382 HISTORY OF 



may be said, that large animals live longer than little ones, as 

 they usually take a longer time to grow. But in all animals 

 one thing is equally certain, that they cany the cause of their 

 own decay about them ; and that their deaths are necessary 

 and inevitable. The prospects which some visionaries have 

 formed of perpetuating life by remedies, have been often enough 

 proved false by their own example. Such unaccountable schemes* 

 would, therefore, have died with them, had not the love of life 

 always augmented our credulity. 



When the body is naturally well formed, it is possible to 

 lengthen out the period of life for some years by management. 

 Temperance in diet is often found conducive to this end. The 

 famous Cornaro, who lived to above a hundred years, although 

 his constitution was naturally feeble, is a strong instance of the 

 benefit of an abstemious life. Moderation in the passions also 

 may contribute to extend the term of our existence. " Fonte- 

 nelle, the celebrated writer, was naturally of a very weak anrt 

 delicate habit of body. He was afl'ected by the smallest irregu- 

 larities ; and had frequently suffered severe fits of illness from 

 the slightest causes. But the remarkable equality of his tem- 

 per, and his seeming want of passion, lengthened out his life to 

 above a hundred. It was remarkable of him, that nothing could 

 vex or make him uneasy ; every occurrence seemed equally 

 pleasing ; and no event, however unfortunate, seemed to come 

 unexpected." However, the term of life can be prolonged but 

 for a very little time by any art we can use. We are told of 

 men who have lived beyond the ordinary duration of human ex- 

 istence ; such as Parr, who lived to a hundred and forty-four ; 

 and Jenkins, to a hundred and sixty- five ; yet these men used no 

 peculiar arts to prolong life ; on the contrary, it appears that 

 these, as well as others, remarkable for their longevity, were 

 peasants accustomed to the greatest fatigues, who had no settled 

 rules of diet, but who often indulged in accidental excesses. 

 Indeed, if we consider that the European, the Negro, the Chi- 

 nese, and the American, the civilized man and the savage, the 

 rich and the poor, the inhabitant of the city and of the country, 

 though all so different in other respects, .ire yet entirely similar 

 in the period allotted them for living ; if we consider that neither 

 the difference of race, of climate, of nourishment, of convenience, 

 or of soil, makes any difference in the term of life ; if we consider 



