be worn in the Bosom next to the Heart, by the Kings and Princes, and all
those who could then bear the Price the last Age in all the Courts of
_Europe_; 'twas presented with the greatest Assurance, that it was able to
preserve from the most deadly Infections, and that the Heart was secured
by it from all the Kinds of Malignity: They expected long Life from the
decay'd, or dead, Spices, and Balsams, and Gums, and the Piece of the dead
Body of an _Egyptian_ Prince, or of a Slave preferred by him: If taken
inwardly, it was avow'd to be able to dissolve the Blood coagulated, to
give new Life and Motion to all the Spirits. The dry'd Hearts of many
Animals, the Livers, the Spleens burnt to a Powder; the Skins of the
Stomachs, or Guts of Cocks, and Worms, and the dry'd Lungs of Foxes, ought
to be rejected as loathsome and offensive without any Qualities to amend,
by the Expectation of any Advantage.
The Powder of Vipers by it self, and in the Troches, will deserve a more
strict Examination, because it is not only depended on in many Chronical
Diseases, but the Life of the Patient in the Acute and Pestilential is
betray'd and lost, if it has no alexiterial Powers to expel the Malignity,
or support the natural Vigour. But as the Flesh of all Animals, and Fish,
when dry'd, have exhal'd the Volatile Spirits with the Moisture, and
nothing remains but the Skins and Fibres, and are capable of giving very
little Nourishment to the Blood, and are very difficult to be dissolv'd,
or digested in the Stomach: You may conclude, by trying when in Health, if
Vipers will support your Strength, or if eating of the Flesh in all the
Kinds of Cookery, will please the Palate more than the common Food, what
you may hope from the dry Powder, or the Cake of it with Salt and Meal,
(and the Troches of Vipers are no more) when your Fever calls for the best
Alexipharmick. You may to this compare the Skulls of dead Men, now
presum'd to command the Epilepsies, and other violent Diseases, if the
Skull has been long in Powder, or has long surviv'd the Criminal, the
Spirits distill'd from it, are not stronger than those from the Horn of a
Stag, or the Spirits of Urin by it self, or from Sal Armoniack: the Shell
of the Head preserves the Brains, and the Powder shall not fail to
preserve the Spirits of all the Brains which can be perswaded to use it.
What can you think will be the Success, from the Use of the Nest of the
Swallow, or the Cast off Skin of a Serpent; your Thoughts will naturally
reflect on the perfidious Fourbery of making great Gain from the Bubbles
put on the Sick, or the vile Negligence of the rest who have suffer'd the
fatal Amusements to be at last confirm'd by Custom.
After these it may seem needless to speak of the gainful Industry, which
has brought the Horns of the Elk, the Bufalo, Rhinoceros, and of the
Unicorn's Horn, which is no other than the Bone of a Fish, and has been
thought sufficient alone to expel all Poisons; or the Hoofs of the Elk
and the Ounce, or the Bone of the Hart of a Stag, the Effect of his old
Age; or the Jaw-bones of the Pyke, _&c._ or the Ancle-bones of the Hares
and Boars, _&c._ with the Eagle-Stone, and those for the Cramp, and
Convulsions, and Cholicks, the great Assistance from your Amulets, and
abounding Nostrums, cannot sufficiently be derided.
Of the simple distill'd Waters, one hundred and fifty are appointed to be
made, the greatest Part of them are not now prepar'd; and indeed they are
found of no Use, but to increase the Bulk of the Julep, with the hot and
compound Waters; the Milk Water is now order'd for that Design, and
because as much Money can be procur'd from it, as from all the vast
Variety of the other, this in the usual Practice almost supplies the
Place of all the rest. You may run over the vast Number of the _Galenical_
Preparations and Compositions, as they are improperly stiled; they are
almost seven hundred, to be kept till they be corrupt, and be viewed as
the old rusty and rotten Weapons of an ancient Armory; they are now
reduc'd to, and the Shop is supposed to be made up with about One hundred
and fifty: But if the insipid Simple Waters, and the fiery ungrateful
Compound Waters shall be thrown aside, and the Simple Milk Water, with
five or six Cordial Tinctures, shall be kept for Use, and the other
Tincture appointed by the Physician, with respect to the Circumstances of
the Patient: If only three or four Syrups and Conserves, and Powders, and
Pills, and Oils, and Ointments, and Plaisters in that Number, in
Imitation of the Prudence and Integrity of the Foreign Physicians who have
contracted their Dispensatories, shall be order'd, in the most rational,
and efficacious Forms, to receive the Addition of all the natural Powders,
Balsams, Gums, or the Chymical Medicines, the Apothecary will have his
Trouble very much lessened, and with less Expence; the Patient will have
his Disease much sooner cured, and his Life much better preserved.
