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A NEW DISCOVERY:
OR,
PROVISION IN OUR NERVOUS SYSTEM FOR THE
CONTINUANCE OF YOUTH.
BY S. E. L. SMITH.
LONDON:
&
S. E. L. SMITH, 5, Newman’s Row, Lincoln’s Inn Fields.
�LONDON:
PRINTED BY CHALONER AND COOKE,
OXFORD ARMS PASSAGE, E.C.
�OR,
J^OVISION IN OUF. JTER.VOUS ^YSTEM FOR THE
^Continuance of ^outh.
thousands of years a mysterious and terrific
gel, with sword of flames,' has stood guard at
the portals of the Tree of Life. The earth is drunk
with the blood of his victims. His footstool is a
Golgotha. Those cruel flames have ®emo^elessly
devoured every aspirant to the realm whose gates
they cover.
Sweet infancy, witlta heaven’s own smile on its
rosy lip, has dropped shuddering ’neath their scorch
ing blight. The merry Song of childhood has been
rudely changed to the choking rattle, as the tender
sufferer breathed but its life! The lovely maiden
and the young hero in the pride and joy of blooming
love, have perished like bright blossoms before the
Simoom. The noble mother, with her glorious wealth
of devotion, and calm strengh, has been stricken by
the same fatal weapon, and slept to wake no more
a2
�4
The proud father, with his generous love, and his
ripe wisdom, has been forced to bow and bite the
dust in death, even as the vile worm that fed on his
sacred remains !
The song of the morning stars that greeted the
birth of humanity has been long drowned in the
wail of sorrow for those who
“ Come again no more !”
The most charming legends of mythology have
their ground work in the imperishable faith and
yearning of humanity for continuous youth. Gifted
beings have sung to listening crowds of the bright
promise which their strong glance could see in
the far future, but whose star of hope would light
only their quiet resting place. Some of the most
beautiful creations of prose and poetry have taken
their fairest colours from this inspiration, and every
truly pure and wholesome nature has shrunk with
instinctive horror from violent decay of life.
Many of the most heroic explorers of past ages
have been inspired by the hope of continuing their
youth.
From their efforts, results which have
benefited the race on the grandest scale have been,
accomplished.
The fair land of America was first espied by
chivalrous men who dared the unknown deeps, in
search of El Dorado, and the land of eternal youth !
Long, long years passed ere the fond hope perished,
and in some sunny fields of the bright South, even
now, the quiet dust of those lofty heroes sleeps
�5
among the shades where they sought their trea
sures ! What numbers have watched, and experi
mented in sure faith that some wheie, in some
hallowed moment, the wondrous power would disclose
itself to the long suffering race, and the blessings
of continuous youth be welcomed amid such songs
as never yet floated on the air of heaven.
We ever think it strange when important facts
in science or art are recognised, that things so
simple, truth so apparent, could have been so long
overlooked by the faithful wise oiies, who preceded
the happy discoverers.
The boy Watt, attracted by the steaming urn; the
philosopher in his homely garden, idly watching the
ripe fruit fall to the earth; each almost stumbling
on a truth that seemed to have been long waiting
and wooing to be accepted, might well have sug
gested to us that the truth indeed lay in and around
and very near us all the time.
Only a month or two ago, one of the most distin
guished hygienic authorities now living, declared in
*
speech and writing, that some of the most important
principles of his favourite science would doubtless
be picked up by some simple student in the byways
of life, with no grand title to herald his name, and no
previous prestige to make him an object of interest.
It is thus that the present writer steps from the
* Brown Sequard, of Paris,
�6
rank of the educated laity, to offer a few facts, very
simple, and yet in their bearing of such mighty im
port that every ear may well be caught in rapt atten
tion, and as intelligence and conviction are aroused,
each auditor thrill with emotions of relief and joy that
no other announcement could possibly occasion !
Is it strange that the most important distinction
between a living human being and the inanimate
objects about him is his wonderful nervous sys
tem ?—the delicate compound of oxygen, phosphorus,
and fat—that this substance is capable of expand
ing and contracting ?—that during its period of ex
pansion it more readily absorbs nourishing particles
from the blood-vessels connected with its tubes, and
that during contraction it throws off the dead and
effete particles which have accumulated, discharg
ing them into the blodd ?
Examine nerve matter with the microscope by
vivisection during the waking hours, and you find it
in an expanded almost liquid condition.
Examine it during sleep at night, and you find a
coagulated mass :—one portion contracted, and the
rest a thin liquid, something like milk that has been
churned, and, when the butter has come, has been
left to stand a little ; a watery portion called whey,
is at the top.
How natural is it that the motion of contraction
should aid the precipitation of dead and foreign
matter from the elastic palpitating particles, in the
�7
form of a liquid, which is more readily absorbed by
the blood, leaving the remainder fresh and pure.
Nor is it less simple and natural that the expansion
of the delicate particles during the day, pressing
against the blood vessels, should facilitate their ab
sorption of nourishment from the blood.
Yet simple as these facts are, and with all the
careful observation which has been given to micro
scopic investigation, their discovery is very recent.
The regular and perfect operation of these mo
tions of nerve matter, in expanding to absorb
nourishment, and contracting to dislodge and throw
off dead and foreign particles, is of the first impor
tance in preserving its substance fresh and pure.
Of course the blood must be good, and ready to
supply the nerves with wholesome nourishment, but
however good the blood may be, if the nerves are
clogged with effete substance they cannot absorb
that nourishment. Also, foreign matter not dis
charged injures the elasticity of their particles, so
that they do not expand or swell out, to absorb
nourishment.
The object and purpose of the expansion and con
traction of nerve matter being clearly understood,
the next point of interest is the time at which these
motions occur.
Nerve matter is only found lo be contracted during
sleep at night. This is a simple fact which stu
dents will of course verify by microscopic exam
inations for themselves. People generally will
�8
accept the statements of scholars whom they trust,
without further examination, but the least learned
have one unfailing test which nothing can deprive
them of, or deceive them in observing ; and that is,
the delightful sense of freshness and thorough in!
vigoration after a full refreshing night’s rest. The
feeling of elasticity, of perfect command of all one’s
physical faculties is too complete and delightful to
be misunderstood. The nerves, the very fountain of
our vitality, have discharged the useless particles
which cumbered them, and are expanding to absorb
fresh nutriment from the nourishing blood. They
have put away dead matter, and are all alive, new,
pure, and vigorous. Death has accomplished its
work in
but the sweet flower flourishes uncon
sumed amid the flames !
The celebrated Electricians, the Drs. Baird of
Washington and N. York, have at length established
a formula for the ebb and flow of the electric currents
in the American north temperate zone.
*
These pe* English electricians have not yet been able to formulate the
currents for this country. Local disturbances seem to embarrass
and retard the investigation more here than in America ; but
we are indebted to an English physician of great celebrity for
the discovery of the contraction of nerve matter during sleep at
night. For those that favour the belief that these changes of
matter are due to the presence or absence of the sun’s light and
heat, and not to the ebb and flow of the electric current, there
will be a very trifling difference in the system of living, because
the alterations of the electric current so nearly correspond in
time to the appearance and disappearance of the sun.
�9
nods seem to follow somewhat the presence and ab
sence of the sun, but are not coincident with them,
The flow is estimated to commence about four a.m.,
with a slight ebb about mid-day, followed by an in
crease of current until about six p.m., when the long
ebb commences, which is not changed until four a.m.
again. Observation has not yet disclosed the causes
which occasion and control these fluctuations of the
wonderful tide, whigh, like a throb of divinity itself,
thrills through all nature. But our chief interest in
them is their influence upon the vital processes in
our own bodies,.
