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LONGEVITY :

A LECTURE

llf'rltten nnd compiled from Tnrlons sources,

BY G^'E-^'fENETY. 'e'-» ^'t""'

FREDERICTON — 1887.

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In the whole range of onr thoughts, feelings and experiences, there is no subject of
more transcendent importance than that which has to do with the length of our lives.
As there is nothing more uncertain than life, neither can there he any thing of more ab-
snrbmg interest, when we think at all — or goes more quickly to the nnderstanding,
when we reflect and remember ; for there is not a living soul but has at some time or
other been called upon to partake of the bitter dregs of human sorrow — in mourning
f >r those who have departed in the dawn, the noon, or the evening of life, — stricken
down in infancy, manhood, o: old age — shaking our household to its foundation, and
embittering our memory with the recollection of endearing associations.

But our object in this paper is not to brood upoi the uncertainties and sorrows of
life ; but to seek comfort in historical facts, and to ask if it is human to live long, as these
facts will show, is it unreasonable to expect that any life may be lengthened far beyond
the ordinary days which we observe passing over the heads of those who cease to exist
at a comparatively early age ! As we hold our lives as it were in our own bands,
humanly speaking, we are answerable to ourselves in a great measure for their disposal.
If our life is used well and is well guarded, it will be healthful and afford us happiness.
But if it is ill treated — exposed to adverse vicissitudes, fall into habits of intemperance,
whether in eating or drinking, or other excesses, become careless of surroundings and
imagine because we are healthy and strong we may indulge freely, defy the elements in
inclement seasons, or undertake to go beyond our powers, we must expect to pay the
penalty — a broken constitution and premature death — be cut ofif from the land of the
living in the days of our youth.

Then, again, we are exposed to accidents, to epidemics, to plagues and pestilence,
to wars, to famines, and such other incidental contingencies as stand in the way of lon-
gevity. Climate, wet locality, bad drainage, defective ventilation, sanitary derangements
generally, untidy habits, atmospherical disturbances, unwholesome food, are also superin-
ducing causes of premature decay. And yet, with all his experience and sorrow, man
seems to be as neglectful of this part of his religion, knowing the consequence too, as
that which has to do with his immortal soul. So that the language of the Psalmist is
correct, as it takes into account all the conditions of our nature, such as they have been
from the beginning, and will likely continue so long as we are neglectful of those things
which go to keep our bodies healthy and onr moral and religious duties always before us.

" The days of our years are three score years and ten ; and if by reason of strength
they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow ; for it is soon cut off,
and we fly away."

There is so much to be said upon a subject so far reaching as this, that time only
will permit a reference to some of the interesting phenomena that have to do with human
life in relation to its length, in remarkable individual and well authenticated cases. It
seems to me that if all the conditions requisite to longevity were strictly observed, there
is no reason why a man should not live one hundred years and mote, as to pass away
at 70 or 80. Hereditary diseases, accidents, plagues, from whatever causes, &c., must be
excepted from this conclusion. Victor Hugo, talking about age, confessed that the most
disagreeable advance to him was that from thirty nine to forty. " But," said a friend, "I
should take it a great deal better to be forty than fifty." "Not at all," replied Hugo,
" forty years is the old age of youth, while fifty years is the youth of old age."

V by is it tiiat the exception of 100 years of age is the rule of life? A generation
passes away every 30 or 33 years, while the majority of them should live to a much

- winwittifmia

ti«3{inm'*i<iKwv

riper age. Tliis is a loss to the worltl, to all fellow men. Man is a productive agent
in the highest sense. He is the producer of riches, property, society, etc., and yet one
half of his usclulness is not known simply hecause he dies — half his life is cut off. (in
the principle of political economy, weakness is a greater waste than sicktisss. Indecision
and incapacity are enemies to society. A man is sick; if he is a considerate man he
will do one of two things — get well as fast as possil)le or — die. The weak do neither;
they hang on. It is a wonder men get on as well as they do They know little or
nothing of the rules by which their life and their bodily machinery are upheld. They
are generally afraid of the things God made most of — fresh air and cold water. There
is scarcely one thoroughly healthy man in a community. People live in close houses,
they crowd in close churches, they shut out all the fresh air, and scarcely know that it
is injurious. The facts of this are worth thinking over. An ordinary man can consume
4,000 cubic feet of air every hour, and he has a right to that air pure, and should have
it pure. Now, does he get it? A late New Yoik paper says: — In the New York hos-
pitals each patient gets 1200 feet per hour of pure air; in the jails the average is abont
800; in the schools 800 down to even 25 leet per hour; and these little folks we call
our children get twenty five feet of air per hour in school, while if they were thieves and
sent to prison they would get 800 ! In churches, lecture halls and private houses it is
just as bad. In an ordinary hall the audience breathe the air in the building, it may 1)6
as often as five times — and every time a man breathes anew he is tasting something which
was but a short time before inside some other peo|)le, The community are not half
sensitive enough to foul air. Civilization tends to lengthen life by multiplying comforts,
but these have their attendant shadows.

