ROUGH ON THE OLD MAN.

Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 93, 19 November 1879, Page 2

ROUGH ON THE OLD MAN.

I am not of a religious turn of mind, and there aye many com.nanda both m and beyond the Decalogue, to the non-observance of which I must nleud guilty ; but m the respect and veneration I hold for; hoary locks and aged limsi3, I will yield to no man. This commendable trait was the outcome of a perusaVin my juvenile days of the frightful fate allotted to some larrikins of by-gone ages m .punishment for scoffing at an individual whose cranium was innocent of capillary covering. These, .1 say; were the sentiments impressed upon my youthful mind, and although sufficient time has not. elapsed since then to warrant my claim for -veneration, I find the present generation hold very different ideas upon the question.* Youthful gentlemen who are lucky enough to possess fathers— the said fathers being allowed to bear their son's names — are particularly careful that no good deed of the "junior" shall be attributed to the "senior." Thus it is that alt hough we are repeatedly hearingof John Smith, junior ; George Jones, junior}; or James Brown, junior ; the elderly Smiths, Browns, and Joneses are always studiously kept m the background. It has always been a mutter of wonder to '■■ mV 1 why those of that ilk-should be so punctilious about the juvenile affix, wben the party claiming seniority was totally unknown. Indeed it is somewhnt remarkable that m proportion as the "juniors " ncqu'-re notoriety, the unfortunate "seniors" become buried benea.th a mountain of obscurity. Everyoue has henrd of nhe Bunedm Whittington. H. S. Fish, junior ; and Georsre Jones, junioi' w of Privilege' notoriety, but how ttnnv are aware of thf existence or persritinlit.v of Jones pare ?• Of course, one conH easily und<?i'«tnnd it. if either of the gentlemen were a Pitt, a Pliny, or a Dumas ; but as neither of tlio paternal? seem- to have startled the world by their brilliancy, it is scarcely filial to condemn the aged nart'es by snob inviting contrast. Think of it, H. S., and beware of coming retribution at the hands of Fishes yet ulnspawned."