And in the Close of the Epigram,
Quid te fræna juvant temararia! Sæpius illis,
Prisce, datum est equitem rumpere, quam Leporem.
And that this Humour still remains in those Countries, tho’ we have a better way of Riding, is evident from Dr. Baglivi, who tells us in the Corollaries of the 8th Chapter of his first Book, de Fib. Motrice, That he Cur’d two Hypochondriacal Persons, Hominem Nobilem ac alium Divitem, a Gentleman and another rich Man, that he says were desperately Ill, by Riding on Asses in the Country Air; and I believe all will agree to think they were desperately Ill, who could despense with the Ass-trot, when their Circumstances would have afforded them the Carriage of a better Creature. The Italians plainly discover likewise, how little they are addicted to Horsemanship, in that Proverb of theirs which says, That a Galloping Horse is an open Sepulchre; and according to this Opinion, they manage their Horse-Races at Florence, for they make their Horses run without Riders upon ’em, something after the manner of a Paddock-Course; and to make ’em run the faster, they clap a Saddle upon ’em, cover’d with a Sort of Tinsey Stuff, that may make a fluttering with the Motion of the Horse, and fright him that he may run the faster; and instead of Stirrups, there hangs down Straps from the Saddle, at the end of which, there are Balls full of sharp Spikes, which leap up and down, and prick the Horse as he runs. This ridiculous way of Running their Horses, shews how great is the Prevalence of that habitual Timorousness, which keeps ’em from the Enjoyment of the best and most useful sort of Riding, as the Ancients could distinguish very well, as we find by Oribasius, in his Chapter de Equitatione, who after he has said, that Riding slowly was tiresome, (which was for want of Stirrups) he goes on to tell you, Si vehementer impellatur (viz. Equus) quamvis totum corpus laboriosè concutiat, tamen aliquid utilitatis affert, siquidem magis quam omnes aliæ Exercitationes, Corpus et præsertim Stomachum firmat, et sensuum instrumenta purgat, eaque reddit acutiora. This is a sufficient Encomium of Riding, coming from the Mouth of one of the Ancients, who relied so much upon other Exercises, tho’ we in these Northern Parts want no Recommendation from them, of a thing so much experienc’d by our selves; only we slight and neglect this Advantage, as we do many others, because it is common.
I have now with sufficient Brevity, consider’d how much the Ancients depended on the Assistance of Exercises in their Practice; and I leave it to any one, that is not prejudic’d, to judge whether this may not pass for one Reason, why they cur’d so well with so bad a Theory, and such indifferent Materials; when we, with our Circulation and Splendid Pharmacy, are not perhaps able to outdo ’em proportionably to our larger Acquisition of Knowledge; I say, I think this may be one Reason, for I know there is another may be alledg’d likewise, and I think I speak without any undue Aggravation.
The Power of Exercises us’d at proper Seasons, and with great and exact Patience, must needs be very great; and if it be true, that in the Roman Common Wealth there was no profess’d Physician for the first Five Hundred Years, there is no way to account for it but by their incredible Temperance, and Variety of Exercises; the few Chronical Distempers they had among ’em, were in all likelyhood, for the most part subsequent to Acute Distempers, which no Temperance can always prevent, and the little vegetable Physick, which they could not but know, with their resolute and indefatigable Application to some of their Exercises, might suffice to help ’em to get clear of ’em. This may perhaps by some be thought rather a Gloss than an Argument, who do no duly consider their wonderful Patience in this respect; the Pletherismus, and Pitylismus, two odd uncouth Exercises mention’d by Galen, are sufficient to convince any Man, that they that would heartily drudge at them in the middle of the Stadium, would do any thing that was possible to recover their Health, and might expect the very utmost Benefit that could be obtain’d from the various Motion of the whole, or any part of the Body.
I will grant, that they carried these things too far, the whole Education of the Athletæ was blameable; I will grant likewise that they were too Nice in the Exercises for the Preservation of Health; I can’t admire Pliny’s Course of Life, which he gives us an Account of in the Thirty sixth Epistle of his Ninth Book. Ubi hora quarta vel quinta (neque enim certum dimensumq; tempus) ut dies suasit, in Xystum me, vel Cryptoporticum confero, reliqua meditor & dicto, vehiculum ascendo, ibi quoque idem quòd ambulans, aut jacens, durat intensio, mutatione ipsa refecta paulum redormio, deinde ambulo, mox orationem Græcam Latinámve clarè & intentè; non tam vocis causa, quam Stomachi lego, pariter tamen & illa firmatur iterum Ambulo, ungor, exerceor, Lavor. Nor can I approve of Spurinnas abundant Regularity, as Pliny relates it in his first Epistle of his third Book, he tells us, thus Spurinna manag’d himself, Ut manè lectulo contineretur, hora secunda indueretur, ambularetque millia passuum tria, mox legeret, vel colloqueretur, deinde consideret, tum vehiculum ascenderet, peractisq; ita septem millibus passuum, iterum ambularet mille, iterum resideret, vel se Cubiculo aut Stylo redderet; ubi hora balnei nunciata foret, (quæ erat byeme nona, æstate octava) in sole, si caruisset vento, ambularet nudus, dein pila moveretur vehementer, & diu; postmodùm lotus accumberet, & paulisper cibum differret. This is a great deal too much, this is over-doing, Life is not worth such anxious Regularity, a generous Negligence is much more preferable in a State of Health; but if a Man happens to be seiz’d with a Distemper of such a Nature, that Exercise is absolutely necessary to the Removal of it, he would be wanting to himself, and very much to be blam’d, if he should think any Fatigue too great to be undergone for the sake of a Recovery; and I fansie there is scarce any Man in this Case, but would take Pains enough, provided he thought they would not be in Vain, which most People are now apt to suppose, because the World has lost the Sense of the Efficacy of Exercises, since the Goths over-run the Southern Nations of Europe, and abolish’d and suppress’d many of their Customs, that they might the easier introduce their own; so that in this respect we are in opposite Extreams, if they prosecuted these Measures too much, we do too little; and I am very sensible how difficult a thing it is, with the best of Arguments, to influence those who are propense to the contrary of what you propose. And we are so habituated to other Methods and other Expectations, have so many Conveniences for Support and Palliation under a Sickness, that most People are supinely content rather to rub on in a Sickly Condition, that does not carry the greatest Danger with it, than resolutely endeavour by vigorous Means to be quite deliver’d from it. And if it be a Distemper that threatens immediate Peril, these Means are presently thought too trivial to have any Weight in the Cure, and People can with more Ease despair of Help, than struggle with Pain in hope of an uncertain Cure; so that in some Cases, it may be very well said of the Wise, the Rich, the Valiant, and the Mighty, as was formerly said of one of King David’s Generals; who, because he was kill’d upon a Surprize, (which yet no Humane Precaution can always prevent,) was lamented with that severe Epicedium, Died ABNER as a Fool dieth?