Now the fact has been established by the incontes
table proof of examination, that nerve matter con
tracts perfectly only during the permanent ebb of
the electric current, between 7.30 p.m., and about
four o’clock the following morning. Therefore
this is the period of rest. True as the needle to
its Ruler in the skies, intelligent humanity must
respect the seasons and influences which control
its vitality.
When the electric current is thrilling and ex
panding our elastic nerves, the Hours of sensation,
of observation, and action have arrived. Then
man can pursue all objects of happiness and in
dustry.
But another Hour is struck on the grand Har
monium of nature, and now the wondrous current
ebbs from its delicate receptacles, and they must be
left to shrink and discharge from their pure parti-
�10
Q
cles everything dead and effete, that thus them
vitality may be preserved in all its freshness.
But not only must the proper seasons of rest
and action be loyally observed, but those habits
which excite expansion of nerve matter during
periods when it should be contracted, or which
diminish its power of expansion when the proper
time has arrived, must be avoided.
Heavy dinners, or indeed any full meal taken
within three or four hours before six o’clock p.m.
will force the digestive organs to hard work and
free latent electricity, which will keep the nerve
matter unduly expanded, no mattW how strictly the
proper hour of retiring has been observed. Undue
muscular action, and great excitement during the
latter hours of the day will produce the same
results.
If we rise between four and five o’clock, and
have a wholesome comfortable breakfast not later
than six, our substantial dinneTabout one o’clock,
and some light nourishment about five o’clock in
the afternoon, the digestive organs will have fully
accomplished their wbrk by half-past seven. And
if all the most energetic and exciting labour is
performed, and recreative amusement partaken of
during the earlier portions of the day, we are pre
*
pared for the thorough contraction of the nervous
system during sleep at night.
�11
It is important that the necessity of exertion,
during the season most favourable for the expansion
of nerve matter, should not be under estimated.
Great attention has been called of late years to
the beneficial effects of the use of electrical charges.
Quite a school of this department is in operation,
and its teachers claim that many chronic diseases,
hitherto regarded incurabte, have been entirely re
moved by the judicious and frequent use of the
electric battery, magnetic appliances.
The value of electric charges to the nervous
system consists in their increase of the expansion
of nerve matter.
Where nervei matter is not sufficiently ex
panded by exertion during proper hours, a feeling
of heaviness, and incapacity for successful work,
is experienced, which is felt to be delightfully
relieved after a reasonable supply of electricity has
been received from the battery.
But as all natural processes, where it is possible
to provide them, are more" wholesome than any arti
ficial system of forcing that man’s ingenuity can
contrive, so healthful work, and sufficient variety
of new sensations and emotions/are the surest, sim
plest, and most effective means of encouraging the
expansion of nerve matter during the season of the
flow of the earth’s currents.
Still, there are numberless cases, especially among
women, where habits which produce a torpid con
dition of nerve matter have been persisted in (from
�12
necessity or carelessness), for which magnetic apl
plications are doubtless the simplest, and most effica
cious mode of relief. Also where diseases have been
induced by this abnormal condition of the nerves.
We are all familiar with the pleasure afforded by
new scenes, by objects of curiosity and interest, and
by change of surroundings, &c. The pleasure is a
very wholesome one, because the nerve matter is
expanded more fully than it was able to become
without these conditions. This change of nerve par
ticles developes latent electricity, which is felt to be
as grateful in its effects as when we receive it from
an electric battery.
The collecting together of numbers in towns and
cities excites the increase of electricity, which is
often remarked on by observers from the difference
it causes in the very contour of the faces and ex
pression of the features of towns people and country
people.
But we also remember that if we indulge in too
much variety, too much excitement, our satisfaction
is marred even at the time, not to speak of the
serious and fatal results which sometimes follow;
just as if we had received from an electric battery
too heavy a charge.
The relief and enjoyment that are often experienced
from attending large and interesting exercises dur
ing the evening and night are due to the same cause.
The nerves have not been properly expanded by
wholesome work and active interests during the
�13
proper season, and when at last they receive their
needed stimulus, there is a most grateful sensation
produced. But such enjoyment is abnormal and
unwholesome, because the very best season for the
contraction of nerve matter has been violently appro
priated to its expansion, and the arrangement of the
sacred laws of lifejilJ not be violently altered to
balance the disorder.
Industry, action, enjoyment, are no less im
perative for us during the seasons of the electric
flow than perfect solitude, quiet, and repose during
its permanent ebb at night.
And in regard to the world of business,—the great
mass of really active induswious workers.
With business hours commencing about eight
o’clock in the morning, and with an hour recess at
noon, closing for the day at three o’cloS p.m., would
there be any significant difference between the
length of the daily working term, and the hours
now observed from about ten a.m. to four or five
p.m. ?
And again, suppose a league of business men in
any department, either mercantile, or professional, re
solve to confine their business labours strictly within
the hours determined most Mavdurable for nerve
expansion, and consequently for vigorous activity,
could they not well afford to bide their time, in
rivalry with the heads of other firms, who by reck
lessly violating the laws of their physique, would
�1'4
in thirty years hence be decrepit, and incapable]
fiddle the members of the health league would be
in the full vigour of life and youth ?
But there is a large class of workers, dependent
on others for the regulation of their hours of labour
and rest, and to these the question comes in a differ
ent form.
If the possibility of the preservation of youth is a
simple demonstrable fact, how shall they estimate the
importance of every effort possible to be conceived
of, to obtain for themselves even the simplest sub
sistence, which ensures them the security of living
in accordance with those sacredly important laws ?
Pride, morbid ambitipn, and a desire to make a
glaring display before our associates, will all have
to be laid on the altar of Truth and Reason, and con
sumed like the dross whichphey truly are. A change
of their mode of labour, may necessitate even severe
retrenchments, and an almost painful simplicity of
habits of living, but if they are intelligent, persever
ing, and courageous, this season of denial will be
comparatively briefland then the glory and fruition
of the reward, will cause the very memory of past
privation to perish, in eternM oblivion.
It is proper to state that the attention of the
author was first called to the remarkable effect on
increase of vitality produced by following the system
�15
of rest, meals, &c., proposed in the preceding pages,
by the prescription of an eminent city physician in
Lynchbnrgh, Virginia, U. S., some years ago.
A young person was afflicted with a severe dis
order, which it was feared would become chronic,
and the sole prescription insisted on by the family
physician was the exact hours of rising, retiring,
eating, and active industry (as far as it could be
pursued), advocated in this treatise.
The physician utterly refused„to treat the case if
his directions were not rigidly followed, and would
give no medicine of any sort, except occasionally,
when acute symptoms developed, some light herb
tea. The rapid restoration of the patient was re
markable.
The doctor candidly admitted t that, he could not
explain how the habits he so strictly insisted on
could increase vitality, an^j enable the system to
throw off such an amount of disease, but that he
had seen it accomplished in such a number of the
most testing cases that his faith in its efficacy was
confirmed.
Since that time, the present writer has witnessed
a number of remarkable recoveries from severe dis
eases by the sole observance of these habits of living.
In one case the patient was not only a chronic in
valid, but had been for months so reduced as to be
almost incapable of the simplest bodily movements,
and yet there was in a few months more, such a great
increase of vitality, and such a wonderful reduction
�16
in the force of the disease, that the patient was quite
able to perform the ordinary duties of life.
The satisfactory explanation of the phenomenon,
afforded by the appearance of nerve matter in vivi
section,—its contraction during sleep at the proper
hours of the night, throwing off diseased or useless
particles, and its expansion and liquefaction during
the flow of the electric currents during the day,—has
been so recently obtained, that of course the physi
cian referred to above was ignorant of it.
Whether it would be possible for the system to
throw off the accumulation of morbid and dead
matter that constitutes the disease of greatly pro
tracted <{ old age,” is, of course, the subject of future
experiment..
