Therearestrangediversitiesinthewayinwhichdifferentoldpersonslookupontheirprospects。AmillionairewhomIwellrememberconfessedthatbeshouldliketolivelongenoughtolearnhowmuchacertainfellow—citizen,amultimillionaire,wasworth。
Oneofthe,threenonagenariansbeforereferredtoexpressedhimselfashavingagreatcuriosityaboutthenewsphereofexistencetowhichhewaslookingforward。
Thefeelingmustofnecessitycometomanyagedpersonsthattheyhaveoutlivedtheirusefulness;thattheyarenolongerwanted,butratherintheway,dragsonthewheelsratherthanhelpingthemforward。Butletthemremembertheoften—quotedlineofMilton,\"Theyalsoservewhoonlystandandwait。\"
Thisispeculiarlytrueofthem。Theyarehelpingotherswithoutalwaysbeingawareofit。Theyaretheshields,thebreakwaters,ofthosewhocomeafterthem。Everydecadeisadefenceoftheonenextbehindit。Atthirtytheyouthhassoberedintomanhood,butthestrongmenoffortyriseinalmostunbrokenrankbetweenhimandtheapproachesofoldageastheyshowinthemenoffifty。Atfortyhelookswithasenseofsecurityatthestrongmenoffifty,andseesbehindthemtherowofsturdysexagenarians。Whenfiftyisreached,somehowsixtydoesnotlooksooldasitonceusedto,andseventyisstillafaroff。Aftersixtythesternsentenceoftheburialserviceseemstohaveameaningthatonedidnotnoticeinformeryears。
Therebeginstobesomethingpersonalaboutit。Butifonelivestoseventyhesoongetsusedtothetextwiththethreescoreyearsandteninit,andbeginstocounthimselfamongthosewhobyreasonofstrengtharedestinedtoreachfourscore,ofwhomhecanseeanumberstillinreasonablygoodcondition。Theoctogenarianlovestoreadaboutpeopleofninetyandover。HepeersamongtheasterisksofthetriennialcatalogueoftheUniversityforthenamesofgraduateswhohavebeenseventyyearsoutofcollegeandremainstillunstarred。