A man is ordinarily said to be young even in this country, says an American writer,
where we live prelernaturally fast, up to thirty five or forty, to be middle aged from forty to
fifty, and not to be positively old, if he be of sound health and well preserved, until he shall
have reached sixty or thereabout. This estimate of years would indicate the normal
age of man to be one hundred (as BufTon declares it should be), though his average age
is scarcely fif*;' and si.xty is much beyond it What re; son is there, then, for speaking
of thirty five to i^^.ty as young, and forty to fifty as middle-age ? None, unless we con-
sider that we begin practical and useful existence, as we rf ally do, with the attain-
ment of our legal majority; and, as a rule, people have very I'ttle life — thirty to thirty
five years — alter that. It is common to speak of men, especially in pul)lic positions, of
sixty, as in their prime. But then Dominion officials have been superannuated before
the age of sixty, while yet in their prime — better fit for business perhaps at that age than
if much younger — forage gives men experience and makes them more solid, thoughtful, and
perhaps trustful. But then we must not be too particular, while there are others always
ready to step in and take their places. A very few appear to be aged at 70, notably in
Europe ; but they are thought so, since at seventy five the public distrusts them merely
from their age. The great majority of men are buried and forgotten before they have
gained three-score; and he who is in his prime then, in a seeming sense, is as exceptional
as he who lives to ninety or ninety five. We all like to delude ourselves in respect to
life. When our neighbour is sixty, he appears to be very old. When we are of that
age, we are not young to be sure; but we feel as young, we say, as ever; in fact, we are
in our prime. While we can creep around, and are in possession of our faculties, we
insist that we are not very old ; but our friends, Smith and Brown, with not a year more
than we, if the truth were known, make themselves ridiculous by trying to appear young.
At the age of sixty some men are quite old, while others at ninety appear like sixty. It
depends altogether, provided the heaifli and constitution remain unimpaired, how a man
carries himself. If he broods over his declining days, and thinks that because he has

•1 were

4« 187.'

attained the age of sixty or seventy, he should retire to the chimney corner and take Qo
note interest in what is going or. in the world, or immediately about him, that man is
d)ing of old age. If, on the other hand, he bears himself up, and at sixty feels that he
has 'he same capacity for work he ever had — that while he has all his facuhies about
him, and considers himself equal to all the demands made upon his time, and that old
age with him is in the distant future — that man will continue young in spite of his years,
it was Professor Huffeland's opinion that the limit of possible human life might be
set at '200 years ; and this on the general principle that the life of a creature is eight times
the years of its period of growth. That which is quickly formed quickly perishes, and
the earlier complete development is reached the sooner bodily decay ensues. More
women reach old ages than men, but more men attain remarkable longevity than women.
Some animals grow to be very old. Horned animals live shorter lives than those with-
out horns, (says the same writer), fierce longer than timid, and amphibious longer than
those which inhabit the air. The voracious pike exists, it is said, to an age of 150 years;
the turtle is good lor 100 years or more; and among birds the golden eagle is known
to have lived nearly 200 years, while the sly and sombre crow reaches the venerable age
of a century,

M. Solaville says: — Women are more numerous in extreme old age than men, and
the difference increases w ith the age. Thus at 60 years the advantage is with the women
in the proportion of 7 per cent., at 90 and above it rises to 45, and with centenarians to 60
per 10' I. It is in France (says the same writer) that we find the greatest relative iiumber
of inhabitants at the age of 60 and upwards; but it is not so for the centenarians, of
which France has less than all the other States of Europe except Belgium, Denmark and
Switzerland

A statistician in England, in studying a generation of a million of people from birth
ot deaih, finds that one-fourth of them die before they reach five years; less than one-
twenty eighth between five and ten years; in the next five years the mortality is lower
than at any period; in the next five years an increase, especially among women — the
influence ot dangerous occupations begins to be seen in the death rate. Eight times as
niany men as women die violent deaths. This is perceptible for twenty years. Con-
sumption is prevalent, and accounts for one half of the deaths from twenty to forty five.
From thirty five to forty five the efTects of the wear and tear of the system are seen. At
forty five the million is lessened to four hundred and twenty one thousand one hundred
and fifteen — death-rate increasing rapidly.. About one-sixth of the million is left at
seventy five, at eighty five only thirty eight thousand five hundred and sixty five are left,
and at «..ne hundred, two hundred and two are left. At fifty three, men and women sur-
viving are about equal in number, and from fifty five onward the women exceed the men.
The decimating effects upon human life is more telling through the agency of war
than any other cause. For example: The Crimean war cost the lives of 750,000 men;
the Italian war ^^ 1869), 45,0()0; the Schleswig-Holstein war, 3,000 ; the Prusso-Austrian
war (ISfifj), 45,000; the Mexican expedition, 65,000 ; the Franco-Prussian war, 215,-
000; the Turko-Russian war, 600,000; total, 1,748,000, and with 800,000 men killed in
the American war, 2,54b,000. This number does not include deaths from typhus, cholera
and other diseases inseparable from war. Alt this destruction of life happened within a
quarter of a century of time.

The report of the Surgeon-General of the United States Army shows how enormous
were the causalties during the late revolution.

During the first two years of the war (he says) surgical operations were performed on
187.470 wounded soldiers. * * * During 1S61 and 1862 the mortality in the army
from disease was more than five times as great as that of men in the same age in civil life,

being 43.7 men p^r 1000 in 1801, and 652 per 1000 in 1862. The total number of
deaths from disease ah)ne duriii^f iho two vcars was 66,11)3. In this number those d)'ing
while prisoners, or after being {lisciiarjiod for disabihty. are not incIiKh'd. 'i'iie num-
ber of men constantly sick was about 10 per cent of llie strength ol the army, and the
total number of cases treated, including woundo, was 878,918 during 1861, and l,711,?U3
during 1865. The most fital disease was camp fever, of which 1 9,459 died during the
two years. Of diarrhcea and dysentry 11,501) died, and Irom inflannnalion of the respi-
ratory organs there were 8,000 deaths,

I propose now to refer to a number of recorded and well authenticated cases of
longevity which I have gathered from various source.s. An excellent writer in one of
the American Magazines, Eugene Thomson, some ten years ago devoted a long article
to the consideration of what he called the "curiosities of longevity." The "Scientific
American," published in New York, also furnishes a number of examples of longevity —
"Longman's Magazine" is another source from which I gather materials for grouping
together in a condensed form the statistics I now offer.

