Note (49) — CANTO FIFTH.

“If the great distinctive attribute of man be the faculty of speech, that speech can never be complete or perfect, without two arches of teeth to modulate the sound, and give proper utterance to the words. Indeed it is obvious to every one, that when the teeth are lost, the speech becomes imperfect, and often scarcely intelligible.

“This circumstance makes them valuable beyond measure to a public speaker, and their preservation ought to meet due attention from those who wish to shine, either in the senate, at the bar, or in the pulpit.

“Without these instruments of utterance, the graces of eloquence are lost, and the power of impressing the mind and convincing the understanding, if not destroyed, is considerably diminished.” (L. S. Parmly’s Lectures, p. 42.)

“Health is so necessary to all the duties, as well as pleasures of life, that the crime of squandering it is equal to the folly; and he that for a short gratification brings weakness and diseases upon himself, and for the pleasure of a few years, condemns the maturer and more experienced part of his life to the chamber and the couch, may be justly reproached, not only as a spendthrift of his own happiness, but as a robber of the public,—as a wretch that has voluntarily disqualified himself for the business of his station, and refused that part which Providence assigns him in the general task of human nature.” (Dr. Johnson.)

“Health, I conceive, is often maintained at the expense of that vital power, which, in a more natural state, would have carried us to age.” (Thackrah.)

“The old man who has preserved his teeth in good condition, is much less frail than he who has lost them early by inattention. The youth who is well endowed by nature in this particular, promises to lead a life more vigorous, than he whose teeth have prematurely decayed.” (Gerbaux, p. 20.)

On the subject of a happy old age, produced by sobriety, we find the following account in the writings of Addison. (Spectator, Vol. III. No. 195.)

“The most remarkable instance of the efficacy of temperance, towards the procuring long life, is what we meet with in a little book published by Lewis Cornaro the Venetian; which I the rather mention, because it is of undoubted credit, as the late Venetian ambassador who was of the same family, attested more than once in conversation, when he was in England. Cornaro, who was the author of the little treatise I am mentioning, was of an infirm constitution till about forty, when, by obstinately persisting in an exact course of temperance, he recovered a perfect state of health; insomuch that at four score he published a book which has been translated into English under the title of “Sure and Certain Methods of obtaining a Long and Healthy Life.” He lived to give a third and fourth edition of it; and after having passed his hundredth year, died without pain or agony, and like one who falls asleep. The treatise I mention has been taken notice of by several eminent authors, and is written with such a spirit of cheerfulness, religion, and good sense, as are the natural accompaniments of temperance and sobriety. The mixture of the old man in it, is rather a recommendation than a discredit to it.”

The work alluded to by Mr. Addison has been recently republished in this city by Mr. Graham, lecturer on health and longevity, who has prefixed to the neat little volume the following remarks:—

“After an experiment of, at least, six thousand years, man knows about as little how to live, as he did in the infant period of the world. Indeed, there is no subject that demands the exercise of human intellect, which is more intricate and difficult to understand, than is the science of human life. And yet the popular opinion is, that every man can ascertain by his own experience what is best for him, and how he ought to live: and that no general rule can be laid down, which will be equally suitable to all mankind, because there are differences of constitution, and temperament, and predisposition, &c. ‘Some,’ it is said, ‘with great regularity of habits, and temperance in diet, enjoy good health and live to great age, while others, pursuing the same course, are always sickly, and die young; and on the other hand, some, with great irregularity and intemperance, enjoy health and live to become very old. Therefore, what is best for one man may not be for another, and, consequently, it would be impossible to prescribe any mode of living which would be suitable to all constitutions and circumstances.”

“This reasoning certainly has the aspect of plausibility, to such as take but a very hasty and superficial view of the subject. But surely, if we will honestly investigate this matter with a candid and truly inquiring mind, we shall see things very differently, and be led to very different conclusions. We shall then find the true statements to be these:—

“All men, with a good natural constitution, who are regular in their habits and temperate in their diet, and in other respects correct, as a general rule, enjoy health, and live to old age; but some men with a feeble constitution and diseased body, though regular and careful in their habits, and temperate, but not always judicious in their diet, are delicate and sickly all their lives and die early, or before they attain to old age; and would have suffered much more and died much sooner, had they been irregular and intemperate:—while on the other hand, some men, with a remarkably good and vigorous constitution, and many of whose habtis are conducive to health and longevity, enjoy a considerable degree of health and attain to great age, in spite of their irregularities and intemperance: nevertheless, most persons who are irregular and intemperate become diseased early, and die before they reach old age, or even the meridian of life.” (Introduction to Cornaro by Sylvester Graham, New York, 1833, 178 pages 18mo.)

The following passages are taken from Cornaro’s work.

