New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1871-12-25

-
The Shlosophic Zcno, who VIVA accused Of PIT
ting an. end to himself at the sober age OF ono
hundred al two. Certainly it was not "the
"rosyn which cheated Time for him. for hs
ate sparngly ano slept hard and kept tho
body under. as becam. the founder OF nIs
school. And there was the Hoa,,,
Gorgas, whose charm Of speech moved >-.:-,.
himself to wait for him q term Of one hnnSreH
and seven years; but he, too, was little beholdcn
to cooks and butlcrs, and Taught his simple
ways to his pupils OF whom Isocrates imi-
tated him 80 well that he achieved almost a
hundred years. DemOcri'us had gotten cheer
fully up to one hundred and four when he
joined the Shades; but in his case travel and
a merry heart would seem to have been the
regimen. Then there was Terentia, the first
Mrs Cicero, who, after minsteiing b her lord
for thirty years or SD and bearing him the
worthless Marcus and the rare Tulia, was d.
vOrced one fine morning, after which she would
seem TO have picked up amazingly, for she died.
dancing for all we know. at the age Of one
hundred and three. She had not even ton to
sxhlaratc her but scandal may have been meat
and drink.
Among more hOmcspur folk, there was one
Petrarch Czartan, peasant of hungary, who
bore the farIcls peculiar to his condition ion
one hundred and eishty-fv years. Protestant
and Catholic had each other by the throat,
when he was born, through half Of Europe
The New World possessed Struggling Spanish
colony or two, while the French had caught a
footing here and there. When he died, relig-
ous wars had long been impossible, and thirteen
united English colonies in America were about
to declare themselves nation. lie lived by
no means in a quiet era, and perhaps bore
arms himself for the Emperor Charles the
Sixth. At any rate he was poor. and he
diet was thin, and he could have wine and
beer only when the benevolent stood treat tor
him. and he lived in the dirt, like other
peasants andpigs. And there was Parr, the very
archetype and symbol of healthy old age, who
was baby when Edward TWAS King, and who
lived to see two uSurpatlOns, rcVolution'
eight coronatiOns, the Reformation, the dlScOV-
ery of America, wars enough to craze bin, the
execution of two Queens, and well nigh that
of one King. lie was q jolly blade, who
sowed wild oats till he was eighty. and then
married a wife and begat children and took
serious views of life. Mrs. Parr dying in the
bloom of her youth, he went a-wooing again.
with the gayety Of one hundred ana twenty
and again entered the holy estate OF matn-
mony His food was chiefly vegetables, and
his drink was sage tea, not wine, U my masters
nor vet beer, save on occasions like Ilmothy's'
What drank "My Cid, with the heccy
"bcard r. Surely, not beer. Let liz conceds
wine in moderate measure to blind old Dand0-
10. elected Doge ut eighty-fOur, stornlins Con-
stantinople at niuety-fOur, declining the throne
Of the East at ninety-slx, and dying, Dogc,
at ninety seven. But Newton, whose eighty
five years were cycle of common mems
what nourished his mighty brain 7 Spare
yictual and thin drink Bacon, indeed who
took all know ledge to be his province" took
whatever else he liked to be his province.
also. and had some knowledge OF ndlges-
ton and govt in consequence bus
Humboldt. and Goethe, and FOntenelle, THAT
"precous porcelain vase laid up In the center
" of France to be guarded with the utmost
"care for a hundred years" 1t was finer flid
than beer that tlngled in their veins. Frank
lin. and Jefferson and Washington, observed
APOSTOLIC strictness in table usage. Old JOhn
Adams, erect and noble at ninety, had drank
little stimulant but the New England air. ono
"draught of which," said quaint Francis iiig-
ginson, "is worth whole fagOn OF Old
English ale"
After all, however. if these records prove
anything. they prove that one mans meat IL
another mans poison, and that lentils for
james and lamb for John are probably the
best regimen while James and John think
them the best. We own to a private belief
that boozing over beer helps neither the brain
nor the morals but that, so far as longevity Is
concerned, to he well favored man is the
gift of Fortune; to live long would appear to
come ky Nature