^06 THE PHILOSOPHY' 



CHAPTER XXI. 



Of the Longevity and Dijfohitton of Organifed Bodies, 



IT is a law of Nature, though a melancholy one, 

 that all organifed bodies fhould be diflblved. The periods 

 of difTolution, however, are as various as the fpecies, and the 

 intentions of Nature in producing them. 



In the human kind, the brevity of life is regarded as an 

 object of regret. One half of mankind die before they ar- 

 rive at eight years of age. From that early period to eighty, 

 befide the deftru6lion of war, and other accidents, Nature 

 kills them annually in millions. Some inftances may be giv- 

 en of men whofe lives were prolonged beyond the ufual pe- 

 riod of human exlftence. Such men are not to be envied ; 

 nor fhould they be confidered as favourites of" Nature. With 

 refpe^l to maturity of judgment, and a knowledge of the 

 world, no man can be faid to exift till he pafTes thirty years 

 of age. Give him thirty or thirty-five more, and, in gener-^ 

 al, both mind and body are vifibly declined. Thofe people, 

 therefore, who arrive at an extraordinary age may be faid to 

 exift, but they do not live. AH intelledlnal enjoyments and 

 exertions, which conftitute the chi^f dignity and happin^fs 

 of man, are gonp. There are exceptions ; but thefe excep- 

 tions are confirmations of what we have advanced. Man- 

 kind, in the early ages of the world, have been faid to live 

 for feveral centuries. We mean not to contradifl the alTer- 

 tion. But we mufk remark, that, if ever men lived fo long, 

 they muft have been very different both in the fi:ru£lure of 

 their bodies and in their manners, from thofe who now exifl^ 

 From infancy to manhood, there Is a gradual growth or ex-^ 

 tenfion of our organs^ After this period, and when we ad-> 



