The History of Phrenology on the Web (http://www.historyofphrenology.org.uk/) By John van Wyhe Last modified 26 October 2000 L. J. Beale, The Laws of Health, in Relation To Mind and Body. London, John Churchill, 1851. 282 THE DISORDERS OF OLD AGE. stomach-sudden changes of wind and weather-emotions of the mind-change of residence-breathing noxious gases-(even peculiar odours have been known to excite a fit)-recession of gout-sudden suppression of cutaneous diseases, or of habitual discharges. A foggyand moist atmosphere is preferred bysome asthmatics, and a dry one by others. This is, perhaps, explained by the fact, that in some the air-cells are loaded with phlegm, while in others the tubes are dry, and to the latter a moist condition of the atmosphere gives some relief. When the subject of asthma is of a plethoric habit, it will be necessary to live moderately and temperately, and check any tendency to redundancy by purgatives and abstinence. On the contrary, in persons of a delicate constitution, a more nutritious diet and a larger quantity of animal food will be required, with a moderate allowance of wine, which, as a general rule, agrees better than malt liquors. Where circumstances permit the choice of residence, one should be chosen possessing the advantages which experience has told the invalid best agree with him. All the habits of life should be governed by order and regularity, the meals taken at the same hours, and consist of the simplest materials; exercise in the open air should be taken two or three times daily in proper weather, but never carried to fatigue. Bathing and friction to the skin will be very serviceable, by keeping up the regular secretions of this large surface, and removing some cause of irritation from the other exhalents within the chest. LETTER XXVII. GENERAL SUMMARY OF THE LAWS OF HEALTH. 283 MY DEAR F-, HAVING passed in review the state of health, and a few of the principal disorders to which we are liable at all ages, we will conclude by some general remarks, and make a summary of the laws of health, with reference to mind and body. You have long known my opinions on disease, and will not be surprised to find that I maintain the principle, that diseases are not direct visitations, but almost always the result of inattention to Nature's teaching; and, as far as they are punishments for our own indiscretions or vices, should act as warnings. The majority of diseases are produced by our own imprudence or ignorance: observation of the laws of health would enable us to prevent some altogether, to modify others, and to alleviate the effects of all. The principal laws of health, the regulation of which are under our own control and power, relate to the organs of digestion and respiration, the skin and the brain. 1. Temperance and sobriety in eating and drink- 284 GENERAL SUMMARY OF ing, taking only those things which we know to agree with us, and in moderate quantity. 2. To breathe as pure an atmosphere as possible, by living in well-ventilated houses and apartments, by exercise in the open air for several hours daily, in order that the whole of the air-cells may be emptied, and a fresh wholesome change of the particles of air may reach every part of our lungs. 3. To maintain a free state of all the pores of the skin by ablution and friction, so that there shall be no obstruction to transpiration ; once at least in every twenty-four hours we should increase the ordinary transpiration to perspiration, by active exercise. 4. To promote the healthy action of the brain and nerves by active mental employment, giving to the mind, by proper exercise of all our faculties, mental and moral power to keep in subordination the emotions, the passions, and the propensities. I must refer to former Letters for details on these subjects. We often charge Providence with the infliction of calamities which are the result of our own folly;-probably, when our knowledge is more extended, we shall discover that many of the evils, physical and moral, which still afflict mankind, advanced as we are in civilization, may be altogether prevented. The plague was considered by our forefathers as a direct visitation, for the punishment of the sins of a wicked generation, but more knowledge has shown that it was an indirect punishment for the neglect of natural laws, calculated to teach men that dirt, impure air, bad food, acting on a very crowded population, which retained about its habi- THE LAWS OF HEALTH. 285 tations offal and filth of every description, will engender malignant diseases. Concentrate again the same causes, the same effects will result. Better-ventilated habitations, more space for the population, and the partial removal of nuisances, has freed London from the scourge of plague. More extended knowledge will free it from other nuisances and other diseases; there is still room for much improvement. The more rapid removal of the accumulations of dirt in the public streets, of all slaughterhouses in yards and cellars, the banishment of gasworks, and all factories generating noxious gases, to a greater distance, and the final abandonment of the custom of burying the dead under our windows, are among the improvements which we may fairly hope to see added to the civilization of the present generation. Will it be believed a century hence, that so enlightened a people as the English, who, among other evidences of it, have paid twenty millions to put an end to slavery in places thousands of miles away, should look on quietly, and permit, during two days in the week, infuriated oxen