I remember another illustration.I would leave it out but for the fact that when you go to the library to read this lecture,you will find this has been printed in it for twenty-five years.I shut my eyes-—shutthem close-—and lo!I see the faces of my youth.Yes,they sometimes say to me,"Your hair is not white;you are working night and day without seeming ever to stop;you can't be old."But when I shut my eyes,like any other man of my years,oh,then come trooping back the faces of the loved and lost of long ago,and I know,whatever men may say,it is evening-time.
I shut my eyes now and look back to my native town in Massachusetts,and I see the cattle-show ground on the mountain-top;I can see the horse-sheds there.I can see the Congregational church;see the town hall and mountaineers'cottages;see a great assembly of people turning out,dressed resplendently,and I can see flags flying and handkerchiefs waving and hear bands playing.I can see that company of soldiers that had re-enlisted marching up on that cattle-show ground.I was but a boy,but I was captain of that company and puffed out with pride.A cambric needle would have burst me all to pieces.Then I thought it was the greatest event that ever came to man on earth.If you have ever thought you would like to be a king or queen,you go and be received by the mayor.