“Oh holy and truly happy regularity! How holy and happy should men in fact, deem thee, since the opposite habit is the cause of such guilt and misery! so that men should know thee by thy voice alone, and thy lovely name; for, what a glorious name, what a noble thing, is an orderly and sober life.”

“I will give an account of my recreations and the relish which I find at this stage of life, in order to convince the public that the state I have now attained is by no means death, but real life. They will see, not without the greatest astonishment, the good state of health and spirits I enjoy; how I mount my horse without any assistance or advantage of situation; and how I not only ascend a single flight of stairs, but climb up a hill from bottom to top, afoot, and with the greatest ease and unconcern; then how gay, pleasant, and good humored I am: how free from every perturbation of mind, and every disagreeable thought; in lieu of which, joy and peace have so firmly their residence in my bosom, as never to depart from it. I contrive to spend every hour of life with the greatest delight and pleasure, having frequent opportunities of conversing with many honorable gentlemen; then I betake myself to reading some good book, and when I have read so much as I like, I write; endeavoring in this as in every thing else, to be of service to others to the utmost of my power.

“Besides this, I have my several gardens supplied with running water, and in which I always find something to do that amuses me.

“Nor are my recreations rendered less agreeable and entertaining by my not seeing well, and not hearing readily every thing that is said to me; or by any other of my faculties not being perfect, for they are all, thank God, in the highest perfection, particularly my palate, which now relishes better the simple fare I eat, wherever I happen to be, than it formerly did the most delicate dishes, when I led an irregular life.

“And if it be lawful to compare little matters, and such as are esteemed trifling, to affairs of importance, I will farther venture to say, that such are the effects of this sober life, that at my present age of eighty-three, I have been able to write a very entertaining comedy, abounding with innocent mirth and pleasant jests.

“Such are some of the recreations of my old age.”

To this latter passage Mr. Graham appends the following note:—

“Gentle reader! art thou still in early life, and dost thou sometimes contemplate old age as necessarily a state of feebleness, and decrepitude, and gloom? Or, art thou already what the young call old, and dost thou feel thyself entering into the dreary winter of thy bodily existence? Seest thou nothing but weakness, and infirmities, and the last waning of life’s flickering light, in the prospect before thee? Seems thy unjoyous way downward into the vale of death covered with a mist whose density increases as thou descendest, wrapping thee in deeper and yet deeper gloom, and blearing thy vision, and taking away thy other senses by slow, but yet too painfully perceptible degrees; and shutting thee up to the solitary consciousness of exhausted power and approaching death? And with such prospect before thee, and in such a state, art thou incredulous when the venerable Cornaro tells of the comforts and the cheerfulness of his green old age? Does it seem to thee impossible that at the age of ninety or a hundred years, a man should have that health, and vigor, and vivacity, and cheerfulness, and increased enjoyment, of which Cornaro speaks?

“Doubt not, beloved reader! but be assured, if thou wilt live the life of the righteous, thou shalt reap this reward. Wrong not thy body nor thy soul! Obey the laws of life! Live as thou shouldst, in harmony with the universal and inflexible government of God, established constitutionally in the great system of nature’s laws, and thou shalt experience the health, the serenity, the peace, the cheerfulness, the happiness, and even the raptures of Cornaro! And when thy life is spent, and thou art called to make thy exit from this changing scene, thou shalt walk erect in patriarchal manliness, like Moses, to the mountain top, with vision unimpaired, and scarce diminished strength, and there, in the glorious prospect of a better world, thy God himself will spread thy death-bed for thee, and take thee to himself without a pain!”

I cannot deny myself the pleasure of making one more extract from Cornaro, touching the influence of sobriety on the religious hopes of man.

“I must farther add,” says this good old man, “though it may appear impossible to some, that, at this age, I enjoy at once two lives: one terrestrial, which I possess in fact; the other celestial, which I possess in thought: and this thought is equal to actual enjoyment, when founded upon things we are sure to attain, as I am sure to attain that celestial life, through the infinite goodness and mercy of God. Thus, I enjoy this terrestrial life, in consequence of my sobriety and temperance, virtues so agreeable to the Deity; and I enjoy by the grace of the same divine Majesty, the celestial, which He makes me anticipate in thought:—a thought so lively, as to fix me entirely on this object, the enjoyment of which I hold and affirm to be the utmost certainty. And I hold that dying in the manner I expect is not really death, but a passage of the soul from this earthly life to a celestial, immortal, and infinitely perfect existence. Neither can it be otherwise:—and this thought is so superlatively sublime, that it can no longer stoop to low and wordly objects, such as the death of this body, being entirely taken up with the happiness of living a celestial and divine life; whence it is that I enjoy two lives. Nor can the termination of so high a gratification as I enjoy in this life, give me any concern: it rather affords me infinite pleasure, as it will be only to make room for another glorious and immortal life.”