Concerning Old Age, Chapter 2
CHAP. II. The Causes of Old-age, and Preservatives.
SECT. I.
HAving thus Described Old-age, andCap. 2. The Causes of Old age. selected some of the most eminent Examples thereof, I come now in the Second place, to inquire into the true Causes of it, and Preservatives against it. For the Causes thereof.
First, the Original meritorious Cause §. 1. The Original cause of Old-age.is Mans Sin and Defection from God. The truth is, it may seem somewhat strange, that Man being created at the first in the Image of the Immortal God, placed but little lower than the Angels, crowned with glory and honour, and made Ruler over all other creatures, should have his life burdened with so many sorrows, and then so soon arrive at Old-age and Death. And some of the Heathens did foolishly charge Nature with Envy and Cruelty towards Man, in causing so noble a creature to tarry so short a time in the world, and to grow old as soon as he begins to grow ripe; And Others as wisely concluded, that Men were sent into this world only for their Punishment, for crimes committed in others Bodies before. And indeed, if you set the Scriptures aside which resolve the Case, it is somewhat unaccountable to have so short an History of so noble a creature. If a curious Architect should frame and rear up a firm and stately pile of Building, and being compleatly furnished, the same should presently shrink, and in a short time decay and fall to the ground; Passengers would be apt to call in question the sidelity or skill of him that made it; or exceedingly wonder by what means it came to ruine, till they come to know, that the Inhabitant himself undermin'd, pluck'd down, or fir'd his own house: So in the Case before us, it is matter of grief and astonishment to see the most exquisite piece of Gods workmanship upon earth, to become decrepit in so short a space, and to be reduc'd so soon into dust and ashes.
We must know therefore, that Man at his first Creation being made up of a Body and a Soul, was neither in his own nature so unchangeable and immortal as the Angels, nor so frail and weak as other creatures below. Not so unchangeable, I say, in his own nature; for having a body that was to be continually supplied with food, that is, repair'd, it follows that, that which needs repair, is liable to decay; but yet while the sweet harmony, wherein it was first form'd, was not disturb'd, the frame might well have indured for a long time; especially, if the Tree of Life in Eden were intended, as some of the Learned *Viv…bat homo in Paradiso sicut volebat; quam diu volebat quod Deus jusserat: cibus aderat, ne esuriret; potus ne sitiret, lignum vitae ne illum senectus dissolveret. August de Civ. Dei. c: 26.thought, to support, strengthen, and perpetuate Life. But the dismal Fall of our first Parents did so crush the Body, and wound the Soul, that neither of them can be recovered in this Life. For immediately that Death, which was threatned to him, by degrees seized upon his Body; and fear, shame and sorrow entred into his Soul. And though the divine Providence permitted Him and divers of his posterity to live many hundreds of years, that the naked world might be peopled, and that Religion with all other useful knowledge might be procur'd, preserv'd and propagated in the world; yet we date his decaying and dying state from that word, Gen. 3. 19. For dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. That righteous Sentence brings our hoary hairs upon us. Thou turnest man to destruction, and sayest, Return ye children of men—In the morning they are like grass which groweth up. In the morning it flourisheth and groweth up, in the evening it is cut down and withereth. Psal. 90. 3, 6. If you inquire therefore into the ruines of humane nature, the answer will be, that Sin is the moth, which, being bred therein, hath fretted the garment, withers the man, and layes his honour in the dust. Every decay therefore of our Strength should mind us of our Apostacy from God by the Fall, and should renew our grief for the same. Whether Adam wept as oft as he looked towards Paradise, is uncertain; but surely when we find our Eye-sight fail us, our Skin to wrinkle, and the pillars of the house to tremble, we should mourn for that woful Disobedience and Ingratitude, which was the Original cause of the decayes of Nature. When your Eyes cannot do you service in Seeing, let them do it in Weeping for this root of sin and misery.
Say not, that you are unconcern'd in what was done by another, time out of mind. For certainly we should never feel the effects, which we daily find to cur smart, if we had no hand in the procuring cause of them. They who would perswade you, that no sin is inherent in you, but that its only contracted by imi…ation and custome, must needs yield that the Decayes, the …eebleness and the Dyscrasy, even of the temperatest man in the world, must proceed from some wound upon humane nature, which the Creator would never have inflicted without a fault. O therefore let us not only lament our Actual and daily offences, but let us go up to the Spring, and bewail that first rebellion, which is the root of evil both of sin and punishment. I say again, when thy bones ake, and when thy hand shakes, let thy heart mourn for the Sin that hath poyson'd thy nature, and made thee miserable. The body which was the Instrument in the crime, is justly the Subject in the punishment.
