■2- : i 
 
 ^ 
 
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 #fr 
 
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 THE 
 
 WILLIAM R. PERKINS 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 DUKE UNIVERSITY 
 
 Rare Books 
 

Sure and Certain 
 
 METHODS 
 
 > j^fe : ^^S.^Df attaining a 
 
 ~*±jOng and Healthful Life : 
 
 With M E A N S of 
 
 Correcting a Bad Confitution, &c» 
 
 WRITTEN 
 
 Originally in ITALIAN, 
 
 B Y 
 
 LEWIS C O R N A R O, a No- 
 ble Venetian, when he was near an 
 Hundred Years of Age. 
 
 And made Englijb by W. Jones, A. B. 
 
 To which is prefix'd, Mr. Addiforfs Account and Recom- 
 mendation of this Book. SpeSl. Vol. 3. N. 195 
 
 DUBLIN: Printed for R.ICHARD GUNNE, 
 Bookfeller in Capel Street, 1 ] 40. 
 
T O 
 
 Sir Thomas Cuddon, Kt. 
 
 AND 
 
 CHAMBERLAIN 
 
 O F T H E 
 
 City of LO NDO K 
 
 Honoured Sir, 
 
 Receive ', and not to 
 Acknowledge Favours 
 when received^ is be- 
 come too common a Prac- 
 tice of late. Nay fome there are^ 
 who injlead of making any fuit- 
 able Return to their BenefaSlor$ y 
 A 2 pafs 
 
The Epiftle Dedicatory. 
 
 fafs the Slight tipon, and abufe 
 them for their Ki?tdnefs. But 
 thefe Perfons are the Stain, and 
 Blemish, and Scandal of Human 
 Nature, a?td are guilty of a 
 Crime, for which Ingratitude 
 is too J oft a Name. 
 
 Tloat I might not be one of thofe 
 Ingrates, whom all Men of Senfe 
 and Reafon may with Jufiice bin- 
 demn ; / have taken, this Occafon 
 of making fome fmall Acknow- 
 ledgment for the many great and 
 C07ttimted Favours I have received 
 from you, by prefenting to your 
 Patronage this little Treatife of 
 the Noble Cornaro, co? / icerning the 
 Means of attaining to a Long and 
 Healthful Life. 
 
 Very juflly may this Piece 
 claim Protection at your Hands, 
 
 Jince 
 
The Epiftle Dedicatory. 
 
 jtnce the Moderatioit and Temper^ 
 which you shew in the Execution 
 of that Office^ committed by this 
 great City to your Trufil> can be 
 nothing elfe but the ProduSi of 
 an exaEl Obfervation of the Rules 
 of Temperance and Sobriety pre- 
 fer i bed by the Noble Venetian.. 
 
 9 7js a Sober and Regular Life, 
 which make Men Sedate and 
 Calmj and fit for Publick Bufi- 
 nefs ; and whether this be not 
 One part of your CharaEier^ I 
 leave all who have had any thing to 
 do with you in your Office to judge. 
 This your very Enemies (if you 
 have any , and who is there but 
 has fome? ) muft acknowledge tu 
 be real Truth ^ and no Flattery. 
 
 But not to trefpafs too much 
 upon your tirne^ which I know to 
 
 A 3 be 
 
The Epiftle Dedicatory, 
 
 be taken up with greater Affairs 
 for the Publick Good: I beg leave 
 only to fubfcribe my Jelf y what I 
 am ivith all Sincerity , 
 
 Your moft Obliged 
 
 and Humble Servant, 
 
 W. JONES. 
 
 THE 
 
THE 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 LONG Life is one of the greateft Bleflings, that 
 we Mortals can enjoy ; it being what all Men 
 naturally defire and wifh for. Nay when Men 
 are come to the longed date, they defire yet 
 to live a little longer. But however Health is that which 
 fweetens all our other Enjoyments, without which the 
 Longeft Life would be no more than a living Death, and 
 render us burdenfome to ourfelves, and troublefome to all 
 about us. 
 
 But though Life be fo defirous, and Health fo great a 
 Bleffing, yet how much is both the one and the other un- 
 dervalued by the greater! part of Mankind ? Whatever 
 they may think or fay of the ineftimablenefs of thofe pre- 
 cious Jewels yet 'tis plain by their practice that they put 
 the flight upon, and defpife them both ; and the moft 
 Men are hardly fenfible of the Worth of Health, till they 
 come in good earnefl to be deprived of it. 
 
 How many Men do we daily fee by their Intemperance 
 and Excefs to lay the Seeds of future Dirtempers, which 
 either carry them offin the flower of their Age, which is 
 the cafe of moft, or elfe render their old Age, if they ar- 
 rive to it, uneafy and uncomfortable ? And though we 
 Jcc others daily drop into the Grave before us, and are? 
 
 very 
 
the PREFACE. 
 
 very apt with Juftice to afcribe the lofs of our Friends to 
 their Living too fall, yet we cannot forbear treading in the 
 fame Steps, and following the fame Courfes, till at lail by 
 a violent and unnatural Death we are hurried off the Stage 
 of Life after them. 
 
 What the Noble Cornaro obferves of the Italians of his 
 time, may very well be applied to this Nation at prefent, 
 njfts-. " That we are not contented with a plain Bill of 
 " Fare ; that we ranfack the Elements of Earth, Air, and 
 u Water, for all forts of Creatures to gratifie our Wanton 
 " and Luxurious Appetites : That as if our Tables were 
 M too narrow and fhort to hold our Provifions, we heap 
 " them up upon one another. And laftly, That to create 
 ** a falfe Appetite, we rack our Cook's Inventions for 
 " new Sawce and Provocatives to make the fuperfluous 
 •* Morfel go down with the greater Guft. 
 
 This is not any Groundlefs Obfervation, but it carries an 
 Experimental Conviction along with it. Look into all our 
 Publick Entertainments and Feafts, and fee whether Lux- 
 ury and Intemperance be not too predominant in them. 
 Men upon fuch occafions think it judicable to give them- 
 felves the loofe, to eat heartily, and to drink deeply ; and 
 many think thcm;elvesnot welcome or well Entertained, 
 if the Mafter of the Feait be fo wile as not to give them an 
 occafion ol lofing the MAN, and affuming the BEAST. 
 
 In oppofition to fuch a practice, and to mew the good 
 effects of afober and regular Life, was the Defign of Cor- 
 naro in writing he enfuingTreatife, as is alfo Ours in 
 handing it into the World in \\\ Englijb Drefs. What 
 he wrote was from his own Experience, and he felt the Be- 
 nefit of that Regimen which he prefcribes toothers ; and 
 they may meet with the fame Succefs, if withPrudenceand 
 Caution they apply it to themfelves. 
 
 It cannot indeed be expecVd that every Man mould tye 
 himfelf up ftrictiy to the abler vation of the fame Rules in 
 his Diet, as this Noble Venetian followed ; fince the Va- 
 riety of C'imates, Conllitution, Age and other Circurn- 
 fiances may admit of great Variations. But this we may 
 affert as a reafonable, general, undeniable Maxim, found- 
 ed upon JUafonandthe NaUreof Things ; That for the 
 
 Pre.- 
 
The PREFACE. 
 
 Prefervation of Health, and the Prolonging a Man's Life,, 
 it is neceffary that he Eat and Drink no more than what 
 is fufficient to fupport his Natural Conftitution : and on 
 the contrary whatfoever he Eats or Drinks beyond that, is 
 fuperfkous, and tends to the feeding of the corrupt and 
 vicious Humours, which will at laft, though they may be 
 ftifled for a time, break out into a flame, and burn the 
 Man quite down, or elfe leave him like a ruinated and 
 fhatter'd Building. 
 
 This General Maxim which we have laid down, will 
 hold good with refpeel to Men of all Ages and Conftituti- 
 ons, and under whatfoever Climate they live ; if they have 
 but the Courage to make due Application of it, and to lay 
 a Refiraint upon their Unreafonable Appetites. 
 
 After all we will not, we dare not warrant, That the 
 mod ftrict and fober Life will fecure a Man from all Dif- 
 cafes, or prolong his Days to that Age which Signlor Cor- 
 naroipromifes them by his own Experience. Natural In- 
 firmities and WeakneiTes which a Man brings along with 
 him into the World, which he deriv'd from his Parents, 
 and could not avoid, may make him fickly and unhealth- 
 ful, notwithftanding all his Care and Precaution ; and 
 outward Accidents (from which no Man is free) may cut 
 off the Thread of Life before it be half fpun out. There 
 is no Fencing againft the Latter of thefe, but as to the 
 Former a Man may in fome meafure correcl: and amend 
 them by a Sober and Regular Life. In fine, let a Man's 
 Life be longer or fhorter, yet Sobriety and Temperance 
 render it plcafant and delightful. One that is Sober, 
 though he live but thirty or forty years, yet lives long, 
 and enjoys all his days, having a free and clear ufe of all 
 his Faculties : whilil the Man that gives himfelf up to 
 Excefs, and lays no reitraint upon his Appetites, though 
 he prolong his Days to Threefcore or Fourfcorce Years 
 (which is next to Miracle) yet is his Life but one conti- 
 nued dofmg Slumber ; his Head being always full of 
 Fumes ; the Powers of his Soul cloudy and dark ; the 
 Organs of his Body weak and worn out j and neither of 
 them fit to difcharge the proper Offices of a Rational 
 Creature. 
 
 Now 
 
The P RE FACE. 
 
 Now let any one upon ferious Reflection confider, which 
 is moil Eligible, a Sober and Regular, or an Intem- 
 perate and Di (orderly Courfe of Life. Certainly there is 
 no great Difficulty in determining this Queflion ; the 
 main bufinefs is to perfuadeMen to put into Practice what 
 they are really in their own Conferences convine'd to be 
 necefTary for them to do. And this might eafily be done 
 were not Men born down, even againft their own Senti- 
 ments, by Prejudice, Cuftom and Example. It is there- 
 fore requifite, in order to the farther recommending of 
 Sobriety, to take off and anfwer fome Objections (not 
 taken notice of by Cornaro) which fome of Our Days make 
 life of to juftifie their contrary Practice. 
 
 Some of the Wits of the Age tell us, " That Wine, 
 even drank to Excefs, inlivcns the Fancy, and infufes 
 bold and great Thoughts into a Man, makes his Writ- 
 ings Brisk and Airy, a Pleafurc to himfelf, and nolefs 
 delightful to others ; whilft others pretend Sobriety, 
 are dull and flat in all their Performances, and nothing 
 but what is Phlegmatick and Heavy is the Product of 
 their Genius. 
 
 In anfwer to this, it may be faid, that this their AiTer- 
 tion is apparently falfe. What the EfFeds of Thefe Spirits 
 of Wine and a heated Brain have been, and how much 
 the Modern Wits have improved by fuch a Method, is 
 evident by the many loofe and prophane Plays andPoems, 
 which they have of Late years publiuYd. There is indeed 
 in them a Flafhinefs, Sprightlinefs, and an unufual Bold- 
 nefs of Thought, even to the out-braving and ridiculing of 
 all that is Good and Sacred. But call you this Refin'd 
 Wit ? No 'tis Foolhardinefs, Prophanenefs and Blafphe- 
 my, fuch as would itartle a fober Man to hear or read, 
 and would even make the Authors themfelves to blulh, 
 were they not arrived to i'uch a Degree of Impudence, 
 not to be ajhatnd. The very Air of thofc Writings in- 
 forms you that they were drawn off from the Lees of 
 Wine ; That a Dcb-iuch'd and Licentious Converfation 
 gave them their Ideas of Men and Manners, fo fore'd, 
 monflrous, and fhocking to Nature. Befides, take thofe 
 Witty Men out of their own Way, and they are as dull 
 
 and 
 
tbt J> REFJCE. 
 
 and heavy as any other Animals. Witnefs thofe paltry 
 Defence!, which have hitherto been made for the Englijb 
 Stage, in Oppofition to Mr. Colliers View; wherein the 
 Poets have wretchedly betray'd theirCaufe and the Force 
 of Wit and Wine has not been able to withftand a fober 
 and folid Argument. But the cafe is not fo with Men 
 that obferve a due Regimen in what they Eat or Drink. 
 Whatever the Wits may falfly reprefent, yet we may ven- 
 ture to aflert, That the beft Difcourfes which have ap- 
 pear'd in Print upon Pious, Rational, and Noble Subjects, 
 have been the Product of cool, calm and fober Thoughts. 
 No Heat, no Flafh, but true and folid Arguments appear 
 in them ; and how unpleafant and dull foever they may 
 feem to fomeof a vitiated and prejudiced temper of mind, 
 yet by the wifcr part of Mankind, on whofe judgment 
 one ought chiefly to rely, they will be always had m juft 
 Refpeft and Efteern. 
 
 'Tis further urg'd by fome others, who have abfolutely 
 abandon'd themfelves to Senfual Pleafures : " That 'tis 
 *' better to live a few years in the full enjoyment of the 
 (< Good things of this World, than to fpend a Century 
 il in a continual Reftraint laid upon their Appetites." 
 But the Extravagancy of thefe Men appears at nrft view ; 
 Eat, Drink and be merry, is all they aim at, and they do 
 not care how foon their Souls mail be requir'd of them : 
 They are Strangers to the Pleafures which Health and 
 good Old Age canafFord to Men, and therefore live apace, 
 tho' in truth they do not live at all to any purpofe. By 
 their ExceiTcs and Extravagancies they render themfelves 
 nfelefs to themfelves and others. They are always in a 
 Ferment, and never come to cool and fedate Thoughts of 
 things. Hence it was that a Noble Peer of this King- 
 dom, one of a large Genius and quick Parts, was hurried 
 by an Intemperate fort of Life to fuch Extravagancies, as 
 for feveral years not to be his own Man ; and though he 
 lived not half the Age of a Man, yet by his Exceffeshc 
 did not enjoy the half of thofe days wherein he liv'd. 
 He perverted thofe Parts which God had given him, and 
 made them the Pandars of Vice and Debauchery ; which 
 cccafioned a Noble Friend of his to reflect upon him in 
 thefe words ; f J Such 
 
?Jbe PREFACE. 
 
 t( Such Naufeous Songs by a late Author made 
 
 11 Draw an unwilling Cenfure on his Shade. 
 
 " Not that Warm Thoughts of the approaching Joy 
 
 ™ Canjhock the Nictft, or the Chaff cloy. 
 
 a But Obfcene Words, too Icofe to raife Defre, 
 
 " Like heaps of Embers only quench the Fire. 
 
 Marquis of Ntrmanby's EiTay en Heroick Poetry. 
 
 But not to infill any longer upon the Recommendation 
 of a Sober and' Regular Courie of Life, which is theDe* 
 Jign of Cornaro's Tic^ti(c y and which no Wife Man can- 
 not but approve of : We mall only give you fomc fhort 
 account of this Tranflation of it. 
 
 The firft Chapter was formerly publihYd in Englijh in 
 the fmall Tract of Lejjius concerning Health, but lb 
 far mutilated, that it is not the fame with the Original, 
 and falls very much fhort of it. How it came to pafs 
 that it was thus lamely handed into the World, we mall 
 not now enquire, but it may very fairly ferve as a Jufti- 
 fication for our New Verfion of that Difcourfe, efpeci- 
 ally fmce we have rendred the whole, and joyn'd three 
 other Difcourfes, with other Matters relating thereto. It 
 was thought proper to leave out ibme few things, which 
 being writ by a Stanch Roman Catholick, feemed to re- 
 flect upon the Proteftant Religion j but bating this, you 
 have the whole of Cowards Treaties, digeited into fo 
 many diftinct Chapters. 
 
 But not to weary our Reader w ith too long a Preface, 
 we fhall recommend him to the perufil of the Bookitfelf, 
 and to the practice of the Rules containd therein, accord- 
 ing as his own Difcretion fhall direct him : not quelticn- 
 ing but that upon a due Experience he will thank Cor- 
 tsa.ro for the Original, and Us for the Veriion of it. 
 
 V ALE. 
 
 CON- 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 O F T H E 
 
 CHAPTERS. 
 
 o 
 
 C H A P. I. 
 
 F a Sober and Regular Life, Page i 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 The Method of Correcting a Bad Confiitution, 24 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 A Letter to Signior Barbaro, Patriarch of Aquileia : 
 concerning the Method of enjoying a compleat Happineft 
 in Old Age, 33 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 Of the Birth and Death of a Man, 39 
 
 C H A P. V. 
 
 Being a Letter from a Nun of Padua the Grand Daughter 
 of Lewis Cornaro, 47 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 Authorities taken from the Hiftory ofM.de Thou ; and 
 the Dialogues of Cardan concerning the Method of pro- 
 longing a Man's Life and preferring his Health. 4^ 
 
 Maxims to he obferwed for the prolonging of Life, 5 5 
 
 Afhort Difccurfe on Longevity ibid. 
 
 An Account of Old Parre, Henry Jenkins, and divers 
 other 'very Ancient Men and Women, 5 £ 
 
 A Dehor tatcry Poem to a Claret- Drinker, 65 
 
 B SPECTATOR* 
 
®:@®$'#®$#&®®®@€*®®®® .©St® 
 
 SPECTATOR, Vol. III. 
 N°- 195. 
 
 MOTTO, thus Englifh'd from the 
 GREEK: 
 
 Fools blind to Truth, nor know their erring Soul, 
 "Uonju much the half is better than the whole, 
 
 Ho-zv great the Pleafure ivholefome Herbs afford, 
 Hokv bleji the frugal and the honef Board. 
 
 Hes. 
 
 /~|p HERE is a Story in the Arabian Nights Tales, 
 JL of a King who had long languiihed under an ill 
 Habit of Body, and had taken abundance ot Reme- 
 dies to no purpofe. At length, fays the Fable, a Phy- 
 fieian cured him by the following Method : He took an 
 iollow Ball of Wood, and filled it with ievcral Druggs j 
 after which he clos'd it up fo artificially that nothing ap- 
 pealed. He likewife took a Mall, and after having hollow- 
 ed the Handle, and that Part which Unites the Bail, he en- 
 clofed in them feveral Drugs after the lame Manner as in 
 the Ball it felf. He then ordered the Saltan, who was 
 Ins Patient, to exercife himfelf early in the Morning with 
 ihsie tightly prepared Inilrumems, till fuch time as he 
 fliould fweat. When, as the Story gees, the Vertue of 
 the Medicaments perfpiring through the Wood, had fo 
 good an Irjflucnceon the Sultan's Coniiitution, that they 
 cured him of an Indifpofition which all the Compofitions 
 Jieiiad taken inwardly had not been able to remove. 
 
 This 
 
Spec t a tor's 
 
 This eaflern Allegory is finely contrived to mewus how" 
 beneficial bodily Labour is to Health, and that Exercife 
 is the moil efFeclua! Phyikk. I have defcribed, in my 
 Hundred and Fifteenth Paper, from the general Struc- 
 ture and Mcchanifm of an human Body, how abfolutely 
 necefTary Exercife is for its Prefervation : I mail in this 
 Place recommend another great Prefervative of Health, 
 which in many Cafes produces the fame Effects as Exer- 
 cife, and may, in fom« meafure, fupply its Place, where 
 Opportunities of Exercife are wanting. The Preferva- 
 tive I am fpeaking of is Temperance, which has thofe 
 particular Advantages above ail other Means of Health, 
 that it may be practifed by all Ranks and Conditions, at 
 any Seafon, or in any Place. It is a kind of Regimen 
 into which every Man may put himfelf, without Inter- 
 ruption to Bufmefs, Expence of Money, or Lofs of 
 Time. If Exercife throws off all Superfluities, Tempe- 
 rance prevents them ; if Exercife clears the Vefiels, Tem- 
 perance neither fatiatcs nor overftrains them ; if Exer- 
 cife raifes proper Ferments in the Humours, and pro- 
 motes the Circulation of the Blood, Temperance gives 
 Nature her full Play, and enables her to exert her felf in 
 all her Force and Vigour ; if Exercife diffipates a grow- 
 ing Diftemper, Temperance ftarves it. 
 
 Phyfick, for the moll Part, is nothing elfe bu£ 
 the Substitute of Exercife, or Temperance. Medicines 
 are indeed abfolutely neceuary in acute Diftempers, that 
 cannot wait the flow Operations of thefe two great In- 
 ftruments of Health ; but did Men live in an habitual 
 Courfe of Exercife and Temperance, there would be 
 but little Occafion for them. Accordingly we find that 
 thofe Parts of the World are the moll healthy, where 
 they fubfift by the Chace ; and that Men liv'd longelt 
 when their Lives were employ'd in hunting, and when 
 they had little Food befides what they caught. Bliiter- 
 ing, Cupping, Bleeding, are feldom of Ufe but to the 
 Idle and Intemperate ; as all thofe inward Applications 
 which are fo much in Practice among us, are for the molt 
 part nothing elfe but Expedients to make Luxury con- 
 fident with Health, The Apothecary is perpetually em-, 
 B 2 ploy'd 
 
Spectator. 
 
 ploy'd in countermining the Cook and the Vintner. It 
 is faid of Diogenes, that meeting a young Man who wai 
 going to a Feaft, he took him up in the Street and car- 
 ried him home to his Friends, as one who was running 
 into imminent Danger, had not he prevented him. 
 What would that Philofopher have faid, had he been pre- 
 fent at the Gluttony of a modern Meal ? Would not he 
 liaye thought the Mailer of a Family mad, and have beg- 
 ged his Servants to tie down his Hands, had he feen him 
 devour Fowl, Fifh andFIefh ; fwallow Oyl and Vinegar, 
 Wines and Spices ; throw down Sallads of twenty dif- 
 ferent Herbs, Sauces of an hundred Ingredients, Con- 
 fections and Fruits of numberlefs Sweets and Flavours ? 
 What unnatural Motions and Counterferments muft fuch, 
 a Mcdly of Intemperance produce in the Body ? For my 
 Part, when I behold a fafhionable Table fet out in all ics 
 Magnificence, I fancy that I fee Gouts and Dropfies, Fe- 
 vers and Lethargies, with other innumerable Diftempers 
 lying in Ambufcade among the Dimes. 
 
