A STREET-CAR LESSON.
THE law of God not only commands children to honor their parents, but also to respect the aged, and to "rise up before the hoary head." Leviticus 29:32. Some do not seem to respect any one but themselves, and there are others who pay more respect to youth and health and beauty than they
do to feebleness and old age. A lady in New York writes us the following instance:—
"I was in a crowded street-car the other day; a very pretty young lady came into the car, and a young gentleman got up at once, and with a pleasant bow gave her his seat. She thanked him and sat down. In a moment some one got up, and the young gentleman sat down opposite the young lady.
"Soon an old man—very old and very shabby—entered the car. NO one seemed to notice him.
The young gentleman sat still. Pretty soon I saw the sweet young girl 'rise,’ and give her seat to the old man.
She helped him sit down, and then stood herself. Oh, how ashamed that young gentleman looked! He could not bear it very long, and by and by he got up, said a few words to the young girl, and left the car. The young lady told me that he said, “You have taught me a lesson I shall not soon forget."
It is very well for gentlemen to make way for ladies, and rise up to give them seats; but it is not often that a gay and healthy young girl thinks to give a seat to some weary, gray-haired man, who, perhaps, has been standing and toiling all day, and who needs rest on his homeward journey.
And there are some young gentlemen who would be more ready to yield a seat to a bright-faced, light-hearted young girl than to some weary woman who has perhaps been toiling to support her little ones, and who can only stand in constant weariness and pain.
If we heed the Word of God, we shall seek to bear one another's burdens, and shall be specially mindful of the infirmities and needs of the aged and feeble. "The hoary head is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way of righteousness; "and when we honor the aged, we honor those whom God has honored with length of days and long life.
Little Christian.