And if many who are .ready to spend their thou
sands on accumulating enervating luxuries for
themselves, and trying the most expensive medicines
to relieve their chronic complaints, and preserve
their youth, would make an hone® persevering effort
to carry out the habits indicated in the preceding
pages, they would save their money for other truly
valuable purposes, and bestow a great benefit by
their wholesome example, not to speak of the sure
prospect of securing health and continued youthful
vigour.
If the two essential elements of preserving youth
are really provided us in the organic structure of
our being, what but our disobedience to the laws of
�17
■t'ffip?1 orgarflffln is to prevent our enjoyment of the
blessing ? The power to appropriate and vitalise
foreign particles absorbed from the blood, and to
discharge useless and effete matter into the blood, is
as inherent to the substance filling our nerve vessels
as the power possessed by our blood of purifying
and reinvigorating itself with the air which reaches
us in our lungs.
We have long known the'fact, but the times and
condition in which these mostBntensely interesting
changes take place have been ignored, and we have
drifted on one after another by the myriad, while,
like the weird flame of the avenging sword of some
mysterious and awful Nemesis, each one has been
blighted, withered, andjconsumed.
Death in Life ! Inseparable twins ! Strange
indissoluble union ■
It is only by this union, only by the full operation
of the power of Death on tie ^useless and foreign
particles that collect witmg us, j$hat we may pre
serve the sweet flower of Life ever fresh and bloom
ing amid the fiery wave of Azrael’s flaming sword ;
but if we trifle with the JKos of Death in Life, we
are shrivelled and consumed!like a flaxen thread !
There are doubtless many points of physiological
law yet to be discovered,, which will give life a more
perfect developments a richer enjoyment. Many
forms of disease yet exist which, when once con
tracted, defy the most skilful efforts to remove
them. There are many cases of deformity from
B
�birth; many terrible accidents occur which cause
instant death, or mutilate so severely that, though
existence may be protracted some years, it is only a
slow blight of the vital forces which must terminate
fatally. But these Sad facts cannot dim the bright
ness of the glorious truth that there is provision in
the human structure, under reasonably favourable
circumstances, for the preservation of the freshness
of youth through an indefinite period.
There is no intention of preparing a full theolo
gical harmony of this physical law with the accepted
Biblical records, The child of God who believes
with the Psalmist, “ Thy hands have made me and
fashioned me I” will not have his faith disturbed by
any new discovery of science in the wonderful do
main of his heavenly Father’s works. Youth may
be preserved, or youth may fail; but to his eye of
faith, in either case, it is the power of the Divinity
whom he worships that causes the results.
Others will remember those wonderful and mys
terious words spoken of the beloved disciple: “ If
I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to
thee ?” Shall not the Author of our being do what
He will with His own
But why was not a truth of such intense impor
tance revealed to man from the very beginning ?
Have God’s revelations to us ever dealt with facts
of mere physical science ? Surely not: the whole
aim and burden has been to declare His Sovereignty
�19
over all His wonderful works, and the necessity for
man to reverence and obey Him, leaving to the slow
development of our faculties to discover all the
marvellous arrangements and provisions for our
happiness.
During all the years of the divine ministry of “ Him
who spake as never man spake,” no word of enlight
enment on hygienic or sanitary laws ever passed His
lips, though His life was spent in a country and
climate where thoSands fell victims to what we
now understand were the grossest violations of
physiological laws.
But “ Death passed upon all men, for that all
have sinned.” Did Enoch die?—Did Elijah die?
The tradition is, that the beloved disciple did not
see death. If death was the inevitable doom of
every human creature,, how could these have es
caped ? And is it not possible that Death was
known beforewhe fall of man as well as after, and
that the real penalty for sin is the.
death
which the apostle refers to so frequently, even while
speaking of the physical death of the body ?
But if sinners can preserve continuous youth of
their bodies, how can the penalty of spiritual death
and the destruction of the lost spirits be their por
tions on this earth ?
To this it may be replied, that it cannot be less
possible for the Supreme Ruler of the Universe to
remove suddenly from the earth, and without the
change of death, those who, while for their selfish
b 2
�20
ends yielding strict obedience to the physical laws
of their being, defy and outrage God’s spiritual
Sovereignty, than it is for Him to translate to the
immediate glory of His presence those whom He will.
And if death is the inevitable penalty of all human
creatures, why is it written that “ Then those who
are alive at the second coming of the Lord, shall be
caught up to meet Him in the air!”
If death was their inexorable portion as descen
dants of their sinning primogenitor Adam, then
death would surely overtake them ere they entered
into the joy of their Lord.
When a sinner, no matter how outbreaking, though
it might be criminal, lingering out his sentence in
gaol, is overtaken with some virulent disease, the
pious physician does not hesitate to give him every aid
of science for restoring his health, and preserving his
life. And need one fear the operation of any laws
which the Supreme 'Creator has ordained, or dread
that they will conflict in the slightest degree with
the grand purposes of His Government ?
*
When the possibility of preserving youth is gene
rally understood, the rage of rivalry in meretricious
show and unwholesome amusements will disappear,
like miasma from a district where sanitary arrange
ments are properly attended to. Life, fresh, vigorous,
enjoyable Life, will be recognised as the highest
earthly good of man, and the observance of those
habits which alone can insure it, will occupy the
full attention of every one.
�21
Intelligent men and women will not permit them
selves or their children to wear any styles of cloth
ing which can impede the generous flow of the
sacred stream of life through its appointed channels.
Nor will they hesitate to sacrifice any mere tran
sient gratification of the senses or of social display
and amusement, if it in any way interrupt the opera
tion of those wonderful laws by which their Hea
venly Father directs their physical being.
A man or woman who recklessly violates the laws
of health will be regarded as an enemy of society,
no less than his own enemy, and public punishment
will be inflicted on him, and ►restrictions thrown
around him, as in the case of moral criminals^ that
.his pernicious example may not affect the rising
generation, or cause suffering to his fellows.
The present persistent and increasing stagnation
of trade is due to the diversion of capital and interest
to the development of resources which, however
intrinsically beneficial and delightful, are not our
immediate pressing necessity.
Just as if the body were suffering for food, while
the attempt was being made to relieve the cravings
of hunger by diverting the attention to light amuse
ments. The result would be the continuance of the
suffering, indeed its aggravation, until a more sensi
ble course was adopted, and the necessary food
provided, after which recreation could be heartily
enjoyed.
�22
Q
The entire race is suffering for the prime neces
saries of Life:—
Pure Air always.
Plenty of wholesome Work.
Preedom to observe loyally the laws of Health.
These are the great desiderata. No amount of
gold can buy them. They are the peerless jewels
of which no potentate, however mighty or sacred,
can possess himself without paying their price. The
birthright of every human being, yet remaining the
grand luxuries which no human being has properly
obtained.
Por instead of these being the objects of universal
desire, and calling out our first and most vigorous
efforts, they receive comparatively the barest recog
nition amid the empty tawdries that have usurped
their sacred places.
An apathetic ignorance weighs like a leaden cloud
on the public mind, where they are concerned, and
we rush on in suicidal anxiety and toil after glitter
ing fancies, crushing at each step the tender blossoms
of our true life !
Even the Church of the living God, while spend
ing thousands to multiply edifices and bring religious
instruction within the reach of every creature, can
not show a half dozen temples the round globe over
that are constructed on the hygienic principles of
our Houses of Parliament; the only decent, not to
say wholesome, place foT a building where crowds
are to assemble for hours.
�23
And the hours of public services are systemati
cally, in a great degree, as dissipating and utterly
contrary to the laws of health as many gambling and
drinking places. Ministers, Fathers, and Rabbies,
mingle not only in religious but secular assemblies,
at all hours of the night, or rather early morn,
quieting their consciences, when they have any intel
ligent activity, by the fallacy of violating the most
sacred laws, in order to win others to reverence
their Divine Author !
