Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-03-27
The Man " no Lived 10 he n Hundred
Hccause I'VE Wanted To.
lThc SnlMrdny KevIeW

Cornaro's TeJ,neR-whrh consisted
of eggs, soup, bread, pancakes. and
Such-like food, with wine--was. as he
tells US. intended fol himself alone. All
people should live temporarily. but the
temperance Of one man Is the excess OF
another. C0rnaro's method is the
simple one that each man should
find out for himself what is the
suitable quantity Of food and
drink for himself. and then live
accordingly. The charm of Cor
naro's narrative consists in the garru-
lous naivete with which he sets forth
his simple creed and practice. Italy
he says, was suffering from three great
eyils--iirSt. from fIattery and ceremo-
MES secondly, from the effect OF the
Lutheran doctrines thirdly. from de
bauchery. These three evils. or rather
" cruel monsters of human life, have
DESTROYED respectively social sim
cerity secondly, the religion Of The
sonl; thirdly, the health Of the body.
The first two plaques he leaves 10 be
dealt with 10y some "gentW SptrH',
Ylo will Danish them from the world;
the third he undertakes to cxtirpate
himself, being convinced that Italy be-
fore ms death will return to her former
- fair and holy manners. To this end
he gives his own practice as an exam
ple to be followed. at least IN its
aim and spirit. His daily allowance
Of food was three rolls. the vols OF an
egg. with meat and soup, the whole
weighing twelve ounces; his daily al
| lowance Of wine was fourteen ounces.
Tn one occasion, after he had slightly
increased the quantities, he became IN
u few days = choleric aud melancholy"
and soon fell into violent fever, from
which he only recovered by returning
! TO his former regimen. He never ate
or drank TO the extent of his appe-
/; tite; avoided extremes Of heat and
, cold was careful TO have sufficient
sleep. TO keep clear Of grief me-
lancholy, hatred, and other per-
turbationS Of the mind vas also an es-
sen,ial part Of his system, though tenn
peIance in eating and drinking will do
much TO counlcract mental troubles as
well aS TO neutralihe the effects Of bodily
hardShips. Once when powerful enc
mics brought suit against him he kept
his cquanimity aud won his case in the
end. while his brother, Who had led an
irregular life. died Of anxiety while
the case was still going ON. II men
were but temperate a. hc was HIM
self they would live TO be n hundred
years old. lie himself intended 10 do
so, and 10 die at lat, not of disease,
but Of pure Nsoluzione." II he
had had good constitution to start
with lac would reach 100 years instead
Of only 100. He did, in iact. die very
nearly at the age Of 100. il he did not
surpaSs it. lie Is sure that. having on
earth led life pleasing TO God, he
will 10y His mercy enjoy the heavenly
life after death. Until lac adopted the
temperate life he never =" knew that the
world was fair The temperate - fan
no bfptto Il monde" Even the deaths
Of relations and friends troubled him
! little, so calm and .equable had his
tciupcr become. These and other
doctrines TO the same effect he pub
iished IN his first treatise. written when
he was at the age OF eighty three; three
years later he followed il up by a second,
the Compendio della Vita sobris -;
five years later still he Published "a
third; aud, finally, at the age Of niue
,y.ii,e he brought out his . Loving Tx
hortation," urging his readers 10 do as
he had done, and to eujcy the happi-
ness he had found. Not "a little Of it.
be tell, Us, was due to the fact that
many Of them had followed his sdyice.