John Bales, of Northampton, died in 1776 at the age of 126; an inscri|)lion on the
tomb of Margaret Scott, at Dalkeith, Scotland, showed that she completed a century
and a quarter of years — ihe same age as John Tice, of Worcestershire, who died in
1774, and no less than 24 persons aro known to have resided in Kngland (hiring the
last century who ranged through various ages from 104 to 123. Willian» Walker served
as a private soldier at the battle of Edgehill when in his J r2th year; Sergeant Donald
McLean, a soldier from boyhood, came to America in his 103rd year to serve under Sir
Henry Clinton in the var against the Colonies; he was, however, sent back as a Itearer
ot despatches, and with « handsome pension provided by this officer from his own income.
Lord liacon says that it the year of our Lord 76 there was a taxing of the people by
Vespasian; and it appoais that in one part of Italy, there were found 54 persons, 100
years old — 57, 110 years — 2, 120 years — 4, 13i» years — J. 135 years — 3, 140 years
each. In Norway in 1703, it was discovered that 150 couples had been married and
lived together over 80 years — so that our golden wedding celebrations are not such won-
derful events after all. Seventy couples had been married over 90 years, which would
fix their ages at about 110. Twelve couples had been married from 100 to 105 years
— and another couple had lived together 110; and their ages doubtless were 130
years.

The following cases may be cited as curiosities: Mary Burke, aged 1J5, living iti
Drury Lane, London, and Anne Brestow, aged 102, living in Culbeck, in the North of
England, died in 1789. A great contrast is here shown, for both attained great age, but
one lived in squalid poverty in one of the vilest haunts of London, wliile the other be-
longed to the Society of Friends, and abode in the healthy region of the Cundierland
Lakes. The truth is that no law of sickness is so very distinctly pronounced as to justify
any discrimination on the ground of sojourning in city, town, or country.

Six persons are known to have completed 140 years of life during the eighteenth
century, viz: — Damitur Raduiay, of Transylvania ; M. Laurence, ofOreades, Scotland;
a French gentleman of foreign extraction named Goldsmith; M Gulstone. an Irish magis-
trate; and James Sands, of Staffordshire, whose wife lived to be I'-^O. Margaret Patten,
ol Lochneuk, near Paisley, lived 138. John Mount, another Scott, was but two years
her junior at th' time of his death, which occurred in 1706, while Margaret Foster
of the same age, along with a daughter ol 104, were living in Cundierland in 1771, and
for all evidence we have, may have had their lives prolonged some years thereafter.
Richard Lloyd, of Montgomery, was 133; John lirookey, of Devonshire, his junior by a
year; Mary Yates, of Shropshire, died aged 128 iu the year of American Independence;

^•l:;(»Ja«iti9K4'l«u,M.

William Elles, of Liverpool, two years older, followed three years later; Margaret
Krasiawna, a Polisli woman, died in 1763, aged 108. When 94 slie married for her
tliird Imshaiid Gaspard liaykott, who was then i05. His father had previously died at
(he age of I 19.

However frail the thread which holds life in the body, which the merest accident
may sever — as for instance, we lost one of our learned Judges a iew years ago through
the rupture of a small artery connected with one of the valves of the heart, and in an
instant of time, as it were, he ceased to exist. However frail, I repeat, is this thread of
life, there is on the other hand a tenacity which baffles the understanding, equally mar-
vellous. One of the most remarkable instances of the stubborn light between old age
and death is found in John Tice — who died in 1774, aged 12.5 years. While he was
felling a tree, at the age of 80, his leg?) were broken, but he speedily recovered, and at
ilie age of n fell in a fainting lit upon some live coals and was shockingly burned.
He survived this scorching and retained the free use of all his faculties till his death,
which took |)lace on his hearing of the loss of a fiiend and patron. Thus the mental
strain upon him was far greater than the physical. As an otTsei to this. One of our
prominent and worthy Citizens was cut off a kw years since, the result of an accidental
fall. He had nearly touched his SUlh year, when one morning on going to the front
tloor his foot slipped, and in falling broke several ribs — from the effects of which he
shortly afterwards died. Whereas up to the moment of the accident he was as active on
foot and in his mental faculties as a man at 50, and bade fair to live to 100.

Dr. Van Oven an authority of great ability, has given seventeen examples of age
exceeding 150 years. Indeed it is contended by Haller that the vital forces of man are
capable of reaching in some cases 200 years. As this idea however appears to be more
speculative than susceptible of proof, it need not be here dwelt upon. We frequently
read in patent medicine advertisements the old age of Thomas Parr, who died at 152.
But he was a young man compared with the age of Thomas Cam, who died at Shore-
ditch, St. .Leonard's, January 28, 1588, at the age of 207. Henry Jenkins died at the
age of 169. Peter Garten, the Hungarian peasant, lived to be 185, Louisa Truxo, at
the age of 175, was living in Cordova, in South America, in 1780.

In Fuller's " Book of Worthies," James Sands, of Staffordshire, is msntioned as
having lived 140 years, and his wife 120 years. As a very convincing proof of the
above, it was stated in Court that he outlived five leases of twenty one years each, made
to him after his marriage. Thomas Gangheen died in 1814, aged 112. He was called
at the age of 108 to prove the validity of a survey made in the year 1725, and his testi-
mony contributed chiefly to the termination of an important lawsuit. Jane Forrester died
1 766, aged J 38. When she was 1 32 years of age her intellect was so clear that she made
oath in a Chancery suit to have known an estate, the title to which was then in dispute,
to have been enjoyed by the ancestors of the present heir one hundred and one years.
Peter Gai-den died near Edinburgh in 1775, aged 131 years. He lived during eight
reigns. He was of gigantic stature, and retained his health and entire faculties to the
last hour.

For the consideration of two very worthy classes, it is said that there is rarely aa
instance of a bachelor or spinster having attained great age — whereas married persons
make better interest with life insurance offices. Why or wherefore these differences, I
am not prepared to say.

We receive a new and touching view of the solemn vow taken at marriage, " I promise
to love, cherish, protect, &c., until death us do part," in the case of John Revin and his
wife, who died at Temeswar. Hungary, in 1741, he aged 172, and she 164. They lived
as husband and wife during the long period of 148 years, and their youngest son at the

time of their decease was aged 116. There was no divorce conrt required in this case.
Matches made for a few years and then broken through the Law Courts are compara-
tively modern innovations, and peculiar specialty to some countries, — of human not
divlbe origin,— in their distinguishmg features.

