length of life.

From the different longevities of men in the beginning of the world, after the flood, and in these ages, Mr Derham draws an argument for the interposition of a divine Providence.

Immediately after the creation, when the world was to be peopled by one man and one woman, the ordinary age was 900 and upwards.—Immediately after the flood, when there were three persons to stock the world, their age was cut shorter, and none of those patriarchs, but Shem, arrived at 500. In the second century we find none that reached 240: in the third, none but Terah that came to 200 years; the world, at least a part of it, by that time being so well peopled, that they had built cities, and were cantoned out into diffant nations.—By degrees, as the number of people increased, their longevity dwindled, till it came down at length to 70 or 80 years: and there it stood, and has continued to stand ever since the time of Moses.—This is found a good medium, and by means hereof the world is neither overstocked, nor kept too thin; but life and death keep a pretty equal pace.

That the common duration of man's life has been the same in all ages since the above period, is plain both from sacred and profane history. To pass by others, Plato lived to 81, and was accounted an old man: and the instances of longevity produced by Pliny, lib. vii. c. 48. as very extraordinary, may most of them be matched in modern histories.—In the following Tables are collected into one point of view the most memorable instances of long-lived persons of whose age we have any authentic records. The first and second are extracted from Mr Whitehurst's Inquiry into the Origin and Strata of the Earth, with some additions by Dr Fothergill; who inserted them, accompanied by a third, together with a number of useful observations, in the first volume of the Memoirs of the Manchester Literary Society. <table> <tr> <th>Names of the Persons.</th> <th>Age.</th> <th>Places of Abode.</th> <th>Living or Dead.</th> </tr> <tr> <td>Thomas Parre</td> <td>152</td> <td>Shropshire</td> <td>Died November 16, 1635.<br>Phil. Trans. No 44.</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Henry Jenkins</td> <td>169</td> <td>Yorkshire</td> <td>Died December 8, 1670.<br>Phil. Trans. No 221.</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Robert Montgomery</td> <td>126</td> <td>Ditto</td> <td>Died in — — 1670.</td> </tr> <tr> <td>James Sands</td> <td>140</td> <td>Staffordshire</td> <td>Do. Fuller's Worthies,<br>p. 47.</td> </tr> <tr> <td>His Wife</td> <td>120</td> <td>Ditto</td> <td>Raleigh's Hist. p. 166.</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Countess of Desmond</td> <td>140</td> <td>Ireland</td> <td>Died — — 1601. (A)</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Ecleston</td> <td>143</td> <td>Ditto</td> <td>— — 1668. (B)</td> </tr> <tr> <td>J. Sagar</td> <td>112</td> <td>Lancashire</td> <td>Living — — (C)</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Laurence</td> <td>140</td> <td>Scotland</td> <td>Died May 30, 1764.</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Simon Sack</td> <td>141</td> <td>Tronion</td> <td>Aug. 26, 1766.</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Col. Thomas Winflow</td> <td>146</td> <td>Ireland</td> <td>Jan. — 1768</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Francis Conift</td> <td>150</td> <td>Yorkshire</td> <td>June 24, 1770. (D)</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Christ. J. Drakenberg</td> <td>146</td> <td>Norway</td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Margaret Forster</td> <td>136</td> <td>Cumberland</td> <td>Both living 1771.</td> </tr> <tr> <td>her daughter</td> <td>104</td> <td>Ditto</td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Francis Bons</td> <td>121</td> <td>France</td> <td>Died Feb. 6, 1769.</td> </tr> <tr> <td>John Brooke</td> <td>134</td> <td>Devonshire</td> <td>Living — — 1777. (E)</td> </tr> <tr> <td>James Bowels</td> <td>152</td> <td>Killingworth</td> <td>Died Aug. 15, 1656. (F)</td> </tr> <tr> <td>John Tice</td> <td>125</td> <td>Worcestershire</td> <td>March 1774. (G)</td> </tr> <tr> <td>John Mount</td> <td>136</td> <td>Scotland</td> <td>Feb. 27, 1766. (H)</td> </tr> <tr> <td>A. Goldsmith</td> <td>140</td> <td>France</td> <td>June — 1776. (I)</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Mary Yates</td> <td>128</td> <td>Shropshire</td> <td>— — 1776. (K)</td> </tr> <tr> <td>John Bales</td> <td>126</td> <td>Northampton</td> <td>April 5, 1776. (L)</td> </tr> <tr> <td>William Ellis</td> <td>130</td> <td>Liverpool</td> <td>Aug. 16, 1780. (M)</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Louisa Truxo, a Negress</td> <td>175</td> <td>Tuconea, S. America</td> <td>Living Oct. 5, 1780. (N)</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Margaret Patten</td> <td>138</td> <td>Lockneugh near Paisley</td> <td>Lynche's Guide to Health.</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Janet Taylor</td> <td>108</td> <td>Fintry, Scotland</td> <td>Died Oct. 10, 1780.</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Richard Lloyd</td> <td>133</td> <td>Montgomery</td> <td>Lynche's Guide to Health.</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Suffannah Hilliar</td> <td>100</td> <td>Piddington, Northamph.</td> <td>Died Feb. 19, 1781. (O)</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Ann Cockbolt</td> <td>105</td> <td>Stoke-Bruerne, Ib.</td> <td>April 5, 1775. (P)</td> </tr> <tr> <td>James Hayley</td> <td>112</td> <td>Middlewich, Cheshire</td> <td>March 17, 1781. (Q)</td> </tr> <tr> <td>William Walker, aged 112, not mentioned above, who was a soldier at the battle of Edgehill.</td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> </tr> </table>