to be driven through the crowded streets of its metropolis, to be slaughtered in hundreds of butchers'-shops and cellars, that children should witness in its leading streets sheep and lambs enticed into shops, or poked into cellars, often with revolting barbarity ? May we not hope that, before the lapse of many years, it will be recorded with astonishment, that such a place as Smithfield Market could have been endured by the population and allowed by the Legislature? The scurvy, as it occurred formerly on board ships, in 286 GENERAL SUMMARY OF prisons, in besieged towns, &c., is another capital illustration of the power we possess over disease and death. The ravages committed by this disease may be well understood by a perusal of Anson's voyage in the last century: the three ships in ten months lost 626 men out of 961. The graphic description given of the difficulty in getting into the harbour of Juan Fernandez proves the truth of the statement, that, had they remained a few days longer at sea, they must have drifted at the mercy of the winds and waves, so few hands remaining capable of working the ship. Captain Cook's first voyage was almost equally calamitous, but his benevolent and energetic spirit was so roused, that he determined to try whether it was not possible to check such a horrible state of things, and he succeeded so well, that, in his subsequent voyage, his ship lost only one man by disease during three years. The scurvy is a disease of the blood, and may be generated anywhere, on land or sea, by a combination of circumstances which greatly deteriorate the general nutrition of the body, and interfere with the healthy assimilation of the food. Insufficient or decayed food, with confinement in bad air, a scanty supply of water, and that in a putrid state, filth of person and habitation, -these, with the free use of spirits, formerly produced scurvy in our fleets. A ship of war in the last century was very different to what it now is: dirt and insubordination have given place to the utmost cleanliness and the best discipline ; but it is to be feared that many merchant-ships still afford conditions favourable to this THE LAWS OF HEALTH. 287 disease, as is shown by the records of the Dreadnought hospital ship. The disease is still occasionally produced in our prisons; and, in a modified form, it is to be found among the squalid inhabitants of some of the wretched abodes of the great city in which I am now writing. We often see among the ill-fed inhabitants of the worst parts of the metropolis a condition which is ant incipient stage of this disease,-the skin, particularly of the legs, is covered with dark purple spots, :the gums are spongy, and very apt to bleed. In an aggravated form, scurvy is characterized by a dark and swollen state of the gums, the teeth become loose, the breath is very offensive, the bloodvessels become weak, the slightest blow producing the appearance of a severe bruise; sometimes blood pours from the nose, mouth, and ears, or is effused among the muscles of the limbs. In the mouth and on the limbs ulcers break out, whch speedily become most foul and unhealthy, while the whole system is so exhausted that the slightest effort causes faintness. To this state was the remaining part of Lord Anson's crew reduced when they reached the island of Juan Fernandez. The description of the difficulty of conveying the poor creatures from the ship to the tents which had been erected on the shore is most appalling; many of them dying before they reached the scene prepared for their recovery. As gross neglect. of the laws of health gives rise to scurvy, so a rigid observance of these laws is the proper means of cure. The want of fresh vegetables is one cause of the disease, and all ships are now supplied with 288 GENERAL SUMMARY OF plenty of lemon juice, as the best substitute for this privation, -a certain amount of vegetable acid being essential to the healthy condition of the system. The disease will occasionally occur where there has been no other exciting cause than the want of fresh vegetables. A spongy state of the gums is an almost certain indication of something defective in diet; indeed, the state of the gums is at all times a very good index of health, and when swollen, spongy, or ulcerated, show the existence of a depraved condition of the stomach and digestive organs. In all cases where bad health has been produced by disobedience of the natural laws, we have only to return to the due observance of these laws to insure a recovery of health. All degrees of that vitiated state of the blood constituting scurvy will be removed by good air, good food, and cleanliness. Captain Parry lost only seven men out of 334, under all the disadvantages of an Arctic voyage. Such is the difference between knowledge and ignorance; such are the results of mental, moral, and physical improvement consequent on carrying out the laws of health. Let us dispel the dark ignorance of the many-let us carry the light of knowledge to the land-abodes of vice, misery, and destitution, and our efforts will be rewarded by the same success which has crowned the benevolent views of Howard in regard to prisons, and Cook in regard to ships. In many parts of London, the formation of sewers has been succeeded by obvious improvement in the health of the district,-the lower parts of houses which had been THE LAWS OF HEALTH. 