After such mournful instances of moral defalcation
in the Princes of our race, the very salt of humanity,
we feel the shock lessened, when we find the chief
ministers of state, the high dignitaries and fathers,
and the ladies of Jheir circle, occupied during the
entire hours of the night in feasting, dancing, conver
saziones, clubskgbusiness meetings, or the debates of
the parliamentary sessions!
Our highest Wentific authorities are equally
culpable; and many of our physicians indulge in
habits in as utter disregard of the laws of health as
the most stupid idiot that occupies a cot in their
hospitals.
And in short, where will you find, in the whole
realms of church, science, stage, or general society,
one half-dozen persons who intelligently and loyally
observe the laws by which our Heavenly Father
has constructed our human 'bodies to be pre
served ?
Echo answers,—“Where?”
�24
When we behold the blind and reckless rush of
the multitude, until the crime of Suicide is almost
canonised, instead of its votaries being debarred
interment in holy ground :—
When we see the prime necessities of life regarded
with a contemptuous apathy that might well disgrace
a heathen :—
When a man or woman, in the early prime of life,
and with splendid endowments of mind and phy
sique, will look you carelessly in the face, and
declare that even the partial and brief attention to
physiology necessary to give us that solemn impres
sion of the sacredness of the laws of life, and the
savage barbarity, not to say crime, of tampering with
them,—is quite distasteful to them, and a matter
which they resign entirely to the faculty who are
paid to attend to it, and that as to visiting a post
mortem room, under any conditions, the idea is too
shocking to be entertained !—
(Meanwhile, the® own suicidal habits, and the
contemplation of others perishing slowly right before
their eyes, are scenes whose annoyance and repul
siveness may be endured. The process of Dying is
quite inoffensive to their perverted sensibilities, it is
only its consummation in Death that is permitted to
repel and disgust) : —
When we see such gifted gentlemen as Mr. Thack
eray and Mr. Dickens indulging in habits of con
tinued mental over-excitement, electrifying the world
with their tender and brilliant humour, while, as it
�25
were, they pull down, over their own devoted heads
the black cap of Death, in the very face of the throng
who hang delightedly on their lips :—
When we see their literary peers and successors
persistently following in their footsteps : —
When we observe in the business world the results
of this general apathy, in its trifling advances towards
vigorous organisation; the aimless drifting of capital
and interest in any direction that some blind or
narrow personal ambition may direct, instead of
its powerful and steady flow : first, to the sanitary
arrangements on which the very breath of our being
depends ; next, the proper care of all the diseased;
and next, the instruction in mind and morals of the
ignorant : leaving the emotion of all structures
exclusively ornamental (ckcept the memorials of
our sacred dead), and all forms of industrial enter
prise of a similar nature, to be developed after we
have attained the full posj^fesion and enjoyment of
the grand essentials, our birthright inheritance,
without which other comforts cannot be really
enjoyed:—
When we see our poor bodies in many cases the
mere hulls of disease, devoted to the sole end of
milliners’ blocks, and tailors’ stands without the
slightest regard to the sacred laws of Temperature,
Weight, and Vigorous Motionis"t not humiliating
and saddening!
To behold the sweet fruit of the Tree of Life
paving in full sweep, within the reach of all, while
�26
at the same time a torpor, or reckless wilfulness
blinds their sight and paralyses their desire to obtain
it, is truly a form of Tantalian agony that no poet
could have conceived! Truly it is a survey appalling
enough, to gratify the most morbid greed of the sen
sational !
Q
“ The wheels of the gods grind slowly,” beautifully saith the olden scribe; and slowly humanity
arouses itself from the long slumber of infamy and
ignorance. Quicker and stronger throb the full
pulses of its own natural life, and little by little it
observes and comprehends itself and its surround
ings. Its movements are at first weak and vacillat
ing, its ideas exaggerated and crude; but as Time
speeds on, its grace and power develope, its reason
matures, and its actions display intelligent force.
The hour of its full vigour draweth nigh !
All nature waits and sighs, and trembles with joy
at the approach of tfie instalment of her new sove
reign ! On every hand tokens, whispering of a bright
morning, and the ushering in of an era of progress and
development undreamed of before, are appearing !
The discovery of the Law by which Nerve Matter
preserves its freshness and purity is the Heraldic Star
of that golden day, dissipating the darkness of our
long, long night!
'
Happy the man or woman who accepts with
thoughtful attention the angelic prognostics, and in
�27
simple, reverent devotion to the Sacred Laws of Life,
awaits the fulfilment of the Glorious Promise!
The impulse, which an acceptance and observance
of the principles advanced in this little treatise
must produce on all activities of life, will be ap
parent to every one.
Trade, business of all kinds, either professional or
mechanical, will receive a spring from the sense of
security, of hope, andgreliance on the future, that
no other influence could! effect. The transient and
trifling disarrangement of business hours attending
the introduction of better physical habits, would
be scarcely noticed in the bright dawn of a long
and golden era of prosperity.
The steady flow of capital and interest to the
important sanitary movement already introduced,
and others no less essential, would swiftly remove
many noxious influences now destroying the health
and lives of thousands.
All social customs which impair the health would
be rigidly discountenanced, and those which coudnce
to it, generously encouraged^
Those modes of jEess 'which unnecessarily em
barrass physical activity, and impede wholesome
circulation of the blood, would be promptly con
demned and discarded.
In every instance of death where scientific ex
amination of the remains would contribute invalu
able information for the benefit of humanity, such
�28
investigation would be unhesitatingly afforded by
the relatives of the deceased to proper authorities.
An enlarged liberality would be displayed to
provide means of instruction in the most vital and
important laws of health, to those who lacked
such knowledge; recognising the fact, that, within
a given area, every life is held (to an alarmingly
serious extent) at the mercy of the loyal observance
of sanitary laws on the part of our associates.
But, says the little ten-year-old miss, who has
been out till two o’clock at a baby’s ball the previous
night, and is languidly turning over the leaves of
this little pamphlet, which “Bub” carelessly left on
his seat at the table, as she sips her rich chocolate,
and still richer cre'am toast,'—
“ Does the wretch mean that everybody must go
to bed at six o’clock ?”
[No, my much enduring little maiden, I mean
that you must have all your day’s work and amuse
ments, even to eating your light supper (which
must by no means be more than a moderate piece
of bread, without butter, or a drop of liquid, except
water), over by six o’clock. After that hour you
must be quiet, and, except the interchange of some
simple kindly words with the friends of your house
hold, and preparation for your night’s rest, you must
be ready to lay your happy head on your fresh pillow,
�29
least by half-past seven o'clock, and from that
moment you must, if possible, go quietly to sleep; if
you cannot do this, you must be as still and keep
as quiet as you possibly can. This will of course
do away with all evening dinners, and oblige you to
dine not later than 2 p.m. ]
“ 0 dear!” screams young mistress ; “ how ex
tremely absurd I” and by this time, Mamma, and Elise
the grown belle of the family, have reached the
breakfast-room, and condescend to inquire how it is
possible for any creature to exert themselves so
much at that hour of the morning. (It is at least
ten o’clock!)
“ 0, Mamma ! 0, Elise I do for pity’s sake listen
to the most absurd book that ever was heard of.
Only think ! go to bed at half-past seven o’clock, and
you will live for ever, and be immortally young and
beautiful!”
“ NonsenseJ child,” says mamma; “ why that is as
old as the hills :—
‘ Early to bed anil early to rise
Makes one healthy, wealthy, and wise,’
is an ancient saying.”
“But that does not promise to preserve youth and
beauty,” suggests thejovely Elise, who even now has
a reasonable dread of having her charms fade in old
age.