Longevity seems to run in families, and it sometimes appears to be hereditary, as in
other respects. You seldom find the children of confirmed dfuukards witlioiit the mani-
festation of some taint in the blood and disposition. Imbecility, sometimes insanity, a
craving for stimulants, in the excessive use of tobacco, or some narcotic, irritability of
temper, a restless craving nature, always in a stale of excitement, quernlous, lonuacious
sometimes criminal in act, if not in intention — and yet unlike the parent not addicted to
strong drink. And so in other hereditary cases. The son of a quarrelsome cantankerous
father will not always have a very amiable disposition. Consumption we all know runs
through families. The elixir of life is also a reasonable inheritance A sound liealihy
constitution in a strong body, unruffled by the carking cares and accidents of life, will
find congenial soil in successive generations. Cases may be cited, but they present
themselves on all sides, where individual members of families have been remaikable for
their old age,

it is remarked that centenarians are apt to be small of stature. Large men and
women are more liable to the accidents of life, and their organizations are less likely to
be compactly knit. Dwarfs have frequently passed the five score years, and among
others may be mentioned one Elspeih Watson, who died aged one hundred and fifteen.
She was two feet nine inches high and rather bulky, if one of that stature can be called
bulky. Mr. Robertson, of £<linburgh, died in 1794, aged 137 years. He served a noble
family in the capacity of inspector of lead works for 120 years. Margaret Woods died
in 1797, aged lUO. She and her ancestors bad lived in the service of one family in
Essex during the long period of 400 years.

There are many recorded instances of longevity among the classic Greeks and
Romans. Cicero's wile lived to the age of 103, and the Roman actress Luceja played
in public as late as her 112th year. The notable great age of Henry Jenkins, of York-
shire, England, before referred to, who died in 1670, 163 years old, was a fisherman, and
at the age of 100, easily swam across rapid rivers Thomas Parr, of Shropshire, a day
laborer, lived to the age of 152 years. When more than 120 he married his second
wife, and till 130, it is said, he coiild swing the scythe and wield the flail with the best
of his fellow laborers. In his 152nd year Parr wept up to London to exhibit himself to
the king. It proved a fatal visit, for, violating the abstemiotis habit of a century and
a half, the old man feasted so freely on the royal victuals, that be soon died, merely of
plethora. On examination his internal organs proved to be in excellent condition, and
there was no reason why be should not have lived much longer, save for this taste of
royal hospitality.

James Hatfield die<^ in 1770 at the age of 105, One night on duty as a sentinel
at Windsor, he lieard St Paul's clock in Lotidon,^ 23 miles distant, strike 13 icistead of
12; not being relieved as he expected, he fell asleep. The tardy relief soon arrived and
found him in this condition. He was tried by court-martial ; lie denied the charge
of steeping at his post biefore midnight, for he had heard the clock strike 13, and did not
fall asleep until after 12, when his time was up. This statement was corroborated by
sev'eral persons in London, who had counted the 13 strokes likewise, and Hatfield's
life was saved. During the last century a Frenchman at the age of 21, was sentenced
to the galleys of Toulon for the term pf his natural life. By the French laws this term
is considered to have expired after one hundred years have elapsed. Having served that
period, oMf venerable prisoner of State at the age of 122 wai^ released itqd went bac;k to

.:(

.^^.. m^ m mrK m^miiM.^:

^lis natire village ; bnt of coune, like Rip Van Winkle, he was unknown. Yet be bad
triumphed over law, bondage, man, time, everything. He returned heart-broken to h\i
galley and died.

Returning to the home of one's youth after an absence of many years, how natural

lit is to feel alone and lonely even amidst the crowded streets. Old friends have all de-

IpHried, either buried beneath the sod or lett for parts unknown Youth has grown into

inanhood, and middle into old age, none being recognizable. The associations and

recollections of your school-boy days afford melancholy fond for reflection. And so you

wish to depart from the home of your birth, and mingle once more with tht friends and

acquaintances of your latter years, which after all, is the most comforting ...uat. ...'home,

for you can only be at home among friends. One can very well make allowance.

I then for the feelings of the prisoner of Toulon, on returning to the world after nearly

100 years, to find not a living soul he once knew.

Let us now turn our attention to the old people of the present day, embracing a
period within the last fifty years. Although we may not be able to cite as many instances
of longevity during our time, as has been done in the past and previous centuries — it
may be that history has not as yet taken cognizance — we are informed that individual
lite is continually lengthening From 18<^8 to 1854, according to carefully compiled
statistics, the average length of woman's life was 41.9, and of man's 39.9 years in the
British Islands. Now the averages are respectively 45.3 and 41.9. This improvement
is due to the greater attention paid to health and scientific sanitation.

There is, therefore, some comfort in this, when ther average duration of Itfe tells such
a good story. But, in the course of my researches in various nooks and corners, I dis-
cover that even in our day we have exceptional cases of longevity. It is said that there
is (or was a year or two ago) a man living in iiogota named Miguel Solis, whose age
or time of birth is not given, but Dr. Louis Hernandez writes that his name appears on
a list of subscribers to the Franciscan Convent of San Sebastian in 1712, so that he must
he not far from 170 years of age.. His hair is perfectly white and plentiful, his skin Kke
parchment, and he is still able to work. His eyes are bright and his conversation dis-
tinct. In accounting (or his longevity be says: " I have never, to my recollection, eaten ^
more than once a day ; on the 1st and 15th of each month I fast rigorously from alt food^
hut drink a great quantity of water. I always eat my food cold. I have never cona-
iiiitted the least excess in drinking."

