His brief autobiography, from which the above facts are drawn, ends at this period. His editor adds, as to his appearance and character: “his aspect easily discovered something extraordinary; his air was cheerful, lively, and brisk; but grave with something of authority, though he was of the easiest access. Notwithstanding he was of no strong make, yet, through his great temperance, regularity, and by the strength of his spirits and vigour of his mind, he was capable of any fatigue, even to his last illness, equally with any of the best constitutions of men half his years. Through all his lifetime he had been a man of unwearied application, and so indefatigable that it may be as truly said of him as it can be of any man that he was never idle; but of such despatch that, though fortune had allotted him as great multiplicity of business as, perhaps, to any one of his contemporaries, yet, without any neglect thereof, he found leisure to make such a search into Nature, that perhaps few of this age equalled him therein: and not only into Nature, but also into almost all arts and sciences, of some whereof he was an improver, and of all innocent and useful ones an encourager and promoter.”[295]
In spite of that penetration of mind and justness of thought which influenced him to abandon the cruelty and coarseness of the orthodox diet, the author of The Way to Health could not free himself from certain of the credulous fancies of his age; and, it must be admitted, his writings are by no means exempt from such prejudices. It is as a moral reformer that he has deserved our respect, and of his numerous books the following are noteworthy:—
A Treatise on Cleanliness in Meats and Drinks. London, 1682.
The Way to Health, Long Life, &c. 1683, 1694, 1697. 3 vols., 8vo.
Friendly Advice to the Gentlemen-Planters of the East and West Indies. London, 1684.
The Way to Make All People Rich: or, Wisdom’s Call to Temperance and Frugality. 1685.
Wisdom’s Doctrine: or, Aphorisms and Rules for Preserving the Health of the Body and the Peace of the Mind. 1696.
England’s Grandeur and the Way to Get Wealth: or, Promotion of Trade Made Easy and Lands Advanced. 1699. 4to.
Nothing can be more just or forcible than these expostulations:—