yet less to be excused; for they ought to know that the body is not forced beyond its strength, but with the loss of more vigour than is proportionate to the effect produced. Whoever takes up life beforehand, by depriving himself of rest and refreshment, must not only pay back the hours, but pay them back with usury; and for the gain of a few months but half enjoyed, must give up years to the listlessness of languor, and the implacability of pain. They whose endeavour is mental excellence, will learn perhaps too late, how much it is endangered by diseases of the body, and find, that knowledge may easily be lost in the starts of melancholy, the flights of impatience, and the peevishness of decrepitude.
Numb. 49. Tuesday, September 4, 1750.
Non omnis moriar; multaque pars mei
Vitabit Libitinam, usque ego posterâ
Crescam laude recens.Hor.
Whole Horace shall not die; his songs shall save
The greatest portion from the greedy grave Creech.
THE first motives of human actions are those appetites which Providence has given to man in common with the rest of the inhabitants of the earth. Immediately after our birth, thirst and hunger incline us to the breast, which we draw by instinct, like other young creatures, and when we are satisfied, we express our uneasiness by importunate and incessant cries, till we have obtained a place or posture proper for repose.