“ 0, of course, that is, as Nannie says, ‘ too absurd
to be dreamed of even.’ ”
�30
££ What book is it, Nannie ?” asks Elise.
“ The title is the £ Angel’s Talisman; or, The
Provision in our Nervous System for continuous
Youth.’ Bub dropped it from his pocket, I sup-'
pose, for I found it where I have often found one of
his treasures—on his chair here.”
“ Let me see the book, child.”
££ No, no ; it is too absurd for you or Mamma to
peep at even; I shall examine it more thoroughly
before I trust it in your hands,” replies the saucy
puss.
But Papa comes in and captures his pet and her
book, and while she returns his morning caress with
full interest, she finishes by grasping his whiskers
and looking steadily in his eyes as she says,
“ How would you lifee, sir, to live for ever, and be
ever as beautiful as you are now, you old precious,
not to mention what you were when you entrapped
my poor abused Mamma into marrying you.”
“ I protest, Mamma,” says Elise, sotto voce;
££ Nannie is indulged too much.”
But Mamma oiily smiles feebly, and Papa makes
eyes at his darling, and tells her he hopes to live to
dance at her wedding.
And somehow that brings the little maiden down
from her heroics, and she seems to be quite thought
ful now, and drawing her breakfast to her father’s
side sits down by him, and asks with deep earnest
ness,
“ But, darling Papa, would it not be lovely if you
�31
could always love me just as you do now, and neve
Hrow one single day older ?”
“ Of course it would, pet, and I have not the
slightest objection. Come, are you going to turn
fairy, and confer immortal youth on me ?”
“ I have the ‘ Angel’s Talisman ’ here,” says Nan
nie holding up the little book at arm’s length; “‘The
Angel’s Talisman to preserve youth.’ ”
But Elise has dextrously caught the coveted
treasure from her sister’s hand, and exclaims,
“No, I am your fairy,. Papa; I have the ‘ Talis
man,’ and I will preserve the youth and beauty of
all my happy subjects.”
“ Ah, sis, if you wilfi preserve his youth,” says
tender-hearted Nannie, “ you may be the fairy.”
“And what is the Talisman,” queries Mamma,
with an old time flash stealing back to her fading
eye.
“ Wisdom and obedience!” promptly answers Miss
Nannie.
“What wisdom, what obedience?” says Miss
Elise, twisting the leaves, and groping through
their contents.
“ 0 lots of things—principally though, retiring
precisely at half-past seven, and not eating your
dinner later than 2 p.m.,” answers Nannie, amidst a
most unusual burst of laughter for that hour of the
day, at that table.
“ It certainly is absurd,” says Papa.
“Yes,” but pleads pets nestling closer to him,
�32
“ only think of saving your youth, dear; and having
you to love me always.”
“ If everybody approved it,” says Elise, “ there
might be some reason in trying it; but then no mor
tal could imagine such a state of things.”
“ 0,” shrieks Nannie, “ there goes Mr. Roscoe’s
bell, and the crack of my doom ! Alas I woe is me,
unless this precious knight delivers me from the
ogre !” and she clasps papa’s arm, and assumes the
pleading look which has so often gained her cause.
“What does Mamma say ?” says poor Papa, will
ing to get somebody to help him to be naughty.
“ Mamma says that she cannot make such a
distinction between the oldest and youngest daugh
ter,” says jealous Miss Elise. “Ah, Papa, you
never excused me from lessons as often as you do
Nannie!”
“ I am afraid, love, you will have to go,” whis
pers Papa.
“ Not if my gallant champion defends me,” re
plies his saucy little daughter.
“Papa, papa,” says Mamma, shaking her head
reproachfully, “ you ought not to parley with the
tempter.”
“Ah, dearest, let poor Roscoe come in to break4fast; I am positive his poor head aches at the very
thought of me, as mine does at the mention
of his name; and a cup of this delicious chocolate
would revive him,” pleads the cunning little witch ;
and Papa says, “Off with you, then, you little
�33
gipsy,” amid cries of “ Oh! shame, shame ! ” from
Mamma and Elise. And soon Miss Nannie is seen
marching in, locking arms, with a large and cheerfullooking gentleman, whom she seats in triumph on
the other side of Papa.
“You won’t let me have any bread and butter,
Mr. Roscoe ?” says Papa; “ I am such a naughty
boy.”
“ No, feir,” replies the gentleman; “ I shall only
stipulate that you will excuse my sharing your
delightful breakfast, as I had mine at six this morn
ing, and shall dine at one.”
“ And what time will you takeisupper?” says gush
ing Nannie.
“ At five,” replies Mr. Roscoe.
“ And retire?” pursues the young inquisitor.
“At half-past seven,” quietly replies her tutor,
and is amused at the merriment which follows his
simple remark.
“ 0, you old dear,” says Nannie, reaching over
Papa to give him a pinch. “ You are the fairy after
all, and will keep my Papa alive for ever, beautiful
as he is this moment, to love me.”
“ Mr. Roscoe will despair of ever civilising you
during Papa’s natural life,” says Miss Elise, whose
jealousy has made her a little harsh.
But Mamma begs that Mr. Roscoe will permit
her to explain the mystery, or he will think them all
naughty. And then tells him of the little pamphlet
that had caused such an unusual excitement at the
c
�34
breakfast table. Miss Nannie takes note that Mr.
Roscoe is confused at mention of the book, and her
curiosity aroused, opens the battery again by inquir
ing if her tutor has seen the book.
Yes, Mr. Roscoe has seen it. But Nannie is not
satisfied.
<c You surely do not believe in it, sir?” says the
young lady, dropping into one of her sober moods.
“ I very surely do, dear Nannie,” replies Mr.
Roscoe, in his soberest earnest.
And Miss Nannie lets her cup drop in the saucer
with a clang that makes Mamma shiver, and Elise
frown on the impetuous young maiden. But Papa
rises to go, and stoops to kiss “his baby” good-bye.
“Not yet, not yet, dear Papa; do wait, just one
moment, and let Mr. Roscoe tell you what the
£ Talisman ’ means.”
“01 know that by heart already,” says Papa,—
“ 4 Wisdom and obedience.’ ”
“Yes, but how it can make you preserve your
youth ! Come ! down, down, sir ! you must hear the
finale I” and the petted child pulls him back in
his chair, and ensconces herself safely in his lap.
Elise draws near with interest that she scarcely dis
guises ; and Mamma’s pale face grows bright with
expression.
“ Come, Mr. Roscoe, I believe we are booked for
the performance, and you are the leading actor;
there is no help. Let us have Act 1, Scene 1,” says
Papa.
�35
((Prepare yourself, then, sir, for the curtain falls on
the lovely tableau that now cheers my sight,—The
loving parent with his pet on his bosom, the mother
lending a sympathetic ear, and the blooming young
sister.
“ The dark, dark curtain falls on these, and
rises on a wide lone plain, where, under the velvet
green, the strong father lies cold, and still for ever !
Near him his pet yet nestles, but in her dumb grave,
and the fond mother and tender sister lie not far off,
blighted for ever in death I A young man walks
among those graves and weeps above them. 0,
would to God ! those dear ones could have given
heed to the sacred laws of their being I then might
I be this moment gazing upon their loving faces,
instead of shivering above their lonely graves ! ”
“ 0 hush I hush 1” cries Nannie ; “ it is too horrid !
—you must not shock me so.”
But Mr. Roscoe remorselessly continues : “Alas,
they mistook the value of Life and sweet Youth when
they bartered them for a few brief years of unna
tural excitement, and to say the least, unwholesome
pleasure! Where are their gay feasts now ? Where
are their saloons filled with joyous, brilliant beings ?
Empty of all life and beauty, and only filled like
these cold dumb graves, with the ghosts of their
sacred remains!
