The morning call., 1893-09-22
THE TERM OF USEFUL LIFE.

The English Liberal papers are lament
ing over the prospect that Gladstone will
probably die before he sees his plans OF
local self-government carried into effect.
That is not so certain. Mr.. Gladstone
was born in 1909. in the same year as
Abraham Lincoln; he is thus 81 at pres
emf. At that age most men have COM
pleted their life work, but there have been
men who preserved their mental vigor 10 a
much more advanced period of life. The
Emperor William the First of Germany
took an interest in public affairs when be
was over 90. and at the same age blind old
Dand0lO commanded the feet Of Venice at
the attack on Constantinople. Our own
Ben Franklin was never sounder in coun-
sci than just before be died at 81. Walter
Savage Lander was an authority in letters
at SO. Titan painted masterpieces az go
Michael Angelo made marble speak at
nearly the same age. Voltaire wrote flo W.
ing verse at 81. NJ. de Lesseps is four
years older than Gladstone. The list
might be indefinitely prolonged. The
law of life is that after a certain age,
which is generally not far from the scrip
tural limit Of three score aud ten. the
tissues begin to thcken and weaken, and
the mental faculties share in the disin-
tegration. But in choice exceptional ma
lures the law is often suspended.
One CT the most striking cases of its sus-
pension is that of the composer Verdi. He
VIII be so this year. He was an organist
at Milan sixty years ago. and wrote his
first musical drama over half century
since. During the thirty years which con-
stiiute the Augustan age of Italian opera,
he was one Of its most industrious and
popular masters. When he wrote AIDA, 3"
in 1872, and entered actively into politics as
Senator and one of the leaders of reOrgan-
lied Italy. it was supposed that his musical
career had closed. But fifteen years after
ward. when he was 70 years old, be aston
ished the world with "Otello," and now
be has CAPPED the climax of his fame with
"Falstaff." Fancy an octogenariaD. loaded
down with honOrs. clothed with public
duties, sitting down to write an opera
bouffe and doing it WE'LL
What distinguishes Verdi from most oc-
togenarianS is that the older be becomes
the wider grows the receptivity OF his
mind. Most old men. even when they pre-
serve their faculties, lose the power of
learning. Their mental range is circum-
scribed by the impressions they received
and the opinions they formed in earlier
years. They stand still while the world
moves ali round them. Verdi's mind was
never more alert and fresh than it Is.
Aida" showed that Wagner's secret had
not been thrown away upon him. While
other Italian composers were scoffing at the
barbarous German, Verdi realized that he
could learn from him, and that Wagner had
got nearer to the truth of opera than Belini
Donizetti or himself. "Oiello" proved
how deep his obligations were to the Ger
man; it was requiem mass over the tink-
ling Italian cymbal. And now in "Fal-
staff" the great composer of the vlrile
strains of 'Nabuco" and "Ernani" has
shown that in his sere old age he can write
music which exhilarates. fascinates and
intoxicates.
1t appears to be certain, as NJ. Flourens
has demonstrated, that the term of human
life is lengthening mainly through the in
creased knowledge of disease and better
acquaintance with sanitation. 1t remains
for the faculty to couple the proongation
of life with the retention Of mental vigOr,
so that the last years OF the aged shall not
be vanity and vexation of srirIt. If they
succeed in this the old men will no longer
retire to life OF ease and usefulness; they
will remain in the forefront of the battle,
like Gladstone, and, equipped with the
knowledge which experience gives, will
leave the youngsters in the rear. But to
keep the leadership they must retain the
capacity to eSchew error when it becomes
obsolete and to adopt new views when
they are found TO be true