If we look back to an early period of the Christian era, we shall find that Italy has been, at least about that time, peculiarly propitious to longevity. Lord Bacon observes that the year of our Lord 76, in the reign of Vespasian, was memorable; for in that year was a taxing which afforded the most authentic method of knowing the ages of men. From it, there were found in that part of Italy lying between the Apennine mountains and the river Po, 124 persons who either equalled or exceeded 100 years of age, namely—

54 persons of 100 years each. 57 - 110 2 - 125

4 persons of 130 years. 4 - 136 3 - 140 In Parma 3 - 120 2 - 130 In Brussels 1 - 125 In Placentia 1 - 131 In Faventia 1 - 132 6 - 110 4 - 120 In Rimino 1 - 150 years, viz. Marcus Aponius, Mr

(A) Fuller's Worthies, p. 140. (B) Phil. Transf. abridged by Lowthorp, vol. iii. p. 30, 6. (c) Derham's Physico-Theology, p. 173. (D) Annual Register. (E) Daily Advertiser, Nov. 18. 1777. (F) Warwickshire. (G) Daily Advertiser, March 1774. (H) Morning Post, Feb. 29. 1776. (I) Daily Advertiser, June 24. 1776. (K) Daily Advertiser, Aug. 22. 1776. (L) See Inscription in the portico of All-Saints church. (M) London Even. Post, Aug. 22. 1780. (N) London Chronicle, Oct. 5. 1780. (O) Northamp. Mercury, Feb. 19. 1781. (P) Well known to persons of credit in Northampton. (Q) Gen. Evening Post, March 24. 1781. Mr Carew, in his Survey of Cornwall, affiures us, that it is no unusual thing with the inhabitants of that county to reach 90 years of age and upwards, and even to retain their strength of body and perfect use of their senses. Besides Brown, the Cornish beggar, who lived to 120, and one Polezew to 130 years of age, he remembered the decease of four persons in his own parish, the sum of whose years, taken collectively, amounted to 340. Now, although longevity evidently prevails more in certain districts than in others, yet it is by no means confined to any particular nation or climate; nor are there wanting instances of it in almost every quarter of the globe, as appears from the preceding as well as the subsequent Table; which might have been considerably enlarged, had it appeared necessary; but we have only added, in the last, three recent instances that are peculiarly remarkable.

