nking'
are left, very generally, to enjoy it by themselves, and at their own
expense.

But, all other considerations aside, _health_, one of the most valuable
of earthly possessions, and without which all the rest are worth
nothing, bids us not only to refrain from _excess_ in eating and
drinking, but to stop short of what might be indulged in without any
_apparent_ impropriety.

The words of ECCLESIASTICUS ought to be often read by young people.
'Eat modestly that which is set before thee, and _devour_ not, lest
thou be _hated_. When thou sittest amongst many, reach not thine hand
out first of all. _How little is sufficient for a man well taught! A
wholesome sleep_ cometh of a temperate belly. Such a man _riseth up in
the morning_, and is _well at ease with himself_. Be not too hasty of
meats; for excess of meats bringeth sickness, and choleric disease
cometh of gluttony. By surfeit have many perished, and he that _dieteth
himself prolongeth his life_. Show not thy valiantness in wine; for
wine hath destroyed many.'

How true are these words! How well worthy of a constant place in our
memories! Yet, what pains have been taken to apologize for a life
contrary to these precepts! And, what punishment can be too great, what
mark of infamy sufficiently signal, for those pernicious villains of
talent, who have employed that talent in the composition of
_Bacchanalian songs_; that is to say, pieces of fine and captivating
writing in praise of one of the most odious and destructive vices in
the black catalogue of human depravity!

'Who,' says the eccentric, but laborious Cobbett, 'what man, ever
performed a greater quantity of labor than I have performed? Now, in a
great measure, I owe my capability to perform this labor to my
disregard of dainties. I ate, during one whole year, one mutton chop
every day. Being once in town, with one son (then a little boy) and a
clerk, while my family was in the country, I had, for several weeks,
nothing but legs of mutton. The first day, a leg of mutton boiled or
_roasted_; second, _cold_; third, _hashed_; then, leg of mutton
_boiled_; and so on.

'When I have been by myself, or nearly so, I have _always_ proceeded
thus: given directions for having _every day the same thing_, or
alternately as above, and every day exactly at the same hour, so as to
prevent the necessity of any _talk_ about the matter. I am certain
that, upon an average, I have not, during my life, spent more than
_thi