The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1905-10-20
THE JOY OF ACE.
Misinterpretation of DR.. Osler's
Statement.

Misinterpretation of Dr.. Osier's
Statement.
DR.. William Osler, late professor II
John Hopkins University, Baltimore
met with a great deal Of undeservet
notoriety because he was misunder
stood when he said the creative faculty
disappeared usually at the age of forty
years. He did not mean to convey the
impression that mans usefulness
ceased at that time, but that the imag.
NATIVE faculty was not as active then
as 1t was In earlier years, when men
are green and raw in judgment and put
forth many things that they wish IL
have suppressed later on. His little
Jest about chloroforming those who
lag superfluous on the stage' was
meant to apply only to teachers who
failed to move with the advanced
thought and had a special humorous
reference to himself, but the miscom-
prehension and exaggeration Of the
press has magnifed his utterance and
given 1t a sweep he never intended.
Must Seek New Fields.
When the acquisition of knowledge
is used merely as a means through
which to earn bread, that is the end
of a mans career, whether he be thirty
or forty or a thousand years old. Men
who seek no new fields of exploration
nor carry forward to fulillment any
work they ATTEMPT in early days are
mere drones in the hives Of life.
DR.. Osler, who is close to the sixty
year line, has gone to England to take
q professorship Of medicine in Oxford
University, which will without doubt
lead to an increase of his professional
fame, which did not come to him until
after he had passed the half century
post in his journey of life. His part
ing Injunction to his medical asso-
,iates in America, at the Washington
meeting in May, was to follow the
Golden Rule in all their actions, and to
cultivate that moderation which is said
o be the golden thread running
through all the virtues. This advice
s not new, but it cannot be repeated
90 often in an age when many men
re striving to shove their neighbors
0 the wall in their desire to occupy
he middle Of the road themselves.
Ian is naturally a selfish animal and
to be often reminded that he
aust do unto others as he would have
hem do unto him, even if he desires
, attain more worldly success. The
ian who has no consideration for his
lboring fellows is likely to find no con-
liberation extended to him when the
our OF misfortune comes.
Best Work Late in Life. 4
DR.. Osler never deprecated age,
moving that mans best work is done |
fter age has mellowed his under
:and1ng and strengthened his judy I
ent. There are numerous examples t
what virility in age can do all along I
lie track of history. 1t was seen in o
enjamin Franklin, William e. Glad t
one, is seen in Edward Everett Hale, p
ord Kelvin, Charles II. Haswell, en- c
neer and author, still at the age of b
7 at his desk in New York, and other a
will occur by scores to general a
s
1t is an inflexible law Of nature that t.
le being who does not progress must f
'trograde. There Is no place on this t
'arful ascent of life where, spiritually Fl
Id intellectually, we are not forced c
60 forward lest we slip back. But r.
Is a happy provision in nature that Il
zen in the longest life there is no T
'bitrarily fixed point Of time where ls
must cease as if by a fat, t.
here there are no more heights be- Il
re the soul to climb, no more views fc
be obtained, no broadening and ex- &C
.nding of the vision possible. AL bt
lys and forever a new bud may be OF
on the topmost bough of the A
l tree. even though the trunk be G
rtly hollow, and the nourishing sap e1
ount slowly through the bark. m