289 formerly very damp, and the walls covered with mouldiness, after the filling up of cesspools, &c., becoming perfectly dry. Instances are not uncommon of persons who had never enjoyed a day's health for many years while living in a peculiar locality, and who, after removing, have recovered their health without any medical treatment, by the sole influence of a more congenial climate, or a drier soil. A house, situated amidst others in a healthy district, has long been the seat of malaria, generated by the bad construction of its drains; all attempts at improvement have proved vain, until the whole house has been pulled down and rebuilt, when the health of its occupants has proved as good as that of the rest of the vicinity. In former days, diseases thus produced would have been considered inflictions of Providence, while the direct exciting causes were unexplored and unknown. Of the moral evils which are supposed to press and impede our intellectual progress, it appears to me that we may come to the same conclusion,-that they are not absolute evils, but the trials and tests foredoomed, and intended for the development and advancement of our intellectual and moral faculties. The changes and chances of life, all its disappointments and afflictions, when rightly considered by a reflecting mind, lead to the liberation of our moral powers from prejudice, bigotry, and selfishness. Knowledge of mankind, and of the very various characters of men, resulting from differences of birth, parentage, and education, and of original constitution by nature, lead us to be charitable in our opinion 0 290 GENERAL SUMMARY OF of other men, teach us to be tender in our judgments, and gradually free us from envy, hatred, and malice. An intimate acquaintance with mankind teaches us that we cannot all think alike, that it is so ordered by the Divine laws; the degrees and combination of our faculties are so diversified, that all society must be a system of compromise, and men must agree to differ, each giving and taking, for the sake of peace, without abandoning moral principles. The wars of intellect must succeed the wars of the sword : to a great extent this has already taken place, and, there is every reason to believe, will increase. Christianity, divested of the additions, interpolations, and superstition of the barbarous ages which succeeded its introduction, the progress of education, and the extension of the higher faculties of mind and moral feeling, the progress of which may be clearly traced through the last century, and which have been further developed in the present, afford to the contemplative mind a more satisfactory view of human nature than existed at any former period of the world. We must not expect to see vice and ignorance banished from society, but we may hope to see them banished from high places, and that those who are exalted above their fellows, to take part in the government of their respective countries, will be, from the advantage of better education, morally and intellectually more & for their position than their predecessors. I think we have abundant evidence of such progress in all countries, but more especially in those most advanced in civilization. There is more forbearance between THE LAWS OF HEALTH. 291 ranks and parties-mutual regard is paid to peculiarity of circumstances, and the necessary difference of opinion which must result-the Christian feeling of charity, as delineated by St. Paul, is taking effect on all welleducated and well-trained minds. It is impossible not to allude to the illustration of what is here said, afforded by the example of " the foremost place in all this world "-the throne of Great Britain. Was there ever before seen, in any age or any nation, such illustrious proofs of the good effect of proper education and training ? I have in a former page alluded to the influence of mothers in the education of children-a more striking example of the fact could not be adduced, and the people of England owe a debt of gratitude to the mother of our Queen which, perhaps, they do not sufficiently appreciate. The following extract is from the " Life of Southey," and, considering how far back (thirty-five years) it was written, may be looked upon as a remarkable prophecy, which some of the present generation may hope to see fulfilled:-" I incline to think there will come a time, when public opinion will no more tolerate the extreme of poverty in a large class of the community, than it now tolerates slavery in Europe." The movement towards improving the dwellings. of the industrious, headed by Prince Albert, is perhaps the very best direction which benevolence could take. Nothing' so promotes the welfare of a nation as the domestic virtues; and nothing will more certainly produce them than a comfortable home. A comfortable home is almost an o2 292 GENERAL SUMMARY OF impossibility in large towns, under the present horrible system of farming houses, for the purpose of dividing them into as many family compartments as possible, without any consideration for decency or comfort. Model lodging-houses are the greatest blessings that could be provided for the industrious. Are not the assertions, that man was born to evil, that unhappiness is his lot, that this world is a vale of tears, perversions, or at least exaggerations ? That such is the frequent doom must be admitted, but a calm inquiry into the causes of human misery will exhibit the fact, that it is the result of a neglect of the laws of God, and not the intended effect of them, which afflicts and renders miserable so large a portion of the human race. rconfess I doubt the assertion, that there is more misery than happiness in the world, even at its present low state of progress. Children constitute a fourth, or more, of every existing generation, and none can deny their happiness; and of the remaining portion of mankind, half, at least, enjoy good health and a fair amount of prosperity, and the rest are not all unhappy; so that, if this view be correct, we must at once remove more than half of every generation from the assumed misery. Where a great extent of wretchedness does exist, it is not heaven, but man, that is in fault; true it is, we are sent naked into the world, but gifted with powers capable of providing all that is required to counteract the opposing influences to health and happiness, through all the phases of human life, from infancy to age. I have already shown that one great disease, which THE LAWS OF HEALTH. 