The star of the north. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1849-1866, 1851-05-15
Never too Old to Learn.

Never 700 OH0 70 l6aus
The following well authenticated fact
will illustrate the principle that man Is nsvel
too old to learn:
SocRArEs, at an extreme old sge, learnt to
play on musical instruments This would
look ridiculous for some of the rich old men
in our city, especially If they should take j,
into their heads to ihrum q guitar under .
lady's window, which SocHAes did no, do,
butt only learnt to play on some instrument
Of this time, not q guitar, for she purpose OF
resisting this wear and tear Of old age
Caro-, at eighty years Of age, though,
proper to learn the Greek language. Many
Of our young men at thirty and forty, have
forgotten even the alphabet Of language,
the knowledge Of which was necessary to
enter college. a tine coRnent on the love
Of letters, slslys&p
PIurARcI, when betwe9h seventy and
eighty, commenced the study Of Latin
Many of our young lawyers, not thirty
years Of age, ihiuk that nisi prius, scire
facias, &c, are English expressions; and If
you tellithem that > knowledge Of the Latin
would make them appeara little more res
pectabie in their professions, they viii reply
thatthey are too old TO think of learning
Latin.
BoccAao was shirty-fve years Of age
when he commenced his studies in polite
literature. Yet he became one of the three
great mastersof the Tuscan dialect. Dante
and Pelrach being the oihes two. There
are many among us ten years younger than
Boccacio, who are dying Of ennui, and re-
gret that they were ~ educated to taste
for literature, but now they are TOO old,
Sin HEsRY SrELMas neglected the sciences
in his youth, bnt commsnced the study Of
them when he was between fifty and sixty
years of age. Afier. this time he became
the most learned antiquarian and lawyer.
Our young men begin to think of laying
their seniors on the shelf when they have
reached sixty years of age. How different
the present estimate put upon experience
from that which Characterised acerain pe-
riod Of the Grecian republic, when man
was not allowed 10 open his mouth in eau.
cuses or political meetings, who was under
forty years!
CoLBERT, the famous French Minister, at
sixty years of age, returned to his Lain and
law studies. How many of our college
learnt men have ever locked into their clas-
sics since their graduationf
DR.. JOHNSON applied hinAesE to the Dutch
Most Of our merchants and lawyers Of twef-
ty FIVE, thirty, and forty years Of age, are
obliged 10 apply 10 a teacher to translate
business letter written in the French lan-
guage, which might be learned in the tenth
part of the time required for the study of the
Dutch; and all because. they are too old to
learn.
LuDoyIco MoNALpEseo, at the great age Of
one hundred and fifteen, wrote the memoirs
of his own times--a singular exeTtion, no.
ticed by voltaire, who was Of himself one
of the most remarkable instances of the
progress Of age in new studies.
OcILBY, the translator Of Homer and Virgil
was unacquainted with Latin and Greek till
he was past fifty e
FRANKLls did not fully commence his
philosophical pursuits ull hs had reached
his fiftie,h year. How many among US Of
thirty, forty, and fifty, who read nothing but
fov tho ~ aY,f r,f i. fasia for naf,, /.