He  who  lives  extensively,  who  avoids  all  stimulants,
takes  light  and  agreeable  exercise,  never  overtasks  him-


THE  SECRET  OF  LONGEVITY.          199

self,  indulges  no  exhausting  passions,  feeds  his  mind  and
heart  with  no  exciting  material,  has  no  debilitating  plea
sures,  lets  nothing  ruffle  his  temper,  "  keeps  his  accounts
with  God  and  man  daily  squared  up," — is  sure,  if  he  has  a
good  organism,  to  spin  out  his  life,  barring  accidents,  to
the  longest  limit  to  which  it  is  possible  to  attain ;  while
he  who  lives  intensely, — who  feeds  on  highly  seasoned
food,  whether  material  or  mental,  fatigues  his  bo'dy  or
brain  by  hard  labor,  exposes  himself  to  inflammatory  dis
eases,  seeks  continual  excitement,  gives  loose  rein  to  his
passions,  frets  at  every  trouble,  and  enjoys  little  repose, —
is  burning  the  candle  at  both  ends,  and  is  sure  to  shorten
his  days,>''Gen.  James  Grant  Wilson,  in  his  sketch  of  the
poet  W.  C.  Bryant's  life,  tells  us  that  when  he  asked  him
the  secret  of  his  health  and  vigor  at  eighty  and  upward,
the  poet  replied  :  "  It  is  all  summed  up  in  one  word, —
moderation.  As  you  know,  I  am  a  moderate  eater  and
drinker,  moderate  in  my  work,  as  well  as  in  my  pleasures."
Cornaro,  of  whom  we  have  already  spoken,  was  similarly
temperate  ;  he  ate  so  little,  at  last,  that  he  required  only
an  egg  a  day.  <  On  the  other  hand,  how  many  a  young
man  squanders  on  a  holiday  or  an  evening's  entertainment
an  amount  of  nervous  energy  which  he  will  bitterly  feel
the  want  of  when  he  is  fifty  or  sixty  !  It  is  curious  but
true,  as  some  writer  says,  that  a  bottle  of  champagne  at
twenty  may  intensify  the  rheumatism  at  threescore  ;  and
that  overtasking  the  eye  at  fourteen  may  necessitate
spectacles  at  forty,  instead  of  at  sixty.
