OF ANIMALS. 



155 



by a very active and worthy magistrate, that 

 the number of such as die in London for want, 

 is much greater than one would imagine I 

 think he talked of two thousand in a year! 



But how numerous soever those who die of 

 hunger may be, many times greater, on the 

 other hand, are the number of those who die 

 by repletion. It is not the province of the pre- 

 sent page to speculate, with the physician, upon 

 the danger of surfeits ; or, with the moralist, 

 upon the nauseousness of gluttony : it will 

 only be proper to observe, that as nothing is so 

 prejudicial to health as hunger by constraint, 

 so nothing is more beneficial to the constitu- 

 tion than voluntary abstinence. It was not 

 without reason that religion enjoined this duty ; 

 since it answered the double purpose of re- 

 storing the health oppressed by luxury, and di- 

 minished the consumption of provisions, so 

 that a part might come to the poor. It should 

 be the business of the legislature, therefore, to 

 enforce this divine precept ; and thus, by re- 

 straining one part of mankind in the use of 

 their superfluities, to consult for the benefit of 

 those who want the necessaries of life. The 

 injunctions for abstinence are strict over the 

 whole Continent ; ajid where rigorously obser- 

 ved even among ourselves, for a long time af- 

 ter the Reformation. Queen Elizabeth, by 

 giving her commands upon this head the air of 

 a political injunction, lessened, in a great mea- 

 sure, and in my opinion very unwisely, the re- 

 ligious force of the obligation. She enjoined 

 that her subjects should fast from flesh on Fri- 

 days and Saturdays ; but at the same time de- 

 clared, that this was not commanded from mo- 

 tives of religion, as if there were any differences 

 in meats, but merely to favour the consumpti- 

 on offish, and thus to multiply the number of 

 mariners ; and also to spare the stock of sheep, 

 which might be more beneficial in another way. 

 In this manner the injunction defeated its own 

 force ; and this most salutary law became no 

 longer binding, when it was supposed to come 

 purely from man. How far it may be enjoin- 

 ed in the Scriptures, I will not take upon me 

 to say ; but this may be asserted, that if the 

 utmost benefit to the individual, and the most 

 extensive advantage to society, serve to mark 

 any institution as of Heaven, this of abstinence 

 may be reckoned among the foremost. 



Were we to give an history of the various 

 benefits that have arisen from this command, 



and how conducive it has been to long life, the 

 instances would fatigue with their multiplicity. 

 It is surprising to what a great age the primi- 

 tive Christians of the East, who retired from 

 persecution in the deserts of Arabia, continued 

 to live, in all the bloom of health, and yet all 

 the rigours of abstemious discipline. Their 

 common allowance, as we arc told, for four 

 and twenty hours, was twelve ounces of bread, 

 and nothing but water. On this simple beve- 

 rage, St. Anthony is said to have lived a hun- 

 dred and five years ; James, the hermit, an hun- 

 dred and four ; Arsenius, tutor to the emperor 

 Arcadius, an hundred and twenty ; St. Epipha- 

 nius, an hundred and fifteen ; Simeon, an 

 hundred and twelve ; and Rombald, an hun- 

 dred and twenty. In this manner did these 

 holy temperate men live to an extreme old age, 

 kept cheerful by strong hopes, and healthful by 

 moderate labour. 



Abstinence, which is thus voluntary, may be 

 much more easily supported than constrained 

 hunger. Man is said to live without food for 

 seven days ; which is the usual limit assigned 

 him ; and, perhaps, in a state of constraint, this 

 is the longest time he can survive the want of 

 it. But in cases of voluntary abstinence, of 

 sickness, or sleeping, he has been known to 

 live much longer. 



In the records of the Tower, there is an ac- 

 count of a Scotchman, imprisoned for felony, 

 who for the space of six weeks took not the 

 least sustenance, being exactly watched during 

 the whole time ; and for this he received the 

 king's pardon. 



When the American Indians undertake long 

 journeys, and when, consequently, a stock of 

 provisions sufficient to support them the whole 

 way, would be more than they could carry ; 

 in order to obviate this inconvenience, instead 

 of carrying the necessary quantity, they con- 

 trive a method of palliating their hunger, by 

 swallowing pills, made of calcined shells and 

 tobacco. These pills take away all appetite, 

 by producing a temporary disorder in the sto- 

 mach ; and, no doubt, the frequent repetition 

 of this wretched expedient must at last be fa- 

 tal. By these means, however, they continue 

 several days without eating, cheerfully bearing 

 such extremes of fatigue and watching, as 

 would quickly destroy men bred up in a grea- 

 ter state of delicacy. For those arts by which 

 we learn to obviate our necessities, do not 



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