“ Even their seats in the house of God shall never
more be occupied by their reverent forms; but
strangers will fill them, and chant the worship of
�36
n
that Majesty, whose physical laws they perchance
are as heedlessly ignoring ! ”
“ Very severe,” bursts from Papa.
“You authorised the performance, sir,” says Mr.
Roscoe, courteously ; “it will continue only at your
pleasure.”
i( Go on, go on, then, we will try and hear it,” says
Papa, but a strange look of deep feeling is gathering
in his honest eyes, and the arm around his little
. daughter tightens its grasp.
“ The public cannot easily be attracted to Divine
service during the day,” continues the orator, “ and
therefore for their salvation, protracted night services
must be provided them, at the cost of the sacrifice of
their vigorous youth, and not theirs only, but that of
the mistaken zealots who love their souls. Forgetting
that the odious term debauchery, really signifies any
exercise of the physical faculties which vitiates and
blights them.
Forgetting too, that the loving
Majesty of heaven would not have endowed his crea
tures with generous capacities for the enjoyment of
their human lives, and then constantly required
them to be sacrificed in His service.”
But Papa peeps at his watch, and finds that an
engagement which he cannot neglect is nearly due,
and Nannie understands that this is really the good
*
bye kiss, and her most interesting reprieve is over.
<e Go thy way for this time ; when I have a more
convenient season I will call for thee,” says Papa, as
he bids Mr. Roscoe good morning ; and Nannie
�37
takes care to stuff “ The Talisman ” in his coat
pocket, where he will be sure to find it in some
spare moment, and doubtless examine it with
thoughtful attention.
And the little girl’s face flushes with joy as her
Father whispers,
“After Elise is married next month, and fairly
started on her tour, and we old folks, you and Mamma
and I, have the house to ourselves, we will try the
1 Talisman ”
For Nannie knows Papa always keeps his promises.
In closing, it is earnestly hoped, that no expres
sion which has been employed, may be understood
as lacking in admiration or reverence for those
bright examples of religious faith who adorn and
bless our age. A traveller found asleep on a
crumbling precipice might well pardon the hand
that snatched him from the perilous spot, however
awkward or rough the grasp.
��39
N olden story, it is sung
That heavenly bright a garden grew—
And o’er its beauteous streamlets hung
Full many a tree most fair to view !
But all those shining trees among,
One glorious stood,—supremely bright
As if its towering branches flung
A radiance caught from heaven’s own light I
The balmy leaves their fragrance shed,
A grateful joy to touch or sight,
A mystic healing influence spread,
And all it reached was safe from blight!
But ah,—beside that glorious Tree !
An Angel veiled,—majestic stood,
His right hand bore a flaming sea,—
A sword that fed on human blood !
For human effort all were vain,
To pass those flaming blades of fire—
The blooming Tree of Life to gain,
The goal of every fond desire.
�40
The years roll on,—and nations come,
And crowd the spacious globe around,
But none save two, escape the doom,
Of all that dwell on earthly ground !
“ 0 spare my babe ! ’’(one pleads in vain,)
“ See ! heaven’s own light hath on it smiled,
Its spotless soul has known no stain ;
Ah, thou wilt spare my only child !”—
Even while she prays a ghastly light
From that stern sword falls on its face,—
Ah ! sad to see such total blight
Consume for aye such charming grace !
A valiant hero leads the throng,
To loftiest deeds for human weal;—
By grace of God kept pure and strong,
And filled with ever fresh’ning zeal:
Relentless falls that fiery blade,
His noble head drops on the sod—
While mourning friends around him plead,
“ Take us ! but spare this child of God !”
And some go mad with fear and grief,
And bitter curses fling to heaven,—
Then reckless grown of all relief,
Upon those surging flames are driven !
�41
And some go madder still for gain,
And clutch at all within their reach ;—
The orphan’s cry of bitter pain,
No tender thrill their hearts can teach !
These gather crowds of wretched forms,
Who shiver in the wintry blast,
And deep in dark unwholesome mines,—
In labour’s rank they chain them fast.
Or yet more quickly wealth to win,
They gather babes with hardship old !—
And force their tender hands to spin,
And earn their masters gold,—more gold !
And some drown thought in heartless mirth,
The drunkard’s cup, the gambler’s stake,—
And laugh to scorn the sacred hearth,
Which wedded love delights to make :
And others yet, even as the brute
Besotted, wild with ignorance,
Of long neglect the wretched fruit,
Devour young babes, ’mid song and dance !
Sweet saints whose souls are free from blot,
Pass to and fro, with tender care,
For others’ woes (their own forgot),
Each sufferer’s grief to soothe or share:
�42
They may not solve the mystery,—
No answer give the mother’s prayer,
The Angel’s face they cannot see,
“ But simply trust, God must be there !”
“ The Father could not be unjust,
His mighty power none may withstand !—
Like little children we will trust
Our times and seasons in His hand.
“ God’s word the promise surely gave,
‘ Redemption of the body ’ here ;
His whole creation He will save,
Which ‘ groaneth ’ till the hour draw near !—
“ The earth is full of richest good,
That struggles all its wealth to unfold,
Man’s heart responds, as if it would
Within itself all blessings hold !”
Meanwhile a lovely child appears,
It scarcely seems of human mould,—
So bright-eyed, strong, and free from fears,
It seeks all mysteries to unfold !—
Its wondrous powers develop swift,
Each hour some conquest fresh it makes ;—
Man’s burdens it doth slowly lift,
And nature to new life awakes !
�43
It counts the wealth of every sea,
It reads the stones of every land,—
For messenger most sure and free
The lightning’s flash it doth command !—
And now it lifts the mystic veil,
The Angel's face so long hath hid,
With firm resolve that will not fail,
By no blind doubt or fear forbid !—
The sacred law, so long concealed
From ignorance and mistaken zeal,
Shines forth, its glory full revealed,
With richest gifts for human weal.—
The tender tide that thrills our frame,
Obeys the force that lights the sun,
Swells with its flow, fresh food to gain,
Shrinks with its ebb, sweet rest begun !
While cheering light doth flood the earth,
Man must his work and pleasure seek;
When ebbs the electric current's warmth,
His shrinking nerves in slumber keep !
The Angel's sword reaves to consume
Only the dross that would impede
The thrilling flow of life's pure stream,—
Toth prove a precious gift indeed.
�44
The Tree of Life ! The Tree of Life !
Its Angel guard aids us to win—
The Tree of Life ! The Tree of Life !
Its Balm is felt ! Its Glory seen !
Now happy parents may rejoice
To watch their darling’s blooming grace,—
And all who make God’s law their choice,
Find strength to run their earthly course !
The dead that rest in hope, meantime,
God surely will to us restore,
When dawns the day of that bright clime,
Where sun and moon are seen no more !
Let earth be filled with songs and praise,.
All nations His great name confess !—
Acknowledging in all their ways,
The God who deigns their life to bless !
*
Chaloner cC Cooke, Printers, London, E.C,
�
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Title
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Victorian Blogging
Description
An account of the resource
A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
Creator
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Conway Hall Library & Archives
Date
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2018
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Conway Hall Ethical Society
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Pamphlet
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Title
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A new discovery; or, provision in our nervous system for the continuance of youth
Creator
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Smith, Susan Ellis Laura
Description
An account of the resource
Place of publication: London
Collation: 37 p. ; 21 cm.
Notes: From the library of Dr Moncure Conway. Printed by Chaloner and Cooke, London.
Publisher
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S.E.L. Smith
Date
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[1876]
Identifier
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G5332
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Health
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<a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"><img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /></a><span> </span><br /><span>This work (A new discovery; or, provision in our nervous system for the continuance of youth), identified by </span><a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk"><span>Humanist Library and Archives</span></a><span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</span>
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application/pdf
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Text
Language
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English
Conway Tracts
Health
Neurophysiology
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PDF Text
Text
, ‘'A'(s'
DEADLY LIFE-BUOYS.