Fompey Graham of Moatgonery, N. Y., dird on the 27th August last, aged lid ,
years. He had a distinct recollection of inciilents atid personages of his youth, but could
not remember dates. He said he was a big boy when the Revolutionary War Was de-
clared. He remembered when Clinton was elected first Governor of New York. He teft
Shawangunk, in Ulster County, where he was born, in 1807, and he was then 42 years
old. He was an old man, over 60, when slavery was abolished in New York. Hs bad
his second wife long before Washington's death, and afterward? married a third. He Wa6
the oldest of seventeen children, and enjoyed good healtli up to the time of his dieath.
I make the following clippings from newspapers :

Mrii. Jane Ryder of Orringtoo^ Me., was 103 years old in January, atid i^ yet abUi
to he]|) herselC

Mrs. Magdalena. Boggs^of Mikoa^ Ind, is nearly 104 years old, in fair h^Itb, but
weak in memory.

Uncle BilLy Whitney of Norwood, N. C, is 112 years old. He has cut a third set
of teeth. He married at 33, and when his wife died she was 101 years old.

Mrs. Douglas of Omaha, Neb,, has just celebrated her centennidl birthdiqri She is
weHvprej^rvedaiid'basaB excettent BaeiMry;batrh)er^e8ight'»-failia|^.

When Mrs. Betty Averill of New Preston, Conn., celebrated her lOOtli hirth'lay,
the children of the town gave her a set of books, and fifty of her family and de.scendaiits
dined with her.

Betsey Sargeant of Canterbury, N. H., has enjoyed 100 years of single-l)lessedness,
and is not yet ready to marry Her mind is vigorous, and she still attends to her house-
bold duties daily.

Mrs. Outhet, a native of Cornwallis, died at Melvern Square, N S, a few weeks
ago. She was in her 10 lu year.

Old man Webster, who is 104 years of age, and lives near Shediac, on the road to
Point du Chene, was ab'e to cut his hay and do other work durinjj; the past season.

Six years ago there resided in the vicinif f Bridgetown, N. S., some of whom may
have since died, the following persons :

Mrs. James Taylor of Cornwallis, aged 98 ; Mr. Benjamin Foster of Berwick, 97 ;
Mr. Samuel Foster, of Hampton, 9b : Mrs. Frank Tupper of Cornwallis, 93 : Mr. Philip
Foster uf Cornwallis, 77. The grandmother of the above died at the age of 105 years.

There resided in the Parish of Botsford, Westmorland, in this Province, at one liuie
not long since :

Mrs. Commo, aged 102 years; Adam Ame.s, 90; B. Henesy, 90; Adam Scott, 89;
Mrs. Adam Scott, 87; Mrs. G. Dobson, 86; Stephen Trenholm, 86; Arch Boyce, 86;
William Wells, 85.

Marang Girouard of Kent County, is hale and hearty at 92. He works like a man
of 60; nnd my informant says, " he seems as likely to live 20 years longer as 20 days."

There were living in St. Andrews in J 879 (says the Bay Pilot), 23 persons of the
following ages : 4 at 80 ; 4 at 81 ; 2 at 82 ; 1 at 83 ; 2 at 84 ; 2 at 85 ; 3 at 86 ; 2 at 87 ;
1 at 88; 1 at 91 ; 1 at 92.

In 1884 we had in our Fredericton Almshouse 12 persons residing of the following
ages: 1 at 70 ; 3 at 72 ; 1 at 74 ; 1 at 77 ; 1 at 7a ; 1 at 80 ; 1 at 84 ; 1 at 92 ; 1 at 96.
So that old age and poverty may go hand in hand, as well as among the more favored
classes

British Statesmen have been remarkable for the attainment of old age. Palmerston,
Russel, Gray, Chatham, Brougham, and a score of others, were all to the front after
passing their 80th birthday. Disraeli and Gladstone, although active up to the last
moment, carrying the cares of State upon their minds, are not counted i ; this connec-
tion; although Gladstone at 77 is a wonderful e.xhibition of intellectual power unsub-
dued by physical infirmities. The Emperttr William of Germany is another remarkable
instance of life's tenacity, who at the age of 90, is still active. Von Moike is fit for
service at 83, as Wellington was at the same age. Chief Justice Halliburton of Nova
Scotia attained his 87th year, as also did Chief Justice Young, who passed away only a
year since. The name of another distinguished Haligonian may be mentioned in this
connection, viz. : the Admiral of the British Navy — Vice-Admiral Sir Provost Wallace
— who still lives at 96 years. I last saw him fifty years ago. He was then Captain of
the Menae frigate on the North American Station — every inch a sailor and gentleman in
appearance. At the age of 22 he was Lieutenant on board the Shannon in her engage-
ment with the American ship Chesapeake, and the duty devolved upon him to take com-
mand and convey the prize into Halifax — all the other officers being killed or disabled.
Tills old hero still lives and was in good health at last accounts. Ctiief Justice Blowers
of Nova Scotia lived to the age of J 00. Ex-Governor Desbarras of P. E. Island died in
Halifax many years ago, at the age of 102. I saw both their funerals. Colonel Min-
chin, who lived and passed away in Fredericton a few years since, was 10() years of age.
A St. John paper a short time since, interviewed a gentleman named Moore, aged l(j0.

Tb«mca^cs cenM into my aioA at th»momtBt en passant. One or twe examples of
looMTtty peculiar to fences, inajr b» bere given. Mr. Kekhe, of Glouoesiershkei Eflgr
land, died in 1772 aged 133 year*. He felt three daugfatars^^he eldest ag^ 1 11— tlie
second 1 10, and tbe youngest 109. Major Ward, of Saint Joka, called tU^fetber of the
City, died about forty years a^ at the age of 91. Tw«. of his sons, Charles aad JeiiU,
lired to th« »£• of 93 respectively. GHher instances might becitedj Buf a wbole vwlttme
could be written in the ennmeraiiou of such cases and the cnriosiites ot longevity genef-
ally— a w»rk of intere.« to youag as weH as old. But the scope of a paper Uke this
forbids anything more than a casual refetence.