By this time we presume the Reader is convinc'd, that private Interest too
often influences many of our Modern Physicians, and makes them prescribe
such Medicines as tend most to the Apothecaries Gain, because the People
give the Apothecary Power of appointing the Physician; we have shewn that
those costly pretended Medicines, which so much raise the Sum in the Bill,
have no real Virtue; that the greatest Part of the most senative grow in
our own Gardens; that if some few are fetch'd from foreign Parts, they are
used in so small Quantities, that the Doses are of the lowest Price: And
consequently you will very plainly see, that the long and high charg'd
Bill after a Fit of Sickness, is more the Effect of the Collusion betwixt
the Doctor and Apothecary, together with your own Folly of desiring of it,
than either the Prices of the Medicine, or the Necessity of so many Doses.
I dare say, my Reader now thinks it high time to take Care of himself, to
believe that the seldomer the Physician or Apothecary are employ'd, the
less Risque he runs in his Health or Fortune, that he is not upon every
slight Indisposition, or ordinary Sickness to call upon their Help,
whereby very often the Remedy proves worse than the Disease; that your
Constitution will endeavour to preserve it self, and will effect it in
most of the common Distempers, but with ill Medicines those will become
dangerous, and will be made every Day more malignant. Take the Counsel of
your most observing and experienced Friend, who has no Byass to divert him
from the only Care of your Health; but avoid the Emperick, who will,
instead of procuring the Ease of your Thoughts and Repose, and prescribing
the Rules of your Diet, and permitting Nature to subdue the Disease,
affright you with the greatest Danger, disturb you, and fill your Chamber,
or both, with the inflaming and pernicious Cordials, the Bolus's and
Draughts, till he has cured his own Distemper by the Number of Articles he
shall enter into the Bill.
That it is in the Power of every Man to become his own Physician, who
needs no other Helps of supporting a good, and correcting a bad
Constitution, than by observing a sober and regular Life; there is nothing
more certain, than that Custom becomes a second Nature, and has a great
Influence upon our Bodies, and has too often more Power over the Mind than
Reason it self?
The honestest Man alive, in keeping Company with Libertines, by degrees
forgets the Maxims of Probity he before was used to, and naturally falls
into those Vices with his Companions; and if he be so happy as to acquit
himself, and to meet with better Company, then Virtue reassumes its first
Lustre, and will triumph in its Turn, and he insensibly regains the Wisdom
that he had abandoned.
In a Word, all the Alterations that we perceive in the Temper, Carriage,
and Manners of most Men, have scarce any other Foundation, but the Force
and Prevalency of Custom.
'Tis an Unhappiness in which the Men of this Age are fall'n, that Variety
of Dishes is now the Fashion, and become so far preferable to Frugality;
and yet the one is the Product of Temperance, whilst Pride and
unrestrain'd Appetite is the Parent of the other.
Notwithstanding the Difference of their Origin, yet Prodigality is at
present stiled Magnificence, Generosity and Grandeur, and is commonly
esteem'd of in the World, whilst Frugality passes for Avarice and
Sordidness in the Eyes and Acceptation of most Men: Here is a visible
Error which Custom and Habit have established.
The Error has so far seduc'd us, that it has prevail'd upon us, to
renounce a frugal Way of living, though taught us by Nature, even from the
first Age of the World, as being that which would prolong our Days, and
has cast us into those Excesses, which serve only to abridge the Number of
them. We become old before we have been able to taste the Pleasures of
being young; and the time which ought to be the Summer of our Lives, is
often the beginning of their Winter, we soon perceive our Strength to
fail, and Weakness to come on apace, and decline even before we come to
Perfection.
On the contrary, Sobriety maintains us in the natural State wherein we
ought to be. Our Youth is lasting, our Manhood attended with a Vigour that
does not begin to decay 'till after a many Years. A whole Century must be
run out before Wrinkles can be form'd on the Face, or Grey-hairs grow on
the Head: This is so true, that when Men were not addicted to
Voluptuousness, they had more Strength and Vivacity at Fourscore, than we
have at present at Forty.
