The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1905-02-28
DIR, oSLER'S DEAD LINE.

in one OF the magazines took the
ground that when Il man is forty he
is philosopher or a fool"
And now comes DR.. William Osier,
the famous Professor Of Medicine,
who mas been called from Johns Hop
kins TO Oxford, who in his valedictory
address declared that the age of forty
was the dead-line of progress in man
kind and that men after reaching the
age Of sixty should be "chloroformed."
His remark has been taken seriously
and has been discussed all over the
country. One aged soldier, bearing hon
orable scars in the service of his coun-
try, committed suicide when he read
the view of this great physician. 1t
has carried sadness into the heart OF
very many of the truest men in the
world who are over sixty. Was DR..
Osler in earnest? If SO he was both
unwise and cruel. Was he speaking
in lighter vein? If SO he has given
the weight of his name to a jest that
has given pain.
What did he say? Here is the ex-
tract from his address:
tAfy second fixed idea is the useless
ness of men above 60 years of age, ana
the incalculable benefit il would be i'll
commercial, political and in profess
Sional life If. as matter OF course,
men stopped work at this age. Dome
tells us in his 'Biathanatos' that by
the laws of certain wise States seXa-
egnarii were precipitated from
bridge, and in Rome men of that age
were not admitted to the suffrage,
and they were called deponati because
the way to the Senate was per pontem
and they from age were not permitted
to come hither. In that charming
novel, the 'Fixed-Period,' Anthony Troll
lope discusses the practical advantages
in modern life of q return to this an
cient usage. and the plot hinges upon
the admirable scheme OF a college into
which at 60 men retired for a year of
contemplation before a peaceful de-
parture by chloroform. That incaicui-
able benefits might follow such 4
scheme is apparent to any one who.
like myself, is nearing the limit. and
who has made IL careful study of the
calamities which may befall men dur
ing the seventh and eighth decades.
"Still more when he contemplateS
the many evils which they perpetuate
upconsciously and with impunity. AS
tt can bc maintained that all the great
advances have come from men under
40, SO the history of the world shows
that q very large proportion of the
evils may be traced to the sexagenar-
ians-nearly all the great mistakes po-
litically and socially, all of the worst
poems. most of the bad pictures.
ma jority Of the bad novels, not few
OF the bad sermons and speeches. 1t
is not to be denied that occasionally
there is q, SeSagenarian whose mind, az
Cicero remarks, stands out of reach of
the body'S decay. Such one has
learned the secret of HermippuS. that
ancient Roman, who. feeling that the
silver cord was looSening. put himself
clear from all companions of his own
age. and betook himself to the COM
pany Of young men. nlnging with
their games and studies. and SO lived
to the age OF 153. puerorum halitu re-
focillatus ct educatuS And there is
truth in the story, since il is only those
who live With the young who maintain
a fresh outlook on the new problems
of the world
The papers are easily proving that
tho Osler theory is a basty Generali-
cation. The Norfolk Landmark makes
this effective answer:
Or. Osler's plan would have dis
ton of his famous discoveries. would
have taken Goethe away before he
had completed the ballads which were
the masterpieces OF his genius. would
have removed Benjamin Franklin
from the stage before he did his great
est work for his country. would have
cut down Gladstone in the height of
his career. and would throw away
Grover Cleveland as an REMEMBRANCE.
q ~. .,,I
statements made by DIR. Osler by the
facts Of tile past and the present will
see that he could just az sensibly have
ma intained the converse OF his propo-
sitions as to great achievements. Why.
Mohammed. who started one of the
most gigantic religious and social
movements of all time, did not begin
the work until he was forty and did
not become formidable figure until
he was so. Harvey, who discovered
the circulation of the blood, did not
publish his discovery until he was
over140. Handel was well beyond mid
die age when he composed his great
Messiah. Milton purposely restrained
his poetic impulses until he had
reached the ripe years which DIR. Orier
thinks amount to SO little. The list is
incXbauStiblc.
Further there is fully as much to
Dc ny tIlc IJOill t%oOONio-
ton with the old as there is to be
gained by the old from association
with the young.
I'VE will back j. Pierpont Morgan.
Hetty Green, or Russell Sage Gall fac
beyond the Osler deadiine) against
DIR. Os]er in knowledge OF the world:
We will back Henry G.. Davis Gagged
SD against him in u horse trade. We
will back Carl SchurZ or Chaunccy M.
Depew (who is over 70) against him
as a ready speaker and clear-headed
observer. We will back Secretary
Hay against him as diplomaust. We
will back Edison against him as a
working scientist. We will back So
year-old Senator Pettus. of Alabama,
against him as a humorist. There is
no difficulty in giving DIR. Osler an
elderly Roland for his youthful Oliver
Oh any Intellectual ground he or his|
friends may select"
Rev. Thomas r. Gregory ca native
of North Carolina) on the staff of the
New York American, answers DR..
OSler by showing what. men have
done after forty. as follows: