602 THE MOUNTAIN. 



edicts of physical despotisms and moral laws, and the voice 

 of mercy still pleads : "repent ye, and surely there is a king- 

 dom of heaven at hand," for there is no soundness of body 

 without soundness of soul, and no soundness of soul without 

 soundness of body. 



Sin, weariness of being, disease and death, have thou- 

 sands of doors to enter humanity : on the side of the body, 

 on the side of the soul, obscure gateways of the body, sub- 

 lime portals of the soul. Long has the prodigal wandered 

 from home, long has he blundered and deeply fallen, but his 

 pathway through swine husks and suffering becomes brighter, 

 and his return to realms of peace and love is sure, for sound- 

 standing to embrace, with open arms, this most valuable treasure of 

 a long and healthy life : a treasure which, as it far exceeds all the 

 riches of this world, so it deserves above all things to be diligently 

 sought after and carefully preserved. This is that divine sobriety so 

 agreeable to the Deity, the friend of nature, the daughter of reason, 

 and the sister of all the virtues. From her, as from their proper 

 root, spring life, health, cheerfulness, industry, learning, and all 

 those employments worthy of noble and generous minds. Excess, 

 intemperance, superfluous humors, fevers, pains, gouts, dropsies, 

 consumptions, and the dangers of death, vanish in her presence, like 

 clouds before the sun. She is the best friend and safest guardian 

 of life, as well of the rich as of the poor; of the male as of the 

 female sex ; the old as of the young. She teaches the rich modesty; 

 the poor frugality ; men continence ; women chastity ; the old how 

 to ward off the attacks of death ; and bestows on youth firmer and 

 securer hopes of life. She preserves the senses clear, the body light, 

 the understanding lively, the soul brisk, the memory tenacious, our 

 motions free, and all our faculties in a pleading and agreeable har- 

 mony. 



"0 most innocent and divine sobriety! the sole refreshment of 

 nature, the nursing mother of life, the true physic of soul as well as 

 of body. How ought men to praise thee for thy princely gifts, for 

 thy incomparable blessings ! But as no man is able to write a suffi- 

 cient panegyric on this rare and excellent virtue, I shall put an end 

 to this discourse, lest I should be charged with excess in dwelling so 

 long on so pleasing a subject. Yet, as numberless things may still 

 be said of it, I leave off, with an intention to set forth the rest of its 

 praises at a more convenient opportunity." 



