rpora debentur, Lethei ad fluminis undam
Securos latices, et longa oblivio potant[1].

------------ Those souls which Fate decrees
Shall other bodies take, upon the strand
Of Lethe sit, and drink secure the flood,
And long oblivion.

For the same reason, undoubtedly, Isidore defined drunkenness a certain
forgetfulness caused in the mind, through indulgence of immoderate
drinking. His words are these:-- _Ebrietas est per quam menti quaedam
oblivio generatur ex superfluorum potuum indulgentia_[2].

A certain French poet[3] sings thus much in the same tune:--

"Oui, Thirsis, c'est le vin qui nous fait rejeunir,
Et qui bannit de nos pensees;
Le regret de choses possees,
Et le crainte de l'avenir."

Yes, Thirsis, 'tis the vine's prolific juice
Can youth and beauty re-produce,
Banish the sad regret of former years,
And of futurity the fears.

In the next place, wine is a sovereign remedy against a particular
species of sorrow or chagrin, I mean a sort of inward wearisomeness,
which the French call _ennui_. I shall explain myself a little farther,
and for my expositor I cannot make choice of a fitter person than Mr. de
St. Evremont[4], who, after having discoursed a little on this subject,
adds, "That good cheer with one's friends, is a sovereign remedy against
this kind of chagrin; for besides that conversation at such times
becomes more free and gay, it insensibly sweetens it. It is certain that
wine rouses up the forces of nature, and gives our soul a vigour capable
to drive away all sorts of uneasiness. I know very well that certain
morose people, at least externally so, and in appearance, will shew a
great deal of aversion for a remedy, the delights of which they do not,
however, too much despise. But all grimace aside. I don't trouble myself
with their ill-understood severities, since the most severe philosopher
in the world has advised us to make use of this remedy; and the most
morose of our illustrious men have submitted, if we may say so, their
most austere virtues to the charms of this sweet pleasure; and the most
well-bred people have not disdained its usage."

In a word, (I must speak a little French now and then,)

[5]Le vin fait que les annees,
Nous durent moins que les journees.

Wine makes whole years to pass away,
And seem much shorter than one day.

But it does more than all this, it even assuages choler; it is an
admirable cataplasm for r