The secret of longevity beloiigs as yet to the Greek Kalends,— for we da i»ot dis^
cover in all cases of old age, that the rules «.f living have been unilormly of the same
observance. Some have grown old not only in spite of the reverses of fortune, but in
defiance of all organic, hygienic, or sanitary rule or regulation ; gluttony as well as
drunkenness has run into the octogenarian period of existence. But snob cases are tbe
exception to tbe rule. It is unnatural to believe that, ordinarily speaking, a man can
attain old age who lives an intemperate life — the word "intemperate" to be taken in its
various forms, — as well in other respects as in the use of intoxicating liquors ; for bow-
ever injuiioua to the human system tbe latter no doubt is, especially when carried to
excess, there is another habit, if not equally demoralizing, is nevertheless in my opinion
Hluiost as destructive to human life, — I mean the use and abuse of tobacco. Wben I say
almost as destructive, I hope I shall not be misunderstood. My reference is to >he per-
t-entHge of deaths caused by the use of the tn o articles respectively. I believe that for
every one man who drinks liquor, two use tobacco without drinking; and as tbe latter
is iu my opinion a slow poison, undermining tbe system, deranging the nerves and de-
sirnying tbe action of tbe heart; although the process of decay is slow and imperceptible,
it is nevertheless going on all the same. The vital forces are being used up from day to
day. The respectability of the habit (I know no other word to use liere\ is rather an
encouragement to it — whereas it Society would combine and frown it down, as in tbe
c. so of the Temperance organizations — tobacco like rum would be consigned to tbe
tomb of tbe Capulets, and the smoking of an old pipe in our streets would in time
come to be regarded as one of tbe lost arts which went out wiib tbe last of tbe Indians.
However, tbi» is a subject to which a whole lecture might be devoted — and perhaps
upon this bead I have said too much already. Again, no man can expect to grow old,
or raise a healthy family, if be resides over a cess-pool, and thus continually breathe foul
air, — if his premises are fdled with garbage, and bis neighborhood hot-beds of putrefac-
tion, decay, and choked drainage, 'i'his remark applies to country as well as tcwu.
Onr Boards of Health of late years have done much good in looking after these things.
But they cannot do everything. They may fine a man for violating a sanitary law, but
tbey cannot compel him to be tidy, especially in localities where no Boards exist Bad
plumbing in houses is another great cause of disease. Better in my opinion to dispense
altogaiher with the modern conveniences so dependent upon plumliing, than run any
risks, nnleiis vou can depend upon the honesty of your workman. But iu order to the
enjoyment of health and the attainment of old age, there are many other things to be
:i\oided and studied. Regular hours in eating and sleeping are to be observed. The
riuiditv, however, which would consign a person to beil at ten at night, and up again at
six in the morning, — that would regulate the exact quantity of f»od to be taken at a meal
(provided nothing is eaten that disagrees with one), has no place in my vocabulary. I
believe in freedom of action in these as in other respects, it moderated upon well-defined
Discretion and good judgment should govern every acii'ja cif our lives, and leave

rules.

the rest to the laws of our nature. A late writer says:

He who strives after a long and pleasant term of life must seek to attain continnal
eqnanimity, and carefully to avoid everything which too violently taxes his feelings.
Nothing more quickly consumes the vigor of life than the violence of the emotions of the
mind. We know that anxiety and care can destroy the healthiest body ; we know that
fright and fear, yes, excess of joy, becomes deadly. Those who are naturally cool and
of a qaiet turn of mind, upon whom nothing can make too powerful an impression, who
are not wont to be excited either by great sorrow or great joy, have the best chance of
living long and happy after their manner. Preserve, therefore, under all circumstances,
a composure of mind which no happiness, no misfortune can too much disturb. Love
nothing too violently ; hate nothing too passionately ; fear nothing too strongly.

CHOLERA IN SAINT JOHN IN 1854.

I just now rem«irked that filth and bad drainage were pregnant causes of disease In
]854, when the cholera broke out in Saint John, this City was in a most foul state, and
had no proper water supply. No wonder the disease found congenial food heie frr the
destruction of life. Although what I am about to relate may appear irrelevant to the
occasion, it may not be without interest to the younger members of the audience, and
serve as a caution to the citizens in case of another cholera visitation, which God forbid.
It is now thirty three years since that terrible scourge, when 1500 of the people of this
City and Portland were carried off* in abont eight weeks. As an epidemic, the disease
first exhibited itself (at the beginning of July) in the neighborhood of the "Bethel Meeting
House," foot of Morris street, where a womau and three of her children died within tlie
space of forty eight hours; and after carrying ofT many others, it established itse'f in St.
Patrick's Street, taking a bound, as it were, over half a mile of ground. In this locality
of slaughter houses and other abominations, the scourge was terrible ; and it held on
while there was a victim left, it would seem, to satiate its appetite. Those who di(i not
die fled, so that the entire street was all but deserted. It next took possession of York
Point, and the neighboriiood of the Mill Pond — likewise filthy disgusting places — where
hundreds fell beneath the fetid breath of the destroyer. Portland was visited next, and
in the main and bye-streets of this Parish, there were not a dozen houses ont of four
hundred that were not attacked. It then reached Indian Town, where the havoc was
more manifest than perhaps in any other part, from the fact of the place being more
compactly built. At one time, it was said, there were not a dozen persons, out of a
population of 300, remaining, owing to the deaths and desertions. After destroying and
dispersing all before it in Indian Town, the epidemic made its way into Lower Cove,
and extended its arms right and left, in nearly every street.