<table> <tr> <th>Names of the Persons.</th> <th>Age.</th> <th>Places of Abode.</th> <th>Where recorded.</th> </tr> <tr> <td>Hippocrates, Physician</td> <td>104</td> <td>Island of Cos</td> <td>Lynche on Health, chap. 3.</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Democritus, Philosopher</td> <td>109</td> <td>Abdera</td> <td>Bacon's History, 1095.</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Galen, Physician</td> <td>140</td> <td>Pergamus</td> <td>Voss. Init. lib. iii.</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Albuna, Marc</td> <td>150</td> <td>Ethiopia</td> <td>Hakewell's Ap. lib. i.</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Dumitur Raduly</td> <td>140</td> <td>Haromfzeck, Tranfyl-vania</td> <td>Died Jan. 18. 1782. General Gazetteer, April 18.</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Titus Fullonius</td> <td>150</td> <td>Bononia</td> <td>Fulgoius, lib. viii.</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Abraham Paiba</td> <td>142</td> <td>Charlestown, South Carol.</td> <td>General Gazetteer.</td> </tr> <tr> <td>L. Tertulla</td> <td>137</td> <td>Ariminum</td> <td>Fulgoius, lib. viii.</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Lewis Cornaro</td> <td>100</td> <td>Venice</td> <td>Bacon's Hist. of Life, p. 134.</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Robert Blackeney, Esq.</td> <td>114</td> <td>Armagh, Ireland</td> <td>General Gazetteer.</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Margaret Scott</td> <td>125</td> <td>Dalkeith, Scotland</td> <td>Inscription on her tomb there.</td> </tr> <tr> <td>W. Gulstone</td> <td>140</td> <td>Ireland</td> <td>Fuller's Worthies.</td> </tr> <tr> <td>J. Bright</td> <td>105</td> <td>Ludlow</td> <td>Lynche on Health.</td> </tr> <tr> <td>William Postell</td> <td>120</td> <td>France</td> <td>Bacon's History, p. 134.</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Jane Reeves</td> <td>103</td> <td>Essex</td> <td>St James's Chron. June 14. 1781.</td> </tr> <tr> <td>W. Paulet, Marquis of Winchfetter</td> <td>106</td> <td>Hampshire</td> <td>Baker's Chron. p. 502.</td> </tr> <tr> <td>John Wilson</td> <td>116</td> <td>Suffolk</td> <td>Gen. Gaz. Oct. 29. 1782.</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Patrick Wian</td> <td>115</td> <td>Lesbury, Northumberd.</td> <td>Plemp. Fundam. Med. § 4. c. 8.</td> </tr> <tr> <td>M. Laurence</td> <td>140</td> <td>Orcades</td> <td>Buchanan's Hist. of Scotland.</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Evan Williams</td> <td>145</td> <td>Caermarthen work-house, till alive</td> <td>General Gazetteer, Oct. 12th 1782.</td> </tr> <tr> <td>John Jacobs (R)</td> <td>121</td> <td>Mount Jura</td> <td>All the public prints, Jan. 1790.</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Matthew Tait (S)</td> <td>123</td> <td>Auchinleck, Ayrshire</td> <td>Died Feb. 19. 1792. Edin. Even. Cour. Mar. 8. 1792.</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Donald Macleod (T)</td> <td>104</td> <td>Isle of Sky. Alive Jan. 1792.</td> <td>All the public prints at the end of 1790; and Memoirs, &c.</td> </tr> </table>

(R) This man, in 1789, at the age of 120, quitted his native hills, and from the summit of Mount Jura undertook a journey to Versailles, to behold and return thanks to the national assembly for the vote which had freed him and his poor countrymen from the feudal yoke. In the early part of his life, he was a servant in the family of the prince de Beaufremont. His memory continued good to the last day of his life; and the principal inconveniences which he felt from his great age were, that his sight was weakened, and the natural heat of his body was so diminished, that he shivered with cold in the middle of the dog-days if he was not sitting by a good fire. This old man was received in the body of the house by the national assembly, indulged with a chair, and directed to keep on his hat lest he should catch cold if he was to fit uncovered. A collection was made for him by the members, which exceeded 100l. sterling; but he lived not to return to Mount Jura. He was buried on Saturday the 31st of January 1790, with great funeral pomp, in the parish church of St Euface at Paris.

