Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-03-01
DIR. OSLER'S THEORY
Amply Routed by Citations
From History.
NO FIXED DEAD LINE"
WORLDS GREATEST WORK DONE
BY MEN PAST FORTY.
Absurdity Of Trying to Establish a
Hard and Fast Rule Of
Degeneration.
Written for The Evening Star.


Dr. Osler's explanation of his remarks on
the yaluelessness of human effort after
forty does not strengthen his case, and
tends to emphasize the narrownesS OF MS
intellectual outlook. His citation or Oar
win as a proof of his argument Is unfor-
tunate There Is nothing remarkable In the
fact that Darwin undertook an extensive
scientific expedition before he was forty.
Nobody denies that some of the greatest
names In history are those OF men VINO
achieved wonders even before thirty. Many
trees of the forest reach their growth, and
a handsome growth. too, in half a century.
Others require centuries to mature. But
are we to cut the oak down for hrewooo
or decline to allow 1t natural opportunities
because at fifty it Is behind the larch OF
the maple? Are we to commit the foliy Oh
declining to use the oak when II Is two
centuries old because it was not fun grown
when the maple was at fifty? Yet TINS 10
what DIR. Osier postulates for our treat
ment of man.
We say the citation of the name OF OAR
win is unfortunate because one hane f aIou
a philosopher like DR.. Osler ought TO know
Is too slender proof when one is generahz-
ing The use of one example alohe' anu
that too Of a man of science, Dr. Oslef
profession suggests woeful poverty "a
general information. And doubtless this Is
precisely what is the matter with the pun
dit late of Johns Hopkins but now aDoue
to shed the rays of his genius over iaii
oxford. go. NV,
The world does not ask nor expect any
one. however great to be conversant WIN
all fields of knowledge. But 1t mas a rlsnl
to expect that one VINO =, she edl'e he broad
CROUCH should know enough at ieast
OF the relations of things TO aalilis
the knowledge of achievement ACQUIRED
In other pursuits, and not assume ina
| obi ~ indRp all knOWleOS6 diiu
result from what he learns In his own HeIo
alone. The amount OF IL is mat liie ma
yelous progress made in the discoveries anu
application of physics WITHIN the past IeI
tury based on the long studies OF preVloaas
a ges. have turned the heads OF scientinc
men and often knowing little or any tni,s
else, they assume in practlce anu ny a e ef
In words that all other knowledge ana Ell
fort is of slight comparative value, anu
that genius other than scientihc Is penea.I i
no,ice Hence no class of 1nteiiectuai
minds rushes more rashiy 10 m sa ss the
ordinations or has less knoW'Gdge OF tiiS
facts of history, a knowledge Oh WnlcIi
tends to modify or balance crude ana nasty
eeneraIizing, of which DR.. Osier mas Lux
nished us a brilliant example
II NAV he admitted, Of course that SCI
ence has its turn now, but there are otheT
fields of development-materlal. spifi. a,,d
and intellectual--quite as lmpor.all, a ~
which are bound again to demand lh0
scepter in the march of human progress.
Notable Examples.
In support of these observations Re"
examples may be quoted here seiecteo at
random as they came to memory. AS an
offset to the name of Darwin, Who py the
way. If he voyaged under forty, did not
bring ont his theory in extenso until much
later Alexander Won Humboldt represents
a scientific mind as powerful as tnat ol
Darwin, and far more broad ana conipte
hensiye 1t Is true he started on MS great
Arna
was forty but being unfortunate as TO
pass Dr. Osler's meridian of forty, he TOOK
a more arduous exploring journey through
northern Asia when actually siXty-six,
after which he was engaged In diplomacy
and prepared and published his Cosmos,
an extraordinary scientific work, past sew
enty-five.
1t is true that Alexander the Great. Han
nibal and Napoleon achieved immortal fame
under forty, the first dying at thirty-three
Men of action, as we'll as poets, often ma
ture and die early. But, on the other hand,
julius Caesar, considered by many the
greatest man of all antiquity, did not enter
on the great work of his life, on which
rests his renown. until he was forty-eight,
and might have accomplished still more but
for his murder at f1fty-six. 1t may be ADDED
that the army with which he overthrow
Pompey's larger army of young men was
composed Of veterans, averaging we'll Into
middle life. Oliver Cromwell made no spe-
cial mark of ability until the mature age
of forty-three. He died at fifty-nne the
greatest soldier. ruler and statesman Eng
land has produced. What folly to make a
law to retire such a man by establishing
the principle that after forty men should
not be considered worthy Of consideration.
and after sixty past the right or the pleas
ure OF the opportunity to use their facul-
ties. Most Of the remarkable tales written
by Daniel Defoe were composed between
sixty and seventy. Samuel Richardson,
whose "Clarissa Harlowe is one OF the
greatest creations in English literature, did
not begin to write until past fifty. Goethe
lived to eighty-three. At seyenty-two he
wrote his wilhelm Meister'' novels. Hts
"Wester Eastern Divan." an exquisite col
lection OF lyrics, was composed between
sixty and sixty-fve, and the second part of
Faust was completed when he was eigh-
ty-two.
Aristotle. Morse and Milton