 Nature delights in the mod plain and fimple Diet. 
 Every Animal, but Man, keeps to one Dim, Herbs are 
 the Food of this Species, Fifh of that, and Flcfh of a 
 Third. Man falls upon every Thing that comes in his 
 Way, not the fmallelr. Fruit or Excreicence of the Earth, 
 fcarce a Berry or a Mufhrome, can efcape. 
 
 It is impoflible to lay down any determinate Rule for 
 Temperance, becaufe what is Luxury in one may be Tern- 
 perance in another ; but there are few that have lived 
 any Time in the World, who are not Judges of their own 
 Conftitution, fo far as to know what Kinds, and what 
 Proportion of Food do belt agree with them. Were I to 
 confider my Readers as my Patients, and to prefcribe fuch 
 a kind of Temperance as is accommodated to all Perfons, 
 and fuch as is particularly fuitable to our Climate and 
 Way of Living, I would copy the following Rules of a 
 very eminent Phylician. Make your whole Repaft out of 
 ©ne Dilh. If you indulge in a fecond, avoid drinking 
 any thing Strong 'till you have finifh'd your Meal ; at 
 the fame time abftain from ail Sauces, or at leaft fuch 
 a» are not the moft plain and fimple. A Man could not 
 
 well 
 
Spectator. 
 
 well be guilty of Gluttony, if he ftuck to thefe few ob* 
 vious and eafy Rules. In the firft Cafe there would bo 
 no Variety of Taftes to follicit his Palate, and occafion 
 Excefs ; nor in the fecond any artificial Provocatives to 
 relieve fatiety, and create a falfe Appetite. Were I to 
 prefcribe a Rule for Drinking, it mould be form'd upon 
 a Saying quoted by Sir William Temple ; the firft Glafs 
 for my felf the fecond for my Friends \ the third for good 
 Humour, and the fourth for mine Enemies. But becaufe 
 it is impoffible for one who lives in the World to diet 
 him felf always in fo philofophical a manner, I think every 
 Man mould have his Days of Abftinencc, according as 
 his Conftitution will permit. Thefe are great Reliefs to 
 Nature, as they qualify her for ftruggling with Hunger 
 and Thirft, whenever any Diilemper or Duty of Life, 
 may put her upon fuch Difficulties ; and at the fame time 
 give her an Opportunity of extricating her felf from her 
 Oppreflicns, and recovering the feveral Tones and Springs 
 of her diltended Veffels, Befides that Abilinence well 
 tim'd often kills a Sicknefs in Embryo, and deftroys the 
 firft Seeds of an Indifpofion. It is obferv'd by two or 
 tflree ancient Authors, that Socrates, notwithftanding he 
 liv'd in Athens during the great Plague, which has made 
 fo much Noife through all Ages, and has been celebrated 
 at different times by fuch eminent Hands; I fay, notwith- 
 ftanding that he liv'd in the time of this devouring Pefti- 
 lence, he never caught the leait Infeclon, which thofe 
 Writers unanimoufly afcribe to that uninterrupted Tem- 
 perance which he always obferv'd. 
 
 And here I cannot but mention an Obfervation 
 which I have often made, upon reading the Lives of 
 the Philofophers, and comparing 'em with any Series of 
 Kings or great Men of the fame Number. If we confi- 
 der thefe ancient Sages, a great Part of whofe Philofo- 
 phy coniifted in a temperate and abftemious Courfe of Life, 
 one would think the Life of a Philofopher, and the Life 
 of a Man were of two different Dates, For we find 
 that the generality of thefe wife Men were nearer an 
 hundred than fixty Years of Age at the Time of their 
 Xfcfpe&ive Deaths, But the molt remarkakle Inftance of 
 $ 3 ^e 
 
Spectator. 
 
 the Efficacy of Temperance towards the procuring oflong 
 JLife, is what we meet with in a little Book pubfinVd by 
 Lewis Cornaro the Venetian ; which I the rather mention, 
 becaufe it is of undoubted Credit, as the late Venetian 
 .Ambaflador, who was of the fame Family, attefted more 
 than once in Converfation, when he refided in England. 
 Cornaro, who was the Author of the little Treatife I am 
 mentioning, was of an infirm Conftitution, till about 
 forty, when by obftinately perilling in an exact. Courfe 
 cf Temperance, he recovered a perfect State of Health ; 
 Mifomuch that at fourfcore he publifh'd his Book, which 
 lias been tran dated into Englifi under the Title of Sure 
 and certain Methods of attaining a long and Healthy Life. 
 He liv'd to give a 3d or 4th Edition of it, and after having 
 paffed his hundredth Year, died without Pain or Agony, 
 and like one who falls afleep. The Treatife I mention has 
 been taken notice of by feveral eminent Authors, and is 
 written with fuch a Spirit of Chearfulnefs, Religion, and 
 good Senfe, as are the natural Concomitants of Tempe- 
 rance and Sobriety. The Mixture of the old Man in it 
 is rather a Recommendation than a Difcredit to ir. 
 
 Having defign'd this Paper as the Sequel to that upon 
 Exercife, I have not here confider'd Temperance as it is 
 a Moral Virtue, which I (hall make the Subject of a fu- 
 ture Speculation, but only as it is the Means of Health. 
 
 Xjtm 
 
 THE 
 
THE 
 
 Sure Way of attaining 
 
 A 
 
 Long and Healthful Life. 
 
 CHAR I. 
 
 Of a Sober a fid Regular Life 
 
 Othing is more certain than tha: 
 
 fon it felf. 
 
 Cuftom be- 
 comes a fecond Nature, and has a great In- 
 fluence upon our Bodies. Nay, it has too 
 often more Power over the Mind, than Rea- 
 The honefteft Man alive, in keeping Com- 
 pany with Libertines, by Degrees forgets the Maxims of 
 Probity which he had imbibed from the very Breaft, 
 and gives himfelf the Loofe in thofe Vices which he fees 
 praclis'd. If he be fo happy as to relinquish that bad 
 Company, and to meet with Better, Virtue will triumph 
 in its Turn ; and he infenfibly refumes the Wifdom 
 which he had abandon'd. In a Word, all the Alterations 
 which we perceive in the Temper, Carriage, and Man- 
 ners of moll Men, have fcarcc any other Foundation but 
 the force and prevalency of Cuftom. 
 
 I have obfervM that 'tis Cuftom which has given Rife 
 to two very (dangerous Evils within a little time in Italy ; 
 thehrft I reckon to be Flattery and Ceremonies ; and 
 the fecond, Intemperance both in Eating and Drinking. 
 The firftof thefe baniihes out of human Converfation 
 all Plain dealing, Franknefs and Sincerity : And againft 
 the latter I declare open War, as being the moll deitruc- 
 tive of Health ajud fchegrcateil Enemy it has. 
 
 •Tu 
 
a Stqe fare Way of Attaining 
 
 'Tisan unhappinefs into which the Men of this Age are 
 fal'n, that Variety of Dimes is A-la-mode, and become 
 fo far preferable to Frugality. And yet the One is the 
 Product of Temperance ; whilft Pride and an unreftrained 
 Appetite is the Parent of the other. Notwithftanding 
 the difference of their Origin, yet Prodigality is at pre- 
 fent (tiled Magnificence, Generofity and Grandeur, and 
 is commonly efteemed of in the World -, whilft Frugali- 
 ty paffes for Avarice, and Sordidnefs of Spirit, in the Eyes 
 of moll Men. Here is a vifible Errour which Cuftom 
 and Habit have eftabliuYd. 
 
 This Error has fo far feduced u«, that it has prevailed 
 upon us to renounce a frugal way of Living, tho* 
 taught us by Nature even from the firffc Age of the 
 World, as being that which would prolong our Days ; 
 and has call us into thofe ExceiTes which ferve only to 
 abridge the Number of them. We become Old before 
 we have been able to tafte the Pleafure of being Young ; 
 and the Time which ought to be the Summer of our 
 Lives, is often the beginning of their Winter. We foon 
 perceive our ftrength to fail, and Weaknefs to come on 
 apace, and decline even before we come to Perfection. 
 On the Contrary, Sobriety maintains us in the natural 
 State wherein we ought to be : Our Youth is lafting, 
 and our Manhood attended with a Vigour that does not 
 begin to decay till after a great many Years. A whole 
 Century muft be run out before Wrinkles can be formed 
 on the Face, or gray Hairs grow on the Head.This is fo 
 true, that when Men were not add idled to Voluptuouf- 
 nefs, they had more Strength and Vivacity at fourfcore, 
 than we have at preient at forty. 
 
 O unhappy Italy ! Doft thou not perceive that Glut- 
 tony and Excefs robs Thee every Year of more Inhabi- 
 tants than Peftilence, War and Famine could have de- 
 stroyed ? Thy true Plagues are thy frequent Feaftings, 
 which are fo extravagant, that no Tables can be made 
 la;ge enough to hold that Number of Difhes which Pro- 
 digality lays upon them, but they are forced to be heap'd 
 upon one another in Pyramids. What Madnefs what 
 Fury is this? Regulate tjii$ jQiforder > if not for God's 
 
 Jake 
 
a Long and Healthful Life. 3 
 
 fake, yet for thy own. I am fare there is no Sin, that 
 difpleafes him more, nor any Voluptuoufnefs that can 
 be more pernicious to thy felf. Endeavour then to heal 
 thy felf of this, as being one of thofe Epidemical Dif- 
 tempers, from which thou may'ft be preferved by 
 wholefome Food, and by the precautions that may pre- 
 vent them. 'Tis very eafy to avoid the Evils which an 
 Excefs in Eating or Drinking may bring upon us ; nor is 
 it any hard matter to find out a Sovereign Remedy a- 
 gainft Repletion, fince Nature it felf has taught us it. 
 Let us only give it what it requires, and not overcharge 
 it ; for a fmail matter fumces Nature. The Rules of 
 Temperance are derived from thofe of Right Reafon, 
 Let us accuftom our felves to eat only to fupport Life j 
 what is more than necefTary for our Nourifhment fows 
 the Seeds of Sicknefs and Death ; 'tis a Pleafure for 
 which we mud pay very dear, and which can neither 
 be innocent nor excufable, flnce, it may befo prejudicial 
 to us. 
 
 How many have I feen cut off in the Flower of their 
 Days by the unhappy Cuitom of High-feeding? How 
 many excellent Friends has Gluttony deprived me of, 
 who might have been dill an Ornament to the World, an 
 Honour to their Country, and have occafioned me as 
 much Satisfaction in enjoying them, as now I have for- 
 row in lofing them ? 
 
 'Tis to put a Stop to this fpreading Contagion that I 
 have undertaken to fhew in this fmail Tract, that the 
 Number and Variety of Difhes is a fatal Abufe which, 
 ought to be corrected, by living foberly, as did the Pa- 
 triarchs of Old. Several young Perfons, who. for their 
 good Qualities meric my efteem, having loft their Fa- 
 thers fooner than they could have expe&led, have ex- 
 prefs'd a great Defire of being acquainted with my man- 
 ner of Living. I could not but think their Curiofity 
 very reafonable, fince nothing is more reafonable than to 
 wi(h for long Life. The more we advance in Years, 
 the larger will our Experience be ; and if Nature, 
 which aims only at our Good, advifes us to grow Old, 
 and concurs with us in tnat Defign, 'tis becaufe fhe is 
 
 fenfible 
 
4 The fur e Way of Attaining 
 
 fenfible that the Body being weakned by Time, which 
 deftroys all things, the Mind, when difengaged from 
 the Snares of Voluptucufnefs, is more at leafure to 
 make ufe of its Reafon, and to tafte the Sweets of Vir- 
 tue. Hereupon I was willing to fatisfy thofe Perfons, 
 and at the fame time to do fome Service to the Publick, 
 by declaring what were the Motives that induced me to 
 renounce Intemperance, and live a fober Life ; by 
 Jhewing the Method I obferve, and what Benefit I find 
 thereby ; and laftly, by demonstrating that nothing can 
 be more beneficial to a Man, then to obferve a Regi- 
 men, that it is practicable and very necefTary to be 
 followed. 
 
 I fay then, that the Weaknefs of my Conftitut'on, 
 which was confiderably increaa'd by my way of Living, 
 call me into fo deplorable a Condition, that I was forced 
 to bid a final Adieu to all Feaflings, to which I had all my 
 Life- long a violent Inclination. I was io often engaged 
 in ExcdTes of this kind, that my tender Confutation 
 could not held up under the Fatigues of them. I fell 
 into fcveral Diftempers, fach as P.:ins of the Stomach, 
 the Cholick, and the G >ut. I had a lingrihg Fever, 
 and an intolerable Thirft continually hanging upon me. 
 This made me defpair of any Cure, and tho' I was then 
 not above 35 or 40 Years Old, yet I had no Hopes of 
 finding any other end cf my Diitempers, but what mould 
 end my Life too. 
 
 The beil Phyficians in Italy made ufe of all their 
 Skill for my Recovery, but without Succefs. At laft 
 when they quite de'pair'd of me, they told me that 
 they knew only of one Remedy that, could cure me,, 
 if I had Refolution enough to undertake and continue it, 
 to wit, a Sober and Regular Life, which they exhorted 
 me to live the Remainder of my Days alluring me, 
 that if Intemperance had brought lb many Diftempers, 
 it was only Temperance that could free me from them. 
 
 I relifli'd this Propofat ; and perceiv'd that notwith- 
 standing the miferable Condition to which my Intem- 
 perance had reduced me, yet 1 was not fo Incurable, 
 but the Contrary might recover or at leaft eafe me. And 
 
 1 was 
 
a 'hong and Healthful Life. 5 
 
 £ was the more eafily perfuacled to if, becaufe I knew 
 Several P-:rfons of a great Age and a bad Conftitutioh, 
 who only prolong'd their Lives by obferving a Regimen, 
 whilft on the other Hard I knew others who were born 
 with a wonderful G -nftitution, and yet broke it by their 
 Debaucheries. It feem'd very natural to me, that a 
 different Way of living and acting produces different 
 Effects, fmce Art may conduce to correct, perfect, weaken 
 or deflroy Nature according to the good or bad XJiz that 
 is made of it. 
 
 The Physicians beginning to find me tractable, added 
 to what they had before told me, that I mull either 
 chcofe a Regimen or Death ; that I could not live if I 
 did not follow their Advice, and that if I defer'd much 
 longer taking my Refolutions accordingly, it would be 
 too late to do it. This was home ; 1 was loath to die 
 fo fooa, and I cc old not tell how to bear the Thoughts 
 of it i befides, I was convinced of their Experience and 
 Ability. In fho:,, being mcnally certain that my befl 
 way was to believe them, I rtfclved upon putting into 
 practice thi- Courfe of Life, how auftere focver it 
 feem'd to me. 
 
 I intreaied my Phyficians to inform me exactly after 
 what manner I ought to govern isy felf. To this they 
 reply'd, That I mufl always manage my felfas a £ck 
 Perion, eat nothing but what was good, and that in a 
 -fmalJ Quantity. 
 
 They had a long time before prefcribed the fame 
 thing to me ; bui till then I made a Jeft of it. When 
 I was cloy'd with the Diet they order'd me, I did eat 
 of all thefe Meats which they had forbidden, and per- 
 ceiving my felf hot and dry, I drank Wine in abun- 
 dance. However, I do not boafl of this my Conduct^ 
 I was one of thofe imprudent Patients, who not being 
 able to reio.'ve upon doing whatever is prefcribed them 
 for their Heaith, mind nothing elfe buf deceiving their 
 Phyficians, tho'they prove the greaceit Cheats to tnem- 
 felves at laft. 
 
 As foon as I refolvM to believe my Phyficians, and 
 thought that it was a Difgracc not to have Courage 
 
 enough 
 
6 The fure Way of Attaining 
 
 enough to be wife ; I accuftomed my felf fo much to 
 Jive fobeiiy, that I contracted a Habit of fo doing, 
 without any Trouble or Violence offered to my felf. In 
 a little time I found Relief, and (which may feem to 
 feme incredible) at the Year's end I found my felf not 
 only on the mending Hand, but I was perfectly cured 
 of all my Pifbmpers. 
 
 When I favv I was recovered, and began to tafte the 
 Sweets of this Sort of Refurreclicn, I m:ide abundance 
 of Reflections upon ihe Ufefulnefs of a regular Life. I 
 admired (he Efficacy of it, and perceiv'd that if it had 
 been fo powerful as to cure me, it would be capable 
 enough of preferving me from thofe Diftempers to 
 which I had been always Subject. 
 
 The Experience 1 had thereof removing all farther 
 Scruple, I began to ftudy what Food was proper for me. 
 I was minded to try whether what pleafed my Tafte 
 were beneficial or prejudicial to my Health, and whether 
 the Proverb were true which fays, That what delights 
 the Palate cannot but be good fir the Heart. I found it 
 to be falfe, and that it only ierves as an Excufe to the 
 Senfualiils, who are for indulging thcmfclves in what- 
 ever might pleafe their Appetites. 
 
 Formerly I could not drink my Wine with Ice ; I 
 loved heady Wines, Melons, all Sorts of raw Fruits, 
 Sallads, fait Meats, high Sauces and baked Meats, 
 notwithflanding they were prejudicial to me. Here- 
 upon I made no account of the Proverb, and being con- 
 vinced of its falfity, I made choice of fuch Wmcs and 
 Meats as agreed with my Constitution : i proportioned 
 the Quantity thereof according to the ftrength of my 
 Stomach. I declined all Diet that did not agree with 
 me ; and made it a Law to my felf to lay a Reftraint 
 upon my Appetite, fo that I always role fiwin Table 
 with a Stomach to eat more if I pleas VI. In a Word, 
 I entirely renounced Intemperance, and made a Vow to 
 continue the Remained of my Life under the fame Re- 
 gimen that J hadobftrv'd: A tiappj Refolution this, 
 the keeping whereof has freed me from all my Infirmi- 
 ties, which without it were Incurable I I never before 
 
 J vd 
 
a Long and Healthful Life. J 
 
 lived a Year together without falling once at leaf* into 
 feme violent Diflemper ; but this never happen'd to 
 me afterwards ; on the Contrary I have been always 
 Healthful ever fmce I have been Temperate. 
 
 The Nourifhment which I take, being in Quantity 
 and Quality juft enough to fufRce Nature, breeds no 
 fuch corrupt Humours as fpoil the belt Conftitutions. 
 Tis true indeed, that befides this Precaution I made ufe 
 of many others. For inflance, I took care to keep my 
 felf from Heats and Colds : I abftain'd from all violent 
 Exercifes, as alfo from ill Hours and Women. I no 
 longer lived in Places where was an unwholefome Air, 
 and took fpecial Care to avoid the being expofed to vi- 
 olent Winds, or to the exceflive Heat of the Sun. All 
 thefe Cautions may feem morally impofiible to thofe 
 Men, who in their Tranfaclions in the World follow no 
 other Guides but their own Paflions ; and yet they are 
 not hard to be pra&is'd, when a Man can be fo jufl to 
 himfelf as to prefer the Prefervation of his Health to 
 all the Pleafures of Senfe and necelTary Hurry of Buii- 
 cefs. 
 
 I likewife found it advantageous to me not to abandon 
 my felf to Melancholy, by banifhing out of my Mind 
 whatever might occafion it : I made ufe of all the Pow- 
 ers of my Reafon to reftrain the force of thofe PaHious, 
 whofe Violence does often break the Constitution of the 
 ftrongeft. Bodies. 'Tis true indeed, that I was not al- 
 ways fo much a Philofopher, nor yet fo Cautious, but 
 that fometimes T fell into thofe Diforders that I would 
 have avoided ; but this rarely happen'd, and the Guard 
 I kept over my Appetite, which ought chiefly to bs 
 minded, prevented all the pernicious Confequences 
 which might have arifcn from my petty Irregularities. 
 
 This is certain, that the Paflions have iefs Influence, 
 and caufe lefs Diforder in a Body that is regular in its 
 Diet, than in another which gives the loofe to the Cra- 
 vings of an inordinate Appetite. Galen made this Ob- 
 fervation before me ; and I might produce feveral Au- 
 thorities to fupport this Opinion, but I will go only up- 
 on my own Experience. It was impofljble for me fome- 
 C times 
 
8 The fare Way cf Attaining 
 
 times to abftain from the Extreams of Hot and Cold, 
 and to get an entire Mattery over all the Occafions of 
 Trouble which had crofVd my whole Life ; but yet thefe 
 Emotions made no Alteration in the St?.te of my Health : 
 .And I met with a great many Infhnces of Perfons who 
 funk under a lefs Weight, both of Body and Mind. 
 
