_Longevity_ (Vol. vii., pp. 358. 504.).--Our friend A. J. is certainly not
one of the "remnant of true believers." By way of aiding in the crusade to
convert him to the faith, I hereunder quote a couple of instances, "within
the age of registers," which I trust will in some degree satisfy his pagan
incredulity. The parish registers of the township of Church Minshull, in
Cheshire, begin in 1561, and in the portion for the year 1649 appears the
following:
"Thomas Damme, of Leighton, buried the 26th of February, being of the
age of seven score and fourteen."
This entry was made under the "Puritan dispensation," when the parish
scribe was at any rate supposed to be an "oracle of truth." Here, however,
is another instance, culled from the Register of Burials for the parish of
Frodsham, also in Cheshire:
"1512/3. Feb. 12. Thomas Hough, cujus aetas CXLI."