SECT. II.
THE Second which is the Immediate § 2. The Natural cause of Old-age.and Natural Cause of Old-age, is the Dryness and Coldness of the Temperament of the Body. There is according to the Old Philosophy, a certain Native Heat and Radical Moisture ingenerated in all mankind at their Conception, whereby Life is preserved: The one is like the Flame, the other like the Orl that feeds it. Diseases and Disasters are like a Thief in the Candle, that makes it wast the sooner: but if no such thing happen, yet the Lamp will consume, and at last extinguish. All the supplies of Food and Physick, are not able to maintain nor repair that Heat nor that Moisture, but a cold and dry temper grows upon the Body, till it be quite exhaust and wasted.
It is true, some there be who have derived to them from their Progenitors, a greater measure of radical Heat and Moisture, and therewith more lively and vigorous Spirits; and these, meeting with no external Inconveniences, do continue longer in their strength, as may be observed in some Families every where: as some generous Wines will preserve themselves from decay much longer than others; but at length they grow acid and spiritless: so in tract of time that Moth of Mortality, which lurks in all our Bodies, will fret that Garment into Rags. Things which are Compounded must dissolve; contrary Qualities in the same Subject, tho never so equally temper'd, will work out one another. No care or Art can preserve these Houses of Clay, for as much as their foundation is in the Dust, Job 4. 19.
SECT. III.
THE Third sort of Causes, which§. 3. The Preternatural Causes of Oldage. may be termed Preternatural and Adventitious, that do accelerate or hasten Old-age, some of them are such as these.
1. Unwholsome Air. For the Air, being the constant Food of the Vital parts, must needs contribute much to the Repair or Decay of the Body; and the more impure it is, must consequently impair and weaken it. Hence and from the Corruption of Food it is not improbable, that the Age of Man, after the Deluge became so much diminished; insomuch as Arphaxad, who was the first-born in the New World, lived scarce half so long as those before the Flood; as appears by comparing, Gen. 5. 27. with Gen. 11. 13. the Air being now become more impure and unwholsome, than it was before. However it is most evident, that people do commonly at this day grow weak, crazy and impotent, who live in those places, which mourn under a malignant Air; and others are fresh and lusty at the same years, that injoy the blessing of a purer breathing.
2. Secondly, Diseases are another Cause that brings on Old-age. For these must needs weaken that strength of Nature, whereby our life is supported, Psal. 39. 11. When thou with rebukes dost correct man for Iniquity, thou makest his Beauty to consume away like a Moth: and not only his Beauty, but his Strength and Spirits, for the Hebrew runs there,—Thou makest that which is desirable in him to melt away. And thus it was with holy Iob. Thou hast filled me with wrinkles, which is a witness against me, Job. 16. 8. His grievous Distempers had made him old before his time. Thus we daily see divers persons, who, in respect of the number of thei… years, have not pass'd the Meridian of their Age, yet by reason of their Sicknesses, and especially the Dregs which some kinds of them do leave behind them, are old in their very Youth. These are like Storms without, which battering the best built House, will the sooner bring it unto ruin. Holy David said of himself, Psal. 119. 83. I am become like a B…tle in the Smoak, that is, my natural moisture is dryed, burnt up, and withered. And Hezekiah by reason of sickness complains, Mine Age is departed, and is removed from me as a Shepherds Tent, Isa. 38. 12. Thus the Lord doth sometimes weaken a mans strength in the way, and shortneth his days, Psal. 102. 23. implying, that a mans life is like a Iourney through this into a another World; now by Diseases he weakens us in the way, as we are travelling through the World, causes us to commence Old per saltum, and shortens our days: so that by this means, some have but a winters day of life, while others injoy a longer.
3. Thirdly, Another Cause which hastens Old age, is, immoderate Care or Labour. Each of these, when they exceed a due proportion, do exhaust the Spirits, and produce early wrinkles; whenas, being moderately used, they do us no hurt, but good. It is indeed a part of the Curse pronounced at the Fall, on Adam and all his posterity, Gen. 3. 19. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; and the carking Heart and sweating Face, hastens man to the Ground. One of these alone, immoderate Care, or immoderate Labour will do the work; but when the mind within is eaten up by continual thoughtfulness, and the Body without is harrast with extreme Labours, no wonder that Weakness, Languishment, and Old-age hasten on a pace: xforeign. Hesiod. Op. & Di. l. x.then doth our strength give place to labour and sorrow, for it is soon cut off, and we fly away, Psal 90. 10. Great indeed is mens folly thus to ruin themselves; sith it is certain that neither our immoderate cares, nor our immoderate labour, do us any good at all: less Care and more Prayer would avail us much more; yea, and they do us much hurt, they disquiet the Mind, they disturb the Body, they provoke God to leave us to our selves; and then we shall soon find, that it is vain to rise early, to sit up late, and to eat the Bread of Sorrow: whereas the blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he addeth no Sorrow with it, Prov. 10. 22. Assure your selves, if moderate care and labour will not bring in Riches, then they are not good for you; and whatsoever is gained otherwise, hath a Curse in it, and will bring misery on the Body, or on the Soul, here or hereafter.