It cannot indeed be expected, that every Man should tie himself strictly
to the Observations of the same Rules in his Diet, since the Variety of
Climates, Constitution, Age, and other Circumstances may admit of
Variations. But this we may assert as a reasonable, general, and
undeniable Maxim, founded upon Reason and the Nature of Things; that for
the Preservation of Health and prolonging a Man's Life, it is necessary
that he eat and drink no more than is sufficient to support his natural
Constitution; and on the contrary, whatsoever he eats and drinks beyond,
that is superfluous, and tends to the feeding of the corrupt and vicious
Humours, which will at last, though they may be stifled for a Time, break
out into a Flame and burn the Man quite down, or else leave him like a
ruinated or shattered Building.
This general Maxim which we have laid down, will hold good with respect to
Men of all Ages and Constitutions, and under whatsoever Climate they
live, if they have but the Courage to make a due Application of it, and to
lay a Restraint upon their unreasonable Appetites.
After all, we will not, we dare not warrant, that the most strict and
sober Life will secure a Man from all Diseases, or prolong his Days to the
greatest old Age. Natural Infirmities and Weaknesses, which a Man brings
along with him into the World, which he deriv'd from his Parents and could
not avoid, may make him sickly and unhealthful, notwithstanding all his
Care and Precaution: And outward Accidents (from which no Man is free) may
cut off the Thread of Life before it is half spun out. There is no fencing
against the latter of those, but as to the former, a Man may in some
Measure correct and amend them by a sober and regular Life. In fine, let
a Man's Life be longer or shorter, yet Sobriety and Temperance renders it
pleasant and delightful. One that is sober, though he lives but thirty or
forty Years, yet lives long, and enjoys all his Days, having a free and
clear Use of all his Faculties; whilst the Man that gives himself to
Excess, and lays no Restraint to his Appetites, though he prolongs his
Life to Threescore or Fourscore Years (which is next to a Miracle) yet is
his Life but one continu'd doseing Slumber, his Head being always full of
Fumes, the Pores of his Soul cloudy and dark, the Organs of his Body weak
and worn out, and very unfit to discharge the proper Offices of a rational
Creature. And indeed Reason, if we hearken to it, will tell us, that a
good Regimen is necessary for the prolonging our Days, and that it
consists in two Things, first in takeing Care of the Quality, and secondly
of the Quantity, so as to eat and drink nothing that offends the Stomach,
nor any more than we can easily digest.
And in this, Experience ought to be our Guide in those two Principles,
when we arrive to Forty, Fifty, or Sixty Years of Age. He who puts in
Practice that Knowledge which he has of what is good for him, and goes on
in a frugal Way of Living, keeps the Humours in a just Temperature, and
prevents them from being altered, though he suffer Heat and Cold, though
he be fatigued, though his Sleep be broke, provided there be no Excess in
any of them. This being so, what an Obligation does Man lie under of
living soberly, and ought he not to free himself from the Fears of sinking
under the least Intemperature of the Air, and under the least Fatigue,
which makes us sick upon every slight Occasion?
'Tis true, the most sober Man may sometimes be indisposed, when they are
unavoidably obliged to transgress the Rule which they have been used to
observe; but then they are certain, their Indisposition will not last
above two or three Days at most, nor can they fall into a Fever: Weariness
and Faintness are easily remedied by Rest and good Diet.
There are some who feed high, and maintain, that whatsoever they eat is so
little a Disturbance to them, that they cannot perceive in what Part of
the Body the Stomach lies; but I averr, they do not speak as they think,
nor is it natural? 'Tis impossible that any created Being should be of so
perfect a Composition, as that neither Heat nor Cold, Dry nor Moist should
have any Influence over it, and that the Variety of Food which they make
use of, of different Qualities, should be equally agreeable to them. Those
Men cannot but acknowledge, that they are sometimes out of Order; if it is
not owing to a sensible Indigestion, yet they are troubled with Head-achs,
Want of Sleep, and Fevers, of which they are cured by a Diet, and taking
such Medicines as are proper for Evacuations. It is therefore certain,
that their Distempers proceed from Repletion, or from their having eat or
drank something which did not agree with their Stomachs.
Most old People excuse their high Feeding by saying, that it is necessary
to eat a great deal, to keep up their natural Heat, which diminishes
proportionably as they grow into Years; and to create an Appetite, 'tis
necessary to find out proper Sauces, and to eat whatsoever they have a
Fancy for, and that without thus humouring their Palates, they would be
soon in their Graves.