 There was in our Family a confidcrable Suit of Law 
 depending againft feme Perfons, whofe might overcame 
 our Right. One of my Brothers, and feme of my Rela- 
 tion?, who having never fmarted for their Debaucheries, 
 were the mere free to indulge them, could not conquer 
 that Concern which the Lofs of this Suit of Law wrought 
 in them, and perfectly died of Grief. I was as fenfib.'e 
 as they were, of the Injuftice that was dene us, but I 
 did not die for it; and I attribute their Lofs and my 
 .Welfare to the Difference in our way of Living. I was 
 made amends for that Difgrace by the Comfort I had 
 of not finking under it ; and now make no manner of 
 Doubt, but that the Pnflions are lefs violent in a Man 
 that lives foberly, than in one that does not. 
 
 At fever.ty Years of Age I had another Experiment 
 of the tJfcfulncfs of my Regimen. A fJufinefs of an ex- 
 traordinary Confequence drawing me into the Country, 
 my Coach-Horics went fafter then I would have them ; 
 being ladi'd with the Whip, got a head and ran away 
 with me. I was over-thrown, and drag'd a long way 
 before they could flop the Horfes. They took me out 
 of the Coach, with my Head broken, a Leg and an 
 Arm out of Joint, and in a Word, in a very Lamentable 
 Condition. As mon as they had brought me Home 
 again, they fentfor the Phyficians, who did not expect I 
 could live three Days to an end : However, they refol- 
 ved upon letting of me Blood to prevent the coming of a 
 Fever, which uiually happens in fuch Cafes. I was fo 
 confident that the regular Life which I had led, had pre- 
 vented the contracting of any ill Humours which I 
 might be afraid of, that I oppes'd their Prefcription. I 
 order'd them to drefs my Head, to fetmy Leg and my 
 Arm, to rub me with fome fpecifick Oils proper for 
 Bruiles, and without any other Remedies I was foon 
 
 cured, 
 
a Long and Healthful Life. 9 
 
 €ured, to the great Aftonifhment of the Phyficians, and 
 of all thofe who knew me. From hence I infer, that a 
 regular Life is an excellent Prefervative againft all Na- 
 tural Evils, and that Intemperance produces quite con- 
 trary Effcfts. 
 
 About four Years ago I was over perfwadrd to do a. 
 thing which had like to have coil me dear. My Rela- 
 tions whom 1 love, and who have a real Tendemefs for 
 me ; my Friends with whom I was willing to comply in 
 any thing that was rcafonablc ; laftly, my Phyficianswho 
 were look'd upon as the Oracles of Health did all agree, 
 that I eat too little ; that theNour'.mment I took was net 
 fofficient for one of my Years ; that I ought not only to 
 fupport Nature, but likewife to increafe the Vigour of it 
 by eating a little more than I did. It was in vain for me 
 to reprefent to them, that Nature is content with a little j 
 that this Little having preferved me fo long in Health, 
 Cuftom was become a fecond Nature to me : That it was 
 more reafonable, fince Natural Heat abates in propor- 
 tion as one grows older, that I mould likewife abridge my 
 Allowance in Diet. 
 
 To add the greater force to my Opinion, I mentioned 
 to them the Proverb which faith, He that eats little > eats 
 much ; that is, if a Man is willing to live long in the en- 
 joyment of his Food, let him live fparingly. I likewife 
 told them, that what one leaves at a Meal does one more 
 good, than what one has already eaten. But all this could 
 not prevail upon them ; and being wearied with their Im- 
 portunities, 1 was forced to fubmit. Having therefore 
 before been ufed to take twelve Ounces, in Bread, Soops, 
 Yolks of Eggs, and Meat, I increas'd it to fourteen 
 Ounces a Day ; and drinking about fourteen Ounces 
 of Wine, I added two Ounces more and made it fixteen. 
 
 This Augmentation of Diet was fo prejudicial to me, 
 that as brisk as I was, I began to be fad and out of Hu- 
 mour ; every thing offended me, and upon the leaft Oc- 
 cafion I broke out into a Paflion, fo that a Dog (as they 
 fay) would not live with me. At twelve days end I was 
 taken with a violent Fit of the Cholick, and that follow- 
 ed by a continual Fever, which Tormented me five and 
 C z thirty 
 
10 Tie fare Way of Attaining 
 
 thirty days together, and for the firft fifteen days put me 
 into fuch an Agony, that it was impofTible for me to take 
 a quarter of an hours deep at a time. There was no cc- 
 cafion to ask my Friends whether they defpair'd of my 
 Life, and whether they repented of the advice they had 
 given me ; for they fcveral times believed that I was a 
 dying Man, juft giving up the Ghoft. However, I re- 
 cover'd tho* I was feventy eight Years of Age, and tho* 
 ive had a harder Winter than is ufual in our Climate. 
 
 Nothing freed me from this Danger, but the Regimen 
 which I had fo long obferved. It had prevented me from 
 contracting thefe ill Humours, with which they are troub- 
 led in their old Age, who are not fo wife as to take care 
 of themfelves whilif. they are Young. I did not perceive 
 in me the old Leaven of thofe Humours, and having no- 
 thing to itruggle with but the new ones, which were cc- 
 cafioned by this fmall Addition to my Diet, I oppofrd 
 andconquer'd my Indifpofiticn notwithflanding its force. 
 
 From this Sicknefs, and my Recovery from it, we may 
 difcern, what an Influence a Regimen has over us, which 
 preferv'd me from Death, and what a Power Repktion 
 has, which in fo few days brought me to the laft Extre- 
 mity. 'Tis probable that Order being neceflary for tiie 
 Converfation of the Univerfe, and our Bodiiy Life being 
 nothing elfe but a Harmony and perfect Agreement be- 
 tween the Elementary Qualities of which our Bodies are 
 compos'd, we cannot live long in a diforderly Courfe of 
 Life, of which nothing but Corruption can poffibly come. 
 
 Order indeed is fo exceeding Beneficial, that it cannot 
 be too ftrictly obferved in every thing. 'Tis by the 
 Means of this that we arrive to the perfection of Arts, 
 and an eafy accomplifhment in the Sciences. It renders 
 .Armies Victorious, keeps up thcCivil I'olity of Cities, and 
 Concord in Families : It renders whole Nations flourifh- 
 ing ; in a word, it is the fupport and preferver both of 
 the Civil and Natural Life; and the bell: remedy that can 
 be applied to all Evills, whether Publick or Private. 
 
 When a difinterelied Phyfician waits upon a patient, 
 let him remember to recommend to him his Diet, and 
 efpecially a Regimen therein in order to his Recovery. 
 
 This 
 
a "Long and Healthful Life. 1 1 
 
 This is certain, that if all Men would live regularly and 
 frugally, there would be fo few fick Perfons, that there 
 would hardly be any occafion for Remedies j ev'ry one 
 would become his own Phyfician, and would be convinc- 
 ed that he never met with a better. It would be to- 
 little purpofe to fcudy the Conititution of other Men ; 
 every one, if he would but apply himfelf to it, would al- 
 ways be better acquainted with his own, than with that 
 of another ; every one would be capable of making thofe 
 Experiments for himfelf, which another could not do 
 for him, and would be the beiljudge of the ftrengthof his 
 own Stomach, and of the Food which is agreeable there- 
 to ; for in one word, 'tis next to impoflible to know ex- 
 actly the Conititution of another, the Conflitutions of Men 
 being as different from one another as their Complexi- 
 ons. Who now for inftance, would imagine that Old 
 Wine mould be hurtful, and new Wine wholfome to me ? 
 That things which are looked upon to be hot by Nature 
 fhould refeih and ftrengthen me ? What Phyfician could 
 have obferved in me thofe Effects fo uncommon in moil 
 Bodies, and fo contrary fo the Notions of mankind, when. 
 I my felf was at no fmall pains in difcovering the Caufes 
 thereof after abundance of Trials, which prove the dif- 
 ference of Mens Conflitutions ? 
 
 Since no Man therefore can have a better Phyfician 
 than himfelf, nor a more Soveieign Antidote than a Re- 
 gimen, every one ought to follow my Example ; that is, 
 to fludy his own Cor.ilitution, and to Regulate his Life 
 according to the Rules of right Reafon, 
 
 I own indeed that a Phyfician may be fometimes ne- 
 celTary ; fmce there are fome Diftempers which all hu- 
 man Prudence cannot provide againft. There happen 
 fome unavoidable Accidents, which feife us after fuch a 
 manner as to deprive our Judgment of the Liberty it 
 ought to have to be a comfort to us. It is fooliihnefs 
 then wholly to rely upon Nature, it mull have a fupply, 
 and recourfe muft be had to fome one or other for it. 
 
 If the prefence of a Friend who comes to <vifit a fick 
 
 Per/on and to teflifie the concern he has for his Illnefs r 
 
 be a Comfort and Refrefhment to him y there is greater 
 
 C 3 tea- 
 
12, The fur e Way of Attaining 
 
 reafon to believe that the Vifit of a Phyfician mud needs 
 be more agreeable, being a Friend upon whofe Advice 
 and Care we may depend for a fpeedy Recovery of our 
 Health ; but for the Maintaining of that Health there 
 needs no other fupport but a fober and Regular Life. 
 *Tis a Specifick and Natural Medicine, which preferves 
 the Man, how tender foever his Conflitution be, and pro- 
 longs his Life to above an Hundred Years, fpares him 
 the Pain of a Violent Death, fends him quietly out of the 
 World, when the Radical Moiflure is quite fpent, and 
 which in fhort, has all the Properties that are fancied to 
 be in Aurutn Potabile, and the Elixir which a great many 
 Perfons have fought after in vain. 
 
 But alas! moll men fuffer themfelves to be feduced 
 by the Charms of a Voluptuous Life. They have not 
 courage enough to deny their Appetites; and being over 
 fwayed by their prejudices fo far, as to think they cannot 
 prevent the gratification of them without abridging too 
 much of the Pleafures, they form Syftems whereby to 
 perfuade themfelves, that it is more eligible to live ten 
 years lefs than to be upon the Reftraint, and deprived of 
 whatever may gratific the Cravings of their Appetites. 
 
 Alas ! They know not the Value of Ten Years Health- 
 ful Life in an Age when a Man may enjoy the full ufe 
 of his Reafon and make an advantage of all his Experi- 
 ences : In an Age wherein a Man may appear to be tru- 
 ly fuch by his Wifdom and Conduct j laflly,in a time 
 svheiein he is in a condition of reaping the fruits of his 
 Studies and Labours. 
 
 To inflance only in the Sciences ; it is certain, that the 
 bell Books which we have extant, were compofed in 
 thofe lail Ten Years which the Intemperate defpife ; 
 and that Men's Minds growing to perfection proportio- 
 nably as their Bodies grow old, Arts and Sciences would 
 have loll a great deal of their Perfection, if all the Great 
 JMen who were Profeflbrs of that had lived ten Years 
 Shorter than they did. For my part, I think it proper 
 to keep the fatal day of my Death as far off as I can. 
 If this had been my refolution, I lhould not have finifh- 
 ed feveral Pieces, which will be both plcafing and in- 
 structing to thofe who come after me. The 
 
a Long and Healthful Life. 13 
 
 The Scnfualifts farther Object, that it is impofftble to 
 live a Regular Life. To this I reply ; that Galen, who 
 was fo great a Alan, made choice of it, and advifcd others 
 to do the fame, as being the beil Courfe they could take. 
 Plato, Cicero , Ifocrates, and a great many Famous Men 
 of pail Ages imbraced it; and in our time, Pope Paul 
 parneze, Cardinal Bembo, and two of our Doges, Lando 
 and Donato, have pra&ifed it, and thereby arrived to an 
 extreme Old Age. I might inflance fa others of a mea • 
 ner Extract ; but, having followed this Rule my felf. I 
 think I cannot produce a more convincing proof of its 
 being practicable, and that the greater!: trouble to be met 
 wuh therein is the nrfl refolvingand entring upon fuch a 
 Courfe of Life. 
 
 You will tell me that Plato, as Sober a Man as he 
 was, yet affirmed, That a Man devoted to the Admini- 
 {(ration of the Government in publick Affairs, can hard- 
 ly lead an Exalt and Regular Life, being often obliged 
 in the Service of the State to be expofed to the Badnefs 
 of Weather, to the Fatigues of Travelling, and to Eat 
 whatever he can meet with. This cannot be denied ; but 
 then I maintain, That thefe Things will never h alien a 
 Man's Death, provided he that is in this poll accuftoms 
 himfelf to a frugal way of Lvving. There is no Man in 
 what condition Toever he is, but may prevent his overea- 
 ting ; and cure himfdf of thofe Diftempers that art cau- 
 Jed by Repletion. They who have the charge of publick 
 Affairs committed to their Trull are more obliged to it 
 then any others : Where there is no Glory to be got for 
 their Country, they ought not to facriiice themfelves : 
 They mould preferve themfelves to ferve it, and if they 
 perfue rny Method, it is certain they would ward off the 
 Diftempers which Heat, and Cold, and Fatigues might 
 bring upon them ; or mould they be difturbed with them, 
 it would be but very lightly. 
 
 It may likewife be Objected, That if one who is Well, 
 is Dieted like one that is Sick, he will be at a lofs about 
 the choice of his Diet when any Diftemper comes upon 
 him. To this I fay, That Nature which prefer ves all Be- 
 ings as far as poflibte, teaches us how we ought to govern 
 
 our 
 
14 9ft* /fa* Way of Attaining 
 
 our felves in fuch a cafe. It begins by depriving us al- 
 together of our Appetite, that we can eat little or no- 
 thing at all. At that time, whether the Sick Peribn has 
 been Sober or intemperate, no other Food ought to be 
 made ufe of, but fuch as is proper for the condition 
 wherein he is ; fuch as Broth, jellies, Cordials, Barley- 
 water, &c. When his Recovery will permit him to 
 make ufe of a more folid Nourifhment, he mull take lefs 
 than he was ufed to before his Sicknefs, and notwith- 
 llanding the eagernefs of his Appetite, he mult take 
 care of his Stomach till he has a perfect Cure. Should he 
 do other wife, he would overburden Nature, and infalli- 
 bly relapfe into the Danger from whence he efcaped. 
 But notwithftanding this I dare to aver, That he who, 
 leads a Sober and Regular Life will hardly ever be Sick ; 
 or if he is, it will be but feldom and for a fhort time* 
 This way of Living preferves us from thofe Humours 
 which occafion our Infirmities, and by confequence heals 
 us of all thofe Diliempers which they engender. The 
 defect of the Caufe does Phyfically prevent the production 
 of the Effect, and the Effect cannot be dangerous and 
 violent, when the Caufe itfelf is but flight and weak. 
 
 Since then Sobriety lays a reftraint upon our Paflion?, 
 preferves our Health, and is both Wholiome and Benefi- 
 cial to us, ought it not to be followed and embraced by all 
 Men ? Self-love if well underitood advifes us to it : It is 
 neither impoffible nor difficult, and the method I take 
 ought to difcourage no body from undertaking it. For I 
 do not pretend to perfuade every body to eat as little as 
 I do, or to^ebar themfelves from the ufe of a great many 
 things from which I refrain. I Eat but little, becaufe my 
 Stomach is nice, and I abftain from certain Difhes be- 
 caufe they are prejudicial to me. They who are not of- 
 fended by them, are not oblig'd to refrain from them, 
 but are allowM the ufe of them ; only they ought to ab- 
 ft.tin from eating too much even of that which agrees with 
 them, becaufe it would be prejudicial to them, fince an 
 over charged Stomach cannot fo e.iilly digeft it. Jn fhort 
 lie that is offended at nothing has no occafion of enqui- 
 ring into the Quality of his Diet, he ought only to be 
 cautious of the Quantity thereof. It 
 
a Long and Healthful Life. 15 
 
 It fignifies nothing to tell me, That there are feveral 
 who denying themfelves nothing, do yet live as long 
 without Infirmities as they who are Sober. This is bat 
 rare, uncertain, hazardous, and in a manner Miraculous, 
 The inftances of this nature do not at all juftify the Con- 
 duct of thofe Pcrfons, who reckon it an extraordinary 
 Happinefs, and are commonly the Betrayers of their gocd 
 Constitution. It is more certain, that as infirm Old Alan, 
 will live longer by obferving a Uriel: Regimen, than a 
 young, vigorous, and healthful Man will, that gives the 
 loofe to his Appetite. 
 
 However this is certain, That a good Constitution with 
 the fupport of a regular Life, will carry a Man farther 
 than a weak one, though managed with an equal degree 
 cf Care. G^d and Nature may form bodies fo Strong 
 and robuft, as to be proof againft all that is contrary to 
 us ; as I have cbfervM at Venice the Procurator Thomas 
 Materini^ and at Padua the Chevalier Antonio Capo di 
 Vacca ; but among a thoufand one (hall hardly meet: with 
 the like. All others who are for aLong and Healthful Life 
 who would Die without an Agony and only by a pure 
 diffolution, who would, laftly, enjoy the Advantages of 
 a happy Old Age, will never come to what they aim at 
 without Sobriety. 
 
 'Tis Temperance alone which fupports our Conftituti- 
 on, without any Alteration ; it creates nothing but fweet 
 and wholfome Humours, which fending up no Vapours 
 to the Brain, leave the Mind in the perfect ufe of the Or- 
 gans, and are no hindrance from raifmg its Contemplati- 
 on from the Wonders of the World, to the Confederation 
 of the Power of its Creator. A Man can never be the 
 better for thofe Reflections, when his Head is full of the 
 Vapours of Wine and Meat. But when once thefe Fumes 
 are gone, his Understanding is clear, he obierves and dif- 
 cerns a thoufand agreeable things, which he would not 
 have known or comprehended in another State. He can 
 then difcern the falfity of thofe pleafures which Volup- 
 tuoufnefs promifes, the Real Goods with which Virtue 
 loads us, and the Unhappinefs of thofe whom a fatal de- 
 lufion renders Slaves to their Paffions. 
 
 The 
 
1 6 Tl>e Cure Way of Attaining 
 
 The three moll dangerous arethePleafure of the Tafte r 
 the hunting after Honours, and the Poffeffion of Riches. 
 Thefe Dchres fncreafe with the Age of Old Men, vvhoha- 
 ving always led a diforderly life, have fuffer'd their Luftl 
 to take Root in their Youth and Manhood. A Wife 
 Man does not Hay fo long before he corrects them ; he 
 declares betimes a Waragainft his Paffions, of which he 
 does not obtain the Jvlaitery till after feveral {buggies, 
 and then Virtue in its turn Triumphs, and Crowns the 
 Man with the illclnngs of Heaven and the Eilcem of all 
 the World. 
 
 Is he ready to pay the Tribute that is due to Nature ? 
 Full of acknowledgements for the favours already recei- 
 ved from God, he throws himfeif into the Arms of his 
 future Mercy. He is not afraid of thofc Everlailing. 
 Punifnments, which they deferve, who by their Intem- 
 perance offer violence to their own Lives. He dies w ith- 
 out complaining, becaufe he was not to live for ever ; 
 and his Reafon fweetecs the Bitternefs of this Fatality : 
 In a word, he leaves the world generoufly, when in a 
 long tract of happy Years he has had time enough to en- 
 joy his Vjrtue and Reputation, and confiders that not 
 one in a thoufand who have lived other wife than he has 
 done, has arrived to fuch an Age. 
 
 He is comforted the more upon confidering that this 
 Separation will not be violent, painful or feveriih. His 
 End is Calm, and he expires like a Lamp when the Oil 
 is fpent, no Delirium, no Convulfions attending him ; 
 and fo he pafTes from this Corruptible Life to that whofe 
 Eternal happinefs is the Reward of the Virtuous. 
 
 O Happy, bleffed, and regular Life, how worthy art 
 thou of our Efteeni, and how doll thou deferve to be pre- 
 ferr'd before thy Contrary ? We need only reflect upon 
 the different Effects of both to be fenhble of the Advan- 
 tages that attend thee, tho' thy name alone is fufficient to 
 attract that Efleem which you Deferve. 
 
 Having thus given the Reafons which made me aban- 
 don an Intemperate and take up with a fober Life as al- 
 fo the Method I obferved in it, and the Benefit which I 
 rcap'd from it, and the Advantage which others may re- 
 ceive 
 
a Long mid Healthful Life. 17 
 
 ceive from the paa&ice thereof, I mail now diredt, my 
 Difcourfe to thofe who fuppofe it to be no benefit to grow 
 Old, becaufe they fancy that when a Man is pad feventy 
 his Life is nothing but Weaknefs, Infirmity and Mifery. 
 In the firfl: place 1 can aiTure them that they are might- 
 \y miftaken, and that I find my felf, as Old as I am, 
 v/hich is much beyond what they (peak of, to be in the 
 moil pleafantand Delightforoe Stage of Life. 
 
 To prove that I have reafon for what I fay, they need 
 only enquire how I fpend my time, what are my ufual 
 Pleasures and Bufinefs, and to hear the Teftimony of all 
 thofe that know me. They unanimously teftifie that the 
 Life I lead is not a dead and languiihing Life, but as 
 happy a one as can be wihYd for in this World. 
 
 They will tell you that I am ftill fo ilrong at fourfcore 
 and three, as to mount a Horfe without any Help : That 
 I can, not only go down Stairs without any concern, but 
 likewife defcenda Hill all on foot : That lam always 
 merry, always pleafed, always in humour, maintaining a 
 •happy peace in my own mind, the fweetnefs and ferenity 
 whereof appear at all times in my Countenance. 
 