4. A Fourth Cause which hastens Oldage, is Intemperance, that is, excess in Eating, or in Drinking, or in lustful Embraces. Any of these, especially the last, do bring Old-age into youthful years. Sad it is, that our Life being in its utmost extent so short, and our Bodies by nature so frail; we, that have a desire to live, and who for that end will be content to use the most irksome remedies, should yet so commonly invite distempers by our Luxury, and so shamefully dig our Graves with our Teeth, and deprive our selves of the residue of our years. In so much, that altho in St. Hieroms time he affirmed, that there were reckoned five thousand Martyrs for every day in the Year, save one, yet we may sadly conclude, that Bacchus and Venus have had daily more Martyrs, if we may so call them, in one place or other of the World, than Iesus Christ. In this sense doth Seneca yDe Brevit. vit. cap. 1.truly say, Non accepimus brevem vitam, sed fecimus. From whence come for the most part those pains of the Gout, Stone, Dropsy, Convulsions and Apoplexies, with such other Distempers, but from Intemperance in some of the foresaid Objects? A moderate use of Meat, Drink, and conjugal rights, as it doth tend much to the alacrity of the mind, so doth it no less to the Health of the Body: but excess in any of them, doth either suffocate Nature, or else impoverish and exhaust it; as it is observed of the more lecherous Creatures, that they are short-liv'd in comparison of others.
If therefore you would arrive at a good Old-age, good in respect of the comfort of the Mind, or in respect of the welfare of the Body, oppose and check your unruly Appetites zPont gulae metas, ut sit tibi longior aetas. Esse cupis sanus? sit tibi parc… manus.; resolve with the Grace of God, Hitherto thou shalt come and no further: conclude, I am a Man, yea, a Christian, and not a Brute; and consequently, am not to be guided by Sense, but by Reason and Religion, which teach me to use all these outward comforts, so far as they will promote the Glory of my Maker, and the present and future good of my Body and Soul.
5. Fifthly, Inordinate Passions of the mind are another means to bring on Oldage; such as Anger, especially Sorrow. For these do manifestly prey upon the Spirits, and also produce such bodily Distempers, as do hurry people into Old-age before their time. aNihil est quod senectuti magis noceat ac dies hominis abbreviet, quam tristitia, languor animi, & ira. Nihil enim bilari senectute jucundius. Cass.Hence it was, that Valentinian the Emperor, by an excessive straining of his Voice, in an angry reply against some Offenders, fell into a grievous Fever, which at length brought him to his End. And for Sorrow, the wisest of men tells us, Prov. 15. 13. A merry Heart maketh a chearful Countenance; but by Sorrow of the Heart, the Spirit is broken bTis mirth that nursethlise and blood, Far more than wine, or rest, or food.And when the Spirit is broken, the Body must sensibly wast and decay. For these Passions like a Torrent or Land flood break down, and overthrow all before them: you know a River, while it proceeds with its usual stream, passes harmlesly, yea, profitably through all the Fields and Meadows, and makes no breaches on the Banks on either side; but when a suddain and excessive Rain swells it up, then it lays about it without mercy, and tears up the Ground, the Fences and Trees on every side: And even so our Passions being moderate, are innocent and useful; but he that hath no rule over his own Spirit, is like a Flood of Water broke loose, or like a City that is broken down, and without Walls.
Yea, there have been Instances of such, as by sudden Grief have grown Gray in a few days time; and there be hundreds that carry the Badge of their great Sorrows on their Heads, long before a due course of years would have brought them.
Let us not therefore suffer these Vultures to feed upon our Hearts, nor yield our selves Slaves to these unruly Passions; which war not only against the Soul, but even against the Body, and will ruin both, except they be restrained and mortified by the Grace of God. Philosophy hath gone far in this work, God forbid but that Christianity should go much further.
