and that God and nature can dispose matters so, that a man
shall bring into the world with him so sound a constitution, as
to live long and healthy, without observing such strick rules;
and then die in a very advanced age through a mere dissolution
of his elementary parts; as was the case, in Venice, of the
procurator Thomas Contarini; and in Padua, of the cavalier
Antonio Capo di Vacca. But it is not one man in a hundred
thousand, that so much can be said of. If others have a mind
to live long and healthy, and die without sickness of body or
mind, but by mere dissolution, they must submit to live regularly,
since the cannot otherwise expect to enjoy the fruits of such a
life, which are almost infinite in number, and each of them, in
particular, of infinite value. For, as such regularity keeps the
humours of the body cleansed and purified; it suffers no vapors to
ascend from the stomach to the head; hence the brain of him, who
lives in that manner, enjoys such a constant serenity, that he is
always perfectly master of himself. He, therefore, easily soars
above the low and groveling concerns of this life, to the exalted
and beautiful contemplation of heavenly things, to his exceeding
great comfort and satisfaction; because he, by this means, comes
to consider, know, and understand that, which otherwise he would
never have considered, known, or understood; that is, how great
is the power, wisdom, and goodness of the Deity. He then
descends into nature, and acknowledges her for the daughter of God;
and sees, and even feels with his hands, that, which in any other
age, or with a perception less clear, he could never have seen
or felt. He then truly discerns the brutality of that vice into
which they fall, who know not how to subdue their passions, and
those three importunate lusts, which, one would imagine, came
all together into the world with us, in order to keep us in
perpetual anxiety and disturbance. These are, the lust of the
flesh, the lust of honours, and the lust of riches; which are apt
to increase with years in such old persons as do not lead a regular
life; because, in their passage through the stage of manhood,
they did not, as they ought, renounce sensuality and their passions;
and take up with sobriety and reason; virtues which men of a regular
life, did not neglect when they passed through the above-mentioned
stage. For, knowing such passions are such lusts to be inconsistent
with reason, by which t