(S) He served as a private at the taking of Gibraltar in 1704.

(T) Memoirs of the Life and gallant Exploits of the Old Highlander, Serjeant Donald Macleod, &c. published 1791, in the 103d year of his age.—This old gentleman, for it appears that he really is a gentleman both by birth and by behaviour, was born in the year of the Revolution, in the parish of Braecadill, in the isle of Sky, and county of Inverness, North Britain. He is a cadet of the family of Ullath in Sky; and descended, through his mother, from Macdonald of Slate, the ancestor of the present Lord Macdonald. The earlier part of his life coincided with the famine of seven years in Scotland; which was so great as to suggest, even to the patriotic Mr Fletcher, the idea of the people felling themselves as slaves for immediate subsistence. He A certain author mentions a list collected by himself of 107 persons, who all died at the age of 120 and upwards. Two of them attained the age of 150, three of 152, one of 154, one of 169, and another 175. In 1763 there were found in Sweden 988 females above 90 years of age. We have seen a list of 104 persons, none of whom died under 120 years of age, and one of them, it is said, lived to the prodigious age of 180. Forty-one of them belonged to England, 16 to Scotland, and 24 to Ireland.

The antediluvians are purposely omitted, as bearing too little reference to the present race of mortals, to afford any satisfactory conclusions; and as they have been already taken notice of in a separate article; (see ANTEDILUVIANS). As the improbable stories of some persons who have almost rivalled them in modern times, border too much upon the marvellous to find a place in these tables, the present examples are abundantly sufficient to prove, that longevity does not depend, so much as has been supposed, on any particular climate, situation, or occupation in life: for we see, that it often prevails in places where all these are extremely dissimilar; and it would, moreover, be very difficult, in the histories of the several persons above mentioned, to find any circumstance common to them all, except, perhaps, that of being born of healthy parents, and of being inured to daily labour, temperance, and simplicity of diet. Among the inferior ranks of mankind, therefore, rather than among the sons of ease and luxury, shall we find the most numerous instances of longevity; even frequently, when other external circumstances seem extremely unfavourable; as in the case of the poor sexton at Peterborough, who, notwithstanding his unpromising occupation among dead bodies, lived long enough to bury two crowned heads, and to survive two complete generations. The livelihood of Henry Jenkins and old Longevity Parre is said to have consisted chiefly of the coarsest fare, as they depended on precarious alms. To which may be added the remarkable instance of Agnes Milbourne, who, after bringing forth a numerous offspring, and being obliged, through extreme indigence, to pass the latter part of her life in St Luke's workhouse, yet reached her 106th year in that forlorn and unfriendly situation. The plain diet and invigorating employments of a country life are acknowledged or all hands to be highly conducive to health and longevity, while the luxury and refinements of large cities are allowed to be equally destructive to the human species; and this consideration alone, perhaps, more than counterbalances all the boasted privileges of superior elegance and civilization resulting from a city life.

From country villages, and not from crowded cities, have the preceding instances of longevity been chiefly supplied. Accordingly it appears from the London bills of mortality, during a period of 30 years, viz. from the year 1728 to 1758, the sum of the deaths amounted to 7,503,222, and that, in all this prodigious number, only 242 persons survived the 100th year of their age! This overgrown metropolis is computed by Dr Price to contain a ninth part of the inhabitants of England, and to consume annually 7000 persons, who remove into it from the country every year, without increasing it. He moreover observes, that the number of inhabitants in England and Wales has diminished about one-fourth part since the Revolution; and so rapidly of late, that in 11 years, near 200,000 of our common people have been lost. If the calculation be just, however alarming it may appear in a national view, there is this consolation, when considered in a philosophical light, that without partial evil, there can be no general good; Longevity, and that what a nation loses in the scale of population at one period, it gains at another; and thus probably, the average number of inhabitants on the surface of the globe continues at all times nearly the same. By this medium, the world is neither overstocked with inhabitants nor kept too thin, but life and death keep a tolerably equal pace. The inhabitants of this island, comparatively speaking, are but as the dust of the balance; yet instead of being diminished, we are assured by other writers, that within these 30 years they are greatly increased.