 Befides, they know that 'tis in my power to pafs away 
 the time very pleafantly, having nothing to hinder me 
 from tailing all the pleafuresof an agreeable Society with 
 feveral perfons of parts and worth. When I am willing 
 to be alone, I read good Books, and fometimes fall to 
 Writing, feeking always an occafion of being ufeful to the 
 publick, and doing fervice to private perfons as far as pof- 
 fible. I do all this without the leaii trouble ; and in fuch 
 times as I fet apart for thefe Employments. 
 
 I dwell in a Houfe, which befide its being fituated in 
 the pleafantefl part of Padua, may be look'd upon as the 
 moil convenient and moft agreeable Manfion of that City. 
 I there make my Apartments proper for the Winter and 
 Summer, which ferve as a Shelter to defend me from the 
 Extreme Heat of the One, and the Rigid Coldnefs of the 
 other. I walk out in my Gardens along my Canals and 
 Walks, where I always meet with fome little thing or 
 other to do, which at the fame time empbys and di- 
 verts me, 
 
 I fpend 
 
1 8 The fur e Way of Attaining 
 
 I fpend the Months of April, May, September, and Oc- 
 tober at my Country- Houfe ; which is in the fineft Situ- 
 ation imaginable. The Air of it is Good, the Avenues 
 Neat, the Gardens magnificent, the Waters clear and 
 plentiful j and this Seat may well pafs for an inchanted 
 palace. When I am there I fometimes divert my fclf 
 with a fport that agrees molt with my Age, viz. in go- 
 ing out with a letting Dog or with Terriers. 
 
 Sometimes I take a walk to my Villa, all whofe Streets 
 terminate at a large Square, in the midft of which is a 
 preity neat Church, and large enough for the bignefs of 
 the Pariih. 
 
 Through this Villa runs a Rivulet, and the Country 
 about is enrich'd with fruitful and well cultivated Fields, 
 having at prefent a confiderable number of Inhabitants. 
 This was not fo anciently ; it was a Marfhy place, and 
 the Air fo bad, that it was more proper for Frogs and 
 Toads, than for Men to dwell in e I thought it advifable to 
 drain the Marfhy-Lands, fo that being dry, the Air be- 
 came more wholfome : Several Families have fettled there 
 and renared the place very populous, where I may fay- 
 that I have dedicated to the Lord a Church, Alters, and 
 Hearts to Worfhip him ; which Reflection is a great Com- 
 fort to me as often as I make it. 
 
 Sometimes I pay a Viiit to my Friends, of the Neigh- 
 bouring Towns, who procure me an acquaintance with 
 the Ingenious Men of the place. I difcourfe with them 
 about Architecture, Painting, Sculpture, Mathematicks 
 and Agriculture ; Sciences for which I had all my Life 
 long a great Fondnefs, and the rather becaufe they were 
 very much in efteem in my time. 
 
 I faw with Curioflty the new pieces of Workman- 
 fhip ; and it was anew Pleafure to me to take a fecond 
 View of thofe which 1 had already feen ; and am al- 
 ways learning fomething that I am pleafed to know. 
 
 I vifit publick Buildings, Palaces, Gardens, Anti- 
 quities, Squares, Churches,, and Fortifications paihng by 
 no place that may gratiiie my Curicfity or give me any 
 new Light into things. 
 
 That 
 
a hong and Healthful Life. 19 
 
 That which charmM me moll in the little Journeys I 
 took, was the various Profpe&s of Places through which 
 I went. The Plains, the Hills, the Rivulets, the Caftles 
 aud the Villages, were as fo many Objects that ofFer'd 
 themfelves with Pleafure to my Sight ; and afforded 2 
 delightful View. 
 
 In fhort, the Pleafures I take are not imperfect upon 
 the Account of the Weaknefs of my Organs. I fee and 
 hear as well as ever I did in my Life : All my Senfes 
 are as free and as perfect as ever, efpecially my Tafte, 
 which is better with that little which I eat at prefent, 
 then when I was a Slave to my Appetite. 
 
 Changing of Beds is no hinderance to my Repofe, I 
 fleep very foundly ; and if I Dream, my Dreams are 
 pleafant. 
 
 'Tis with a great deal of Satisfaction that I fee the End 
 of a Work offuch Importance to this State, which has 
 rendred fo many Places fertile, that before were unculti- 
 vated and ufelefs ; a thing I never expected to have feen 
 compleated, conlidering how many States are loath to 
 begin, and weary of carrying on Undertakings of fo vail: a 
 Charge and fo difficult to be perform'd. I was upon the 
 Places for two Months together with the Commifaries 
 that had the oveifight of thefe Works, and this during 
 the greateft Pleat cf Summer ; and yet, thanks to my 
 Regimen, the only preferver of Health, neither the un- 
 wholeibme Air of the Fens, nor the Fatigue did me any 
 Injury. 
 
 Such as thefe are the Employments and Diverfions of 
 my Old Age, which is, BlefTed be God, free from thofe 
 disturbances of Mind and Infirmities of Body, under 
 which fo many poor Rheumatick and crazy Old Men, 
 as well as miferable Young Men labour. 
 
 If in difcourfing on fuch a ferious Subject as this, it be 
 allowable to fpeak of Trifles, I might tell you that at the 
 Age of fourfcore and three, a fober Life had preferv'd 
 me in that Sprightlinefs of Thought, and Gaiety of Hu- 
 mour, as to be able to compofe a Play for the ufe of the 
 Stage, which was diverting without mocking the Au- 
 dience. Comedy is ufually the product of Youth, as 
 D Tragedy 
 
20 tfhe fure Way of Attaining 
 
 Tragedy is of Old Age, The latter by Gravity of its 
 compofure fuiting to riper Years, whilft the former by 
 its facetioufnefs is more agreeable to thofe that arc 
 Young. If Antiquity has fo far commended and admired 
 a Greek Poet, for having in the feventy third Year of his 
 Agecompos'd a Tragedy, which is a grave and ferious 
 Poem, why fhould 1 be lefs admir'd and happy in hav- 
 ing compoo'd a Comedy, which is diverting at my Age ? 
 For this I am fure of, that tho' that Author was ten 
 Years Younger than I am, yet he had not more Health, 
 ncr a brisker Genius. 
 
 To conclude, as an addition to my Happinefs, I fee 
 my felf as it were immortalized, and born again by the 
 great Number of my Defendants. I meet with not only- 
 two or three when I come home, but eleven Grand- 
 Children, the eldeft of which is Eighteen, and the 
 Yourgeit two Years Old, all bcrn of the fame Father, 
 and the fame Mother; all healthful, of good Parts, and 
 of promifmg hopes. I take a delight in playing with 
 the Youngliers ; Children between three and five Years 
 of Age, being generally very merry and diverting Com- 
 pany. Thofe who are older entertain me better: I often 
 make them ling, and play upon mufical Inilruments, and 
 fometimes I join in Confort with them. 
 
 Call you this an infirm and crazy Old Age, as they 
 pretend, who fay that a Man is but half alive after he is 
 Seventy ? They may believe me as they pleafe, but in 
 reality I would not change my Age and Life for the molt 
 flourifhing Youth, which lays no reftraint upon his Sen- 
 ces, being fure that it is Subject to a great many Dif- 
 tempers which may occafion Death. 
 
 I remember all the Follies that I was ,Guilty of in my 
 young Days, and am perfectly fenfible of the Danger and 
 Tnprudeiice of them. I know with what Violence young 
 Perfons are carried away by their Pailions, and how 
 much they prefume upon their ftrength, but would think 
 they had taken a fure Leafe of their Lives ; they expofe 
 it rafhly, as if it were chargeable to them, and they run 
 headlong into whatfocver their Concupifcence prompts 
 
 them 
 
a Long and Healthful Life'. si 
 
 them to. They rauft gratify their Appetites whatever it 
 cofl them, without perceiving that they feed thofe ill 
 Humours, which will render their Lives miferable, and 
 haften the Hour of their Death. 
 
 Of thefe two, the one is Cruel j the other dreadful and 
 i nfupportable by all fenfual Men, efpecially young 
 People, who fuppofe they have a better Title to Life 
 than others, and Libertines who are not {o Blind as to 
 flatter themfelves that God will permit their Sin to go 
 unpunifhed. 
 
 As for my Part, blefTed be God, I find my felf freed 
 from thofe juft fears which cannot but Alarm them 
 whenever they are capable of Reflections. For in the 
 firft place, I am certain that I fhall not fall Sick, fince 
 I take care by a regular Diet to ward oft Infirmities. 
 And then fecondly, the Time of my Death approaching 
 teaches me to fubmit quietly to that which is Inevitable 
 and from which no Man could ever fecure himfelf. 'Tis 
 folly to be afraid of that which cannot be avoided ; but 
 I hope whenever the Time comes, the Merits of Jefus 
 Chrill will be available to me ; and tho' I am fenfible 
 that I mufl die, yet I am pefuaded it will be a long 
 time ere I mall, fince this DiiTolution cannot happen bat 
 by the Confumption of the Radical Moifture which is 
 exhaufled by Age. 
 
 The Regular Life which I lead has left Death this only 
 way of destroying me. The Humours of my Body can 
 do me more injury than the Elementary Qualities which 
 prevail'dinmy Nature ever fince my Birth. I am not 
 fo ftupid as not to perceive, that having had a beginning 
 I mufl of necefhty have an End ; but fince we mufl die, 
 doubtlefi that Death is attended with lefs Terror which 
 happens by the Natural DifTolution of the Paris of which 
 we are compofed. Nature her felf having tyed the Bands 
 of our Life, can likewife unty them again without the 
 leafl pain, and can flay longer before it executes that 
 Office than Sicknefs generally do, which with Violence 
 break the Bands of our Life afunder, and which cannot 
 happen to us but by foreign Caufes, fince, nothing is 
 D 2 more 
 
a 2 the fare Way of Attaining 
 
 more contrary to Nature than that which tends to our 
 Deduction. 
 
 When a Man draws near his End, he perceives his 
 Strength to abate by Degrees ; The Organs and all the 
 Faculties grow weak ; he can no longer Walk, and 
 can hardly fpeak ; Hie Judgment and Memory fail him : 
 He becomes blind, deaf, and bowed together ; in fine, 
 his whole frame is worn out. Bleffed be God, I am not 
 as yet in that Condition. On the Contrary I promife 
 my felf, that my Soul finds it felf fo well in my Body, 
 %vhere fhe meets with nothing but Peace, Unity and 
 Concord (fpite of all the different Qualities of the Hu- 
 mours which compofe us, and the various Inclinations 
 that are produced by the Senfes) that me will be under 
 no Temptation to wifh a fpeedy Separation, and that it 
 will be a long time before fhe can be brought to a Refo- 
 lution. 
 
 To conclude, I am afTur'd that I mall flill live feveral 
 Years in Health, and that I fhall long enjoy the Pleafure 
 of being in the World, which is certainly very com- 
 fortable, when a Man knows how to make a right ufe 
 of it. I hope to reap a greater fatisfaction from hence in 
 the other Life, and I fhall lie under Obligations to the 
 Virtues of the Regimen, to which I am indebted for the 
 Victory I have obtain'd over my Paffions. Nor is there 
 any Man but may hope for the fame Happinefs, if he 
 would live as I have done. 
 
 A fober Life therefore being fo necefTary, its Name fo 
 commendable, the Enjoyment of it fo beneficial, nothing 
 remains after what have been faid but to conjure all Men 
 as they love themlelves to make the bell of Life and lay 
 in a flock of that, which being the moll precious of all, 
 deferves to be fought after if we have it not, and to be 
 preferv'd if we have it. 
 
 'Tis this Divine Sobriety which is always pleafing to 
 God, and always the Friend of Nature ; fhe is the 
 Daughter of Reafon, the Sifter of all other Virtues, the 
 Companion of Temperance > always Chearful, always 
 JVlodeft, always Wife and Regular in her Operations, 
 
 She 
 
a hong and Healthful Life* 23 
 
 She is the Root of Health, of Induftry, and of what- 
 ever becomes a great Soul to be employ'd about. She 
 has the Laws of God and Nature both to jufHfy and en- 
 force her. When me reigns, Repletions, Diforders, 
 Evil Habits, Superfluous Humours, Fevers, Aches, and 
 the fears of Death, do not difrelifh or embitter our 
 Pleafures. 
 
 The Happinefs of it mould invite us ; the Comlinefs 
 of it mould allure us to embrace it. She offers to us the 
 Duration of our mortal Being; She is the faithful Guar- 
 dian of the Life of Man, whether he be rich or poor, 
 young or old, or of what Sex foever. She teaches the 
 Rich not to abufe his Wealth, the poor to bear patiently 
 the Inconveniencies of his State ; She teaches the Man 
 Wifdom, the Woman Chaftity \ Old Men the Secret of 
 putting off their Death, and young Men the Means of 
 enjoying a long Life. She files the Ruft off of our Senfes, 
 renders the Body Vigorous, the Mind clear, the Soul love- 
 ly ; gives us a happy Memory, free Motions, and juft 
 Actions. 'Lis by it that the Mind being difengaged 
 from Matter enjoys a larger freedom, and the Blood runs 
 fmoothly in our Veins, without meeting with any Ob- 
 struction in its Circulation. 'Tis laftly by it that all the 
 Powers both of Soul and Body are kept up in a perfect 
 Union, which nothing but the contrary Vice can diflurb. 
 
 O Sacred and Healthful Sobriety! The powerful fup- 
 port of our Nature! The true Phyfick of Body and 
 Mind ! How ought Men to praife thee and acknowledge 
 thy Benefits, fince thou furniihefl them with the Means 
 of attaining Heaven, and of preferving Life and Health 
 here upon Earth f 
 
 But not defigning to enlarge any farther in comemnda- 
 tionof this Virtue, I ihall conclude, keeping within the 
 the bounds of Sobriety on this Subject,; not becaufe I 
 I have faid enough oi it, but that 1 may fay more of 
 it another time. 
 
 D 3 CHA?. 
 
24 fthe fare Way of At awing 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 *Tbe Method of Corretting a Bad Conftitution; 
 
 SEveral Pcrfons, whofe weak Conftitution required 
 great Care in the Management of it, having been 
 well fatisfied with what I have written concerning So- 
 briety, the Experience which they have had of the Ufe- 
 fulnefs of my Counfels, and the Acknowledgments which 
 they have made thereof, encouiage me to take up my 
 Pen again, that I may convince thofe, who meet with 
 iio Inconvenience from Intemperance, that they are in 
 the wrong in relying fo much on the Strength of their 
 Conftitution. 
 
 Let it be ever fo well compos'd, yet it holds not good 
 but to fuch an Age. Thefe Perfons feldom arrive to 
 Sixty, but they decay all of a fudden, and perceive 
 tliemfelves loaded with a Complication of Diftempers. 
 Some are Gouty, Dropfical, and Rheumatical : Others 
 are fubject to Cholicks, the Stone and Piles ; laftly, to 
 abundance of Diftempers, which would never have hap- 
 pened to them, if they had been fo vvife,as to have taken 
 care ofthemfelves in their Youth. If they die infirm at 
 Jburfcore Years of Age, they might have lived in Health 
 to an hundred, and fo have run out the Term of Life, 
 which Nature has left open to all Men. 
 
 It is to be fuppofed, that this common Parent wifhes 
 that all her Children might live at lead a Century ; and 
 fince fome among them have lived to a longer Date, 
 why mould not others have a Right of expecting the 
 fame Advantage ? 
 
 I do not disagree but that we are fubject to the Stars 
 which were predominant at our Birth. Their good or 
 bad Afpedts enfeeble or itrengthen the Springs of our 
 Life ; but Man being endued with Judgment and Rea- 
 fon, ought to repair, by his prudent Conduct, the Harm 
 which his Planet may have done him ; he may prolong 
 Jiis Days by the means of a fober Life to as long a Pe- 
 riod, as if he had been born very llrong and luity. Pru- 
 dence 
 
a Long and Healthful Life. aj 
 
 dence prevents and corrects the Malignity of the Planets ; 
 they give us certain Inclinations, they carry us out to 
 certain Paffions ; but they lay no Violence upon us, we 
 may refill them, and in this Senfe a wife Man is above 
 the Stars. 
 
 I was bom very cholerick and hafty ; I flew out into. 
 Paflion for the leaft Trifle, I huffed all Mankind, and' 
 was fo intolerable, that a great many Perfons of Repute 
 avoided my Company. I apprehended the Injury which 
 I did my felf ; I knew that Anger is a real Frenzy; 
 that it diflurbs our Judgment, that it tranfports us be- 
 yond our felves, and that the Difference between a paf- 
 iionate and a mad Man, is only this, that the latter has 
 loll his Reafon for ever, and the former is only deprived 
 of it by Fits. A fober Life cured me of this Frenzy; by 
 its Affiftance I became fo moderate, and fo much a Maf- 
 ter of my Paffion, that no body could perceive that it 
 was born with me. 
 
 A Man may likewife with Reafon and a regular Life 
 correct a bad Conftitution, and notwithstanding the Ten- 
 dernefs thereof, may live a long Time in good Health. 
 I mould never have feen forty Years, had I followed all 
 my Inclinations, and yet I am in the eighty fixth Year 
 of my Age. If the long and dangerous Diftempers 
 which I had in my Youth, had not confumed a great 
 deal of the radical Moifture, the Lofs of which is irrepa- 
 rable, I might have promis'd my felf to have lived a 
 compleat Century. But without flattering my {elf, I 
 find it to be a great matter to have arrived to forty fix 
 Years more than I ever expected, and that in my old 
 Age my Conftitution is ftill fo good, that not only my 
 Teeth, my Voice, my Memory and my Heart are in as 
 good a Condition as ever they were in the briskeft Days 
 of my Youth ; but likewife my Judgment has loft no- 
 thing of its Clearnefs and Force. 
 
 I am of the Opinion that this proceeds from the A- 
 bridgment I make of my Food proportionably to my 
 growing into Years. Experience, which tells us that 
 Infants have a greater Appetite, and are more often 
 hungry, than grown Men, ought likewife to teach us, 
 
 that 
 
l6 The fare Way of Attaimng 
 
 that in old Age we have Jefs need of Nourishment than 
 in the beginning of our Life. A Man who is very old, 
 can hardly eat, becaufe he can fcarce digeft what he 
 cats ; a little ferves his Turn, and the Yolk of an Egg 
 is a good Atfeal to him. I mall be fatisfied therewith to 
 the end of my Days, hoping by this Conduct, neither 
 to die with Violence nor with Pain, not queftioning but 
 that they who will imitate me, will meet with as eafy 
 an Exit, fince we are all of the fame Species, and made 
 up of the fame Materials. 
 
 Since nothing then is more advantageous for a Man 
 upon Earth than to live long ; he is obliged to preferve 
 his Health as far as poffible, and this he cannot do with- 
 out Sobriety. 'Tis true indeed, that there are feveral 
 who eat and drink plentifully, and yet live to an hun- 
 dred Years of Age. 'Tis by their Example that others 
 flatter themfelves with the Hopes of attaining to the fame 
 Age, without any occafion of laying a Reitraint upon 
 themfelves. But they are in the wrong upon thefe two 
 Accounts : Fiilt, becaufe there is hardly one in a thou- 
 fand, that has fo ftrong a Coniiitution. Secondly, be- 
 caufe fuch Men do generally end their Lives by fuch 
 Diltempers as put them into great Agonies by dying, 
 which would never happen to thofe that have the fame 
 Government of themfelves that I have. A Man runs 
 the risk of not attaining to fifty Years of Age for not 
 daring to undertake a regular Courfe of Life, which is 
 no impoflible Thing, fince 'tis what I and feveral others 
 have praclifed and do pracliie : And a Alan becomes in- 
 fenfibly a Murderer of himfelf, becaufe he cannot be 
 perfuaded, that notwith (landing the falfe Charms of a 
 voluptuous Life, a wife Man ought not to look upon it 
 as any Hardihip to put in Practice what his Reafon ad- 
 vifes him. 
 
 Reafon, if we hearken to it, wiil tell us, that a good 
 Regimen is necefliry for the proloi ging of our Days, and 
 that it confilts in two Things. Firll, in taking care of 
 the Quality ; and feccndly, of the Quantity, fo as to 
 eat and drink nothing that offends the Stomr.ch ; nor 
 any more than what we can eaiily digeft. Our Experience 
 
 ought 
 
a Long and Healthful Life. i*J 
 
 ought to be our Guide in thefe two principles, when we 
 are arrived to forty, fifty, or threefcore Years of Age; 
 He who puts in practice that Knowledge which he has 
 of what is good for him, and goes on in a frugal way of 
 Living, keeps the Humours in a juft Temperature, and 
 prevents them from being altered, tho' he fuffer Heat 
 and Cold, tho' he be fatigued, tho 1 his Sleep be "broke,, 
 provided there be no Excels in any of them. This being 
 fo, what an Obligation does a Man lie under of living 
 foberly ? And ought he not to free himfelf from the 
 Fears of finking under the leaft Intemperature of the Air y 
 and under the lead Fatigue, which make us fick upon 
 every flight Octanon \ 
 
 'Tis true, indeed, the moft fober may fometimes be 
 indifpofed, when they are unavoidably obliged to tranf- 
 grefs the Rule which they have been ufed to obferve 5 
 but then they are certain, that their Indifpofition will not 
 laft above two or three Days at moft ; nor can they fall 
 into a Fever. Wearinefs and Fair.tnefs are eafily reme- 
 died by Reft and good Diet. The Malignancy of the 
 Stars cannot put the malignant Humours in a Ferment, in 
 Bodies which have them not : Tho' Diftempers which 
 proceed from Intemperance have an internal Caufe, and 
 may be dangerous ; thofe which are derived from the 
 Influences of the Planets, affect us only externally, and 
 cannot produce any great Diforders. 
 
