By the small quantity of Food, and great proportion of his Meat to his Drink, this noble Venetian, at the age of forty, freed himself, by the advice of his Physicians, from several grievous disorders contracted by intemperance, and lived in health of body, and great cheerfulness of mind, to above an hundred.—Briefly, the secret of his Longevity seems to have been, a gradually increasing Temperance “in omnibus”—and probably, after a certain time of Life, abstinence from the “opus magnum.”
The source of physical and moral Health, Happiness, and Longevity,—
“Reason’s whole pleasure, all the Joys of Sense
Lie in three words, Health, peace, and competence.
But Health consists in temperance alone;
And Peace, oh Virtue! Peace is all thy own.”
Pope.
Intensive Life, can only be purchased at the price of Extensive.
If you force the Heart to gallop as fast during the second, as it does during the first stage of life—and make the steady fire of 42, to blaze as brightly as the flame of 21,—it will very soon be burnt out.
Those who cannot be content to submit to that diminution of action ordained by nature, against which there is no appeal,—as it is the absolute covenant, by the most attentive and implicit observance of which we can only hope to hold our lease of life comfortably,—will soon bring to the diminished energy of the Second Stage of Life—the Paralysis of the Third.
From 40 to 60, a witty French author tells us, is “La belle saison[19] pour la Gourmandise;”—for the artificial pleasures of the Palate, it may be, and the Bon Vivant cultivates them as the means of prolonging the vigour of Youth—and procrastinating the approach of Age.
Restoration may certainly be considerably facilitated, by preparing and dressing food so as to render it easily soluble—if the secret of Rejuvenization be ever discovered; it will be found in the Kitchen.
Very soon after we pass the Meridian of Life, (which, according to those who train men for athletic exercises, and to Dr. Jameson,[20] is our 28th, and to Dr. Cheyne, about our 35th year,) the elasticity of the Animal System imperceptibly diminishes,—our Senses become less susceptible, and are every hour getting the worse for wear, however Self-Love, assisted by your Hair-dresser, and Tailor, &c. may endeavour to persuade you to the contrary.
Digestion and Sleep are less perfect—the restorative process more and more fails to keep pace with the consuming process—the body is insufficiently repaired, more easily deranged, and with more difficulty brought into adjustment again; till at length the vital power being diminished, and the organs deteriorated,—Nourishment can neither be received, or prepared and diffused through the constitution—and Consumption so much exceeds Renovation, that decay rapidly closes the scene of Life.