I cannot compass my desires by the powers of
oratory) every man of a liberal disposition, and sound
understanding, to embrace with open arms this most valuable
treasure of a long and healthy life; a treasure, which as it
exceeds all the other riches and blessings of this world, so it
deserves above all things to be cherished, sought after, and
carefully preserved. This is that divine sobriety, agreeable to
the Deity, the friend of nature, the daughter of reason, the sister
of all the virtues, the companion of temperate living, modest,
courteous, content with little, regular, and perfect mistress of
all her operations. From her, as from their proper root, spring
life, health, chearfulness, industry, learning, and all those
actions and employments worth of noble and generous minds. The
laws of God and man are all in her favour. Repletion, excess,
intemperance, superfluous humours, diseases, fevers, pains, and
the dangers of death, vanish, in her presence, like clouds before
the sun. Her comeliness ravishes every well-disposed mind. Her
influence is so sure, as to promise to all a very long and
agreeable existence; the facility of acquiring her is such, as
ought to induce every one to look for her, and share in her
victories. And, lastly, she promises to be a mild and agreeable
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; being that, which
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. Sobriety
renders the senses clear, the body light, the understanding lively,
the soul brisk, the memory tenacious, our motions free, and all
our actions regular and easy. By means of sobriety, the soul
delivered, as it were, of her earthly burthen, experiences a great
deal of her natural liberty: the spirits circulate gently through
the arteries; the blood runs freely through the veins; the heat of
the body, kept mild and temperate, has mild and temperate effects:
and, lastly, our faculties, being under a perfect regulation,
preserves a pleasing and agreeable harmony.

O most innocent and holy sobriety, the sole refreshment of nature,
the nursing mother of human life, the true physic of soul as well
as of body. How ought men to praise thee, and thank thee for thy
princely gifts! since thou bestowest on them the means of
preservin