 There are fome who feed high, and maintain, that 
 whatfoever they eat is fo little a Difturbance to them, 
 that they cannot perceive in what Part of their Body 
 their Stomach lies ; but I aver, that they do not fpeak 
 as they think, nor is it natural. 'Tis impoffible that 
 any created Being mould be of fo perfect a Compofnion, 
 as that neither Heat nor Cold,Drynefs norjMoifture,mould 
 have any Influence over it, and that the Variety of Food 
 which they make ufe of, (different Qualities, fhould be 
 equally agreeable to them. Thofe Men cannot but ac- 
 knowledge that they are fometimes out of order ; if it 
 is not owing to a fenfible Indigeftion, yet they are 
 troubled with Head-aches, want of Sleep, and Feavers, 
 of which they are cured by a Diet, and taking 
 
 fuch 
 
18 The Jure Way cf At tat tit fig 
 
 fuch Medicines as are proper for Evacuation. It is there- 
 fore certain that their Diftempers proceed from Repleti- 
 on, or from their having eat or drank foiiiething which 
 did not agree with their Stomachs. 
 
 Moft Old People excufe their high feeding, by faying 
 that it is ncceffary for them to eat a great deal to keep 
 up their Natural Heat, which deminifhes proportionally 
 as they grow into Years, and to create an Appetite 'tis 
 requiiite to find out proper Sawces, and to eat whatever 
 they have a fancy for ; and that without thus humouring 
 their Palates they mould be foon in their Graves. To 
 this 1 reply, that Nature for the Prefervation of a Man 
 in Years, has fo compos'd him, that he may live with a 
 little Food ; that his Stomach cannot digeft a great 
 Quantity, and that he has no need of being afraid of 
 dying for want of eating ; fincc when he is fick he is 
 fore'd to have Recourfe to a Regular fort of Diet, which 
 is the hrft and main thing prefcribed him by his Phyfi- 
 cians. Laftly, that if this Remedy is of fuch Efficacy 
 as to fnatch us out of the Arms of Death, 'tis a miftake 
 to fuppofe, that a Man may not, by eating a little more 
 than he does when he is Sick, live a long time without 
 ever being Sick. 
 
 Others had rather be difturbed twice or thrice a Year 
 with the Gout, the Sciatica, and their Epidemical Dif- 
 tempers, than to be always put to the Torment and 
 Mortification cf laying a Rcftraint upon their Appetites, 
 being furethat when they are indifpofed, a Regular Di- 
 et will be an infallible Remedy and Cure. But let them 
 be informed by me, that as they grow up in Years their 
 Natural Heat abates ; That a Regular Diet defpis-'d as a 
 Precaution, and only look'd upon as Phyfick cannot al- 
 ways have the fame Effect, nor force to draw off the 
 Crudities and repair the Difurders which are caufed by 
 Repletion, and laftly, that they run the Haxard of being 
 Cheated by their Hope and their Intemperance. 
 
 Others fay that it is more eligible to feed high and 
 enjoy themielves, tho' a Man lives the lefs while. It is 
 no furprizing Matter that Fools and Mad-men mould 
 contemn and defpiie Life ,* the World would be no Lofer 
 
 when- 
 
a Long and Healthful Life. 1$ 
 
 "whenever they go out of it ; but 'tis a Confiderable Lofs 
 when Wife, Virtuous and Holy Men drop into the 
 Grave. If one of them were a Bifhop, he might have 
 been an Archbifhop in growing Older ; if he were in 
 fome confiderable poft in the State he might have arrived 
 to the highefl ; if he were learned or excelled in any 
 Art, he would have been more excellent, and done more 
 Honour to his Country and himfelf. 
 
 Others there are who perceiving themfelves to grow 
 Old, tho' their Stomach becomes h{< capable of digeft- 
 ing well every Day than other, yet will not upon that 
 account abate any thing of their Diet. They only abridge 
 themfelves in the Number of their Meals, and becaufe 
 they find two or three times a Day is troublefome, they 
 think their Health is fufficiently provided for by making 
 only one Meal s that To the time between one Repaft 
 and another may (as they fay) facilitate the DigeiHon of 
 thofe Aliments which they might have taken at twice : 
 For this Reafon they Eat at this one Meal fo much that 
 their Stomach is overcharged and out of Order, and con- 
 verts the fuperfluities of its Nourimment into bad Hu- 
 mours, which engender Difeafes and Death. I never 
 knew a Man that lived long by this Conduct. Thefe 
 Men would, doubtlefs have prolonged their Days had 
 they abridgM the Quantity of their ordinary Food pro- 
 portionably as they grew into Years, and had they Eaten 
 a great deal lefs and a little oftener. 
 
 Some again are of Opinion, That Sobriety may indeed 
 preferve a Man in Health, but does not prolonge his 
 Life. To this we fay, That there have been Perfons in 
 paft Ages who have prolonged their Lives by this means ; 
 and fome there are at prefent who ftill do it : Intempe- 
 rance fhortens cur Days, as the Infirmities contra&ed by 
 Repletion do, a Man of an ordinary reach may perceive 
 that if he defires to live long, it is better to be Well than 
 Sick, and that confequently Temperance contribute^ 
 more to a long Life than an ExceiTive Feeding. 
 
 Whatfoever the Senfualifts may fay, Temperance is 
 of infinite Benefit to Mankind : To it he owes his Pre- 
 fervation ; it banifhes from his lA'md ths difmal appre- 
 
 henfioa 
 
30 The fare Way of Attaining 
 
 henfion of Dying ; 'tis by its means that he become 5 
 Wife, and arrives to an Age wherein Reaibn and Ex- 
 perience furnifh him with Aflifcance to free himfelffrom 
 the Tyranny of his Paflions, v\ hich have lorded it over 
 him foralmoit the whole courfe of his Life. O facred 
 and beneficent Temperance! How much am I obliged 
 to thee for feeing the Time which has fo many Charms 
 when one follow- thy Maxims, and obferves thofe Rules 
 which thou dofi jJrefcribe ? When I denied my Senfes 
 nothing, I did not tafle fuch pure and refin'd Pleafures as 
 I now enjoy. .They were then fo iroubldbme and mix'd 
 With Pains, that even in the height of thofe Enjoyments 
 the bitternefs exceeded he fweetneis of them. 
 
 O happy State of Life! which befides other Bleflings 
 with which thou favoureft an Old Man, doll prefervehis 
 Stomach in fo perfect a Tone, as to make him relifh a 
 piece of dry Bread better than the Voluptuous do all 
 their dainty Morfels, and beft feafon'd Dimes. The 
 Appetite which thou giveft us for Bread is juft and rea- 
 fonable, fmce 'tis the moil proper food for Mankind, 
 when attended with a Beiire of Eating. A Sober Life 
 is never without fuch an Appetite. So that by Eating a 
 little, my Stomach is often craving after the Manna, 
 which I fometimes relifli with fo much Pleafure, that I 
 fhould think I trefpafs upon the Duty of Temperance, 
 did I not know that one mull Eat it to fupport Life, and 
 that one cannot make ufe of a plainer and a more natural 
 Diet. 
 
 My Spirits are not irjut'd by what I Eat, they are not 
 only revived, but fupported by it. I always find my felf 
 in an even Temper, always Chearful, and more fo after, 
 than before Meals. I ufe my felf prefemly upon rifing 
 from Table to Write or Study, and never find that this 
 Application of Mind after Eating is prejudicial to me ; 
 for I am equally capable at all times of doing it, and 
 never perceive my felf drowfy, as a great many People 
 do. The Reafon of this is, becaufe the little I Eat is not 
 fufficient to fend up the Fumes from the Stomach to the 
 Head, which fill the Brain and render it uncapable of 
 performing its Functions. 
 
 What 
 
a Long and Healthful Life. 3 1 
 
 What I eat is as follows, viz. Bread, Soop, New- 
 laid Eggs, Veal, Kid, Mutton, Patridges, Pullets, and 
 Pigeons. Among the Sea-fifh I chufe Goldenis, and of 
 *he River-fifti the Pike. All thefe Aliments are proper 
 for Old Men, who if they be wife for themfelves, would 
 be contented with thefe, and feek for no other. 
 
 A Poor Old Man, who has not wherewith to purchafe 
 all thefe, fhould be fatisiicd with Bread, Broth and 
 Eggs ; and there is no Man, how poor foever he be, 
 that can ftand in want of this Food, unlefs they be 
 downright Beggars, reduc'd to live upon Alms, of whom 
 I do not pretend to fay any thing. The Reafon of their 
 being fo miferable in their Old Age, is becaufe they 
 were idle and lazy when they were Young ; it were 
 better for them to die than to live, for they are a burthen 
 to the World. But this we fay, that another Man in 
 low Circumftances, who has only Bread, Broth, and 
 Eggs, ought not to Eat much of them at a time, but fo 
 to regulate himfelf with refpect to the Quantity of his 
 Diet, as that he may not die but; by a meer diffoiution. 
 For it is not to be fuppofed that a Stab or the like, is 
 the only violent Death ; Fevers and a great many 
 other Diftempers of which one dies in Bed are to be 
 counted as fuch, being caufed by thole Humours a- 
 gainft which Nature would not iiruggle if they were 
 Natural. 
 
 What a difference then is there between a fober and 
 an intemperate Life ? The one fhortens, the otner pro- 
 longs our Days, and makes us enjoy a perfect Health. 
 How many of my Relations and Friends has Intemper- 
 ance carry'd off, who would have been ftill alive had 
 they foilov/d my Counfel ? But it has not been able to 
 deitroy me as it has done fo many others ; and becaufe 
 I had the Power of refining its Charm?, I am Hill in the 
 Land of the Living, and am arrived to a good old 
 Age- i % y w. 
 
 If I had not abandoned thee, thou infamous' iourcc 
 
 of Corruption, I mould never have had the Pleafure of 
 
 feeing Eleven of my Grand Children, all of them Witty 
 
 and Promifing ; nor beheld the Ornaments which I 
 
 E , hay* 
 
32 <Th$ fare Way of At awing 
 
 have made to my Iloufesand Gardens. But thou, O 
 cruel Intemperance ! doit often put an End to the Days 
 of thy Slaves before they could have finifh'd what they 
 begun. They dare not undertake any thing that re- 
 quires time to compleat it; and mould tiiey be fo happy 
 as to fee their Works brought to Perfection, yet they do 
 not long enjoy the fruit of their Labours. But to (hew 
 what thou really art, viz. a deadly Poif.n, the moll 
 dangerous Enemy of Mankind, and wifhing that all 
 Men may conceive a jufl abhorrence for thee, I promifc 
 my felf that my Eleven Grand-Children will declare 
 War againft thee, and following my Example will con- 
 vince all Mankind of the Abuie of thy Cravings, and 
 of the Ufefulnefs of a Regular Courfe of Life. 
 
 I cannot underftand how it comes to pafs that fo many 
 People, otherwife Prudent and Rational, cannot refolvc 
 upon laying a reftraint upon their infatiable Appetites at 
 fifty or threefcorc Years of Age, or at leait when they 
 begin to feel the Infirmities of Old Age coming upon 
 them. They might rid themfelves of them by a Uriel 
 Diet, and become incurable, becaufe they will not ob- 
 ferve a Regimen. I do not wonder fo much that Young 
 People arc lb hardly brougfc*fo fuch a Refolution ; they 
 are not capable enough of Reflecting, and their Judg- 
 ment is not lblid enough to refifc the Charms of Senfe : 
 But at Fifty a Man ought to be govern'd by his Reafon, 
 which would convince us, if we would hearken to it, 
 that to gratify all our Appetites without any Rule or 
 Meaiure, is the way to become infirm and to die Young. 
 Nor does the Pleafure ofTafte laft long, it hardly be- 
 gins but 'tis gone and paft ; the more one Fats the more 
 one may, and the Diitempers which it brings along 
 with it laft us to our Graves. Now ihould not a Sober 
 Man be very well fathfy'd when he is at Table, upon 
 the affurance that as ofcen as he rifes from it, what he 
 Eats will do him no harm ? 
 
 I was willing to add this Supplement to my Treatife, 
 it is Ihortand runs upon other Arguments ; the Reafon 
 of my calling them into two Chapters, is becaufe the 
 
 Reader 
 
a Long and Healthful Life. 53 
 
 Reader will be better pleafed to perufe them at twice than 
 at once. I wifh all the World were fo curious as to per- 
 ufe both, and be the better for them. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 A Letter to Seignior Barharo, Patriarch of Aquilea ; 
 concerning' the Method of enjoying a compkat Happinefs 
 in Old Age. 
 
 IT mail needs beown'd that the Mind of Man is one 
 of the greateft Works of God, and that 'tis the 
 Mafter-piece of the pivine Architect. Is it not fomc- 
 thing furpiifmg to be able by Writing lo keep up a 
 Correfpondence with one's Friends at a difance? An i is 
 notour Nature of a wonderful Competition, which af- 
 fords us the Means of feeing one another with the Eyes 
 of our Imagination, as I (Sir) behold you at prdent ? 
 'Tis after this manner that I fiiali enter into Difcourfe 
 with you, and relate to you fevcral pleating and profitable 
 things. 
 
 'Tis true indeed, that what I have to tell you is no 
 News with refpedl to the fubjeel Matter thereof, but I 
 never told it ycu at the Age of ninety one Years. 'Tis 
 fomewhat aftonifhing that I am able to tell you, that my 
 Health and Strength are in fo good a Plight, that in- 
 Head of diminiftiing with my Age, they feem to increafe 
 as I grow Old. All mine acquaintance are furprized at 
 it, and 1, who know to what I am indebted for this 
 Happinefs, do every where declare the Caufe of it. I 
 endeavour all I can to convince all Mankind that a Man 
 may enjoy a compleat Happinefs in this World after the 
 Age of fourfcore, and this cannot be attained without 
 Continence and Sobriety, which are two Virtues precious 
 in the Eyes of God, becaufe they are Enemies to our 
 fenfual Appetites, and Friends to our Prefer vation. 
 
34 The fur e Way of Attaining 
 
 Be pleafed then (Sir) to know ; that for fome Days 
 paft, feveral Doctors of our Univerfity, as well Phyfici- 
 ars as Philofophers, came to be informed by me of the 
 Method I took in my Diet, having underftood that I 
 was ftill healthful and ftrong, that I had my Senfes per- 
 fect, that my Memory, my Heart, my Judgment, the 
 Tone of my Voice and my Teeth, were all as found as 
 in my Youth ; That I wrote feven or eight hours a Day 
 with my Hand, and fpentthe reft of the Day in walking 
 out a foot, and in taking all the Innocent Pleafures that 
 are allowed to a virtuous Man ; even Mufick it felf, in 
 which I bear my Part. 
 
 Ah Sir! how fweet a Voice would you perceice mine to 
 be, were you to hear me like another David chant forth 
 the praifes of God to the Sound of my Lyre ? You would 
 ceitainly be furprizM and charm'd with the Harmony 
 which I make. Thofe Gentlemen particularly admir'd, 
 with what Eafinefs I could Write upon Subjects, which 
 required a great and earneft Application of Mind, and 
 which were fo far from fatiguing, that they diverted 
 me. You need not queftion, but that taking up my Pen 
 to have the Honour of entertaining you to day, the Plca- 
 fure which I conceive in fuch an Employment is far more 
 pleUfing and delightful to me, than tnofe which I am 
 us'd to take. 
 
 Thofe Doctors told me that I ought not to be Iook'd 
 upon as an Old Man, fince all my Works and Employ- 
 ments were fuch as were proper for a Youth, and did by 
 r;o Means refemble the Works of Men advanced in 
 Years ; who are capable of doing nothing after four- 
 icore, who are loaded with Infirmities and Diftempers, 
 who are perpetually languiming and in pain. 
 
 That if there be any of them who are lefs infirm, 
 yet their Senfes are decay'd ; their Sight and Hearing 
 fails them, their Legs tremble, and their Hands (hake, 
 they can no longer walk nor are they capable of doing 
 any thing: And mould there chance to be One that is free 
 from thofe Difafters, his Memory decreafes, his Spirits 
 fink, and his Heart fails him 3 in fhort, he does not en- 
 joy 
 
a Long and Healthful Life. $$ 
 
 joy a Life fo perfectly as I do. What they wonder'd at 
 moil was a thing that is really furprizing, 'Tis this, 
 That by an invincible fort of Antipathy, 1 cannot drink 
 any Wine whatfoever, during the Months of July and 
 duguft every Year. I have fo great an Averfion to it, 
 that I ihould certainly die, did I but force my felf to 
 drink any ; for neither my Stomach nor my Palate can 
 bear it ; fo that Wine being as it were Mothers Milk 
 to Old Men, It feems as if I could not pofiibly pre- 
 ferve my Life without that Nourishment. My Stomach 
 then being depriv'd of a Help fo ufeful and proper for 
 the maintaining the Heat thereof, 1 could Eat but a very- 
 little, which about the middle of Au^uji brought me fo 
 low and Weak, that Jelly, Broths, and Cordials could 
 not keep up my Spirits. However this Weaknefs is not 
 attended with any Pain or pernicious Accident. Our 
 Dc&ors were of Opinion, that if the New Wine which 
 reflores me perfectly to my Health in the beginning of 
 September, were not made at that time, I could never 
 efcape Death. They were no lefs fnrpriz'd to fee that in 
 three or four Days time, New Wine will reflore to me 
 that itrength, which I had loft by drinking of the Old, 
 a thing of which they were Witneffes thefe days paft, 
 when they faw me in thofe two diff- rent Circumitances, 
 without which they could never havebeliev'd it. 
 
 Several Physicians were pleafed to prognosticate to 
 me, ten Years ago, that it was impoffibie for me to hold 
 out two or three Years longer wit. j thi- pernicious Anti- 
 pathy : However I ftill find my iclf l.ef- weak than 
 ever, and am ftronger this Year rhan any that went be- 
 fore. This fort of Miracle, and the many Favours which 
 I receive from God, oblig'd them to tell me that I 
 brought along with me at my Birth an extraordinary 
 and fpecial Gift of Nature ; and for the proof of their 
 Opinion, they employ d all the Rhetorick, and made 
 feveral Elegant Speeches upon that Head. It muft be 
 ackncwledg'd my Lord, that Eloquence has a great 
 deal of force upon the Pvlind of Man, fmce it often per- 
 fuades him to believe that which n^vcr was, and never 
 couid be. I was very much pleas'd to hear them dif- 
 E 3 courfe ; 
 
3 6 TJbe fare Way of Attaining 
 
 courfc ; and how could it be help'd, fince they were 
 Men of Parts who harangued at that rate ? But that 
 which delighted me moft, was to reflect, that Age and 
 Experience may render a Man Wifer than all the Col- 
 leges in the World cun. Thefe are two infallible Means of 
 acquiring a clear Sight into things, and it was in truth 
 by their help that I knew the Error of that Notion. To 
 undeceive thofe Gentlemen, and at the fame time to 
 initruft them better, I reply'd, that their way of Ar- 
 guing was wrong : That the favour 1 receiv'd was no 
 ipecial,but a general and univerfalOne: That there was 
 no Man alive but what may have received it as well as 
 my felf: That 1 was but a Man as well as Others: That 
 we have all, befides our Exiltence, Judgment, a Mind 
 and Reafon : That we are all Born with thefe fame Fa- 
 culties of the Soul ; becaufe God was pleafed that we 
 ihould all of us have thofe Advantages above the other 
 Creatures, who have nothing in common with us but the 
 Uie of their Senfes : That the Creator has bellowed 
 upon us thisReafon and this Judgment to preferve our 
 jives, (o that this Grace proceeds immediateJy from 
 God, and not from Nature or the Stars: That Man 
 when he is Young being more fubjecl: to his Senfe than 
 to his Reafon, gives himfelf up wholly to his Pleafures, 
 and that when he is arriv'd to forty or fifty Years of 
 A^e he ought to know that he is in the midfl of his Life, 
 thanks to the Goodnefs of his Conftitucion which has 
 carried him fo far : But that when he is arrived to this 
 Period, he goes down the Hill apace to meet his 
 Death, of which the Infirmities of Old Age are the fore- 
 runners : That Old Age is as different from Youth as a 
 Regular Life is oppofite to Intemperance : That 'tis ne- 
 cdfary for him at that Age to change his Courfc of Life, 
 cfpecially with refpecl: to the Quantity and the Quality 
 of his Diet, becaufe 'tis on that the Health and Length 
 of our Days do radically depend. That laftly, if the 
 former part of our Lives were altogether Seniual, then 
 the latter ought to be Rational and Regular ; Order be- 
 ing neceflary for the Prefervation of all things, efpeci- 
 ally the Life of Man, as may be perceived by thofe 
 
 Inconveniences 
 
a Long and Healthful Life. 37 
 
 Inconveniences that arc caufed by Excefs, and by the 
 Heaithfulnefc of thofe that cbferve a ftrict Regimen. In 
 truth, my Lord, 'tis impoffible for them who will al- 
 ways gratify their Tafte and their Appetite, not to 
 break their Conftitution ; and that I might not break 
 mine, when I was arriv'd to Maturity, I entirely de- 
 voted myfelf to a fober Life. Jt is true, it was not 
 without fome Reluctancy that I entered upon the Refo- 
 lution, a< d abandon'd my profufe way of Living. I 
 began with praying to God that he would grant me the 
 Gift of Temperance, and was fully perfuaded, that 
 how difficult ibever any Undertaking be, which a Man 
 fets about, he will attain his End, if he has but Refoluti&n 
 enough to conquer the Obliacles to his Defign. By 
 this Means I rooted out my evil Habits, and con- 
 tracted Good Ones ; fo that I us'd my felf to a Courfe 
 of Life, which was by fo much the more fevere and 
 auftere, by how much the more my Conftitution wa* 
 become very weak when I began it. In mort, my 
 Lord, when they had heard my Reafons, they were 
 forced to fubmit to them. 
 