293 committed prodigious ravages formerly, and the occurrence of wh ch was then imputed to a special interposition of Providence, has been proved to have resulted from gross ignorance and neglect of the laws of healththat it has entirely ceased in all places where attention has been paid to the sources of disease and their partial removal- I have endeavoured to show that many other of the evils, moral and physical, that afflict mankind are equally removable by increased knowledge of the order of nature, and a due observance of the Divine laws. The partial destruction,* and invariable amelioration, of that loathsome disease, small-pox, by the introduction of vaccination, is another notable example of the power which God has given to man, of controlling the evils which surround him, by observation of the natural laws, and by acting in accordance with the knowledge so obtained. We have evidence of the improvement of many very unhealthy districts, where ague formerly prevailed to a great extent, and is now scarcely known, in consequence of draining off the moisture. The great improvement of the habits and health of the whole community-the mitigation of the destructive powers of epidemic and endemic diseases-the increased value of human life, as proved by the tables of life insurance, together with the influence of the whole system of insurance in alleviating calamities-may be instanced as examples of the power of mind over evil. * It is said to be exterminated in Denmark and Bavaria. DISEASE PREVENTED. LETTER XXVIII. DISEASE PREVENTED BY INTELLECTUAL AND MORAL IMPROVEMENT. MY DEAR I-, OF the great number of diseases which afflict the human race, some are entirely beyond our means of prevention, but the majority, and that general condition known under the term. of bad health, result from our ignorance of, or inattention to, those laws which direct us to avoid conduct leading to sin, error, and disease. When we infringe any of these laws we suffer in mind or body, or in both; and frequent repetition of the pernicious effects of our disobedience to the laws of God gradually impresses us with an apprehension of the misery which results from sin, error, or disease. From an opposite line of conduct result health of mind and body, joy and happiness; and the inference is thus forced upon us, that it is our interest as well as our duty to learn and obey these laws. Thus, what we call the laws of nature will be found strictly in accordance with all true revelation of the Word of God. Of course, both being the teaching of the Supreme, and the result of his pro- 295 vidence for the welfare of his creatures, where the teaching of both agree we can have no doubt. If we find discrepancies in the teachings of one with the other, it is our duty to inquire into the fallacy,-for fallacy there must be, either in our inferences, or error must have crept into the Word by negligent scribes, or the many other sources of inaccuracy to which all written and printed books have been subject. The human frame was intended to withstand external influence and internal decay for seventy or eighty years, and as we know that a very small minority fulfil this law, we may fairly inquire into the causes. Such inquiries we have made, and find, in a large number of instances, the cause to be neglect of the laws of health applicable to the prevention of disease. The graduallydiminishing rates of mortality in very young children prove how much is in our power. The remarkable diminution of the number of deaths when the legislature forced the London parishes to send their workhouse-born children into the country has been mentioned, but in all large towns, the number of children brought into the world only to die is still frightful, and serves to show how much remains to be done by more extended knowledge of the laws of health. In the twenty years, from 1730 to 1749, of 100 births, 74 children died before the age of five: in the twenty years from 1810 to 1819, of 100 births, only 31 died before the same age. London is now the healthiest capital in Europe, from having been one of the most unhealthy before the great fire, showing that many of the scourges of our race are 296 DISEASE PREVENTED BY INTELLECTUAL altogether preventable, and that the destructive power of such a disease as plague is within our control. We have further evidence on this point in our recent experience of cholera: comparatively speaking, it neglected the well-nourished, clothed, and housed, -- it almost passed over districts where cleanliness, draining, and other laws had been attended to, and chose for its pabulum districts notoriously unhealthy, from a crowded population, ill-nourished, clothed, and housed, where the sewerage was bad, the water unwholesome and scanty, and where poverty, vice, and misery abounded. Let any