diforders of the body, the humours being then more a-float, and the whole vegetable creation fuffering fome degree of an univerfal ferment. Fresh herbs, alfo at this feafon, furnish

" and nourishes." For ftrong and cool wines, melons, raw lettuce, fish, pork, faufages, cake, pye-cruft and the like, pleased moft his depraved appetite; yet were moft hurtful to his conftitution. Thefe things therefore he thunned, and ufed only fuch as agreed beft with his conftitution, and in fo moderate a quantity as always to leave off eating with an appetite. Thus he foon brought himfelf to take only twelve ounces of food in a day : by which he was fo perfectly freed from all his complaints in a manner which feemed to his phyficians almost a miracle. By continuing this sober life he enjoyed a state of perfect vigour and health. Through extreme vexation which he fultained from fome others, and a troublesome lawfuit, attended with many most difagreeable circunftances, fome of his friends were fo overpowered by melancholy as to fall into difeafes which coft them their lives; but he who was the principal fufferer, felt no inconvenience in his health from thefe difafters, which he afcribes to the found temperament of his body, free from thofe humours which melancholy or trouble could vitiate. When he was feventy years old, by the overturning of his chariot, his head and whole body were much hurt, and one of his arms and legs put out of joint. The phyficians declared that at his age he could not live three days, and were for purging and bleeding him. He would not allow either, alledging that his temperate manner of life made thofe remedies unneceffary; but ordered his arm and leg to be fet, and his whole body anointed with oil: and he perfectly recovered without any other remedy. So true did he find the two Italian proverbs: "He "fhall eat much who eats little at a time-Mangere piu, chi

manco mangia :" And "The meat which is left on the plate, pro"fits more than that which is eaten- -Fa piu pro quel che fi "lafcia ful' tondo, che quel' che fi mette nel ventre." Cornaro in his 75th year fuffered himself to be fo far overcome by the importunity of his friends on pretence of his old age, as to add two ounces to the quantity of his daily food, which he increafed to fourteen ounces exactly, weighed of bread, and eggs, or flesh and broth; and two ounces to his drink, which from fourteen he made fixteen. This addition made a great alteration in his conftitution and health: in ten days though before cheerful and merry, he became melancholy and troublesome to himself and others. On the 12th day he was feized with a pain in his fide, and two days after with a fever which held him thirty-five days, and he was only cured by abftemioufnefs; after which he returned to his former rule of twelve ounces of meat, and fourteen of drink. By this means he testifies in his 83d year, that he lived always free from any trouble of mind, or bodily pain. At that age he easily got on horfeback without any advantage of the ground, went up high ftairs and bills, was always cheerful and merry, enjoyed the converfation of witty and learned men, and read and studied much, living fometimes at Padua, where he had a great and elegant houfe and gardens, and fometimes at fonie of his country feats, employing his hours of amufement in architecture, painting, mufic, husbandry, draining marthy lands, erecting churches to God, and drawing men together to worship him in them. In his 83d year he compofed a spirited comedy, full of youth

ful

the most falutary juices. That the church has our corporal health in view as a fecondary motive in the inftitution of Lent, appears from the collect in which the teaches us to

ful fire and wit; and at the fame time wrote a treatife on temperance, in which he gives this account of himself: He had then eleven grandchildren all in perfect health, children of the fame father and mother. He always flept well, retained his vigour, and intellectual faculties to the lal, paffed his old age without any complaint or fickness, till that of which he died at Padua in 1565, which was fhort and feemed without pain. His death was to eaty, and he received it with fuch cheerfulness, being upwards of an hundred years old, that it was truly a pleafant paffage to immortality. [See Lewis Cornaro's own book or Temperance, tranflated by Leffius into Latin: alfo the Account given of him by Thuanus, Hift. 1. 38. Juftiniani & Bembi, Hift. Venet. &c.] His wife who was no lefs aged than himself, furvived him. F. Leonard Leffius, the learned Jefuit, had been in his youth abandoned by physicians in a decay, but by imitating in fome degree the temperance of Cornaro, and by the regularity of his conventual life, re-eitablifhed his health and enjoyed great vigour of mind and body to the 69th year of his age, in which he died at Louvain in 1623. He wrote a book, "On the right Way of preferving Health and long Life," in which he fhews that temperance is the mother of health, prevents the inconveniencies of overfulness of humours, and of a bad digestion, cudities and all diftempers which flow from thefe caufes, makes bruifes and outward accidents lefs dangerous to the body, mitigates incurable diforders, makes death easy, abates the paffions, preferves the fenfes of the body entire, and much more the vigour of the understanding and memory, and is the ground and balis of virtue, as Caffian obferves. [Caffian 1. 5. de Gaftrimargia, c. 14 & 17.] So that all the Saints who have fet about raifing the tower of evangelical perfections, began by this virtue. [See Leffius 1. de Valetudine tuenda. Alegambe de Scriptor. Soc. in Leflio.] Its practice is attended with difficulty in the beginning, in overcoming the habit of intemperance; but this being mastered, it is productive of much delight and incomparable advantages. Health is not only preferved by it, fo as feldom to ftand in need of a phyfician, but most distempers, especially those which arife from repletion are cured by fafting, which is the most easy and natural means of difburdening nature, that he may be enabled to exert her powers in her own relief. For nature alone is able to repair her decays, and restore her functions: phyfick can only remove obftacles which impede the vigorous exertion of her powers in her cure. Ufually a faft of one or two days has the full effect of a courfe of phyfick, and does its work in a much fafer and more effectual manner. Many perfons within the circle of my acquaintance, chiefly amongst thofe who led the most exactly regular lives in religious convents, have attained to a very advanced old age, without having ever made ufe of any apothecary's drugs, or confulted any phyfician, having made it their rule, whenever they found themselves indifposed, to fast one, two, or three days, till they found their health re eftablifhed. If aufterities have ever hurt any one's conftitution, it must have been owing to an extreme excess, or to fome particular circumstances, as unwholefome food, too fudden a change in the manner of life, dampnefs, (always contrary to the good state of an