 The Youngeft among them told me that he agreed 
 that this favour might be univerfal to all Men, but that 
 it was very rarely Efficacious, and that 1 muft needs 
 have a more efpecial and victorious Grace to get above 
 the Delights and Cuflom of an eafy Life, and embrace 
 One that was quite contrary to it : That he did not 
 look upon it to be irrpcffible, fmce my Practice con- 
 vinced him of the Contrary, but however it fcemed to 
 him to be very Difficult. 
 
 I replyed to him, that it was a fhame to relinquiih 
 a good Undertakcing upon the Account of tbe Diffi- 
 culties that might attend it, and that the more we met 
 with, the more Glory mould we acquire : That 'tis 
 the Will of the Creator that every one mould attain to a 
 long Life, to which he has appointed Man, becaufe 
 in his Old Age he might be freed from the bitter Fruits 
 that were produced by Se.de, and might enjoy the 
 good Effects of his Reafwi, tha$ then he ihakes Handj 
 
 Witii 
 
38 The fare Way of Attaining 
 
 with his Vices, is no longer a Slave to the Devil, and 
 finis himfelf in a bttter Condition of providing for 
 the Salvation of his Soul: That God, whcfe Goodnefs 
 is infinite, has ordained that the Man who comes to the 
 End of his Race, mould End his Life without any 
 Diflemper, and by a pure Diffjlimon, which only 
 ought to bf called a Natural Death, all others be- 
 ing violent and brought upon Alen by Repletion and Ex- 
 cels. That lallly, God is willing that Man mould pafs 
 by fo fweet and c:\fy a Death to a Life of Immortality 
 and Glory which 1 expect, I hope, (faid I to him) to 
 die finging the Praifes of my Creator. The fad Re- 
 flection, that we muil one Day Ceafe to live, is no dis- 
 turbance to me, tho 1 I eafily perceive that at my Age 
 that fatal Day cannot be far from me, that as certainly 
 as I was born fo I mult die, and that many thou* 
 fandsof Younger Perfons than my felfare departed this 
 Life before me, Nor am I afraid of the Terrors of 
 Hell, becaufe I am a Ciuiflian, aud put my trull in the 
 Mercy and Merits of the Biood of Jejus Chriji ; Lallly, 
 I hope that fo plcafant a Life as mine wili be fdlowed 
 by as happy a Death. 
 
 To this the Young Gentleman replied not a Word, 
 only that he was refoived to lead a fober Life, that he 
 might live and die as happily as I hoped to do ; and 
 that tho' hitherto he had wifliM to be Young a long 
 time, yet now he dehVd to be quickly O d, that he 
 might enjoy the Pleafures of fuch an Admirable Age. 
 
 The Deiire I had of giving you, my Lord, a long 
 Entertainment, as being One with whom I could 
 never be Weary, has inclin'd me to write this Long 
 Letter to you, and to add one Word more before I 
 conclude. 
 
 Some fenfulal Perfons give out, that I have troubled 
 my felf to no purpofe in Compofing a Treatife con- 
 cerning Sobriety, and that I have loll n,y time in en- 
 deavouring to perfuade Men to the Practice of that 
 which is impollible : JThat my Advices will prove as 
 Uriel's as the Laws which Plato would haye cilabhhYd 
 
 in 
 
a Long and Healthful Life. 39 
 
 in his Commonwealth, the Execution of which was fo 
 difficult, that he could never prevail upon any Man to 
 receive them ; and that what I have written upon this 
 Subject, will meet with no better a fuccefc. I find this 
 Comparifon is by no means juft, fince I praclis'd what 
 I teach a great many years before I wrote upon it, 
 that I would never have put Pen to Paper had I net 
 known by my own Experience, that this Practice was 
 not impoflible, that it is likewife very ufeful, and 
 very prudent, and this was the Motive which pre- 
 vaii'd upon me to publifh it. In a Word, I have 
 been the Occafion cf a great many Perfons prac- 
 tifing it who find thcmfelves the better for fo do- 
 ing, fo that the Laws of Plato have no Refcmblance 
 to the Advices which I give. But fuch Perfons who 
 deny themfelves, nothing that they may gratify their 
 Senfe, do not care to give me their Approbation. 
 However I pity thefe Men, though they deferve for 
 their Intemperance to be tormented in their Old Days, 
 with a Complication of Diftempers, and to be the 
 Vi&ims of their Paflions a whole Eternity. 
 
 I am, ^rV. 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 Of the Birth and Death of Man. 
 
 THAT I may not be deficient in that Duty or* 
 Charity, which all Men owe to one another, or 
 lofe one Moment of that Pleafure which the Enjoyment 
 of Life arfjrds, 1 will again write to inform thole who 
 do not know me, of what they who are acquainted with 
 me, have known and feen. What I am going to fay 
 will be look'd upon as impoflible or incredible : But at 
 the fame time nothing is more certain ; it being what a 
 great many know, and what is worthily to be admir'd 
 by all Poaerity. I am now ninety five Years of Age, 
 
 and 
 
40 The fare Way of Attaining 
 
 and find my felf as healthful and brisk, and as airy, a$ 
 if 1 were but Twenty five Years old. 
 
 What Ingratitude fhould I be guilty of, did I not re- 
 turn Thanks to the Divine Goodnefs for all his Mercies 
 reach'd out unto me ? Mod of your old Men have 
 fcarce arrived to Sixty, but they find themfelves loaded 
 with Infirmities. They are melancholy, unhealthily, 
 always full of the frightful Apprehenfions of dying: 
 They tremble Day and Night for fear of being within 
 one Foot of their Graves ; and are (o ftrongly poffefsM 
 with the Fancy of it, that 'tis a hard matter to divert 
 them but for a Moment from that doleful Thought. 
 BlefTed be God, I am free from their Ills and Terrors. 
 'Tis may Opinion, that I ought not as yet to abandon 
 my fclf to that vain Fear. This I will make appear 
 by the Sequel, 2nd will alfo evince how certain I am 
 of living an hundred Years. But that I may obferve a 
 Method in the Subject I am treating of, I will begin 
 with the Birth of Man, and end with his Death. 
 
 I fay then, that feme Bodies are born with fo bad a 
 Conftitution, that they live but few Days or Months. 
 Whether this proceeds from the bad Conftitutions of the 
 Parents, or from the Influences of the Stars, or from a 
 Weakncfs of Nature, which derives this Defect from 
 fome foreign Caufe, is hard to determine. For it is 
 rot likely, that Nature, as fhe is the common Parent of 
 all Mankind, ihould be guilty of Over-fondnefs to fome 
 of her Children, and of Cruelty towards others. 
 
 Since we are not able to difcover the true Reafon from 
 whence the Shortnefs of our Lives proceeds, it is in vain 
 to enquire into the Caufe of it. 'Tis enough to know, 
 that there are Bodies which die, almoit as foon as they 
 are born. 
 
 Others are born well fhaped and healthful, but of a 
 tender Make ; and fome of thefe live ten, twenty, thirty, 
 or forty Years, without being able to attain to that Pe- 
 riod, which is called Old Age.. 
 
 Others there are, who bring along with them a flrong 
 Conftitution into the World, and they indeed get to be 
 •Id i but then they are fo decrepid and unhealthful, as 
 
 hath 
 
a Long and Healthful Life. 41 
 
 hath bfcn already obfeved, bringing upon themfelves 
 all the Diilempers they labour under ; becaufe they 
 trufled too much to the Strength of their Conftitution. 
 They are unwilling to alter their Courfe of Life, and 
 make no Difference between their being old and young, 
 as if they were to be as vigorous at Fourfcc; e as in the 
 .Flower of their Days. By this mean c they never cor- 
 rect their Conduct, nor make any Reflection that they 
 are old, that their Conftitution decays, that their Sto- 
 mach lofes every Day fomethingof its natural Heat, and 
 for that Reaibn they ought to be more careful both of the 
 Quality and Quantity of what they eat and drink. They 
 are of Opinion, that a Man's Strength impairing as he 
 grows into Years, he ought to repair and fupport it by a 
 greater Quantity of Food ; they fancy that to eat a great 
 deal preferves their Lives, but therein they are miftaken ; 
 for the natural Heat beginning to decay, they overcharge 
 it with too much Food, and Prudence requires that a 
 Man mould proportion his Diet to his digeftive Faculties. 
 This is certain, that the peccant Humours proceed only 
 from an imperfect Digeftion, and there is but little good 
 Chyle mad?, when the Stomach is charg'd with frefh 
 Aliments, before it has thrown off the former Meal's 
 Meat into the Inteftines. It cannot then be urg'd too 
 often, that when the natural Heat begins to decay, 't ; s 
 neceffuy for the Prefervacion of Health, to abate the 
 Quantity of what one eats and drinks every Day, Nature 
 requiring but very little for the Support of the Life of 
 Man, efpecially that of an old Man. 
 
 However inftead of taking this Courfe, moll old Peo- 
 ple continue to live as they did formerly. If they had 
 ftinted themfelves in time, they would atleaft have ar- 
 rived to my Years, and enjoy 'd as long a Life as my 
 felf, fince they brought into the World a flrong Confti- 
 tution. They might have liv'd fo long at leaft, I fay, 
 for they might have arrived to Six-fcore, as a great many 
 others, who liv'd foberly, have done, whom we have 
 known our felves, or have heard of by Tradition, pro- 
 vided always that they had as happy a Conftitution, as 
 
 thofe 
 
4a fJje fare Way of Att awing 
 
 thofe People. Had I been as well made, I would noC 
 queition but I might p olong my Days to that Date, 
 but becaufe I was born with a tender Conftitution, I 
 cannot hope to live above a Century ; and even they 
 who are of no flronger a make than my fclf may by 
 living feberiy as I do, eafily attain to the fame Period. 
 
 Nothing ieems more delightful than this certainty of a 
 long Life, whilft the reft of Mankind, who obferve not 
 the Rules of Sobriety, are not fure of feeing the next 
 day. This expectation of a long life is founded on fuch 
 natural Confequences as can never /nil. It is next to im- 
 pofiible, that he who leads a regular and fober life mould 
 fall fick, or die a natural Death before the time that 
 Nature has prefcribM. I fay he cannot die before that 
 time, becaufe a fober life prevents that corruption which 
 feeds cur Diftempers, which cannot beprodue'd without 
 a caufe ; and if there is no bad one reigning, there 
 can be no fatal Effect., or violent Death. 
 
 There is no queftion to be made but that a Regular 
 Life puts at Diftance the fid Hour of our Death ; iince 
 'tis able to keep the Humours in an exact: Temperature ; 
 whereas on the contrary, Gluttony and Drunkennefs dif- 
 turbs, heats and puts them into a ferment, which is the 
 Origine of Catarrhs, Fevers, and almoft all the Acci- 
 dents which hurry us to our Graves. 
 . However, tho' Sobriety which preierves us from abun- 
 dance of Difafters, may repair what Excefshas impaii'd, 
 yet it muflnot be fuppos'd that it will make a Man im- 
 mortal. It is impoffible but that time which effaces all 
 things, mould likewife deitroy the molt curious Work- 
 manihip of Nature. That which had a Beginning mull 
 nc^di have an End ; but Man ought to end his Days by 
 a natural Death, that is, wichoutany pain, as they will 
 fee me die when the Radical Moiliurc flull be quite ex- 
 hauited. 
 
 I find this Principle of Life (till fo perfect in me, that 
 I promife my felf itill to be at fome dittance from my lail 
 day ; and I fancy I am not miltaken, becaufe 1 am health- 
 ful and brisk, relifh all I eat, fleep quhtly, and in a word 
 none of my Senfes fail me. I have itill a lively Fancy, 
 
 a happy 
 
a Long and Healthful Life. 43 
 
 a happy Memory, a found Judgment, a ftrong Heart, 
 and my Voice is more tuneable than ever, (tho* the firft 
 Organ that fails) fo that I can chant forth my Office 
 every Morning without any prejudice to my LungJ, and 
 more eafily than I could in my Youth. 
 
 All thele are infallible Signs that I have a great while 
 (lill to live; but that my Life mall end, whenever it 
 pleafe God. How glorious will it then be, having been 
 then attended with all the Happinefs this World can af- 
 ford, fince Age has freed me from the Slavery of my 
 Paffions ? A prudent and regular old Age conquers and 
 eradicates them, prevents them from bringing forth any 
 envenom'd fruits, and changes all the ill thoughts, which 
 Youth infpires into thofe that are good. 
 
 Being no longer a Slave to Senfe, I am not troubled 
 with the thoughts that my Soul mall one day be fcparat- 
 ed from the Body. I am ho longer difturb'd with anxi- 
 ous Fears, and racking Cares, nor vex'd at the Lofs of 
 that which is not really mine The Death of my Friends 
 and Relations occafions no other Grief in me, than that 
 of the firft Movement of Nature, which cannot be avoid- 
 ed, but is of no long Continuance. 
 
 I am Hill lefs mov'd at the Lofs of any Temporal 
 Good, fo affliclive to a great many Perfons. This is only 
 the Happinefs. of thofe that g r ow old by Sobriety, and not 
 of thofe Perfons, who by Virtue of a ftrong Couftituti- 
 on arrive to fuch. an Age, notwithstanding their ExceiTes. 
 The one enjoy aforetafteof Heaven even in this World, 
 whilft the others cannot relifn any pleafure without a great 
 deal of trouble. Who would not think himfelf happy 
 at my Age never to be fenfiBle of the leait Inccnveni- 
 ence? A Happinefs which feldom attends the moll 
 ftouriihing Youth. There are none of 'em but what are 
 fubjeet to a thoufand Diforders, which I know nothing 
 of: On the contrary, I enjoy a thoufand pleafures, 
 which are as pure as they are calm. 
 
 The firfl of thefe, is to be ferviceable to my Country ; 
 and how does this Pleafure innocently pleafe my Vanity I 
 When I reflccl how 1 have furnim'd my Countrymen 
 with ufeful means both of fortifying their City and 
 
 F Fort :' 
 
44 fbe fare Way of Jttaining 
 
 Port : That thefe Works will fubfift for many Ages, 
 that they will conduce to the making of Venice z. famous 
 Republick, a Rich and Matchlefs City, and fcrve to 
 eternize its far Title of being Queen of the Sea. 
 
 I have likewife the Satisfa&iun of having afforded to 
 her Inhabitants the means of obtaining always a plenty 
 of all things ncctflary for Life, by manuring untill'd 
 Lands, draining rhe Marfhes, by laying under Water 
 and faming the Fields which were barren by reafon of 
 the Drynds of the Soil, which would otherwife have 
 been a Work of Time. 
 
 In fhort, I have render'd the City wherein I was born, 
 Wronger, richer, and more beautiful than ever, as alfo 
 the Air more wholefome ; all which is to my Credit, 
 and nothing hinders me from enjoying the Glory which 
 is due unto me. 
 
 My Misfortune having robbM me of a confiderable 
 folate whilft I was young, I knew how to make amends 
 for that Lofs by my Care ; fo that without the leaft: 
 Wrong done to any Perfon, and without any other trou- 
 ble than that of giving forth" the Orders that were necef- 
 fary, I have doubled my Income, and fhall leave to my 
 Grand-children twice theEllate that I had by Inheritance 
 from my Anceflors. 
 
 One Satisfaction which pleafes me more than all the 
 jcil is, that what I have written concerning Sobriety, is 
 of great ule to many, who loudly proclaim, how highly 
 they are oblig'd tome for that Work: Several of them 
 having lent me word from foreign Parts, that under God 
 they have been indebted to me for their Lives. 
 
 1 have likewife another Satisfaction, the Deprivation 
 
 of which would very much diiturb me; which is, that I 
 
 write and draw with my Hand all that is proper for my 
 
 Buildings, and for the Conduct of my Domeltick Af. 
 
 •fairs. 
 
 I likewife frequently converfe with Men of Learning, 
 {>cra whom I daily receive new Notices. And 'tis a 
 Wonder that at my Age I mould have fo quick parts as 
 to learn and comprehend the molt rcfinM and difficult of 
 Sconces. 
 
 But 
 
 
a hong and Healthful Life. 45 
 
 Bat that which makes me look upon my felf as one 
 of the happieft of Men, is, that I in fome meafure enjoy 
 two forts of Lives; the one Terreflrial, with refpecl to 
 the Adlions of my Body ; and the ether Divine and Ce- 
 leftial, by the pleafures of the Mind; which are attend- 
 ed with a great many Charms, when founded on Rea- 
 fonable Obje&s, and a Moral AfTurance of the Infinite 
 good Things which the divine Bounty prepares for us. 
 
 I enjoy then perfectly the pleafures of this Mortal 
 Life, Thanks to Sobriety, which is extremely grateful 
 to God, as being the Guardian of Virrue, and an irre- 
 concileable Enemy to Vice ; and by Way of foretaile I 
 enjoy eternal Life, by contemplating fo often on the Hap- 
 pinefs thereof, that [ can hardly think upon any thing 
 clfe. I look upon Death as the necefl-iry pafTige to 
 Heaven, and am fo far charm'd with the glorious Ele- 
 vation to which I think my Soul is defign'd, that I can 
 no longer ftoop to thofe Trifles, which charm and infa- 
 tuate the greateit part of Mankind. The Deprivation 
 of thofe pleafures to which I was mofl addicted, gives me 
 no Difquiet ; on the contrary the Lofs of them rsiies 
 my Joy, fmce it is to be the Beginning of a Lifeincom* 
 parably more Happy. 
 
 Who then would be troubled if he were in my pjace ? 
 However there is not a Man but may hope for the like 
 Happinefs, if he would live as I do. For in mcrr, I 
 am neither Saint nor Angel, but only a Man, the Ser- 
 vant of God, to whom a fober and regular Life is fo 
 grateful, that even in this World he rewards thofe who 
 pra&ife it. 
 
 If all they who retire into Monafteries, to lead there 
 a Penitent Life, a Life of Prayer and Contemplation, 
 would to all their Vertues, add the Prudence of abridg- 
 ing themlelves in their Diet, they would become more 
 Deferring and more Venerable. 
 
 They would be look'd upon as Saints by perfevering 
 in their Auflerhies, and eiteem'd as thofe old Patriarchs 
 and ancient Hermits, who obferv d a conftant fobriety, 
 and liv'd fo long a time. They might very probably 
 obtain at the AgQ of Sixfcore (o much Grace as to be 
 F 2 able 
 
46 vhe fnre Way of Jttaimng 
 
 able to work Miracles, which they could net do for 
 want of fuch a Perfection to which they could not ar- 
 rive before that time. And befides this Privilege, which 
 is almoft an infallible mark of Predeftination, they would 
 be in conilant Health, which is as rarely to be met with 
 in the old Age of the moft pious Monks, as in that of 
 the greateft part of the wifeft Worldlii 
 
 Several of thofe Monks fancy, that God does on pur- 
 pofe annex to old Age, to ferve inftead of Pe- 
 
 nance impos'd for the Sins committed in their Youth. 
 Put therein, as T think, they are very much miftaken. 
 For I cannot imagine how God who loves Mankind can 
 be d lighted in their Sufferings. *Tis the Devil and Sin 
 which brings all the Evile we fuffer upon our Heads, and 
 not God who is our Father and Creator. Me defircs that 
 Mankind fhould be happy both in this and in the other 
 World : Bis Commands tend to no other Purpofe, and 
 Temperance would not be a Vertue, if the Benefit it 
 dees us by preferving us from Diftempers were repugnant 
 to the Defigns of God in our old Age. 
 
 Jn fliort, if all the truly pious were fober, Chriften- 
 dom would be as full of Saints as in the primitive times, 
 nay, they would be more numerous, becaufe the Num- 
 ber of Chriflians arc increafed fince that time. How ma- 
 ny Venerable Doclcrs might edify others by their whole- 
 fome Preachings and good Examples ? How many Sin- 
 ners might receive Benefit by their Inteiccffions : How 
 nuny Bleifings might they fhower upon the Earth ? 
 Thefe Monks in obferving the Maxims which I profefs, 
 need not fear acting contrary to thofe of their Rule. 
 