To this I reply: That Nature, for the Preservation of a Man in Years, has
so composed him, that he may live with a little Food; that his Stomach
cannot digest a great Quantity, and that he has no need of being afraid of
dying for want of eating; since when he is sick, he is forced to have
recourse to a regular Sort of Diet, which is the first and main Thing
prescrib'd him by his Physician, that if this Remedy is of such Efficacy
to snatch us out of the Arms of Death, 'tis a Mistake to suppose that a
Man may not by eating a little more than he does when he is sick, live a
long Time without ever being sick.
Others had rather be disturb'd twice or thrice a Year with the Gout, the
Sciatica, and their Epidemical Distempers, than to be always put to the
Torment and Mortification of laying a Restraint upon their Appetites,
being sure, that when they are indisposed, a regular Diet will be an
infallible Remedy and Cure. But let them be informed by me, that as they
grow up in Years their natural Heat abates; that as regular Diet, despised
as a Precaution, and only look'd upon as Physick, cannot always have the
same Effect nor Force, to draw off the Crudities, nor repair the Disorders
that are caused by Repletion; and lastly, that they run the Hazard of
being cheated by their Hope and by their Intemperance.
Others say, That it is more eligible to feed high and enjoy themselves,
though a Man live the less while. It is no surprizing Matter that Fools
and Mad-men should contemn and despise Life; the World will be no Loser
whenever they go out of it; but 'tis a considerable Loss, when wise,
virtuous, and holy Men drop into the Grave, who might have done more
Honour to their Country and to themselves.
In Youth this Excess is more frequent; necessary therefore it is to
moderate his Apetite; for if the Stomach be stretch'd beyond its due
Extent, it will require to be fill'd, but never well digest what it
receives. Besides, it is much better to prevent Diseases, by Temperance,
Sobriety, Chastity, and Exercise, than cure them by Physick.
_Quid enim se Medicis dederit, seipsum sibi eripit. Summa Medicinarum ad
sanitatem corporis & animae, abstinentiae est._ He that lives abstemiously,
or but temperately, need not study the Wholesomeness of his Meat, nor the
Pleasantness of that Sawce, the Moments and Punctillio's of Air, Heat,
Cold, Exercise, Lodging, Diet; nor is critical in Cookery or in his
Liquors, but takes thankfully what God gives him. Especially, let all
young Men forbear Wines and Strong Drinks, as well as spiced and hot
Meats; for they introduce a preternatural Heat in the Body, and at least
hinder and obstruct, if not at length exhaust the natural.
But if overtaken by Excess, (it's difficult to be always upon our Guard)
the last Remedy is vomiting, or fasting it out, neither go to bed on a
full Stomach; let Physick be always the last Remedy, that Nature may not
trust to it; for though a sick Man leaves all for Nature to do, he hazards
much; but when he leaves all for the Doctor to do, he hazards more: And
since there is a Hazard both ways, I would sooner rely upon Nature; for
this at least we may be sure of, that she is as honest as she can, and
that she does not find the Account in prolonging the Disease.
Others there are, who perceiving themselves to grow old, tho' their
Stomach be less capable of digesting well every day less than another, yet
will not upon that Account abate any thing of their Diet; they only
abridge themselves in the Number of their Meals; and because they find two
or three Meals a Day is troublesome, they think their Health is
sufficiently provided for, by making only one Meal; that so the time
between one Repast and another, may (as they say) facilitate the Digestion
of those Aliments which they might have taken at twice: For this Reason
they eat as much at one Meal, that their Stomach is over-charged and out
of Order, and converts the Superfluities of its Nourishment into bad
Humours, which engender Diseases and Death.
I never knew a Man live long by this Conduct. These Men would doubtless
have prolong'd their Days, had they abridg'd the Quantity of their
ordinary Food proportionally as they grew in Years; and had they eat a
great deal less a little oftner.
Some again are of Opinion, that Sobriety may indeed preserve a Man in
Health, but does not prolong his Life. To this we say, that there have
been Persons in past Ages, who have prolong'd their Lives by this Means;
and some there are at present who still do it; for as Infirmities
contracted by Repletion shorten our Days, a Man of an ordinary Reach may
perceive, that if he desires to live long, it is better to be well than
sick, and that consequently Temperance contributes more to long Life, than
excessive Feeding.