There are also other both Moral and Natural Causes of Old-age, but these may suffice. The curious may satisfie themselves elsewhere cSee Ro. Bacons cure of old age, with Dr. Browns Notes.And by these Causes, you may easily discern what are the best Preservatives against Old-age. For tho no Art or Care can prevent the unavoidable access thereof, yet effectual Means may be used to deferr it. 'Tis true, Galen tells dLib. de marcore. c. 2us of a Philosopher, who affirm'd, that there was a way to prevent it, and wrote a Book of it, when he was forty years old; but the said Author takes notice, that when he was arriv'd to eighty, he was wasted to skin and bones, and could not any way cure himself. But the most effectual Preservatives, are, 1. Piety, and 2. Sobriety.
SECT. IV.
FIrst, serious Piety. By which I§ 4. The Preservatives of Old-age. mean, a Course of life in the Faith, and Fear of God, and in holy Obedience unto him. This is that Godliness, which hath the promises of the life that now is, as well as of that which is to come, 1 Tim. 4. 8. This is the best Antidote against that Poyson which hath originally infected our Nature, and which makes it swarm with Distempers, that hurry us to Old-age, and Death at last. This is, certainly, the best Means whereby to avoid that fatal Curse so early pronounc'd, or else to turn it into a Blessing. If thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my Satutes and Commandments, then I will lengthen thy days, 1 King. 3. 14. What man is he that desireth Life; and loveth many days, that he may see good? Depart from evil, and do good, &c. Psal. 34. 12, 14. It is the observation of Hierom eHier. Psal. 91. in unde vide tur nomen hoc sanctis non longae aetatis ratione sed authoritatis ascribi., and of Origen fOrig. in Gen. 18.before him, that Abraham is the first person called Old in the Scripture, tho Adam and Methuselah and many others were richer than he in years, but not in Faith and Obedience. I know, that some of the worst of men have, without this, flourished long, and some that have been most Religious, have withered quickly.; and therefore do conclude, that all such Outward blessings and afflictions are conditionally promis'd and threatned: and yet it abides certain, that the ordinary way to a vigorous Age, and a long Life, is the true fear of God; and that which makes it short and miserable, is Ungodliness. And the Holy Scripture is express herein, Prov. 10. 27. The fear of the Lord prolongeth days: but the years of the wicked shall be shortned. For doubtless, our Lord God, who is the giver of Life, is also the Conserver of it; and whose word we may rely upon, as the best Prescription and Preservative in this case. This Holy course doth contribute to this end
1. In a Natural way. And that, 1. By Mortifying and discarding those Sins which do more directly hurt the Body. Such are those Passions and Excesses abovenamed, such is Anger, Envy, Covetousness, Ambition, and many such like, which like wind in the Intrails of the Earth do rend and shatter it. I think there is no Sin, whatsoever, but it hath a malignant influence upon the Body; either to disorder and inflame it, or to macerate and dispirit it: Now the Fear of God obliges a man not only to restrain, but to pluck up all such by the Roots. Those are the Weeds, which both rob the sweet Flowers of their nourishment, and also depauperate the soil where they grow; which being cast out, the whole man fares the better after them. And 2. True Piety refresheth the Body with the Comforts of a good Conscience. That Peace, that Hope, that Joy which result from a Conscience, that is pacifi'd by the Blood, and purified by the Spirit of Christ, do most efficaciously cherish the whole man, they daily feast him. This is that merry Heart, that is called a continual feast, Prov. 15. 15. And that doth good like a Medicine, Prov. 17. 22. There is that Intimacy between the Soul and the Body, that whatsoever refresheth the one, doth also cheer the other. Whereupon the Learned have judged, that Hope, Love and Ioy are great prolongers of Life, by the influence which these have upon the Humours and Spirits in the Body: much more when these Affections have heavenly and eternal things for their Object: and the Holy Scripture speaks that way, when it saith, Prov. 19. 23. The fear of the Lord tendeth to Life, and he that hath it, shall abide satisfied. 3. True Piety is the best Preservative against Old-age in a Spiritual way, to wit, by Procuring the Blessing of God. For when the Body is consecrated to him, and imployed for him, we may expect it to be blessed by him; it is under his peculiar care and Providence. When it is united to Iesus Christ, it will receive influence from Him for its good. So that true Religiousness, tho it more immediately tend to the recovery and felicity of the Soul, yet it is really most friendly also to the Body. He that feareth God, and walketh in his ways, shall see his Childrens Children, Psal. 128. last. And on the other hand, all those destroying, and life-shortning Diseases mention'd, Deut. 28. 27. 61. even every sickness, and every plague, are denounced to the ungodly. And fully Eccl. 8. 12, 13. Tho a Sinner do Evil an hundred times, and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before him. But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow, because he feareth not before God. Therefore you that would protract the time of your flourishing strength, learn to love and fear God, devote your selves to him, bestow your Hearts upon him, imploy your time and strength to please and honour him: abide not in a State of ungodliness, rest not with a form of Godliness; but resolve upon that Real Holiness, which will produce a long and happy life in this World, and a longer and happier life in a better.
