The body too, with yesterday’s excess
Burthen’d and tir’d, shall the pure soul depress;
Weigh down this portion of celestial birth,
This breath of God, and fix it to the earth.
Who down to sleep from a short supper lies,
Can to the next day’s business vigorous rise.
Francis’s Horace, lib. 2. sat. 2.
Most learned professors, you well know him, whom as a colleague you all loved, that eminent man, who, when he had broke his constitution by a profound study of antiquities, history, and both the civil and common law, restored it considerably by the simple remedy of supping upon milk.
Not to sup at all, however, is dangerous; for the nerves of the learned are moveable, and easily irritated; and if the chyle is not soon renewed by a supply of new aliments, such is the acrimony of the blood, already often subdued by the strength of the viscera, that it is an irritation of the nerves, which totally destroys the sleep. The example of Augustus Cæsar, who was very moderate in eating, is very properly proposed to the learned, as is likewise that of the illustrious Lewis Cornaro, who restored his ruined health by a regular diet alone; and eating but the fourth part of the quantity of victuals eaten by his fellow-citizens, lived to an advanced age, vigorous and chearful. Long since Bartholus, one of the most eminent lawyers, and a man well versed in polite literature, reduced the quantity of his food and liquor to a certain weight, and by that means preserved his intellectual faculties unimpaired during the whole course of his life[46]. A regular diet is capable of effecting every thing: studious men, however, whilst they take care of their health, ought not to forget, that a man, who is well, should not so confine himself to rules, as not to break through them, when he thinks proper: for a constant habit is real slavery: and I have known several learned and studious men, who were so scrupulous with regard to their hours of eating and going to bed, that their minds seemed to be chained to their bodies, which is the most shameful sort of servitude: nor can he be said to be either a lover of virtue or of learning, who cannot pursue his studies if he be obliged to wait a little longer than usual for his meals, if he has not slept quite enough, or if the air be too hot or too cold.