benevolent and wealthy person reflect on the published statistics of the Registrar General, and he will still find opportunities for active beneficence, without at all interfering with the many who already, to the glory of our country, voluntarily devote themselves to such praiseworthy objects. Our power over disease may be farther illustrated by the voyages of Anson, Cook, &c., in the last century, before the laws of health were studied, and the results of the later voyages of Cook, and the Arctic expeditions of the present century. The horrors of scurvy, and the general mortality in ships, under former management, before hygiene or the prevention of disease was studied, is well known to all. The history of the Millbank Penitentiary is a very instructive example of disregard, of the laws of health. In the year 1822, chronic diarrhoea and other diseases of the bowels were almost universal among the prisoners, the effect of a miserable diet, which, added to the depression natural to a state AND MORAL IMPROVEMENT. 297 of confinement, carried off many victims; nor could the disease be checked until the prisoners were removed to more healthy localities. The prison has been since re-occupied, and by better diet, &c., the prisoners now enjoy fair average health, and I believe the present mortality does not exceed that of other prisons. We thus see the power we possess over the causes of bad health; indeed, such is now the comparative superiority of the health of seamen and prisoners, from being obliged to live by rule, that it may be a question whether many, who survive a voyage or an imprisonment, would not have been victims to disease, had they been living in their ordinary conditions at home. Tables obtained from registration of deaths show the greater mortality at all ages, among the poor and work ing classes, than among the rich and easy classes of society. Intemperance has, no doubt, much to do with the result, but ignorance, and inattention to the general laws of health, engender disease and shorten life in a larger proportion among the ill-informed than among the better-instructed classes of society. What must be the state of atmosphere in a room ten or twelve feet square, occupied day and night by two adults and four or five children ! We need look no farther for causes of bad health than this, which is almost universal among the working classes in towns. The pigs and oxen of our grumbling agriculturists are better housed than thousands of men, women, and children. It is not that thepoor pay less rent than other classes. In proportion totheir incomes they pay more-as they do, in fact, for 03 298 DISEASE PREVENTED BY INTELLECTUAL everything they consume, for they not only pay a higher price, but get an inferior article. There is no better field for the benevolent than the formation of model lodging-houses for our industrious population. I think we may fairly conclude that bad health is more commonly the result of the gradual operation of improper food, insufficient fresh air and exercise, and want of cleanliness to the skin, than the vicissitudes of weather, or other accidental causes. Without the previous process of deterioration of health, consequent on our own inattention and folly, inclemency of weather, &c., would have much less influence. Disease is much more frequently the result of our own conduct than the direct infliction of Providence, the necessary result of climate, or other external influence. Much yet remains to be done. by philanthropists to improve the condition of all classes of society. Many evils might be amended even among the classes in easy circumstances, and there can be no doubt that a greater diffusion of the knowledge of physiology, and the general laws of organic life, will'tend much to increase the intellectual, moral, and physical welfare of our race. Fully to possess and to enjoy health, it is necessary that the mind should be actively as well as usefully employed-this is effected in the major part of mankind by some necessary occupation. In those whose means place them above this necessity, mental energy should be directed to some voluntary and benevolent occupation. But, if we would be happy, we must also employ the mind in the constant acquisition of such knowledge as AND MORAL IMPROVEMENT. 299 will improve its powers of thought and reflection. You ask me to define what I mean by such knowledge : my answer is, to learn the laws which govern the bodies by which we are surrounded, both inorganic and organic, the constitution and order of nature, and therefore of man; in other words, the general study of the laws of God. This knowledge would make us acquainted with the proper objects of human existence, those which conduce to our happiness both here and hereafter, and lead us " from Nature up to Nature's God"-the summit of all earthly wisdom.' Without a knowledge of our own constitution, and that of external nature, it is quite impossible we should know how to regulate our inquiries, and direct our minds to proper pursuits. We soon discover that our constitution is minutely adapted to the constitution of the world we inhabit; that all our senses are in harmony with the objects upon which they were intended to be exercised; that our organ of vision is exactly suited to the objects that we require to see ; and that all our other senses and faculties are equally well adapted to their objects. Can we require any other proof of a Divine Intelligence than the perfect adaptation of all our organs and faculties with the world we live in? Geology proves that the earth existed ages before man-that it was inhabited by other creatures before it was fit for man's existence: he could not have lived in the atmosphere which existed when Icthyosauri and other reptiles were its chief * In Combe's '' Constitution of Man" this subject is admirably treated. 