sions under due subjection, there would be little occasion for medical rules. But rules are necessary, because some individuals enjoy only a few, while others possess hardly any one of these advantages; and the deficiency must be made up by attention to the results of observation and experience.

It has indeed been asserted, that those who have lived long, (for example, Parr and Jenkins), used no peculiar arts for the preservation of their health; consequently, that the duration of life, has no dependence on manners or customs, or the qualities of particular food*.

This, however, is an error of no common magnitude. Peasants, labourers, and other hardworking people, more especially those whose occupations require them to be much in the open air, may be considered as following a regulated system of moderation, and hence the higher degree of health which prevails among them and their families. Rules, likewise, they do observe; and those which it is said old Parr recommended, are remarkable for good sense. His advice was, Keep your head cool by temperance, your feet "warm by exercise: rise early, and go soon to "bed; and if you are inclined to get fat, keep

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your eyes open, and your mouth shutt." In other words, sleep moderately, and be abstemious in diet; an excellent advice, more especially to those who are inclined to corpulency.

It has also been contended, that those who paid particular attention to their health, and who

Buffon, vol. ii. p. 480.

+ Others say, that the latter part of this maxim was, "Never eat till you are hungry; nor drink but when nature requires it." James Donald, an old man, who lately died in Dunbartonshire, aged at least 93, and some imagine above 100, informed the author, that he made it a rule to walk at least two miles every day, either out of doors, in good weather, or within, in bad.

were always talking and thinking of it, have never attained longevity; but, on the contrary, have led a miserable life, subject to perpetual terror and uneasiness, without deriving any advantage from their care and anxiety. This assertion, however, has been rather rashly made, and is not founded in fact.

To those who entertain any doubts of the advantages to be derived from the observance of any particular system, I would recommend the precepts and the practice of Plutarch. His rules for the preservation of health are excellent* ; and, by observing them, he maintained, to a very advanced age, both his bodily strength and his mental faculties unimpaired.

The celebrated Galen is a still stronger proof of the advantages of a regular plan. He was born with an infirm constitution, and afflicted in his youth with many and severe illnesses; but having arrived at the twenty-eighth year of his age, and finding that there were sure rules for preserving health, he observed them so carefully, that he never laboured under any distemper from that time, except, occasionally, a slight feverish complaint, for a single day, owing to the fatigue which attending the sick necessarily brought upon himt. By these means, he reached the great age of one hundred and forty years. His advice to the readers of his treatise on health,

His treatise upon this subject is printed entire in the Code of Longevity, second edition, vol. ii. p. 105; and an abstract of his system will be here found, in Part II. Chapter V. on Customs.

+ De Sanit. Tuend. lib. 5, c. 2. See also, Mackenzie on Health, p. 167. It appears from Volney's account of the self-denial practised by the American Indians, with a view to the preservation of vigour, that they agree in that respect with the ancient Germans, as represented by Tacitus; and that even savages have their rules.

It is justly observed, that "a life of firm health cannot reasonably "be expected, unless it be secured by attention or forbearance."-Manual of Health, p. 12.

cannot be too strongly recommended. "I beseech all persons, (says he), who shall read this "work, not to degrade themselves to a level with "the brutes, or the rabble, by gratifying their sloth, or by eating and drinking promiscuously "whatever pleases their palates, or by indulg

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ing their appetites of every kind. But, whe"ther they understand physic or not, let them "consult their reason, and observe what agrees, " and what does not agree with them, that, like "wise men, they may adhere to the use of such things as conduce to their health, and forbear "every thing which, by their own experience, they find to do them hurt; and let them be as"sured, that, by a diligent observation and practice of this rule, they may enjoy a good "share of health, and seldom stand in need of physic or physicians.'

Cornaro is another memorable example of the efficacy of rules. Reduced, when he had entered the fortieth year of his age, to the very gates of death, and in a manner given up by his physicians, nothing but a regular system, strictly adhered to, could have saved him. His rules, to the extreme to which he carried them, are certainly but little calculated for general adoption. They have established, however, some important truths; in particular, that little sustenance, indeed so small a quantity as twelve ounces of solid, and sixteen ounces of liquid food, per day, is sufficient to preserve the health and existence of an old man, living in a retired and quiet manner, and not obliged to take much fatigue or exercise; and that, by great care, a tendency to pas◄ sion, which is often so fatal to aged people, may be subdued.

A respectable prelate, Cardinal de Salis, Archbishop of Seville, who died anno 1785, at the

advanced age of 110 years, is another instance of the advantage to be derived from rules. When asked what system he observed, he used to tell his friends," By being old when I was young, "I find myself young now I am old*. I led a "sober and studious, but not a lazy or sedentary "life. My diet was sparing, though delicate; my liquors, the best wines of Xerez and La "Mancha, of which I never exceeded a pint at

any meal, except in cold weather, when I al"lowed myself a third more. I rode or walked every day, except in rainy weather, when I "exercised, within doors, for a couple of hours. "So far I took care of the body; and, as to the mind, I endeavoured to preserve it in due temper, by a scrupulous obedience to the divine "commands. By these innocent means, I have "arrived at the age of a patriarch, with less injury to my health and constitution, than many "experience at forty+.

It was likewise by an attention to rules, in particular to strict temperance, regular exercise, and judicious habits, that the celebrated John Wesley, notwithstanding a delicate constitution, protracted his existence to near ninety years; and was enabled, during that long period, to go through much personal and mental labour.

These, and other facts of a similar nature

How ably has Shakspeare described the healthy old man!

Though I look old, yet I am strong and lusty,
For in my youth I never did apply
Hot and rebellious liquors in my blood;
Nor did not, with unbashful forehead, woo
The means of weakness and debility;
Therefore my age is as a lusty winter,
Frostly, but kindly.

See Easton on Longevity, p. 203.

As You Like It, Act II. Scene 3.

which might be adduced, are sufficient proofs of the efficacy of rules, and how much they merit

attention.

Indeed, the attainment of longevity, if accompanied with good health, is not only an important consideration to the individual, but also to the community to which he belongs. If the mind be not oppressed with care, nor the body by sickness, our declining years often prove the happiest period of our existence. The fever of the passions has then abated; and the anxious and laborious pursuits of ambition and avarice are no longer interesting. Preparing to quit these sublunary scenes, THE HEALTHY VETERAN places his delight-in mental, rather than in corporeal exertions-in performing generous actions to all around him ;-in benefiting others by the knowledge and experience he has acquired ;-in promoting social intercourse and rational amusement;-and in studiously endeavouring, to leave a character behind him, which shall be afterwards remembered with affection and respect*.

SECT. V.

Why Attention to Health is so often ineffectual.

WHY an attention to health is so often of little avail, shall next be explained.

1. People seldom attend to their health till it be too latet. They never think of it till it be

* See Cicero de Senectute, on the pleasures of old age, so happily exemplified by Cornaro.

† An ingenious friend of mine has thus described how difficult it is to prevail on the world, in general, to attend to health. The epicure and glutton will not forego his turtle, venison, and high-seasoned dishes, nor the drunkard his wine, gin, and brandy. The lazy will not become active, nor the sloven clean. The tradesman, manufacturer,