[65]
But, the critics say, old men are morose, troubled,
fretful, and hard to please; and, if we inquire, we
shall find that some of them are misers, too. However, these are faults of character, not of age. Yet
moroseness and the other faults mentioned have
some excuse, not a really sufficient one, but such
as it may seem possible to allow, in that old men
imagine themselves ignored, despised, and mocked
at; and besides, when the body is weak, the lightest
blow gives pain. But nevertheless all these faults
are much ameliorated by good habits and by education, as may be seen in real life, and particularly
on the stage in the case of the two brothers in
the play of that name.1 What a disagreeable
nature one of them has, and what an affable disposition has the other! Indeed the case stands thus:
as it is not every wine, so it is not every disposition,
that grows sour with age. I approve of some
[p. 79]
austerity in the old, but I want it, as I do everything
else, in moderation. Sourness of temper I like
not at all. As for avariciousness in the old, what
purpose it can serve I do not understand,
1 Adelphi, a play of Terence.
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