300 DISEASE PREVENTED BI" INTELLECTUAL inhabitants. Alan was created when the earth was fit for his reception, and his organs, functions, and faculties are just such as are alone fitted for the state of things as they now exist on this globe. To understand the working of the mind and its general constitution, as far as our limited faculties permit, is of vast importance to our health and happiness. How can we properly employ the mind, unless we know what it is capable of, and the objects to which it should be directed? That true wisdom concentrates happiness in the mind, has been admitted by all ages and nations," that the state of the mind is of more importance to happiness than outward circumstances," is a position strengthened by the consentaneous opinion of all who deserve the name of philosophers. The great superiority of mental acquisitions over corporeal and sensual enjoyments is evidenced by the fact, that satiety attends the latter, but never the former; for the more the mind is exercised, and the further it carries its inquiries, the more it discovers yet to be learned, and the greater the enjoyment it has in learning. The true test, probably, of a right direction of human inquiries, is the evidence of an increased zeal in the pursuit, and desire for acquisition of further knowledge of the subject pursued. There is no science connected with inquiry into the operations of nature that does not grow with our knowledge of it, and more remains to be acquired than has yet been learned by the most diligent student in the longest life. The more he knows, the more he sees beyond his acquired knowledge which he is desirous of knowing. This is not alone applicable to any one AND MORAL IMPROVEMENT. 301 science, but also to the general development and enlargement of mind consequent on its active employment. The most learned of men in natural science see beyond the reach of their faculties very much more to learn, than, in the present condition of our understanding, we can comprehend. We feel the want of new senses and new powers to discern the operation of laws, which must ever remain unintelligible to our present faculties. Is not this the strongest evidence of a continued existence of the identical mind, and separate individual personality, which had made the inquiries in this world, and feels the necessity not only of lengthened existence, but of more exalted faculties, to continue them ? The respective enjoyments of the different faculties of which our mind is composed is corroborative evidence of the wisdom of our pursuits. Such as have a limited existence, such as die a natural death during our existence here, may be fairly considered as inferior to those which continue to gratify the soul as long as it continues to feel enjoyment, and still contemplates, in another state of existence, the farther pleasure of increased knowledge. Such are the limited pleasures of sense, contrasted with the unlimited pleasures of intellect. The more the mind is exercised in inquiries into the order and constitution of nature, the stronger is its conviction of a great intelligence, which must have imparted power to inert matter. Perpetual motion is a dream, only resolvable into the source of all power-mind. What is the source of power in a watch or a steam-engine ?Mind, which places inert substances in such approxima- 302 DISEASE PREVENTED BY INTELLECTUAL tion, or position, or condition, that power results. To become acquainted with, and to apply, the laws of nature was the special gift of God to man, and the more the faculties of the mind are developed, the greater the, power of man over matter. The application of steam, as a motive power, required those successive efforts of mind which discovered the influence of fire over water, and the laws regulating the latter, in its condition's of fluidity and of vapour. In all probability, the human mind is yet destined to discover other sources of power, as well as many new applications of that which it has already employed. The proper exercise of the mind of man is on the works of his Maker, rather than on those of his fellowman ; and probably a much higher degree of happiness is in store for him, when education shall be more directed to the natural sciences than to the arts and literature, which have been hitherto almost the exclusive teaching of our schools. Most assuredly the performances of man, whether in literature or the arts, do not so certainly lead to tire conception and conviction of the Divine existence, as inquiries into the order and constitution of nature, a knowledge which we may justly say is yet in its very infancy, having been almost entirely neglected in our schools for the sake of verbal grammar, languages, and literature, as many, even in our old universities, are beginning to think. In learning the laws and constitution of our own mind, the laws and order of nature and their mutual relations, we obtain a sevenfold shield against " all the AND MORAL IMPROVEMENT. 