 There is not one that forbids them the ufe of Eread, 
 \ and Eggs ; fome alfo permit them to eat Fleftv 
 Befide thefe things, they make ufe of Sallads, Pulfe, 
 Fruit, Cakes, which are prejudicial to fome Stomachs. 
 Bccaufe thefe Meffes are offer a to them in the Refecto- 
 ry, they may perhaps be afraid of tranfgreiiing their 
 Rule, if. they mould abftain from them. However they 
 rvcuM have done better if thirty years ago they had ab- 
 ftained from that Diet, and contented themfelves with 
 Bread, Wine, Broths and Eggs, which are the belt Food 
 
 a ten- 
 
a Long and Healthful Life. 47 
 
 a tender Body can take. Would not this be better than 
 the Nourishment of the ancient Fathers in the Defart, 
 who drank nothing but fair Water, did eat only wild 
 Fruit, Herbs, and raw Roots, yet liv'd a long time 
 without Infirmities ? Our Anchorets would likewife find 
 a more eafy Way to Heaven, than thofe of Thebais. 
 
 I will conclude all with faying, that fince extreme old 
 Age may be fo ufeful and pleafant to Men, I mould have. 
 faiPd in point of Charity, had I not taken care to inform 
 them by what Methods they might prolong their Days. 
 I have had no other Motive in writing upon this Subject 
 than that of engaging them to practiie all their Lives a 
 Vertue which would bring them like me to a happy old 
 Age, in which I will not ceafe to cry, Live, live long, 
 to the End you may ferve God, and be fit for the Glory 
 which he prepares for his Elect. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 Feing a Letter from a Nun of Padua, the Gr arid-Daugh- 
 ter of Lewis Cornaro. 
 
 LE-zvis Cvrnaro was by the ill Conduct cf fome of .his 
 Relations depriv'd of the Dignity of a noble Ve- 
 netian, cf which he was poffeiVd, and which he deierv'd 
 for his Vertues, and by his Birth. He was r.ot banim'd 
 from his Country, but was free to remain in Venice if he 
 pleas'd ; but feeing himfelf excluded from all the p'jb- 
 lick Employs of the Republick, he retired to Padua, 
 where he took up his Refidence. 
 
 He married at Udine a City of Friuli ; his Wife's 
 "Name was Vcmrica, of the Family of the Spilenbergs. 
 She was a long time barren, and as he ardently v/ifh'd 
 for Children, he neglected nothing which might give 
 him that Satisfaction. At laft, after many Vows, Pray- 
 ers and Remedies, his Wife became pregnant, and was 
 deliver'd of a Daughter, who was named Clara, be- 
 caufe of the Devotion which each of them Lid for 
 Saint Francis. 
 
 F 3 This 
 
4$ fhe fute Way of Attaining 
 
 This was an on'y Daughter, and was Married to John 
 Camaro the Son of Faniin of the Family of that Name, 
 which was uifringuifiYd by the Sirname of Camaro dell 
 Bpifcopia. It was a very powerful Family before the 
 lofs which Chriilendom fufferM by lefing the Kingdom 
 of Cyprus, where that Family had a coniiderable Eitate. 
 
 Clara had Eleven Children, Eight Sons and Three 
 Daughters. Lenvis Camaro had alfo the pleafurc to fee 
 hrmfelf, as it were, revived by Miracle in a great num- 
 ber of SuccefTors ; for tho' he was very ancient when 
 Clara came into the World, yet he lived to fee her very 
 Old, and his Offrfpring to the Third Generation. 
 
 Cerr.aro was a Man of Underftanding, Merit and 
 Courage. He loved Glory, and was naturally libera], 
 nevertheless without profufenefs. His Youth was in- 
 firm ; being very paffionate and hafty ; but when he 
 perceiv'd what damage the Vices cf his temper causM 
 him, he refolved to currett them, and had ftrcngtli 
 enough ever himfeflF to conquer his pailion, and thofe 
 extravagant humours to which he was fubjecV After 
 this Glorious Victory, he became fo moderate, mild, 
 and affable that he gained the efleem and friendfnip of 
 al! that knew him. 
 
 He was extraordinary fbber, and cbfcrv'd the Rules 
 which he mentions in his Writing*, and dieted himfelf 
 always with fo much wifdom and precaution, that find- 
 ing his natural heat decaying by degrees in his Old 
 Age, he alfo diminifi.ed his Die, by degrees., fo far as to 
 ftint himielf to the yolk cf an Egg for a meal, and forne- 
 times a little before his Death, it fcrv'd him for two 
 meals. 
 
 By this means he prefcrv'd lis health, and was alfo 
 vigorous to the age of an hundred years ; his Mind did 
 i , e decay, he never had need 01 Spectacles, neither loll 
 he his Hearing. 
 
 And that which is no ]efa true than difficult to believe, 
 is that ho prefcrv'd his Voice (o clear and harmonious, 
 that at the end of h's Life he fang with as much ftrength 
 and delight as he did at the Age of twenty five years. 
 
 He 
 
a Long and Healthful Life. 4p 
 
 He had forefeen that he fhould live long without any 
 infirmity, and was not deceiv'd in it. When he felt that 
 his Jaft hour drew near, he difpofed himfelf to leave this 
 life with the Piety of a Chriftian, and the Courage of a 
 Philofopher. He made his Will, and fet all his Affairs 
 in order, after which he received the lafl Sacraments, 
 and expected death patiently in an Elbnw-Chair. In 
 fhort, it may be faid that being in good health, feeling 
 no manner of pain, having alfo his Mind and Eye very- 
 brisk, a little fainting fit took him, which was initead 
 of an Agony, and made him fetch his lall Breath. He 
 died at Padua, the twenty fixth of April 1566, and w*s 
 Buried the eight of May following. 
 
 His Wife died fome Years after him. Her Life was 
 long, and her Old Age as happy as that of her Spoufe, 
 only her latter days were not altogether like his. Some- 
 time before her Death (he was feized with a lingering, 
 which brought her to her Grave. She gave up her Soul 
 one Night in her Bed without any Convuifive motions, 
 and with fo perfect tranquility me left this life without 
 being perceiv'd. 
 
 This is all I can fay of thofe good people, by the Idea 
 which remains of them from what 1 heard my deceased 
 Father, and fome other Friends of Louis Cofnaro fay of 
 them, who having liv'd fo long after an extraordinary 
 manner, deferve not to die fo foon in the memory of Man. 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 Juthcrities taken from the Hijlory of M. de Thou ; and 
 the Dialogues of Cardan, concerning the Method of pro-' 
 longing a Man's Life, and preferring his Health. 
 
 TH E Extractor' the 38th Book of the Hiilory of 
 M. frefident de Thou, runs thus : 
 " Lewis Cornaro was an extraordinary and admira- 
 %i ble Inftance of a long life, for he lived an hundred 
 " year* hful in Body and found in Mind. He was 
 
 I* defended from one of the molt Illuftuous Families of 
 
 " Venice; 
 
JQ The fare Way of Attaint tig 
 
 " Venice ; but through fome Misfortune owing to his 
 ° Birth, he was excluded from all Honours and publick 
 " Employments in the State. He Married at Udine in 
 u Friuli one Veronica, of the Family of Spilemburg, and 
 •' being in polTeflion of a good Eftate, he was very defi- 
 V rous of having Children to inherit it. In fhort, what 
 " by the Prayers he put up and by the help of Phyfici- 
 (t ans he conquer' d the point, and his Wife whom he 
 •* dearly loved, and who was pretty well gone in Years, 
 M was brought to Bed of a Daughter, when he leaft of all 
 " expected it. This Daughter named Clara was Mar- 
 " ried to John the Son of Fantini Carnaro, a Rich Fa- 
 " mily of Cyprus, by whom fhe had eight Sons and three 
 " Daughters. 
 
 " In a word, Lewis Cornaro by his Sobriety, and the 
 " Regimen he obferv'd in his Diet, corrected the Infir- 
 " mities he had contracted by Intemperance in his 
 •* Youth, and by the Strength of his Reafon moderated 
 " his Inclination and Propenfity to Anger. So that in 
 ■« his Old Age he had as good a Conftitution of Body, 
 " and as mild and even temper'd a Mind, as before in 
 " the flower of his Youth he was infirm, and apt to fly 
 «' out into a Paflion. He compofed feveral Treatifes 
 «* when he was very Old, wherein he tells us of the ir- 
 «< regularity of his former Life, and of his Reformation, 
 « f and the hopes he had of Living long. Nor was he 
 " miflaken in his account, for he died calmly and with- 
 «' out any pain, being above an hundred Years old, at 
 * ( Padua, where he had taken up his Refldence. His 
 «' Wife almoft as old as himielf furvived him, but with- 
 *' in a fliort time after died a very eafy Death. They 
 *' were Loth buried in St. Anthony's Church without any 
 ( * pomp, according as they had order'd by their lafl Will 
 *' and Teftamcnt. 
 
 In the Diologue of Cardan, between a Phi'ofopher, a 
 Citizen, and an Hermit, concerning the Methods of pro- 
 longing a Man's Life, and preferving his Health, Cardan 
 introduces the Hermit diicourfing tnus : 
 
 " Whereas in folid Nourishments and even in Drinks 
 *' there arc feveral things worthy our obfervation : «wfe. 
 
 "their 
 
a iMg and Htaltbful Life. 51 
 
 their Natural Qualities, and thofe which they acquire 
 by the feafoning of them, the order and the time 
 wherein we ought to make ufe of them, without men- 
 tioning the Quantity of thofe very Aliments and 
 Drinks : it is not without reafon that the Queftion is 
 ask'd, which of thefe things is to be regarded moll ? 
 " Some have declard themfelvcs for the Quantity, 
 maintaining that it has in effect a greater -(hare than 
 any other thing in theprefervation of Health and Life. 
 " The famous Lewis Cornaro a Noble Venetian was 
 of this Mind. He treated on this Subject at the Age 
 of Fourfcore, enjoying then a perfect foundnefs of Bo- 
 dy and Mind. This Venerable Old Man, at the Age 
 of Thirty fix was feizM with fo violent a Diftemper, 
 that his Life was defpair'd of. Ever after that time 
 he took care to eat jufc the fame Quantity every 
 Meal : and tho' he was not free from a great many 
 Fatigues, and fome Misfortunes which occafion'd his 
 Brothers Death, yet the exactnefs of his Regimen pre- 
 ferv'd him always in Health with an entire freedom of 
 Mind. 
 
 ** At feventy years of Age a Coach in which he tra« 
 veli'd was overthrown, by which he was drag'd a great 
 way, and wounded in his Head, one of his Legs and 
 Arms. The Phyficians defpair'd of his Recovery, 
 and were for applying a great many Remedies to him. 
 But Cornaro tells us, that being well fatisfied of the 
 Temperature of his Humours, he rejected all the afii- 
 flances of the Phyficians, and was quickly cur'd. 
 " Nine Years after when he was almolt Fourfcore, 
 his Friends and his very Phyficians advis'd him to add 
 two Ounces to his Ordinary Diet. Within ten or 
 twelve Days, after he fell fick : the Phyficians gave 
 him over, and he himfelf b*gan 1&*fe'z.r the Worft, 
 however he recover 'd his Health, tho* with much 
 ado. 
 
 " The fame Author adds, that being Fourfcore Years 
 Old, his Sight and Hearing was found and good ; 
 that his Voice held ftrong ; that he fomctimes fang 
 in Confort with his Grand- Children ; that he could 
 
 " either 
 
Si tfbe Jure Way of Attaining 
 
 u cither Ride or Walk a foot very well, and that he 
 " compos'd a Comedy which came off with Applaufe. 
 
 " This Wife Old Gentleman was then of the Opini- 
 " on that a Regular and fmall Quantity of Food contri- 
 " buted more than any thing elfe to the prefervation of 
 " Health ; for he makes no mention of his choice of 
 " Diets. I am ufed (fays Cornaro) to take in all twelve 
 " Ounces, of fol id Nourifhment, fuch as Meat and the 
 " yolk of an Egg, and fourteen Ounces of Drink. 'Tis 
 " to be lamented, that he did not preciftly tell u«, whe- 
 u ther he took this Quantity at once, or twice a day : 
 " However fince he tells us, that he did eat but a very 
 " little, it feems as if he did fo but once a Day. 
 
 " The Famous Civilian Panigarolus, who lived above 
 u feventy Years, tho'of a very weak Conftitution, never 
 " eat or drank above twenty eight Ounces a Day, 
 '' which comes almoft to the fame Quantity of Cornaro. 
 
 " I was intimately acquainted with one, who never 
 " took above thirty fix Ounces a Day. 'Tis true in- 
 " deed, that every Fortnight he purg'd himfelf, but 
 J* he liv'd to above ninety Years of Age. 
 
 " It fcems then as if Cornaro was minded to keep 
 " from us a perfect knowledge of his Regimen, and only 
 11 to tell us that he had found out an extraordinary one; 
 *' fince he has not informM us whether he took the Quan- 
 " tity he fpeaks of, at once cr twice a Day, nor whe- 
 n ther he alter'd his Diet : for he treats on that Subject 
 " as darkly and obfeurely as Hypocrates. 
 
 u 'Tis hkewife flrange, that the Quantity of this Li- 
 " quid mould execeed that of his folid Diet, and the ra- 
 •* ther, becaufe what he did eat was not equally nourifh- 
 '• ing, fmce he took yolks of Eggs as well as Meat. In 
 " truth, to me he feems to talk more like a Philofopher 
 " than a Phyfician. 
 
 Thus far Cardan : But by his leave, if he had read 
 what Cornaro has written concerning afobcrand Regular 
 Life with attention, he would havepafAi a founder judg- 
 ment on his Writing ; for in them he not only fpeakf of 
 the Qnantity, but in exprefs terms difcourfes of the Qua- 
 lity of our Diet. 
 
 Maxims 
 
a Long and Healthful Life. $$ 
 
 Maxims to be Olfertii for the prolonging of Life. 
 
 s'TT^ I S not good to eat too much, or to fall too 
 
 JL long* or do any thing elfe, that is preterna- 
 tural. 
 
 Whoever eats or drinks too much will be Tick. 
 
 The Diftempers of Repletion are cur'd by Abfti- 
 nence. 
 
 Old Men can fall eafily ; Me i of Ripe Age can fall 
 almoilasmuch ; but young Perfons and Children, that 
 are brisk and lively can hardly fall at all. 
 
 Growing Perfons have a great deal of Natural Heat, 
 which requires a great deal of Nourilhment, elfe the 
 Body will pine away : but old Men, who have but a 
 little Natural Heat, require but a little Food, and too 
 much overcharges them. 
 
 It mull be examin'd what fort of Perfons ought tp feed 
 once or twice a Day, more or lefs; allowance being al- 
 ways made to the Age of the Perfon, to the Seafon of 
 the Year, to the Place where one lives, and to Cuflom. 
 
 The more you feed foul Bodies, the more you hurt 
 your felves. 
 
 AJhort Difcourfe on Longevity, in federal Injlances of 
 Perfons living to an extream old Age, as much from a. 
 cool and temperate Diet and regular Courfe of Life, as 
 from the true Balis and Ground of Old Age, that hat* 
 py Parental BleJJing of 
 
 Bona ftamina vitas. 
 
 THAT the Devil for once fpake true when he faid, 
 Skin for Skin, and all that a Man has for his 
 Life, &c. Long Life is fo defirable, and fo valu'd and 
 efieem'd among Men, that 'tis every Man's Hope and 
 Wifh to obtain it. And yet we fee notwithltandiug this 
 gre<;t Like and Love Men Ihew and exprtfs for it, how 
 remifs and carelefs the greateil part' of Mankind are in 
 
 the 
 
J4 The fui-c Way of Attaining 
 
 the Means to fecure it. This fupine and ftupid Neglect 
 arifes ftoin our too mueh Truftin a good Conjiitution ; 
 when alas ! they think not that the leait Debauch (tho* 
 it does not blow up, yet) like an Earthquake it fhakes 
 the very Foundation of the human Fabrick, and re- 
 peated Acls foon ruin the SuperftruSlure* ,i and becaufe 
 they fee fome Jew old Drunkards of fouricore fafe waded 
 through an Aceldama of their Neighbours Skulls that 
 has fallen in the Battle, young Men prefently take nan 
 Caufa pro Caufa, and imit te them in Drinking', not 
 COnfiderirvg that this their Prtced-nt, had he trimm'd 
 his Lamp, and wifely man.ig'd the Flame, he might 
 have liv'd to have been an Old Par or a Jenkins, &c. 
 But alas ! where one Ckret ProfeJJbr lives to 80, ten 
 thoufand of their Tyroes link under it. I mull: confefs 
 that Company is very pleafant and charming, efpecially 
 if it be all of a piece, witty and ingenious ; but we 
 ihould con/ider how dearly we purchafe a little frothy 
 and fleeting Difcourfe, and iwop our precious Time and 
 Health for nothing but Pifs and Prate, for in the Sink 
 and Chamber-pot all Tavern-Delights terminate ; and 
 tho' a Man may wreitle thro' a great many Years lin- 
 ger a Cuftom and Habj.t of Drinking, yet the Bottle 
 will at laft prevail and fairly lay him on his Back. The 
 ferious Conhdcraiiun of this many Year* fince, even ill 
 my Youth, dictated this Caution to my /elf, <vm, 
 
 Trujr not to Conftitution, Vw /// decay, 
 And tivijied Strength its Fibres wears away ; 
 As clofe-ivove Garments of a Jlrong-fpun 'Thread 
 ^Wooff 'frets out and tears a-ivay the Web : 
 So Soul and Body tho' > ne'er f well conjoined,) 
 The longer that they <v:ear the more they g; ind, 
 Then the crackt Organ ?nujl impair e the /; . 
 All finite Things tend to thci o-x:-n Undoing, 
 But Man alonS. ''is Ruin ; 
 
 For what with Riot, Dehcaies and Wine, 
 P n ■';■ to undermine. 
 
 1 cs la i din our Way, 
 The juuden Deaths we hear of even Day, 
 
 The 
 
 1 
 
} 
 
 a Long and Healthful Life* jj 
 
 The fmootheft Paths have unfeen Ambufcades, 
 ■ And Infecurity Security invades ; 
 For no Man knows vohafs the next Hour's Event, 
 Man lives, as he does die, by Accident. 
 Hoiv foft is Flefh, hovo brittle is a Bone f 
 Time eats up Steel and Monuments of Stone, 
 And from his Teeth art thou exempt alone ? 
 What Warrant haft thou that thy Body's Proof 
 Again ft the Anguijb of an aching Tooth ? 
 Hovj footfs a Fever roused by acute Pains ? 
 The fmalleft Ails have all their Partisans* 
 And in inteftine Wars they may divide, 
 And Lifers Defrters lift on the vorong Side, 
 Qifeafes, like true Blood- Hounds, feize their Dam t 
 And prey upon the Carcafs vjhence they fprang. 
 Be alvjays on thy Guard, vjatchful andvoife, 
 Left Death Jhould take thee napping by Surprize. 
 
 A Letter giving an Account of one Henry Jenkins a York- 
 ihire Man, vuho attained the Age of 169 Tears, com- 
 municated by Dr. Tancred Robinfon Fellovj of the Col- 
 lege ofPhyficians, and R, S. viitb his Rtmarks on it, 
 
 SIR, 
 
 R. Robin fon tells me you defire the Relation of 
 __ Henry Jenkins, vjhich is as follovoeth. 
 When I came firft to live at Bolton, it was told me, 
 there lived in that Parifh a Man near an Hundred and 
 fifty Years old ; that he had fworn as Witnefs in a Caufe 
 at York to an Hundred and twenty Years, which the 
 Judge reproving him for, he faid, he was Butder at 
 that Time to the Lord Conyers ; and they told me, that 
 it was reported his Name was found in fome old Regilier 
 of the Lord Conyers Menial Servants ; bul truly it was 
 never in my Thoughts to enquire of my Lord Darcy 9 
 whether this laft Particular was true or no ; for I be- 
 lieved little of the Story for a great many Years ; till 
 one Day being in my Siller's Kitchin, Henry Jenkins 
 C coming 
 
56 The fure Way of Attaining 
 
 coming in to beg an Alms, I had a Mind to examine 
 him ; I told him he was an Old Man, who muft fud- 
 denly expecl to give an Account to God, of all he did or 
 .laid i and I defired him to tell me very truly how old 
 lie was : He paufed a little, and then faid, that to the 
 foeft of his Remembrance he was about One hundred 
 fixty two or three ; and I asked him what Kings he re- 
 membred ? He faid Hemy VJIJ. I asked what publick 
 thing he could longeft remember ? He faid Flonvden- 
 Fie/d; I asked whether the King was there ? He faid 
 no, he was in France, and the Earl of Suny was Gene- 
 ral ; I asked him how old he might be then ? He faid, 
 .'( believe I might be between Ten and Twelve ; for fay* 
 he, I was fent to Northallerton with a Horfe-Load of Ar- 
 rows, but they fent a bigger Boy from thence to the Ar- 
 my with them. I thought by thefe Marks I might rind 
 fomething m Hiftories, and look'd into an old Chronic!* 
 that »vas in theHoufe, and I did find that Flowden-fe Id 
 ■was an Hundred fifty two Years before ; fo that if he 
 was Ten or Eleven Years Old, he muft be One hundred 
 lixty two Years, or three, as he faid when I examined 
 him. I found by the Book, that Bows and Arrows 
 were then ufed, and that the Earl he named was then 
 General, and that King Henry VIII, was then at Tour- 
 nay, fo that I don't know what to anfvver to the Con- 
 iiitcncies of thefe Things, for Henry Jenkins was a poor 
 Man, could neither write nor read : There were alfo 
 four or five in the fame Parifh, that were reputed all of 
 them to be an Hundred Years Old, or within two or 
 three Years of it, and they all faid he was an elderly 
 Man ever fmce they knew him ; for he was born in 
 another Parifli, and before any Regifters were in Church- 
 es, as it is faid ; he told me then too, that he was But- 
 ]er to the Lord Conyers, and remembred the Abbot of 
 Fountains- Abby very well, who ufed to drink a Glafs 
 with his Lord heartily, and that the DifTolution of the 
 Monalkries he faid he well rememhred. 
 