2. The Second Preservative against Oldage, which indeed is contained in the former, is Temperance and Sobriety gPugnandum tanquam contra morbum est, sic contra senectutem. Habenda ratio valetudinis: utendum exercitationibus modicis. Tantum cibi & potionis adhibendum, ut reficiantur vires, non opprimantur. Cic. de se…ct.. I mean that gracious Vertue, which retains the Sensitive Appetite within the bounds of Reason and Religion, whereby we keep a Mediocrity in the use of Meats, both in respect to their Quantity, neither loading nor pining the Stomack; and in respect of their Quality, neither debauching it by too much Variety, nor injuring it by things noxious. The same care in Drinks, lest the Quality of them be pernicious, or the Quantity of them prejudicial. That the Marriage-bed be moderately used, so that the vital Spirits be not exhausted. Now mans sinful Nature above all other Creatures inclines to excess in all these: and it is pleasant to the Flesh; but it is the pleasure▪ of poyson: At last they bite like a Serpent, and sting like an Adder, Prov. 23. 32. not the Soul only, but the Body. They do insensibly, but infallibly weaken nature, disorder the Harmony of the parts, breed the most fatal distempers, and render him, as we may daily observe, old in infirmities, that is but young in years. So that if they who give themselves up to Gluttony, Drunkenness or Lasciviousness, did truly love their own Souls, or yet their own Bodies, they would bridle their unruly Appetites for their own sakes, and not pay so dear for that which must be repented of. And as a plain and even way is much more delectable, than always to be going up Hill and down; so certainly there is a thousand times more ease and sweetness in an even and temperate course, than in the perpetual unevenness of intemperance. How should that body hold out, that is daily clogg'd and inflam'd with preternatural excesses? The intemperate man is constantly feeding an Enemy, whom it is charity to starve; and deals with his Body as the Ape, who is said to hugg her young to death. Whereas a wise Sobriety is health to the Navel, and marrow to the Bones; by it the Humours, the Blood, the Spirits are all maintain'd in order and in vigour. His meals are pleasant, and his sleep is sweet, and he is a Stranger to those crudities, and consequent distempers which pester others. Thus Plato by his careful temperance spun out his life, tho a great Student, till he attain'd above fourscore; and Galen to above sevenscore years; and Seneca hSen. Ep. 58▪concludes, that there is no way to retard Old-age like a frugal Sobriety.
Let me then persuade all such, as are lovers of pleasures, more than lovers of God or of their own Souls, to have some pity on their poor Bodies. O break off your destructive Course, sow not the Seeds of consuming Maladies in your own Flesh. Be not among Wine-bibbers, amongst riotous eaters of Flesh. Put a Knife to thy Throat, if thou be a man given to Appetite, Prov. 23. 1. 20. Give not your Strength unto Women, nor your ways to that which destroyeth Kings, Prov. 31. 3. Let not the Beast captivate the Man, nor your Reason be enslav'd by Sense; but recover a just dominion over your blind and brutish affections, that your days may be long and lively in the Land which the Lord giveth you.
If it be here Objected, that the most Religious and temperate persons grow old as soon as others. It is Answered, that tho in these external things, all things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous and to the wicked; yet every wise man will take the likeliest course for the blessing he desires. Tho some Children that have had no good Education, nor good Example, have afterward proved eminent men; yet who but a desperate man will hereupon resolve, I will take no care about the instruction of my Children? but the prudent Parent will conclude, tho some of the best Education do miscarry, and some with the worst do flourish, yet I ought and will take the likeliest course to bring up my Children in the fear of God: Even so in this case, the Old-age and Death do seize upon divers pious and circumspect persons, as soon or before they come upon others, yet is it the Interest and Duty of all such as regard God, or wish well to themselves, to use the fittest means to preserve their strength and vigour, until their time and work be done.
For it is certain, that when the success answers not the means, and that Distempers, notwithstanding our Piety and Sobriety, do overtake us; then it is permitted and ordained by the Wisdom of God for the setting forth some way of His Glory, and for the real Good of the party affected. For an Holy and Good God never makes Exceptions to his General Rules, but in Cases reserved for his greater honour, and his Servants greater good. For all the paths of the Lord, tho never so cross and crooked, are Mercy, I say, Mercy and Truth to those that keep his Covenant, and his Testimonies. Psal. 25. 10. And thus you have had some Account of the true Causes, and the best Antidotes against Old-age, which is the second Point to be handled.