The desire of self-preservation, and of protracting the short span of life, is so intimately interwoven with our constitution, that it is justly esteemed one of the first principles of our nature, and, in spite even of pain and misery, seldom quits us to the last moments of our existence. It seems, therefore, to be no less our duty than our interest, to examine minutely into the various means that have been considered as conducive to health and long life: and, if possible, to distinguish such circumstances as are essential to that great end from those which are merely accidental. But here it is much to be regretted, that an accurate history of the lives of all the remarkable persons in the above table, so far as relates to the diet, regimen, and the use of the non-naturals, has not been faithfully handed down to us; without which it is impossible to draw the necessary inferences. Is it not then a matter of astonishment, that historians and philosophers have hitherto paid so little attention to longevity? If the present imperfect list should excite others, of more leisure and better abilities, to undertake a full investigation of so interesting a subject, the inquiry might prove not only curious but highly useful to mankind. In order to furnish materials for a future history of longevity, the bills of mortality throughout the kingdom ought first to be reviled, and put on a better footing, agreeable to the scheme of which Manchester and Chester have already given a specimen highly worthy of imitation. The plan, however, might be further improved with very little trouble, by adding a particular account of the diet and regimen of every person who dies at 80 years of age or upwards; and mentioning whether his parents were healthy, long-lived people, &c. An accurate register, thus established throughout the British dominions, would be productive of many important advantages to society, not only in a medical and philosophical, but also in a political and moral view.

All the circumstances that are most essentially necessary to life, may be comprised under the six following heads: 1. Air and climate; 2. Meat and drink; 3. Motion and rest; 4. The secretions and excretions; 5. Sleep and watching; 6. Affections of the mind.

These, though all perfectly natural to the constitution, have by writers been styled the non-naturals, by a strange perversion of language; and have been all copiously handled under that improper term. However, it may not be amiss to offer a few short observations on each, as they are so immediately connected with the present subject.

1. Air, &c. It has long been known that fresh air is more immediately necessary to life than food; for a man may live two or three days without the latter, but not many minutes without the former. The vivifying principle contained in the atmosphere, so essential to the support of flame, as well as animal life, concerning which authors have propounded so many conjectures, appears now to be nothing else but that pure dephlogisticated fluid lately discovered by that ingenious philosopher Dr Priestley. The common atmosphere may well be supposed to be more or less healthy in proportion as it abounds with this animating principle. As this exhales in copious streams from the green leaves of all kinds of vegetables, even from those of the most poisonous kinds, may we not, in some measure account why instances of longevity are so much more frequent in the country than in large cities; where the air, instead of partaking so largely of this salutary impregnation, is daily contaminated with noxious animal effluvia and phlogiston?

With respect to climate, various observations conspire to prove, that those regions which lie within the temperate zones are best calculated to promote long life. Hence, perhaps, may be explained, why Italy has produced so many long lives, and why islands in general are more salutary than continents; of which Bermuda and some others afford examples. And it is a pleasing circumstance that our own island appears from the above table (notwithstanding the sudden vicissitudes to which it is liable) to contain far more instances of longevity than could well be imagined. The ingenious Mr Whitehurst assures us, from certain facts, that Englishmen are in general longer lived than North Americans; and that a British constitution will last longer, even in that climate, than a native one. But it must be allowed in general, that the human constitution is adapted to the peculiar state and temperature of each respective climate, so that no part of the habitable globe can be pronounced too hot or too cold for its inhabitants. Yet, in order to promote a friendly intercourse between the most remote regions, the Author of nature has wisely enabled the inhabitants to endure great and surprising changes of temperature with impunity.

