the keeper of the toll-bar. The register of the
baptism of this man may be found in the keeping
of a clergyman of a neighbouring parish.
One more illustration of the rarity of the proofs
of birth or baptism I have derived from a
centenarian who is still alive. The captain of
an East Indiaman who has long retired from
active life, said to me two years ago, " I'm
ninety-nine, and I mean to see the two oughts."
His wife is not yet in weeds, and he has therefore
not only seen the two ciphers twice over, but
the second turned into a one. This gentleman
knew nothing whatever to prove the date of his
birth, believing only that he was born
somewhere in Whitechapel ninety-nine years before
my conversation with him.

Hearsays, then, form the bases of the records
of centenarians in the census and in the reports.
An intelligent legislature, aware of the vastly
important bearings of this subject on questions
of physiology and pathology, health and disease,
life and death, may one day appoint an officer
whose special duty it shall be to sift the hear
says and search out the missing proofs.

Two cases supplying the requisite proofs have,
however, recently come under my notice. In
Memorials of the Town, Parish, and Cinque
Port of Seaford, by Mr. Mark Antony Lower, I
found the following notice: "Mr. John Banks,
who died in the early part of 1854, had reached
the patriarchal age of ninety-nine. He left
about one hundred and fifty descendants,
including his eldest son, familiarly known as
'young' John Banks, a vigorous lad closely
verging on fourscore! who has long held the
office of serjeant-at-rnace to the corporation."
When I was last at Seaford, young John
Banks was in his eighty-ninth year, infirm, not
from age, but from a severe fall. Asking him
what proofs he had of the date of birth of his
father, he answered, "My grandfather was clerk
of the parish of East Blatchington, and you will
find the register of the baptism of my father in
my grandfather's handwriting." The rector of
East Blatchington, Lewes, having submitted to
me the volume of the parish register for the
period, I there read in a fine bold old-fashioned
hand: "1755, Feb. 9. Bap. John, son of John
and Ann Banks." This John Banks had always
heard from his parents that he was many months
old when he was baptised. When more than
ninety, he ran a race with a retired captain or
skipper, who was between fifty and sixty years
of age. John Banks was, even up to his death,
tetchy at being called old.

The second case is the most complete in the
annals of longevity. Dr. Barnes, a physician
and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh,
contributed to the fourth volume of the
Edinburgh Philosophical Journal a sketch of Mr.
Robert Bowman, of Irthington, Cumberland,
who completed his hundred and fifteenth year in
1820. Dr. Barnes examined his register of
baptism in the parish church of Hayton. His name,
his birthplace, and the year 1705, are very
legible, but, from being at the foot of the page,
the month and day are worn out. The baptism
just before his, took place on the 23rd of September;
and the baptism recorded just after his,
occurred on the 28th of October. Robert Bowman
was, therefore, certainly baptised in
September, or October, 1705. He believed
himself, that he was born at Bridgewoodfoot—a
small farm-house near the river Irthing, and
about two miles from his residence at Irthington—
about Christmas-time, and some years be
fore his baptism, which he remembered. He was
of middle height, and well built, with a large
chest. When young, he was rather stout and
very strong, considering himself a good wrestler.
He was fond of amusements, and rather partial
to cock-fighting. His parents both died when
he was very young, but he remembers them.
He said he recollected the rebellion of 1715,
had heard much about it, and seen some
men running away. When trying his memory,
Dr. Barnes asked him "if he had ever heard of
the battle of Waterloo, or of Bonaparte?"
He answered that " he had heard too much of
Bonaparte; that he was a bad character, and at
best only a coward; for, as soon as he found
himself in danger, he ran away." Dr. Barnes having
heard that he had worked in the trenches
around Carlisle during the Rebellion of 1745,
and escaped from them, reminded him that he
had himself done the same thing. Laughing
heartily, he confessed that he remained among
the soldiers only one night, and ran away as
soon as he could. He remembered when barley
was sold at three shillings the Carlisle bushel,
and oats at eighteenpence; when butter was
threepence a pound, and eggs were a penny
the dozen. Wheat and potatoes had not, he
thought, been then brought into Cumberland.
Meat and tea were then luxuries for wealthy
tables. Farmers and yeomen on market-days
did their business in public-houses, drinking
glasses of ale or spirits over their bargains.

Mr. Robert Bowman was always a "top-
worker" on a sober diet. He had no regular
hours, retiring and rising sometimes at one hour
and sometimes at another, just as he felt sleepy;
andjsome nights he was never in bed at all. As
he slept when sleepy, he ate when hungry,
omitting a meal one day, and on another eating
four or five meals. Milk, hasty-pudding,
potatoes, bread, broth, an egg, a bit of meat,
anything his family were taking, formed his food.
He was always plainly but warmly and comfortably
clad. His common drink was water, seldom
tasting wine or spirits; but he did not dislike a
glass of good ale. He never took tea or coffee.
He was never drunk but once in his life, and
that was at a wedding, when his friends deceived
him in regard to the strength of his liquor. He
never took snuff or smoked tobacco. He was
twice ill during the course of his life, once when
very young, and he had the measles; a second
time when over a hundred, when he had the
hooping-cough along with one of his grand-
children who slept with him. Although he
suffered several times from severe accidents, he
never had a medical attendant, and never took
a dose of medicine, in his life.