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Article AN HISTORICAL ESSAY ON LONGEVITY. ← Page 3 of 3
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An Historical Essay On Longevity.
ground to conclude , that the duration of life in the time of Moses , the Greeks and the Romans , was the same as at present ; and that the age of the world has no kind of influence on the longevity of its inhabitants , excepting only the difference arising from the cultivation of its surface , and the change of climate . Thus , for example , it is evident , that in Italy neither so many nor so old people are to be found as in the time of Vespasianand the
, reason is , that the climate then , owing to the forests ; was colder , and rendered the men more robust . Perhaps , also , the natural warmth of the earth may alter , and beencreased sometimes in one region and diminished in another . The result of this research will be , that man can still attain to the same age as formerly .
. Let us now take a view of the different states and conditions of men , and in this respect tumour attention to modern times . In regard to Emperors and Kings , it does not appear that nature has granted them in general a long duration of life . In ancient history we meet with but few crowned heads who attained the age of 80 , and this is just the case in the modern . In the whole catalogue
of Roman and German Emperors , reckoning from Augustus to the present-time , which includes above two hundred , we find only four who arrived at the age of 80 . Aurengzebe , that celebrated conqueror , lived to be 100 ; but he is rather to be reckoned as a wandering chief than as a King . The Ecclesiastical Princes have not been more fortunate . Of three hundred Popesonly five attained the age of 80 . But an
, extraordinary number of instances may be found among the monks and hermits , who , from their ' strict regimen , retired and placid life , had all the means of longevity . The apostle John lived to be <) T , ; Paul , the hermit , died at the age of 113 ; and St . Anthony at that of 105 . Athanasius and Jerorn both lived beyond So . But since the clergy have mingled more with the worldand partook of its cares
, and its pleasures , instances of this kind are more uncommon . Philosophers have at all times been distinguished by their great age , especially those of a more ancient date , when the primary part of their profession was an abstraction from the vanities and luxuries of life . The oldest instances are to be found among the Stoics and the Pythagoreans .
In modern times , however , philosophers have obtained a pre-eminence in this respect over others . Kepler and Bacon both lived to be very old ; and Newton , whose mind was of the happiest temperature , and whose manners were strictly becoming a philosopher , attained the age of 90 . Euler , a mathematician of deserved celebrity lived to be nearly the same age . flO BE CONCJ . UDEB IS OUB NF . XT . 1
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
An Historical Essay On Longevity.
ground to conclude , that the duration of life in the time of Moses , the Greeks and the Romans , was the same as at present ; and that the age of the world has no kind of influence on the longevity of its inhabitants , excepting only the difference arising from the cultivation of its surface , and the change of climate . Thus , for example , it is evident , that in Italy neither so many nor so old people are to be found as in the time of Vespasianand the
, reason is , that the climate then , owing to the forests ; was colder , and rendered the men more robust . Perhaps , also , the natural warmth of the earth may alter , and beencreased sometimes in one region and diminished in another . The result of this research will be , that man can still attain to the same age as formerly .
. Let us now take a view of the different states and conditions of men , and in this respect tumour attention to modern times . In regard to Emperors and Kings , it does not appear that nature has granted them in general a long duration of life . In ancient history we meet with but few crowned heads who attained the age of 80 , and this is just the case in the modern . In the whole catalogue
of Roman and German Emperors , reckoning from Augustus to the present-time , which includes above two hundred , we find only four who arrived at the age of 80 . Aurengzebe , that celebrated conqueror , lived to be 100 ; but he is rather to be reckoned as a wandering chief than as a King . The Ecclesiastical Princes have not been more fortunate . Of three hundred Popesonly five attained the age of 80 . But an
, extraordinary number of instances may be found among the monks and hermits , who , from their ' strict regimen , retired and placid life , had all the means of longevity . The apostle John lived to be <) T , ; Paul , the hermit , died at the age of 113 ; and St . Anthony at that of 105 . Athanasius and Jerorn both lived beyond So . But since the clergy have mingled more with the worldand partook of its cares
, and its pleasures , instances of this kind are more uncommon . Philosophers have at all times been distinguished by their great age , especially those of a more ancient date , when the primary part of their profession was an abstraction from the vanities and luxuries of life . The oldest instances are to be found among the Stoics and the Pythagoreans .
In modern times , however , philosophers have obtained a pre-eminence in this respect over others . Kepler and Bacon both lived to be very old ; and Newton , whose mind was of the happiest temperature , and whose manners were strictly becoming a philosopher , attained the age of 90 . Euler , a mathematician of deserved celebrity lived to be nearly the same age . flO BE CONCJ . UDEB IS OUB NF . XT . 1