Those thoughts vexatious that surprise our soul,
And makes us cherish the full bowl.
Seneca, whom I have mentioned in the foregoing chapter, confirms what has been said, “Sometimes,” says he, “one must go even so far as drunkenness; not, indeed, that it may drown us, but drown our cares: for drunkenness washes away care, and moves the very bottom of the soul. And as it is a sovereign remedy against some distempers, so is it a perfect cure for heaviness and sorrow. Nonnunquam usque ad ebrietatem veniendum, non ut mergat nos, sed ut deprimat curas. Eluit enim curas, et ab imo animæ movet, et ut morbis quibusdam, ita tristitiæ medetur[8]. On this account certainly it was, Pliny maintained that Nepenthe, whose virtues Homer so much exaggerates, was nothing in the world but generous wine.
Horace, in like manner, insists that wine is the only proper expeller of the most racking cares.
———————— Neque
Mordaces aliter diffugiunt sollicitudines[9].
Nor otherwise are cank’ring cares remov’d.
And thus advises the sage Plancus to have recourse to this remedy:—
“Sic tu sapiens finire memento
Tristitiam, vitæque labores