(From the Daily Telegraph.')
N those amphibious regions which skirt the quays and docks of seaports,
amid sextants and hammocks, ship-bags and brass cannon, canvas,
cordage, and all the maritime paraphernalia of the slop-shops in such
neighbourhoods, the eye is constantly caught by large yellow belts or
rings suspended over the doorways, and stamped with the words
“warranted corkwood.”
Everybody knows what is the use of
these odd-looking girdles : they are “life-buoys,” bought and sold to
save drowning men at sea. We look at them with a certain affection
and interest, imagining them to be articles which, at a pinch, would
preserve that most precious thing—a human life. The fancy wanders away
from the slop-shop to the vessel tossed and leaking in the fierce ocean,
where one of these yellow circles might be worth—not merely the few
shillings which it cost, but all the wealth that a man possessed. In a
collision at sea, when one ship goes suddenly down, and the only chance for
life lies in floating long enough to be picked up by the boats of the uninjured
vessel, the price of a “life-belt” might prove the best investment ever
made; or when the gale is blowing, and the craft drives furiously along, and
some hapless sailor falls from the yard-arm into the billows, one of
these awkward-looking commodities flung overboard might keep him up till
the ship could be brought-to, and the boat lowered. Or, at the awful hour
when a bark strikes upon the lee-shore, and begins to break in pieces, to
have a life-buoy at hand, and to slip it under the arms, might be the means
of bringing a shipwrecked mariner or passenger out of the very jaws of death
to the safe and firm shore. When we think on all these contingencies, the
yellow belt of safety has a charm for landsmen as well as for seamen. It is
an honest and a Christian trade, we say, to manufacture such goods; the
money is good money which is taken over the counter for them; and the
emigrant or seafaring man is surely wise, who, before “ going down to the
sea,” provides himself with one of these useful and trustworthy safeguards.
“Useful and trustworthy !” Let the ingenuous public dismiss these pleasing
thoughts from the mind, and henceforth regard the yellow canvas-bound
life-buoys with looks of shame and suspicion. There is no sham so wicked,
no cheat so infamous, as that perpetrated upon poor landsmen and emigrants
�2
DEADLY LIFE-BUOYS.
by the makers and sellers of these benevolent-seeming objects. Those who
go much among maritime folk, know that the buyers of life-belts are seldom
or never captains or mariners. The passengers, the travellers, the emigrant^
keep a few shillings aside to add one of these belts to their sea stock : but if
one ask a sailor’s opinion about them, he shakes his head, and says that he
“would rather go down and have done with it,” than trust to one of those
lying pretences, which he knows by experience are “made to sell,” and in
eleven cases out of twelve are merely worthless—sinking as soon as theyJ
become sodden in the water.
We owe to the correspondent of a contemporary revelations on the subject
which will fill the mind with indignation and horror. This gentleman had
reason to believe that the so-called “life-buoys” were villanous hypocrisies,
in far too many instances constructed to deceive the purchaser, and cheat him
possibly out of his life, for the sake of the few shillings of difference in value
between the real article and the spurious. A Sunderland buoy maker dis
closed the fact that he had found more than one belt bought at London slop
shops to be stuffed with worthless material, such as common rushes. He
added that, within his own knowledge, seafaring persons had consequently
given up all faith in the deceitful belts, and preferred to “take their chance,”
rather than trust the rascally slop-shops. Shortly afterwards, the writer met
a Shadwell operative, whose business it was to make the yellow “life-buoys.”
The man frankly confessed that “ not one in a dozen” was so constructed as
to keep a human creature afloat. “You could’nt do it at the price,” this
person said; “the shopkeepers won’t give more than three-and-six or four
shillings for ’em, and I’d like to know how much cork you can stuff in at
that figure.” Interrogated farther, this naïve purveyor of deadly life
preservers volunteered the information that “almost anything does to stuff
them. Cocoa fibre mostly, sometimes straw, sometimes rushes, same as what
the caulkers use ; anything will fill ’em well enough for sale—shavings, if
you havn’t got anything better.”
All this various rubbish, coated with
canvas, bound and painted, would float for a little time ; and by-and-bye, as
it became soaked in the salt water, it would sink through its own weight ;
but, of course, with the weight of a man clinging to it, much sooner. Aimed
with this intelligence, the correspondent of our contemporary went life-buoybuying in the slop-shops of maritime London. He visited Shadwell, Ratcliff,
and Poplar, and in each of these quarters he purchased a “good life-belt.”
One was “warranted corkwood;” another was branded “all cork;” ths
third simply bore the word “warranted.” They ranged in price from six
shillings to seven and sixpence. Having brought them home, the experi
mentalist first proceeded to test them by dissection. When the yellow
integument was laid open, the belt “warranted corkwood” was found to
�STRAWS FOR DROWNING IEN.
(Reprinted from the Morning Star, by special permission of Mr. Jas. Greenwood.)
WTseason
gale an<i wreck—when “the stormy winds do blow”
in the dreary night-time, and hearing them as we hug our pillows, we
exclaim “ God help poor souls at sea!”—permit me to disclose to
Xour readers a monstrously cruel and heartless cheat systematically
imposed on mariners, and those who make long journeys at sea. It
concerns what in devilish mockery are “in the trade” known as
“life-buoys.” I may mention that my attention was directed to this subject
BO long ago as last November twelvemonth, when that memorable hurricane
swept the island of St. Thomas, and the sea in its neighbourhood, causing
such appalling devastation amongst the shipping thereabouts. It was my
duty to describe in your columns the marvellous escape of a lad named
Bailey, who was attached to H.M.S. “ Rhone,” of whose crew, numbering
nearly 100, about a dozen were saved. Battling for his life in the raging
W®ck-waters, Bailey was so lucky as to secure a floating life-buoy suddenly
vacated by a hapless fellow, who, with his body within the ring, was nipped
off at the middle by a shark, causing the poor wretch to fling up his arms
and slip through “ like a bolt out of its socket,” as Master Bailey graphically
described it. Clinging to the precious buoy, Bailey was carried out to sea,
and far out of sight and sound of land. Night came on, and quite done over
with fatigue, he fell asleep, and so remained until his buoy drifted ashore,
carrying’ him with it; and he was awoke by the rasping of his legs against
the shingle. I examined that life-buoy, and saw the clear imprint of Master
Bailey s stubbly hair on the soddened, yellow-painted canvas, showing
where his sleepy head had rested.
As may easily be understood, I at once conceived a high respect for life
buoys , and resolved, if ever I went to sea, to provide myself with one,
though I had no more money left than would secure me a berth in the
steerage. I shouldn t have had much trouble over the purchase. In all
seaport towns, and in the vicinity of the principal docks, there are dozens of
maritime outfitting warehouses, and all of them sell life-buoys, most of them
keeping such an extensive stock of the article as to prove unmistakeably
the popular faith in, and extensive demand for, it. TIke any other
unsuspicious person, I should have asked for a life-buoy, and seeing that it
was properly branded “warranted cork,” I should have paid for it, and
ffi®med it away never doubting it.
How woefully I might have miscalculated, will presently appear.
The opening of my eyes to the true state of the case is mainly due to a
well known life-belt and buoy maker of Sunderland, Mr. T. Dixon Writing
to me concerning loss of life at sea, he informed me that he had grave
suspicions of the quality of the life-buoys manufactured in London, and
supplied to the Jew slop-shops. He informed me that he himself had met
With life-buoys composed of the basest materials; and sent me bits of
common rush as a sample of the interior of one he had dissected
He
further apprised me of the fact that to such an extent had this fraud been
P®fPe^te,d’ that a ver7 large number of seamen would have nothing to do
"uk
declaring that they would rather go down and have done
with it, than hang in the jaws of death for a few hours, with the certainty of
drowning after all becoming more apparent as the treacherous support
gradually soddened, and sank under their weight.