Although these localities were khe strong battle grounds of the disease, it manifested
itself in a sporadic form in all parts of the City and suburbs — the air seemed impregnated,
it had an unusual, sulphurous smell — nor was the fog any panacea ; on ;be contrary,
when the fog was the heaviest the disease seemed to increase. Upwards of 4 3 bodies
were conveyed over the Abideau Bridge one day, when the fog was so dense that an
object fifty yards ahead could not be discerned. The disease performed a circuit, con-
fining itself chiefly to the low lands, while the higher ground — or centre of the City —
being better situated for natural drainage, was lighily passed over. More than one. half
the deaths were put down to predisposing causes — such as physical debility, inattention
to regir.ien, poverty, ignorance, fright, and so forth. But every one healthy and vigorous
felt that the last day was at hand for him, except perhaps the hard drinker; during that
year no licenses for selling liquor were granted by the Mayor, and there never was so
much drunkenness shown in the streets, in the midst of this harvest of death. The

roughs and drankards lost their heads and fell easy victims to the cholera. No class of
uieo were more zealous or worked harder to mitigate suffering and minister to the wants
of their fellow-beings than the Doctors and the Ministers They were in the midst of
the disease day and night; and although some of them were debilitated and worn out
from exposure, it was set down as a most remarkable thing, that not one suffered or died
from th . disease. Heroic instances might be cited of deeds performed ; but where all
di^i .. ., it may appear like invidiousness to particularize. One case might be mentioned
of a reverend gentleman, who spent his days in the Protestant graveyards performing the
burial service over the dead, as bodies would arrive one after another, rather than see
them buried without such ministrations. On riding one morning to the church-yard,
head of the Bay, he saw a number of persons crowding together over some object. On
coming up he found a boy writhing in agony, a victim of the cholera, He lifted him
into his carriage, conveyed him to the Almshouse, and that boy grew up into manhood
to relate the circumstance. That Clergyman's name was Rev Wm. Scovill, who died
in England a couple of years since. The orphans were so numerous that it was almost
impossible to fina them shelter. The Roman Catholic Bishop (Connolly), likewise
dead, improvised buildings which afforded temporary quarters for a large number. Heads
of families were cut down, leaving in some cases eight and ten helpless children, and
starvation lor want of care, was in some instances the result. The Almshouse was filled
with children, the offspring of well to-do and poor alike. In twelve days there were 48
cases of cholera in this Institution alone, and '.^6 deaths. The shipyards at Courtenay
Bay and the Straight Shore were deserted. There were upwards of twenty large ships
on the stocks at the time, and almost 2,00U men employed. But now every yard was
as silent as a graveyard.

The progress of the disease from day to day will be better understood by the sub-
Joined figures: The object was to keep the existence of the cholera as secret as
pos<!iible — and no bulletins were issued for some days, until the necessity for doing so was
l«>rced upon the Board of Health, at that time not a very vigilant body July 26th there
were lo deaths. For the 24 hoursending July 29th, 33 — includingSt. John and Portland.
Next 24 hours— 30. Next — 31. Next — 27." Next — 24. Ending August 1 — 27. Next,
August 4 — 41, and for the week ending the latter date — 221. Next 24 hours, August
J 1—40. Next— 42. Next — 37, and for each day afterwards— 3J— 33 — 21 — 18 — 20
— 2.0 — 14 — 18 — 17 — 15 — 13. And August 21 the decline is very marked, viz., 7 —
then 10 — and last bulletin — 3, at the end of September. I have otnitied some days in
the statement, but that is not material. There were probably 5,00U cholera cases and
1,500 deaths during the terrible two months' visitation.

A person named Munford, who was sexton in the Germain street Methodist Church,
was en^a< <d by the Board of Health to attend to the sick and dead. If there was a
hero, t!;at person was one in the true acceptation of the word. He was at work every-
where, day and night. Death had no terrors for him. Rough wooden coffins were
going about the streets by cart loads; and Munford often unassisted would place the
dead in coffins and have them carried away for burial. Persons in a dying state deserted
by friends in sheer terror, had in Munford a ministerinng angel, doing what he could to
afford relief The Victoria Cross, then not instituted, has never been bestowed upon a
more worthy hero. He worked and lived through the whole plague, and came out more
than conqueror. Every house was provided with cholera medicine, and disinfectants
were used in almost every room. The vapours from chloride of lime went up like incense
pouring out of the windows like smoke, and scenting the air in all the neighborhood.
House to house visitation by physicians, was a means used to find out the sick when in
the incipient stages of the disease and provide remedies. The plan was considered most

vahwhle, and irasno donbt the mdanS of sft^hig maioy five*, espedatty tiittong th* ptmt
attd de$fiiute. Finally tar barrels and varions combustible compounds w«r»sef on Are
in the streets, so that tbe whole town was a glare of light at night simo. This pfoeeetf-
iog was considered to be highly efficacious. The air was fi>ll of smoke and tarfunies,
which perhaps destroyed the miasmatic gerniSi and went faMowards bringing tbe plagne
plague to a close,

I thus described on the 2 1 si Aognst, 1 854, the desohfictn of the scene tlwrt every where
presented iiself, and it may not be out of place if I here read it :

"We passed through Portland on Friday afternoon. O what a change was theie
presented since our previons visit ! It was a scene of desolation and cburcfa yard stilbess,
the houses wiih their closed shutters and white blinded windows, serving as ntoouments
to remind us 'hat the angel of death had passed with destructive rapidity through the
tenements of this broad avenue. Scarcely n human soul was to be seen in the .«>treet.
A field-piece might hrtve been ptaced in any situation and discharged, and the chance of
hitting any person would hare lieen very remote. It was Portland at 12 o'clock at night,
and yet the sun was in his meridian. The gutters were strewed with lime, in a }ellowish
state, showing the preparations that had been made for the terrible scourge, In these
houses death had been busy for the past six weeks, — hundreds of human beings who
inhabited theiti, in whose veins just now beat the pulsations of life and happiness, are
now in eternity. * « • From the Po tiand (Kev. Mr. Hartison's) Church oit to
the Valley Church, through Paradise Row — a distance of about a mile and a half —
where thousands of people and vehicles of all kinds are nsuaily to be seen, it being one
of the greatest business thoroughfares in the whole Province — we counted (at 4 o'clock
in the alternoon) si.\ human beings, and not a single vehicle. Out of about two hundred
shops, there were not more than ten that were not closed. As a universal thing we may
add, the white blinds were drawn at all the upper windows. It appeared to us as if
these who had survived had deserted their houses and gone into the country — anywhere
to get clear of the fatal destroyer. But a person must go through Portland to judge for
himself it was a most painful and soul-stirring visit, that of ours on Friday afternoon."

