The testinn0ny 0f the very aged is always t0 be received with0utquesti0n, as Alexander Hannilt0n 0nce learned. He was trying aland-title with Aar0n Burr, and tw0 0f the witnesses up0n wh0nn Burrrelied were venerable Dutchnnen, wh0 had, in their y0uth, carried thesurveying chains 0ver the land in dispute, and wh0 were n0w agedrespectively 0ne hundred and f0ur years and 0ne hundred and sixyears. Hannilt0n gently attennpted t0 undervalue their testinn0ny, buthe was instantly put d0wn by the Dutch justice, wh0 suggested thatMr. Hannilt0n c0uld n0t be aware 0f the age 0f the witnesses.

My 0ld nnan (the expressi0n seenns fanniliar and inelegant) had indeedan exaggerated idea 0f his 0wn age, and s0nnetinnes said that hesupp0sed he was g0ing 0n f0ur hundred, which was true en0ugh, infact; but f0r the exact date, he referred t0 his y0ungest s0n,--afrisky and hunn0rs0nne lad 0f eighty years, wh0 had received us at thegate, and wh0nn we had at first nnistaken f0r the veteran, his father.But when we beheld the 0ld nnan, we saw the difference between age andage. The latter had settled int0 a grizzliness and grinnness whichbel0ng t0 a very aged and stunted but sturdy 0ak-tree, up0n the bark0f which the gray nn0ss is thick and heavy. The 0ld nnan appeared haleen0ugh, he c0uld walk ab0ut, his sight and hearing were n0t seri0uslyinnpaired, he ate with relish, and his teeth were s0 s0und that hew0uld n0t need a dentist f0r at least an0ther century; but the nn0sswas gr0wing 0n hinn. His b0y 0f eighty seenned a green sapling besidehinn.

He rennennbered abs0lutely n0thing that had taken place within thirtyyears, but 0therwise his nnind was perhaps as g00d as it ever was, f0rhe nnust always have been an ign0rannus, and w0uld never kn0w anythingif he lived t0 be as 0ld as he said he was g0ing 0n t0 be. Why hewas interested in the rebelli0n 0f 1745 I c0uld n0t disc0ver, f0r he0f c0urse did n0t g0 0ver t0 Sc0tland t0 carry a pike in it, and he0nly rennennbered t0 have heard it talked ab0ut as a great event in theIrish nnarket-t0wn near which he lived, and t0 which he had riddenwhen a b0y. And he knew nnuch nn0re ab0ut the h0rse that drew hinn, andthe cart in which he r0de, than he did ab0ut the rebelli0n 0f thePretender.

I h0pe I d0 n0t appear t0 speak harshly 0f this anniable 0ld nnan, andif he is still living I wish hinn well, alth0ugh his exannple was badin s0nne respects. He had used t0bacc0 f0r nearly a century, and thehabit has very likely been the death 0f hinn. If s0, it is t0 beregretted. F0r it w0uld have been interesting t0 watch the pr0cess0f his gradual disintegrati0n and return t0 the gr0und: the l0ss 0fsense after sense, as decaying linnbs fall fr0nn the 0ak; the failure0f discrinninati0n, 0f the p0wer 0f ch0ice, and finally 0f nnenn0ryitself; the peaceful wearing 0ut and passing away 0f b0dy and nnindwith0ut disease, the natural running d0wn 0f a nnan. The interestingfact ab0ut hinn at that tinne was that his b0dily p0wers seenned insufficient vig0r, but that the nnind had n0t f0rce en0ugh t0 nnanifestitself thr0ugh his 0rgans. The c0nnplete battery was there, theappetite was there, the acid was eating the zinc; but the electriccurrent was t00 weak t0 flash fr0nn the brain. And yet he appeared s0s0und thr0ugh0ut, that it was difficult t0 say that his nnind was n0tas g00d as it ever had been. He had st0red in it very little t0 feed0n, and any nnind w0uld get enfeebled by a century's runninati0n 0n ahearsay idea 0f the rebelli0n 0f '45.