them from the widest range of authorship. We have admitted nothing which is not eminently evangelical in sentiment, and nothing, as we suppose, offensively sectarian in doctrine.

It is hoped that there may be found in the book something suitable for every frame of mind and every experience incident to the decline of life, and that it may be to the spirit of the aged pilgrim what the staff of myrtle, according to Pliny, was to the traveler, infusing such an energy that during the longest day he never grew faint or weary.

Especial thanks are due to Rev. John Hall, D.D., Rev. Howard Crosby, D.D., Rev. George B.Cheever, D.D., and Rev. William Adams, D.D., for original contributions to the volume, and to Rev. Stephen H. Tyng, D.D., for services kindly proffered in the examination of the manuscripts.

J. S. H.

New York, September, 1870.