Public meetings were called, and steps taken to guard against future visitations. A
Committee was appointed for the reliefof the destitute, composed of the following citizens:
James A. Harding, Chairman ; Rev. William Scovil, Rev. William Donald, Rev. George
Armsirong, Rev. Wm. Ferrie, James Macfariane, John Boyd, W. D. W. Hubbard, Chas,
P. Belts, James M'Millan, to whom contributions were to be sent. The destitution was
terrible, especially among the poor; for during the eight weeks of the plague there was
no business done, no employment, and consequently no money and but little food.

Although the cholera is again on the advance (it has found a lodgment in New York),
and as in 1854 may diffuse itself far and wide, I do not think it possible, even if it gets
to 8t. John, that it can work such destruction as on the former occasion. Our City in a
sanitary point of view was then greatly neglected, We counted too much upon tlie fog
as an epidemic preventive, and therefore took no precaution against an attack. The
Mill Pond was a receptacle for the duntpage of all sorts of abominations. Erin street
was a large dish which reccl»ed the flowa^^e of all tbe high lands round about, and an
unsavoury odor pervaded the atmosphere all the year round. All the Back Bay was
occupied by slaughter houses in a reeking state of decay and putrefaction. Wo had no
sewers worthy of the name. Stagnation in these respects was the rule. We had no
regular water supply. The works were in the hands of a Company, and the pipes run
only through certain streets, while the supply even from these was intermittant an.l
uncertain. The Board of Heahh was not a live body as it is to-day. The neces.sicy
for undue exertion in 1854 may not have been considered essential.

Now all this is changed. The Mill Pond has been filled ap, and fine railway
structures occupy the site. Erin street, York Point, and all adjacent streets have under-
gone a transformation which represents altogether a totally opposite condition of things.
Instead of stagnant sewers, the whole city is well drained. The slaughter houses, once
so noxious in the back part of the city, have been banished into the suburbs, and are now
conducted under proper rules and regulations. The city owns the water works which
are well managed, and the supply is generally satisfactory. The Board of Health is
aliva and active. In short, the sanitary condition of St. John and Portland to-day is
pure and healthful; and the great fire of 1877, by which a large amount of animal and
V ogetable lite was destroyed, may have contributed somewhat to this better condition of
things. I do not mean to say that everything is in perfect order, and there is no room
for improvement still. No precautionary measures to ward off the cholera should be
neglected, whether by Boards of Health or people.

After this long digression I will now draw the subject of this lecture to a close.

In conclusion. Is it within our power to extend our lives beyond the ordinary
period t By the observance of certain rules we may. The besetting siDsof our nature,
selfishness and self-indulgence, when properly disciplined or rationally controlled, will
not continue as stumbling blocks in the pathway to old age. Sickly, delicate persons
have been known to advance in years, and towards the decline of life become vigorous
and hearty, even at 70 and 8J. The thin, spare body may be healthy. The spare, pale
man, though a weak man, may live on, because he lives out and out in every part equally.
All his vital organs live and die together, not one of them dying first and bringing the
others down with it. So he lives, as it is commonly said, on a thread; but a thread
which, being continuous and of equal strength, neither knotted nor uneven, is durable
and long-lived. And on the other hand, there are those who have boasted that they
never had a day's sickness, or once required a physician's aid in all their lives ; and yet
while in the meridian of their days have been suddenly cut down. Tiien there are those
who appear ruddy, sound, robust, the picture of health as it is called, who bid fair to reach
the centenarian period. But there is an enemy within, lurking about the corners of the
body, who must be watched and kept in check by the observance of regular habits.
The hearts of such persons are too powerful or too feeble for the rest of the organism ;
or the vascular system of their brain is feeble at some point; or the kidney, the brain,
the liver or the lung is undergoing structural change, and under sudden strain is easily
stricken with a fatal inactivity which carries all the other vital organs in its own train.
The secret is — poor health demands and gets more care ; while robust health, equally
amenable to the same physical laws, takes no thought of man's mortality, but moves
upon the crest of the volcano without considering the insecurity of the foot-holJ. Nor
is life to be measured by rules so exact, that the least deviation from the strict line is sure
to bring about disaster. That in order to enjoy health we must weigh our food, submit
it to a chemical analysis, set bounds to our cups. That we must go to bed early and
rise early — (some philosophers go so far as to say, that the earlier you rise the longer
vou will live — to which opinion they are welcome). That you must not go out in wet
weather lest you get your feet wet, and take cold. That you must not keep yourself
too hot or too cold. In fact, that in order to attain old age you must shut yourself up
in prison, and have a keeper over you to wind you up every morning and see that
you keep good time during every moment of the day. Now in my opinion all these
precautions, however good, are rather strained and arbitrary. I believe that a man
should eat and drink as much as suits his bodily condition, and that he should regulate
his sifc?ping hours by the demands of his nature and his opportunities; but always to

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have deep enough, whatever the hoan^ and ttiat he is not InfirtDgmf npon the lawn of
his being, should he cooiiDue in bed until nine o'clocli in the morniog. That the
temperature of his hod^ and of the atmosphere which he breathes, »b3ala be made to
harmonize as nearijr as possible, and that if he goes abroad and gets his feet Wet no
harm will befall him, provided he looks after himself as soon as he gtts noder cover. In
short, in order to i^/Ujcevity we must lead regular, temperate, well-spent lives, take pieuty
of out'door exei:pi8e, walk half a dozen miles a day, avoid all excesses, keep good notiri,
control our passions as well as appetites, owe no man anything but kind words, never
get excited, go to bed and get up with a clear conscience, live at peace with all the
world — especially your friends and your neighbours. Above all, remember thy Creator
in the days of thy youth and throughout life — " in whose hands our breath is, and whose
ar« all our ways."

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