human

pray that "That this folemn faft which is wholefomely intituted to cure our fouls and bodies, may be devoutly ob"ferved by us (29).”

F

CH A P. IV.

On the Manner of obferving LENT.

ASTING days were proclaimed amongst the Jews in the fame manner as great feftivals by the found of a trumpet at the hour when they began (1). They obferve them from the evening after fun-fet till the fame hour the next day, that is till the rifing of the ftars. All this time they neither eat nor drink; they also refrain from bathing, from perfumes, odours, and anointing, and from the use of marriage, continence being a part of their faft. And this is the idea which all the Eastern nations, Chriftians, and others generally have of fafting (2.) Some Jews think it lawful to

human body) a neglect of precautions in paffing fuddenly from heat to cold, &c. It is in the most auftere regular inftitutes of religious men that we shall moft frequently meet with perfons bleffed with a vigorous and sprightly old age. Such was the aufterity practifed by the ancient hermits of Egypt and Paleftine. Some confined themselves to a fmall quantity of fruits, herbs or pulfe, others to bread alone. Abbot Moyfes after having weighed the experience and circumstances of these different rules, concludes that to be preferable which allowed per day to each monk two biskets or small cakes, which together made (carce a pound weight of twelve ounces, without any fauce or other food; their meal to be taken at none, or about three o'clock; but on fafting days after fun-fet. See Caffian, Inft. c. xix. 21. &c. That fafting is the most general cure of the most common and most fatal diftempers, and that trict abftemioufnefs and temperance is the mother of health, and main fupport of long life is proved by the experience of all ages and all nations, and confirmed by all phyficians. See particularly those who have wrote on diet: Junker, Arbuthnot, Hecquet, Lemery and Lorry, Tr. fur les Aliments. It is however, to be carefully obferved, that changes in the manner of a perfon's living must be made gradually, and not on a fudden. For plentiful meals enlarge habitually the ventricle, which long habits of temperance contract, in which any great change made at once is very dangerous. Neither is it prudent in those who have lived plentifully, and are expofed to deviate fometimes from their rule, by living in the world, to confine themselves totally to vegetables, or any one kind of diet, as Dr. Arbuthnot remarks against the rigorous prefcriptions of Dr. Cheyne.

(29) Or. in Missa & Officio Sabbati ante 1 Domin. Quadragefimæ. (1) Joel ii. 15. 16.

(2) See Calmet, Dict. Bibl. and Fleury Moeurs des Ifrael. ch. xvi. Leo of Modena, Carem, des Juifs, Part iii. ch. 8. Bafnage, &c. Si

gonius,

eat till the morning of the day on which they are to fast. At their meal in the evening of a faft, they may eat eggs, and certain herbs, but not all forts, and no flesh meat, nor butter. Buxtorf mentions, that it is an axiom of the Jews on their great fafts, whoever eats or drinks on this day, fhall not be worthy to fee the joy of Jerufalem; and whoever eats fiefh or drinks wine, his iniquities fhall be upon him. The fame author teftifies, that every one who fafts abftains from all meat and drink the whole day till the ftars appear in the evening. It is only by an indulgence that on lefler faftingdays, fcme, if apt to faint for thirft, put into their mouths. a little liquorice, or fome other root or fpice, but fpit it out again without fwallowing any, only it moiftens the mouth, and fome of the juice will defcend without a fwallowing. Amongst the Samaritans, even infants at the breaft, among the Jews children that are above feven years old, are obliged to faft as much as their ftrength will permit (3). They fometimes throw afhes upon their heads, and go bare-foot, but this is not of obligation. On fafts, it was forbid to work, and all the people met in the temple at Jerufalem; in other towns and villages, in fome public place, where they heard the law read, and exhortations to penance made to them by the Rabbins and Elders (4).