 Ann Savilli, 
 
 This 
 
a Long and Healthful Life. §J 
 
 This Henry Jenkins departed this Life the eighth 'Dxy 
 ef December, 1670. at Ellerton upon Swale. 
 
 The Battle of Flowden-Field was fought upon the 
 Ninth Day of September, in the Year of our Lord, 151 3, 
 
 Henry Jenkins was twelve Years old when F/owden- 
 Field was fought, fo he lived 169 Years. 
 
 Old Pane lived One hundred fifty two Years nine 
 Months ; fo that Henry Jenkins out-lived him by Com- 
 putation fixteen Years, and was the oldeft Man born up- 
 on the Ruins of this Poji-diluvian World. 
 
 This Henry Jenkins in the lait Century of his Life was 
 a Fifherman, and ufed to wade in the Streams ; his 
 Diet was coarfe and fovvr; but towards the latter End cf 
 his Days he begged up and down ; he hath fworn in 
 Chancery and other Courts, to above 140 Years Me- 
 mory, and was often at the Aifizesat22>;-A-, whether he 
 generally went a-foot : and I have heard fome of the 
 Country-Gentlemen affirm, that he frequently fwam in 
 the Rivers after he was pall the Age of One hundred 
 Years. 
 
 'Tis to be wiihed that particular Enquiries were made, 
 and anfvered, concerning the Temperament of this 
 Man's Body, his manner of Living, and "all other Cir- 
 cumftances, which might furniih many ufeful Inflruc^ 
 tions to thofe who are curious about Longevity. 
 
 Francifco LupatJ'oli, the Venetian Conful at Smyrna, 
 liv'd 1 1 3 Years, and had by his Wives and other Wo- 
 men about 50 Children ; he ufed to pray for the Soul 
 of all his defundt. Miftreffes by Name. He drank no- 
 thing but Water and Milk, fometimes a fmall Sherbet ; 
 his ufual Diet was fmall Soops of Flefh, fometimes of 
 Bread, Water and Figs. He faw at that Age, or near 
 it, without Spectacles, and could hear well. He drank 
 no manner of Tea, Coffee, or Chocolate, nor any fer- 
 mented Liquor. He went upright. He had fome new 
 black Hairs on his Head, and Mr. Ray, the Englijk 
 Conful there, told me that he faw a Tooth cut in his 
 upper Gum. He faid that he was potent for Women at 
 that Age, and was known to give Money for a fhe young 
 Slave to be kind with her. Towards his latter End he 
 G 2 com- 
 
jS The fur e Way of JUalmug 
 
 eomplainM to a Dodlor that his Eyes began to grow 
 dim, and defired a Remedy ; the Doctor's Name was 
 Barbatfcio. He was a fair Man, of a middle Stature, 
 
 Mr. Ray lodges at Mr. Butlers, next Door to Mr. 
 Holt's in Charter-houfe yard. 
 
 Mr. John Bill related too that Richard Lloyd, born 
 two Miles from Montgomery, was aged 133 within two 
 Months, a flrong, flrait and upright Man, wanted no 
 Teeth, had no grey Heirs/ which were of a darkifti 
 brown Colour ; could hear well, and read without 
 Spe&acles, flefhy and full cheek'd, and the Calves of 
 his Legs not wafted or fhrunk, he could talk well : He 
 was of a tall Stature : His Food was Bread, Cheefe and 
 Butter for the moft part, and his Drink Whey, Butter- 
 milk or Water, and nothing elfe ; but being by a Neigh- 
 bour-Gentlewoman perfuaded to eat Fkfh-meat, and 
 drink Malt-liquors, foon fell eft and died. He was a 
 poor labouring Man in Husbandry, lf)c. To the Truth 
 of this, the Copy of the Regifter produe'd affirm'd it. 
 
 Dr. Leaver, Brother to cur famous Lower, told me, 
 that he faw a Man in the North of an extream Age, full 
 or above fixfcore ; he lay on a Pad on the Ground in a 
 dark fmoaky tatter'd Cottage, with a Clout or old Stoc- 
 king that flopt a Hole in (the next to no Wall) a Clay- 
 plafter'd Hurdle, with a little Cow lying by him, 
 chewing the Cud. I ask'd him what that Hole in the 
 Wall fcrv'd for ? He told me that itferv'd to let out 
 Smoak or let in the frefh Air, according as he wanted the 
 one, or was opprefs\i with t'other. I ask'd him what 
 that Cowferv'd for, with her Mouth fo near him ? He 
 anfwer'd, for Refreshment; for, faid he, the Breath 
 of the Cow is a Cordial, and much refrefhes me when I 
 am faint, &c. I ask'u him what Diet he us'd ? He an- 
 fwer'd Oatmeal made into Water-pottage, and Potatoes, 
 and fometimes a little Milk, when his Son and Daugh- 
 ter did not drink it from him. He faid that he had 
 been a labouring Man all his Days, and that he never 
 had been fick as he ever could remember in his Life ; 
 that he eat very little Flelh, &c. 
 
 As 
 
a Long and Healthful Life. $$ 
 
 As to being comforted with the Breath of the Cow, 
 'tis highly rational to believe it ; for the Breath was 
 warm, and mull emit with it fome volatile Salts, and 
 fragrant Particles, analogous to cur own Spirits. I have 
 heard feveral Shepherds, and other Cattle-keepers fay, 
 That in rouzing of their Herds from their Reft in a 
 Morning, the Steams not only of their Bodies, but evert 
 the Effluvia and Scent of their Dung and Urine has been 
 grateful and refrefhing, from thofe falubrious volatile 
 Salts that they draw in with their Breath in their Sheep- 
 Folds, and Cow-houies, early in a Morning before the 
 Beams of Light and Heat exhale them, and rob them of 
 the belt Nofe-gay in the World. And in the Times of 
 the old Patriaichs, no Doubt but that the whole Family- 
 lay upon the Ground, Old Adams firft Flcor, both Man 
 and Beaft, Wife and Children, which might be ons 
 Caufe of their long Life, &c. For in thofe Days they 
 were Strangers to the curfed Invention of tall Houfes 
 and painted Roofs, which the divine Seneca* Socrates, 
 Plato, Epicletus, Antoninus the Emperor (who as Ca- 
 fauban remarks, had more Kingdoms than ever Solo- 
 mon had Towns, &c. I fay all thefe, and many others 
 of the wife Philofophers of all Ages have expos'd and 
 rail'd at the Pride, Vanities, and UnnecefTaries of Life* 
 which is not only the Trouble, but the very Plague and 
 Torment of it, according to the Poet, 
 
 He that vjoud ' rejilefs live in this Jhort Life, 
 Let him have a vain and fajbionable Wife, 
 From Top-knot Shop to Top-knot let her range, 
 And ccnjlant to nothing but to conjiant change. 
 
 But whilft the Devil, that Spiritual Taylor, Prince of 
 the Air, can fo eafily fly to France, and monthly fetch 
 us new Fafhions, 'tis never likely to be othenvife. What 
 a Shame is it, in the Church, theKoufe of God, where 
 People ought to alTemble in Sack-doth and Ames to la- 
 ment and mourn for their Sins, to come with a Bufhel 
 of ere&ed Head-geer, like fo many walking Turrets ? 
 and the Men to difguife themfeives with long dangling 
 G 3 Per- 
 
60 Thsfare Way of Attaining 
 
 Perriwigs hanging to their Rumps, as if each had a 
 Beards-Skin at his Back, is a Shame to the fober and 
 chriilian part of the World, in making the Church a 
 Spiritual Hide-Park, an ogling Rendezvouz ofAmoret- 
 to's and Lovers, rather than a Houfe of Prayer and Hu- 
 miliation? Really this mull be a great Offence even to 
 the poor Mumpers that beg at the Church-door. 
 
 There is at the Bath an Old Fellow in the Summer- 
 time, who is an Affiftant to the Play-houfe. I have 
 ©bferv'd this Old Fellow once in a Week, or fometimes 
 ©ftner, to go to a Milk-houfe (where I ufed often to 
 drink Milk) to fill a great Pitcher (which held at leaft 
 6 or 7 Quarts) of new Butter-milk, but always kept it 
 until it was fowr, and then drank of that and nothing elfe 
 all the Summer Months, (i.e.) from April or May, 
 until O Holer ; the remaining part of the Year he drank 
 either Water or Small Beer, tho' he told me that in his 
 ,Youth he has fometimes drank ftrong Drinks, but they 
 never agreed with him : And he alio told me, that riot 
 above two Years ago he went from Bath to London on 
 foot, in two Days, and came home to the Bath again in 
 two Days more, and that he was then near 87 Years of 
 Age, as may be feen by the Regifter. He is a itreight 
 upright Man, without Hooping, and of his great Age 
 moves wonderfully nimble. He has an ungrateful 
 Wame, tho' an honeft Fellow, for it is Seth U/ithanke. 
 Sie was born in Miljield, in the County of Northumber- 
 land, in Glendall Ward, in the Year cf our Lord 161 7. 
 en the 29th of September, in the 15 th Year of the Reign 
 of King James, and was baptiz'd in the Kirk Newton. 
 He was the youngeft of 22 Children. His eldeft Sifter 
 lias been dead a Year. He has a Brother living 1 o Years 
 older than himlelf, his eldeft Brother has been dead 
 three Years. He has a Sifter living in Spittle, within 
 lialf a Mile of Berwick, 1 6 Years older than himfelf. 
 His Uncle was 1 26 Years old, when he died, he was a 
 Fenfioner to the Bifhop of Durham. 
 
 Henry de la Grange Z) 1 ' Arquin was born in France the 
 '13th of April 1606, and was made Cardinal D'Arquin 
 by Innocent XIX. the pjh of Pejwfcr 1625. He is 
 
a Long and Healthful Life. 61 
 
 now at Rome, and enjoys Health enough to deferve be- 
 ing called the youngefl Man in it. He goes frequently 
 on Foot, diverts himfelf more than any Body at Fealts, 
 and has often Conforts of Mufick at his Houle, where 
 he entertains the Company with an Air of Youth; he 
 lives at liberty, and without conflraint. He has a ro- 
 buft Complexion, and is not fubjeft to any Indifpofition 
 but the Gout, which may proceed from his too much 
 eating, having a moll devouring Stomach. He is fo 
 little Tenfible of his great Age, that he often talks of go- 
 ing into France for a Year or two, and afterwards return 
 
 to Rome. , . ' , 
 
 He deny'd himfelf no Pleafure in his Youth, and not- 
 withstanding is very like to carry the fame Tempe- 
 rament and Brisknefs to the Grave 
 
 Mr Martin in his Defcription of the Weflern Iflands 
 cf Scotland &vs, that Donald Roy, who lived in the Iflc 
 of Sand, where they have neither Phyfic nor Phyfician, 
 died lately in the iooth Year of his Age, and was able 
 to travel and manage his Affairs till about two Years be- 
 fore his Death. . ■ ' 
 
 He makes mention of one that died about 18 Years 
 ago, aged one hundred and forty, and of another who 
 they faid died at one hundred and eighty. 
 
 At Bean Soleil, a Village near Turin, I faw about 
 three Years ago, an old Woman in the Inn that was 105 
 Years old, as her Grand/on told me, who was Mailer 
 of the Inn. She was become from a tall proper Wo- 
 man, a fhort hump-back'd Figure, but had all her Sen- 
 fes in Perfection, and was continually employed in the 
 Drudgery of the Houfe, and had a prodigious Appetite, 
 as I obferved during my flay. She was reputed older 
 by all the neighbouring Villages, and had never been 
 
 iick. 
 
 It is to be noted, That this Village where Jbe lived, 
 is famous for thebejl Air in * Piedmont. 
 
 • This Account Dr, Biyxm&kad from Dr. Engliflu 
 
6a The fare Way of Attaining 
 
 About two Years and a half fince, going into the 
 North Country, and lying at Nortbamtou, I defir'd my 
 Landlord of the Inn to fhew me the famous old Man fo 
 much talk'd of. When I came into his Room, I faw 
 a fliort, broad breaded old Fellow fit by the Fire-fide 
 on a low Stool : I ask'd him how old he was ? he an- 
 fwer'd me that he was 128 and half. I ask'd him 
 about a great many memorable things done near a 100 
 Yean fince, fome whereof he perfectly remembred, as 
 the coining in of King James the firit, &c. and farther 
 faid, that he was one of the 24 Morrice-Dancers that 
 dane'd before him into the Town : Eut here I doubted 
 my old Man's veracity, for if I am not miflaken, the 
 King came in the York/hire Road, through Huntington . 
 But however I found him, by all, and the nicer! En- 
 quiry I could make, that he was not far lhort of that 
 Age, as appear'd by the Teftimony of feveral People, 
 fome near, others above a hundred ; and they all fay, 
 that he feem'd to be an old Man ever fince they could 
 remember. That he was born in the Town, but before 
 Regiflers were ufed, &c. He had a very ftrowg Voice, 
 and fpake very heartily and loud. He faid (not defign- 
 in°- it for a Jell) that he mould never die fo long as he 
 could breath freely, which is no fmall Happinefs. Dif- 
 eafes and Difficulties of the breathing Faculty, are not 
 only moll troublefome, but the mofl dangerous alfo ; and 
 1 never knew a very old Man, but his Refpiration was 
 very liberal^ &c. And this agrees with the Sentiments 
 of Hippocratci ; viz. Facile fpirare magni moment i efl 
 ad falutem, &c. and Jacob. Spon. upon him, Spirare 
 enim Facile partium Tboracicarum libertatem indicat, &c. 
 And upon this Article how ma^ny Nurfes and carelefs 
 Mothers ought to be hangd for their hard fwathing 
 poor helpleis and teflder Infants, &c ? as in an~ 
 other Place I have faid more at large ; nay I have feen 
 a Nurfe lay her heavy Hand, and fome times her Arm, 
 upon the Breaft of a Child, as it lay fiat and fupine in 
 her Up, until it has been black in the Face ; which tho' 
 not always the prefcot deduction of it, yet it gives the 
 
a Long and Healthful Life. 63 
 
 Thorax a crufli, which the Child may never well re- 
 cover as long as it lives, &c. 
 
 This old Alan, whofe Name was John Bailes, told 
 me, that he had buried the whole Town of Northamton, 
 except 3 or 4, 20 times over. Strong Drink, quoth 
 the old Man, kills 'em all. He told me that he never 
 was drunk in his Life, and that Water, fmall Beer and 
 Milk was his Drink, fometimes taken per fe, fometimes 
 mix'd, and that his Food was, for the moll part, brown 
 Bread and Cheefe ; he cared not much for Flefh Meats, 
 He was a fenfible old Fellow, and had no Difeafe but 
 Blindnef?, which had feiz d him not aboae four or five 
 Years, &c. 
 
 Mr. Robin/on, Minifter of Ous'y in Cumberland, has 
 wrote me feveral Letters of poor People that h?.ve liv*d 
 to extream old Ages, of a hundred or more, and that 
 upon enquiry, he moftly found that they lived upon the 
 iatticinia, efpecially on Whey and fowr Butter-milk, 
 and Oat-bread, &c. he alfo wrote me Word, and I have 
 heard it confirmed by many othsr Cumberland Gentle- 
 men, That a Man fleeping on fome Mineral Bank, the 
 Steams and Effluvia cf it had turn'd that fide of his Hair 
 which lay next the Ground as white as Snow, as alfo one 
 Eye-brow, and half his Beard, which before was as 
 black as a Raven. This Minifler attefted this (<verbo 
 Sacerdotis) at Child's Coffee-Kouf* at the Weft End of 
 St. Paul's Church, before Major Roy croft and feveral 
 others. Mr. Robin/on defirM it to be recorded in the 
 Philofophical Tranfadtions, but I hear it was oppos'd by 
 Sir Tiffany Shefy the Muflm-Man. 
 
 Mrs. Hud/on, Mother to Mr. George Hud/on a Soli- 
 citor in Chancery, lived a hundred and five Years, and 
 then died of an acute Difeafe, by catching Cold. Her 
 Eyes were fo very good, that (he could fee to thread a 
 Needle at that great Age : Her Food was nothing {or 
 very little elfe) fave Bread and Milk all her Life time. 
 
 Mr. John/Ion. the Father of my -learned Friend Dr. 
 J c ohnft x on of ' Warwick > always a ft rong 1 u fly Man, dy'd 
 at a hundred and eleven. His ufual Drink was Milk 
 and Ale, or Milk and fmall Beer mix* together. 
 
 That 
 
64 ?£>* fare Way of Jttaimng 
 
 That Milk is of a falubiious, fafe and fweet Nourish- 
 ment, is evident by many Nations that eat much of it, 
 and live long. One Inftance of it is at Croydon in Surry ; 
 a Phytic ian of good worth and learning was fo kind as 
 to give me an account of himfelf, who has conquer'd z 
 Diflemper, and acquir'd a good Constitution by his drink- 
 ing of Milk only, eating and drinking nothing elfe for 
 thefe 6 or 7 Years paft. His Quantum is a Quart in a 
 Morning, a Quart at Noon, and a Pint at Night, with- 
 out Bread, &c. and to this Quantity he exactly keeps ; 
 fometimes he drinks it hot, fometimes cold, as for his 
 Conveniency it happens. 
 
 All thofc that have written of the Iflands of Scotland, 
 Sec. fay, That the Whig or Whey they boy I'd with 
 fweet Herbs, and barrel'd it up for their Potus ordina- 
 rius. 
 
 A hundred Examples of this kind may be found to 
 confirm the Doctrine of Temperance and a cool diet, as 
 neceffary to the prolongation of Life ; but if an Angel 
 from Heaven fhould come down and preach it, one 
 Battle of Burgundy would be of more Force with this 
 Claret-flew d Generation than ten Tun of Arguments to 
 the contrary, tho 1 never fo demonftrable and divine, &c. 
 
 But when alas ! Men come to die 
 
 Of Dropjy, faundice, Stone and Gout, 
 
 When the black Reckoning draws nigh, 
 And Life (before the Bottle) *j out : 
 
 When (low drawn) Time's upon the Tilt, 
 
 Few Sands and Minutes left to run i 
 And all our (pafl gone) years are fpilt, 
 
 And the great Work is left undone : 
 
 When reflhfs Confcience knocks within. 
 
 And in Defpair begins to haul, 
 Death like a Drawer then fleps in, 
 
 Amd asketh. Gentlemen! d'ye call ? 
 
d Long and Healthful Life. 65 
 
 J wifh that Men would, timely, think 
 On this great Truth in their full Bowls, 
 
 Both land Will, of Ludgate-hill, 
 And all our Friends round PautV 
 
 As the Divine Herbert has it, 
 
 A Verfe may find him whom a Sermon fiies 9 
 
 And turn Delight into a Sacrifice, &C. 
 
 A ihort dehortatory POEM to a Claret Prone Kinfman 
 and Godfon of mine, againft immoderate Drinking. 
 
 PAfsly a Tavern-door, my Son, 
 This f acred Truth write on thy Hearty 
 *Tis eafier Company to Jhun 9 
 Than at a Pint */ is to part. 
 
 For one Pint draws another in, 
 
 And that Pint lights a Pipe ; 
 And thus in th 1 Morn, they tap the Day," 
 
 And drink it out e'er Night. 
 
 Not dreaming of a fudden Bounce, 
 
 From Vinous Sulphur$y?0rV within ; 
 Which blows a Drunkard up at once. 
 
 When th 1 Fire takes LifeV Magazin, 
 
 An Apoplexy kills as fur e, 
 
 As Cannon Ball, ; and oft as foon, 
 And will no more yield to a Cure, 
 
 Than murd ring Chain-Jhot from a Gun, 
 
 Why fhould Men dread a Cannon bore ? 
 
 Yet boldly 'proacb a Pottle Pot, 
 $hat may fall Jbort, Jlioot wide, or o'er, 
 
 But drinking is the fur er Shoe. 
 
 How 
 
66 f/se fare Way of Jitahutfg 
 
 Ilonv many Fools about this To-ivv, 
 
 Do : Laugh aivay their Time ? 
 
 ch other 2c*wn 4 
 With Claret Clubs, of No -Grape Wine. 
 
 Until a Dar* from Bacchus Quiver, 
 As Solomon de r .ribeth i ight % 
 
 hoot his Tartar thro* the Liver, 
 Then (Bonus Nociui) Sot, good Night. 
 
 Good Wine voill Kill as well as bad, 
 
 When drank beyosd (our Nature" sj bounds ; 
 
 Then Wine gives Life a ffiortalSt&b, 
 And leaves her weltring in her wounds. 
 
 Wounds ! that no Phyfck Art can heal, 
 
 And very rarely that they feel 
 
 The Stroke, the Moment it does Kill. . 
 
u'iV 
 
♦v. 
 
. :* 
 
HM 
 
 I 
 
 
 '• v 
 
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