The Abbeville banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1847-1869, 1858-04-01
LONGEVITY OF LITERARY MEN

The concluding lecture of the scries Of
Smithsonian lectures delivered bv Dr.
"ynne, was confined to the effect of lei..
ure and literary employment upon the du.
ration OF life. The lecturer drew his exam.
Piles OF a life of leisure chiefly from Eng
llsk records, which embrace clnss amono
the English nobility who are placed above
the necessity for labor, and are necessarily
freed from the ordinary stimulants which in
the usual walks Of life move men to eyer.
tion. Until the last few years the members
OF noble families were supposed TO he plac-
Cd in circumstances highly favorable to lon-
gevity, but carefully coIIatei facts, derived
from the most authentic sources by Prof
Guy, of Kings College, London, showed
that, with few rare exceptions, such rs
those of Sir Ralph de Vernon, who is said
% have attained the age of one hundred
and nifty years, and three Misses Legge, de-
scendants of the Earl Of Dartmouth, two
OF whom died at los and one at III. ths
dnrat'on of life was less among them in
any other class, and far below those embrace
ed IN the list of friendly societies, made up
entirely of the working classes. OF the
members of the privileged classes in Eng.
land kings were found to have the sbortes,
length of life, Lext peers of tile realm, then
expectants of titles, and highest on the list
those noblemcn whose grade of title placed
them nearest the mass of the whole popu-
iat'on' From this it would appear that Ia.
Tor formed an essential requisite in produc-
ing those conditions necessary to a length
OF days, and those who were placed above
its contingencies were rather to DO pi.ied
than envied.
Among those who were embraced in tho
literary class were some who, like natural
philosophers, generally attained great length
OF days, and others as poets, in which, the
duration Of life appeared to be short. Be-
tween these two classes were many grades
whose position in the scale was generally
defined by the absence or presence of tho
imaginative faculties in the production Of
their works. As general rule the calm
and exalted studies of the philosopher, al
though often severe, were found to be ia
vorabe to longevity, while the development
OF that imaginative faculty by means of
Which the poet was enabled to weave his
conceptions into verse WIS found to abridge
its duration.
In addition to the effect produced by diff
ferent species of literary labor upon their
prosecutors, there was no doubt that indi-
vidual peculiarities had much to do with in.
ducing favorable or unfavorable result
Ibis was especially the case with poets, who
were as class men of irregular lives. Tie
instances Of Burns, Cowper, Beattie and
byron were cited us examples of this rosi-
t'on' and many of their personal peculisri-
ties were detailed showing them to have
lived either in state of great excitement
or OF the deepest melancholy.
The series of lectures just closed embrace
ed vast fund Of valuable information up.
on an important and hitherto neglected
subject, and WAS listened to by the audience
with great attention. They furnish sub
stantial contribution to science, and mani
fest the practical value of the institution
under whose auspices they have been given
to the public.-Nationul Intelligencey.