Professor Palmer Says Life is Enormously Good Thing and That Religion is Necessary--Gives Last Formal Lecture

Speaking to an audience that filled Emerson D to overflowing, George Herbert Palmer '64, Alford Professor of Philosophy, Emeritus, delivered what he intimated was his last formal lecture, yesterday afternoon. His subject was "Growing Old", and to the large group of his friends and admirers among faculty and undergraduates he spoke simply and directly concerning the glory of living, and of the path to old age.

The keynote of his informal talk was expressed in his own words, when he said:

"It's an enormously good thing merely to exist. You must take whatever comes your way and make the best use of it possible."

He began by telling his audience that he did not intend to make a formal speech. "I want to make you thoughtful about the care of your health. Begin inquiring as to what way leads to old age: you'll have to fight to reach it."

Professor Palmer is nearing his eighty-eighth birthday, and his talk yesterday was full of the experiences of his life. Again and again he urged the importance of proper care of the body, and stressed the need of the right kind of foods. Abstinence from stimulants of all sorts, plenty of exercise, and sensible habits were recommended for longevity.

"Get more fun out of life!" he said to his hearers. He recounted experiences in his own life that have furnished him with happiness, and closed with the sentences:

"I don't see how a man can go through life without religion. God is your friend, and is constantly with you: He and you are not aliens."