2. Foods and drink. Though foods and drink of the most simple kinds are allowed to be the best calculated for supporting the body in health, yet it can hardly be doubted but variety may be safely indulged occasionally, provided men would refrain their appetites within the bounds of temperance: for bountiful Nature cannot be supposed to have poured forth such a rich profusion of provisions, merely to tantalize the human species, without attributing to her the part of a cruel stepdame, instead of that of the kind and indulgent parent. Besides, we find, that by the wonderful powers of the digestive organs, a variety of animal and vegetable substances, of very discordant principles, are happily assimilated into one bland homogeneous chyle; therefore it seems natural to distrust those cynical writers, who would rigidly confine mankind to one simple dish, and their drink to the mere water of the brook. Nature, it is true, has pointed out that mild liquid fluid as the universal diluent, and therefore most admirably adapted for our daily beverage. But experience has equally proved, that vinous and spirituous liquors, on certain occasions, are no less salutary and beneficial, whether it be to support strength against sickness or bodily fatigue, or to exhilarate the mind under the pressure of heavy misfortunes. But, alas! Longevity, what Nature meant for innocent and useful cordials, to be used only occasionally, and according to the direction of reason, custom and caprice have by degrees rendered habitual to the human frame, and liable to the most enormous and destructive abuses. Hence it may be justly doubted, whether gluttony and intemperance have not depopulated the world more than even the sword, pestilence, and famine. True, therefore, is the old maxim, "Modus utendi ex veneno facit medicamentum, ex medicamento venenum."

3. and 4. Motion and rest, sleep and watching. It is allowed on all hands, that alternate motion and rest, and sleep and watching, are necessary conditions to health and longevity; and that they ought to be adapted to age, temperament, constitution, temperature of the climate, &c.; but the errors which mankind daily commit in these respects become a fruitful source of diseases. While some are bloated and relaxed with ease and indolence, others are emaciated, and become rigid through hard labour, watching, and fatigue.

5. Secretions and excretions. Where the animal functions are duly performed, the secretions go on regularly; and the different evacuations so exactly correspond to the quantity of aliment taken in, in a given time, that the body is found to return daily to nearly the same weight. If any particular evacuation happen to be preternaturally diminished, some other evacuation is proportionally augmented, and the equilibrium is commonly preserved; but continued irregularities, in these important functions, cannot but terminate in disease.

6. Affections of the mind. The due regulation of the passions, perhaps, contributes more to health and longevity than that of any other of the non-naturals. The animating passions, such as joy, hope, love, &c., when kept within proper bounds, gently excite the nervous influence, promote an equable circulation, and are highly conducive to health; while the depressing affections, such as fear, grief, and despair, produce the contrary effect, and lay the foundation of the most formidable diseases.

From the light which history affords us, as well as from some instances in the above table, there is great reason to believe, that longevity is in a great measure hereditary; and that healthy long-lived parents would commonly transmit the fame to their children, were it not for the frequent errors in the non-naturals, which so evidently tend to the abbreviation of human life.

Where is it, but from these causes, and the unnatural modes of living, that, of all the children which are born in the capital cities of Europe, nearly one half die in early infancy? To what else can we attribute this extraordinary mortality? Such an amazing proportion of premature deaths is a circumstance unheard of among savage nations, or among the young of other animals! In the earliest ages, we are informed, that human life was protracted to a very extraordinary length; yet how few persons, in these latter times, arrive at that period which nature seems to have designed! Man is by nature a field animal, and seems destined to rise with the sun, and to spend a large portion of his time in the open air, to inure his body to robust exercises and the inclemency of the seasons, and to make a plain homely repast only when hunger dictates. But art has studiously defeated the kind intentions of nature; and by enslaving him to all the blandishments of sense, has left him, alas! an easy victim to folly and caprice. To enumerate the various abuses which take place from the earliest infancy, and which are continued through the succeeding stages of modish life, would carry us far beyond our present intention. Suffice it to observe, that they prevail more particularly among people who are the most highly polished and refined. To compare their artificial mode of life with that of nature, or even of the long-livers in the lift, would probably afford a very striking contrast; and at the same time supply an additional reason why, in the very large cities, instances of longevity are so very rare.