The faft of the Muffelmans or Turks confifts in neither eating, nor drinking, nor fmoaking the whole day from morning to the rifing of the ftars. They eat and drink as much as they pleafe all night, but are very temperate in that month, as Count Auger Guilin of Boefbec or Busebec relates (5). They eat meat if they please at night, but wine is more strictly forbidden at thefe times than at others. Some have been condemned to fwallow melted lead, for having violated this law. Thirft is particularly troublesome to travellers and labourers; but they must endure it. The ancient idolaters alfo meant by fafting an entire abftinence both from eating and drinking.

But the Chriftian faft is the fubject of our inquiry, and confideration. This confifts of two parts. 1ft, A forbearance of certain kinds of food, or a reftraint in the choice and quality, or an abatement of food, which we usually call

the gonius, 1. de Rep. Hebræor. 1. iv. c. 18. and Nicolia's Annot. ib. p. 416. Buxtorf's Synagoga Judaica, c. xxx. p. 571. & 576.

(3) Calmet, &c. ib. (4) Ifa. viii. 5. Joel ii. 16. 3 Kings xxi. 12. Fleury Moeurs des Ifraelites, ch. xvi.

(5) Ep. 3. de Moribus Turcarum, p. 154. & 1. de Turcarum Cæremoniis, p. 291. Chardin Voyage, &c. T. ii. & vii.

the abftinence. And 2dly, A forbearance of neceffary food, which is called the faft. The virtue of abftinence, as a religious mortification in order to fubdue and affli&t the flesh in penance for fin, and for the improvement of the foul in virtue, is recommended by the example of the Rechabites and of the Nazarites in the old law, of St. John Baptist, St. James the Lefs, St. Peter, St. Matthias, and the other difciples of Chrift, and the whole Chriftian church at certain times. The primitive Chriftians in Lent broke their faft only after fun-fet, and then ufually only with herbs, roots, and bread. At least all were obliged to abftain not only from fleth meat, but also from fish, and whatever had life (6); alfo from whatever is derived from flesh, as eggs, milk, cheefe, butter, &c. (a), according to the ancient canon. Likewife from wine, which in the primitive ages was no lefs forbid on all fasting days than the use of flesh meat itself. "We fast abstaining from the ufe of flesh and

wine," fays St. Cyril of Jerufalem (7). S. Bafil repeats almost in the fame words: "We abstain from flesh and "wine (8)." Theophilus, Patriarch of Alexandria, fays: "We are taught by the example of Daniel, on fafting "days to refrain from flesh meat and wine, to live on pulfe, "and drink only water (9)." The fame is inculcated by St. Chryfoftom (10), St. Gregory of Nyffa, or rather St. Afterius (11); and before all these, Hermas, who wrote foon after the Apostles (12). Some mitigations were introduced in part of this abftinence in the fixth century, when in the Weft a little wine was allowed to dilute the water in favour of weak stomachs, as appears from the rule of St. Be nedi& (13). Fish was in the fame age allowed, but not of the dearer and more dainty kinds (14). White meats or Lacticinia are forbid by the canons ftill in force in Italy, all Southern climates, and over all the Eaft. S. Gregory the Great, writing to St. Auguftine, Archbishop of Canterbury,

(6) S. Chryf. hom. 3. ad Pop. Ant. n. 5. p. 42. T. ii. ed. Ben. See Thomaffin, Fleury, Dom de L'Ifle, Benedict. XIV. Inftit. 15. B. 150. T. i. de Quadragef. &c.

(a) A Carne Animalium abftinemus, ab omnibus quoque qua sementinam carnis trahant Originem a lacto viz. cafeo, &c.

(7) Catech. 4. p. 65. (8) Hom. i. de Jejun. n. 5. (9) 1. iii. Pafch. ap. S. Hieron. T. iv. p. 721. (10) S. Chryf. hom. iv. ad Pop. Antioch. n. 6. & hom. iii. n. 6. T. ii. &c. (11) Or. de Jejun. in Append. p. 303. (12) Hermas. Paftor. 1. iii. Simil. 5. (13) S. Bened. Reg. c. 40. (14) S. Greg. M. quoted in Ratian's Decree. Cap. Denique Dif. iv.