303 ills that flesh is heir to." The knowledge of ourselves has always been regarded by enlightened divines and philosophers as the most important of all mental acquisitions; how difficult to acquire, and how rarely obtained, all are agreed. It might be a -fair subject for argument, whether the proper method of pursuit has yet been taught; those appear to have approached nearest to the knowledge who have been ardent lovers and students of nature. Have not our greatest minds been among astronomers, and the next in degree among physiologists and naturalists? I do not speak of minds with original genius, as Homer and Shakespeare, but those which in the course of human pursuits have arrived at the highest degree of moral excellence. It ought to be so, because such men are always conversing with the Infinite, and constantly observing more and greater objects of admiration, whether they contemplate the countless myriads of worlds displayed by the telescope,-or gaze with wonder and admiration on the multitudes of minute and infinitely varied forms developed by the microscope. The mind of that man is in the healthiest condition, who cannot step through a lane or a field without seeing objects familiar to him for the beauty of their structure, -who cannot look up to the heavens without meditating on the glorious and illimitable worlds by which we are surrounded. °° Perhaps our future home, From whence the soul shall oft look back, With recollected tenderness, on all The various busy scenes she left below, The deep laid projects and the strange events, That soothed her infant hours." 304 DISEASE PREVENTED BY INTELLECTUAL A mind stored with knowledge, and having some notion of itself and the object of its existence, will never be oppressed with ennui, languor, disgust, low spirits, melancholy : it will hardly admit the real existence of such conditions. As I have before observed, it is questionable whether such an intellect can be the subject of insanity; possessing a knowledge of its duties, and fortitude to act on such knowledge, knowing its mission, (to use a favourite modern phrase,) and its relative position among the works of an Almighty hand. The more extensive our acquaintance with the works of nature, the more our wonder increases with the accumulated evidence of power, wisdom, beneficence. Whether we contemplate nature on her grandest scale, as amidst the stern desolation of a mountainous region, far beyond the habitation of man, or the structure of the humblest plant, or on the mighty ocean- " Where the Almighty's form Glasses itself in tempests; in all time, Calm or convulsed-in breeze, or gale, or storm, Icing the pole, or in the torrid clime Dark-heaving;-boundless, endless, and sublimeThe image of eternity-the throne Of the Invisible." Whether we examine the structure of an animal or a plant, and descend, by means of the microscope, to the most delicate, most minute, and yet most perfect forms, increasing admiration still attends our inquiries. But great as may be the feelings excited by the contemplation of the animate and inanimate objects of nature, on the grandest or minutest scale, how much above all these AND MORAL IMPROVEMENT. 305 should be our admiration and our gratitude for those powers of mind with which our Creator has endowed the human race. Expressions are wanting of adequate force to incorporate our feelings. Our familiarity with mind, and its manifestations, prevents us from having a full conception of what it really is, and the immensity of the gift. The other works of God are governed by necessary and undeviating laws, which can only be changed at the will of the Divinity,-but the human mind has been endowed with a spark of fire divine, which gives it an independent power of originating new ideas, or combinations of ideas, almost, if not quite, amounting to a new creation of what never before existed. Perverted by mistaken views as the human mind is from its Divine original, it still retains features which sufficiently attest its author, it possesses one of his grand characteristics, immensity. Thought has no limit, but, like extension, exhibits scene beyond scene in endless profusion: such is the illimitable field of mental power, that we can see no end to mind's imaginings. Did not the mind of Shakespeare create what had never before existed?- " The poet's eye in a fine frenzy rolling, Doth glance from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven; And as imagination bodies forth The forms of things unknown, the poet's pen Turns them to shapes, and gives to airy nothings A local habitation and a name." Look, again, at the moral power of man in some of the more exalted of our species-what grand examples of disinterestedness, self-sacrifice, devotion, generosity, in- 306 DISEASE PREVENTED. flexible integrity, conscientiousness. What sufferings have been endured for conscience' sake-doubtless, in numerous instances, from mistaken views; but, nevertheless, the fact remains of such power of the mind over the body, that present torture of the most inventive cruelty,-the most heart-rending pangs of dissevered ties, -have been endured by human beings with such fortitude, as could only have resulted from unflinching confidence in Divine justice, exalted conviction of the incorruptibility of the human soul, and an utter disbelief of the possibility of its annihilation. THE END. LONDON SAVILL AND EDWARDS, PRINTERS, CHAND09 STREET, COVENT CARDEN. scanned by John van Wyhe http://www.historyofphrenology.org.uk/ This work may be copied freely by individuals for personal use, research, and teaching (including distribution to classes) as long as this statement of availability is included in the text. It may not be converted to another format, altered or re-posted without the written consent of John van Wyhe. 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