ed Q ThE ONLAWFOI.NESS Or SELF- MeftDElt, It was a most just and happy censure that a late ingenious writer casts on the gluttony of a modern meal, as he expresses it " Would not one of the ancient philosophers think a man mad, had he seen him devour fowl, fish and flesh; swallow oil and vinegar, winesand spices, throw down sallads of twenty dif- ferent herbs, sauces of a hundred ingredients, confections and fruits of numberless sweets and flavours ? What unnatural mo- tions and counterferments must such a medley of intemperance produce itt, the body ? For my part, when. I behold a fashion- able table set out in all its magnificence, I fancy that I see gouts and dropsies, fevers and lethargies, with other innumerable dis- tempers lying in ambuscade among the dishes*. Surely this author wouldagree that the indulgenceof a riot- ous appetite in such various and improper food as disturbs and oppresses nature, inflames the blood, and fills the body with dis- tempers, has a plain . tendency to self-destruction, ; and yet how many are there thatcall themselves christians, who mast fall un- der this accusation, and cannot excuse their guilt ? Have we never heard a person say, " I know this dish will make me sick, yet I cannot forbear it ? Or I have frequently found this food,, or these sauces are hurtful for me, and yet I will venture ois' them ?" There is a comttcon proverb that charges this sort of sensuality with the guilt of self - murder, such a man digs his grave with his teeth : And though he feels his health languish, and his body sinking toward the dust, yet he goes on to dig his grave with his teethdaily, till at last be tumbles into it. The God of life is the judge of men and he bath a terrible charge against such wilful transgressors : For intemperance is a slow poison, It is the same sort of crime when persons get a habit of drinking, and from a cup of strong drink, which might refresh nature, they grow up to quarts and' gallons: From a few mode- rate glasses at first they learn in time to swallow the contents of whole bottles. They swill wine without measure, and when the common and natural juice of the grape is made so habitual and customary that it ceases to be strong enough to support their spirits, then they have recourse to brandy, and other intoxicating liquors : The art of the cbymist is employed to extract burning Nature, oath this author, delights in the most plain and simple diet., Were Ito consider my readers as my patients, and to prescribe such a kind of temperance as, is accommodated to all persons, and such as is particularly suitable to our climateand way of living, I would copy the following rules of a very emi- nent physician : 4 Makeyour whole repast out of one dish. If you indulge in s second, avoid drinking any thingstrong till you have finished your meal ; at the same time abstain from all such sauces as are not the most plain and simple." A man could not well be guilty of gluttony if be stuck to these few obvious and easy rules. In, the Snit case, there would be no variety of tastes to solicit his palateand occasiopexcess ; nor to the second, any artificial provocates to relieve satiety and create a falseappetite." Tiros that great and approved writer Mr. Addison.
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