The Character of Man, Theophrastus'
greatest work, was begun on his ninetieth birthday. Chaucer's
Canterbury Tales was the work of the poet's declining years. Ronsard,
the father of French poetry, whose sonnets even translation cannot
destroy, did not develop his poetic faculty until nearly fifty.
Benjamin Franklin at this age had just taken his really first steps of
importance in philosophic pursuits. Arnauld, the theologian and sage,
translated Josephus in his eightieth year. Winckelmann, one of the most
famous writers on classic antiquities, was the son of a shoemaker, and
lived in obscurity and ignorance until the prime of life. Hobbes, the
English philosopher, published his version of the Odyssey in his
eighty-seventh year, and his Iliad one year later. Chevreul, the great
French scientist, whose untiring labors in the realm of color have so
enriched the world, was busy, keen and active when Death called him, at
the age of 103.
These men did not fear age; these few names from the great muster-roll
of the famous ones who defied the years, should be voices of hope and
heartening to every individual whose courage and confidence is weak.
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