Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1892-01-27
ADVANTAGES OF OLD Aos.


Sons possessinG all their faculties IN
impaired. and opened up subject full
of interest and even the large spscs
occupied by his address did not allow
him fully to develop II seems a ply
siological law that the functions OF ths
body must Be- kept in exercise in order
to maintain their eficiencica. and ID a
true of the bssdy N of the mill or any
other machine that will rust out from
disuse sooner than wear out by employ.
ment
The fact in constantly observed In
persons engaged In commercial pur~
suits, who retire Mt the age of sixty.
and then fall into rapid decay. while
professional men remaining mt work
preserve their vigor. often for another
twenty yeara 1t IL sad thing to see
the nerve centers decay with = corre-
spending weakness Of body and mind.
but IL is still saddcr TO witness. with q
wrinkling of tho skin, . corresponding
shrinking of the brain. allowing vanity
and some of the weakly passions. which
had been kept in suppression, To come
again to the fore.
How different IL the spectacle when
the organ Is kept in It's integrity by
constant use and the mental faculties
preserved In all their prestine force.
We have only to look around and TO see
our poets, bishops, judges ministers of
state and medical men long-lived and
still In mental vigor while working Mt
their respective avocationa Very re-
markable. too. Is Il that, as Sir James
Crichton-Browne observed, the freedom
OF language will remain an good ms
n 90 a
but lately IN n discussion on the Lon
don university questions, when two Of
the most logical and well-exprcssed
speeches were made by octogenarinna
We can mt the present time point to
statesmen and lawyers of great age
still before the public, AS not long ago
we could see Lord Palmerston. Lord
Brougham, Lord Lyndhurst and others.
In former times we may remember
Newton living to be eighty-five, while
Sophocles is said To have lived to be
ninety, and Plato not much short of
this. II is clear that hard work does
not kill. The toll. however, must be
genial and diversified The man of
business often has no occupation be-
sides his brcsdwinning. whereas a
medical man has a variety of subjects
to interest him.
speaker at the recent international
congress showed by experiments upon
school children when three or four
sums of arithmetic were given in sue
cession, that each sum showed an in.
feriority To the previous one. both in
correctness and regards the time in
which II was completed The one
faculty employed was gradually ex-
hausted, fresh piece of evidence show
ing necessity for diversity of work
In the treatment of persons with men
tai trouble or worry the very worst
method Is to rely too much on what is
called rest, meaning thereby leaving
the patient without other employment
than to brood over his sorrows. True
rest To the mind is only obtained by the
occupation of other faculties reused
into action by new surroundings
There is no reason why old age should
not be as happy and as enjoyable as
any other period of life. II old persons
be asked as to their consciousness of
age they will all with one consent de-
clare that there exists nothing of the
kind. An old person has knowledge
OF his age in the same way as his
friends; he sees IL by looking in the
mirror, by remembrance of past events,
or the loss of contemporaries. but he Is
not constantly carrying about with him
the conviction or feeling that he is old:
he is thus still able TO occupy himself
In the business and pleasures of life.
Button spoke of his green old age as
one of the happiest periods of his life,
although the kind OF pleasures then ex-
perienced are, of course. different from
those OF youth; and when decay comes.
and man is becoming free from the
rcmembrances of all earthly things.
then, as Sir James Paget says land no
better example could be found OF full
mental activity by continued work., IL
may be so ordered on purpose that the
spirit may be invigorated and undis-
turbed in the contemplation OF the
Frightening future. Another writer.
speaking of old age i'm reference 10 the
decease OF an eminent barrister, also
maintained that the highest faculties
are kept keen by constant exercise, and
the brain vigorous by constant action
and renewal
The understanding has often been In
the highest perfection In quite adj
'ohSct ciN aktt anu tndJ mas Deen the
best period of human life IL il the
time when the rage and storm of pas
sion have died away. when the jeal.
ousies and cares OF a career have ceased
and been forgotten. when memory
fingers upon all that is bright and
charming in the past, and when hope
scatters her most glowing tints over
fast approaching future; or, In the
words Of Sir J. Crichton- Browne him.
self "We are able To- see in old age
glimpses of the truth that its chief
glory consists not in the remembrance
of feats OF prowess. nor In the eQotistic
exercise OF power, but in the conquest
Of peevish weakness, i'm the brightness
of hope, and in the discrimination OF
happiness around.
Depend upon IL, the best antiseptic
against senile decay is an active inter
est in human affairs, and that those
keep young longest who love most. -
In the same key did Oliver Wendell
Holmes, the laureate Of old age. sing
when some young ladies presented him
with loving cup In his eightieth year;
Better loves perfume ia tho EN- pity bowl
Than vines nspontho for the aching SOUL
SWceter than song that ever poet sung