Whatsoever Sensualists may say, Temperance is of infinite Benefit to
Mankind: To it he owes his Preservation; it banishes from his Mind the
dismal Apprehensions of dying; 'tis by its Means he becomes wise, and
arrives to an Age wherein Reason and Experience furnish him with
Assistance to free himself from the Tyranny of his Passions, which have
lorded it over him for almost the whole Course of his Life.
A very notable Instance of this we have in the Life of _Lewis Cornaro_, a
noble _Venetian_, who though of a weakly Constitution, increas'd by a
voluptuous Life, yet at the Age of thirty five or forty Years, he was
resolv'd to practice in all the Rules of Sobriety and Temperance, and to
withdraw from those Excesses that had brought upon him those usual Ills
the Gout and the Cholick, fatal Attendants to an indolent and luxurious
Life, and which reduc'd him to so low a State, that his Recovery was
despair'd of by the wisest Physician: And here he tells you that he was
born very cholerick and hasty, and flew out into a Passion for the least
Trifle, that he huffed all Mankind, and was so intolerable, that a great
many Persons of Repute avoided his Company: He apprehended the Injury
which he did to himself, he knew that Anger is a real Frenzy, that it
disturbs our Judgment, that it transports us beyond our selves, and that
the Difference between a passionate and a mad Man is only this, that the
latter has lost his Reason, and the former is only depriv'd of it by fits.
A sober Life cured him of his Frenzy; by its Assistance he became so
moderate, and so much a Master of his Passions, that no body could
perceive it was born with him.
How great and valuable must Temperance then be, which carries that
soveraign Aid, and can relieve the Passions of the Mind, and not only to
expel the bad Humours of the Body, but also to restore it to a due Tone,
and a full State of Health.
Now let any one upon a serious Reflection consider which is most eligible,
a sober and regular, or an intemperate, and disorderly Course of Life:
This is certain, that if all Men would live regularly and frugally, there
would be so few sick Persons, that there would hardly be any Occasion for
Remedies,
_Si tibi deficiant Medici, Medici tibi fiant.
Haec tria, Mens laeta, requies moderata dieta._
_The best and safest Physician is Doctor Diet,
Doctor Merryman, and Doctor Quiet._
every one would become his own Physician, and would be convinced that he
never met with a better.
It would be to little Purpose to study the Constitution of other Men;
every one, if he would but apply himself to it, would always be better
acquainted with his own than that of another; every one would be capable
of making those Experiments for himself which another could not do for
him, and would be the best Judge of the Strength of his own Stomach, and
of the Food which is agreeable thereto; for in one Word, 'tis next to
impossible to know exactly the Constitution of another, their
Constitutions being as different as their Complexions.
Since no Man therefore can have a better Physician than himself, nor a
more soveraign Antidote than a Regimen, that is to study his own
Constitution, and to regulate his Life according to the Rules of right
Reason.
I own, indeed, the disinterested Physician may be some time necessary,
since there are some Distempers, which all human Prudence cannot provide
against, there happen some unavoidable Accidents which seize us after such
a Manner, as to deprive our Judgment of the Liberty it ought to have to be
a Comfort to us; it may then be a Mistake wholly to rely upon Nature, it
must be assisted, and Recourse must be had to some one or another for it;
and in this we have much the Advantage of the irregular Man, his Vices
having heaped Fewel to the Distemper; but on the contrary, by a regular
Course of Life, the very Cause is not to be found, and the Disease
retreats from you.
And here the fam'd _Cornaro_, who being at Seventy Years of Age, had
another Experiment of the Usefulness of a Regimen, and 'twas this; A
Business of extraordinary Consequence drawing him into the Country, and
being in the Coach, the Horses ran away with him, and was overthrown, and
dragg'd a long away before they could stay the Horses; they took him out
of the Coach with his Head broke, a Leg and Arm out of joint, and in a
Word, in a very lamentable Condition. As soon as they brought him Home
again, they sent for the Physicians, who did not expect he should live
three Days to an end: However, they resolv'd upon letting of him Blood, to
prevent the coming of a Fever, which usually happens upon such Cases. He
was so confident that the regular Life which he had led, had prevented
the contracting of any ill Humours, of which he might be afraid, that he
rejected their Prescription, and ordered them to dress his Head, to set
his Leg and Arm, and to rub him with some Specifick Oils proper for
Bruises, and without any other Remedies he was soon cured, to the
Amazement of the Physicians and of all those that knew him. From hence he
did infer, that a regular Life is an excellent Preservative against all
natural Ills; and that Intemperance produces quite contrary Effects.