Throughout the article occasional facts will be
given to show in what degree character, habit, and temperament
influence longevity, and in what state of mind and body and under
what circumstances man has obtained the highest age.
General Opinions.--There have been many learned authorities who
invariably discredit all accounts of extraordinary age, and
contend that there has never been an instance of a man living
beyond the century mark whose age has been substantiated by
satisfactory proof. Such extremists as Sir G. Cornewall Lewis and
Thoms contend that since the Christian era no person of royal or
noble line mentioned in history whose birth was authentically
recorded at its occurrence has reached one hundred years. They
have taken the worst station in life in which to find longevity
as their field of observation. Longevity is always most common in
the middle and lower classes, in which we cannot expect to find
the records preserved with historical correctness.
The Testimony of Statistics.--Walford in his wonderful
"Encyclopedia of Insurance" says that in England the "Royal
Exchange" for a period of one hundred and thirty-five years had
insured no life which survived ninety-six. The "London Assurance"
for the same period had no clients who lived over ninety, and the
"Equitable" had only one at ninety-six.
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