�2
STRAWS FOR DROWNING MEN.
It was scarcely to be credited that so murderous a business as my
Sunderland friend hinted at, could be commonly pursued; but I resolved to
watch my opportunity for testing it; and just lately, by chance, I met a
man in the poor neighbourhood of Shadwell, who informed me that he was
a belt and buoy maker.
We had some conversation on the subject of his trade, and then it came
out, not only that Mr. Dixon’s suspicions were well founded, but that he
had not suspected the worst. With a candour that contrasted queerly with
the villany his statements betrayed, the Shadwell operative informed me
that the buoys which are all stamped “ warranted corkwood,” are -nothing
of the kind—“not one in a dozen.” “You couldn’t do it for the money,”
said my informant; “the Jews that such as we work for won’t give more
than 3/6 or 4/- for ’em; and how much cork can you afford to stuff into ’em
for that, I’d like to know ?” I asked him what he could afford to stuff into
his buoys at the price, and he replied—“Cocoa fibre mostly; sometimes
straw; sometimes rushes, same as what the caulkers use ; anything almost
does; shavings, if you havn’t got anything better.” He appeared to think
that it did not matter what the canvass covers were stuffed with, so long
as they were well sewn and painted. I further inquired as to where the
precious goods of his manufacture might be bought, and he replied shortly—
“ Anywhere.” And it seemed that this was perfectly true.
The neighbourhoods of Shadwell, Ratcliffe, and Poplar were visited;
and at each place at a seaman’s slop-shop, a “good life-buoy” was inquired
for, and bought. One was branded “warranted corkwood;” one “all
cork;” and the third simply bore the word “warranted.” They ranged in
price from 6/- to 7/6. They were all three carried home, and dissected, with
the folio-wing results:—
No. 1 (“ warranted corkwood”), when its flimsy yellow skin was slit,
was discovered to consist bodily of straw, sparely covered with cork shavings
for the satisfaction, it is presumed, of any cautious mariner who might feel
disposed to risk a little slit in his purchase, so as to make sure of its quality
before he paid for it.
No. 2 (“ warranted”) was stuffed with rushes.
No. 3 (“all cork”) cork chips and rushes; about 20 per cent, of the
former, and 80 of the latter.
To test the buoyant capability of the three detected impostors, they were
placed in water, a weight of ten pounds being attached to each. This was
the result:—
“Warranted corkwood” sank in an hour.
“Warranted” stood the test for nearly two hours, and then succumbed.
“ALL cork” floated for four hours, and then sank from view.
Here is a pretty revelation! In our inbred love for the sea, and all that
pertains to it, in this, more than in any other direction, do our sympathy
and charity extend. An appeal for funds to float a life-boat on any
dangerous coast, is seldom or never made in vain. We have hearty despising
for all “crimps” and “long-shore” sharks, who prey on the seaman and
fleece him of his hard earnings, more than all. Of all men, none is so
utterly abhorred as the “ wrecker,” the cold-blooded villain who by means
of false lights and signals betrays a vessel to certain destruction, for the
sake of such plunder as the shattered hulk and the bodies of drowned men
may yield. What, then, must be our opinion of the man who, for the sake
of an extra profit of half-a-crown, consigns a fellow-creature to the lingering
�SCOUNDRELISM BY THE SEA.
torture of death hy gradual drowning ? To be sure, it may often happen
lihat, cast on the face of the wilderness of water, the possessor of a life-buoy
deserving the name may in the end be worse off than the man who has
no such hope left him out of the wreck of his ship, and “ goes down and has
done with it;” but who, since this wretched imposture began, can reckon
up the instances of desperate hope all unexpectedly mocked to death, of life
lost that would have been saved, had the promise that the treacherous buoy
held out but proved true ? Nay, how many men, and women too—emigrant
mothers bearing up their little children in the fathomless waters—have
been cheated out of their lives, by abandoning the spar or plank, for the
more hopeful-looking ring of stuffed canvas, “ warranted solid corkwood,”
but which is no more than straw and rags, and which soddens and sinks,
dragging the clingers with it ?
SCOUNDEELISM BY THE SEA.
(From Punch.)
^rERHAPS no plummet that shall be cast will ever find the bottom
of human baseness and wickedness.
We have sometimes thought
that we had nearly sounded them—as in the case of the first Napoleon,
SA or the last hag sent to prison for stripping children of their clothes.
But up crops a new case, which seems to demand a heavier lead and
a longer line than do either of the criminals we have mentioned. At
first, we knew not whether to thank Mr. James Greenwood, or not, for
making the revelation—so disgusting is the cold, sickening brutality he
records; but, on reflection, we thank him for having added another to his
good deeds. What think you, brothers and sisters, who lie safely listening
to the furious tempests, and who find some comfort, when you are pitying
the sailors, in the thought that they are furnished with life-buoys, that
may hold them up in the fight with the black waves,—what think you, we
gay, of this ?—
Writing to me (says Mr. Greenwood, in last Friday’s Star) concerning
loss of life at sea, Mr. Dixon—a well-known life-belt and buoy maker, of
Sunderland informed me that he had grave suspicions of the quality of the
life-buoys manufactured in London, and supplied to the Jew slop-shops. He
himself had .met with life-buoys composed of the basest materials, and sent
me some bits of common rush as a sample of the interior of one he had
dissected. He further apprised me of the fact, that to such an extent had
this fraud been perpetrated, that a very large number of seamen would have
nothing to do. with life-buoys, declaring that they would rather go down, and
have done with it, than hang in the jaws of death for a few hours—with
the certainty of drowning, after all, becoming more apparent as the treacherous
support gradually soddened, and sank under their weight.
There, just read that quietly. It is no case for tall language. The simple
words are pretty nearly enough, don’t you think ? You have taken in the
fact. The men struggling in the waters—thinking of firesides and children—
and feeling the article from a Jew’s slop-shop giving way under their cold
hands ! Let us go on, then.
Mr. Greenwood, naturally, did not care to receive this story without
inquiry. He is no Gusher, eager to gush before a tale can be contradicted;
i
�4
SCOUNDRELISM BY THE SEA,
on the contrary, a hard-headed, practical gentleman. He went to Shadwell,
and found a belt and buoy maker. The man was frank enough :—
He informed me that the buoys which are all stamped “ warranted cork
wood,” are nothing of the kind—“not one in a dozen.” “You could’nt do
it for the money,” said my informant; “ the Jews that such as we work for,
won’t give more than 3/6 and 4/- each for ’em, and how much cork can you
afford to stuff in ’em for that, I’d like to know
He appeared
to think that it did not matter what the canvas covers were stuffed with, so
long as they were well sewn and painted. I further inquired as to where the
precious goods of his manufacture might be bought, and he replied shortly—
“Anywhere.” And it seemed that this was perfectly true.
He told Mr. Greenwood what was put into the articles—rushes, shavings.
But this will be shown better in Mr. Greenwood’s own account:—
The neighbourhoods of Shadwell, Ratcliffe, and Poplar were visited; and
at each place, at a seaman’s slop-shop, a “ good life-buoyj” was inquired for,
and bought. One was branded “warranted corkwood,” one “all cork,” and
the third simply bore the word “warranted.” They ranged in price from 6/to 7/6. They were all three carried home, and dissected, with the following
results :—
No. 1 (“warranted corkwood”), when its flimsy yellow skin was slit, was
discovered to consist bodily ef straw, sparely covered with cork shavings for
the satisfaction, it is presumed, of any cautious mariner who might feel dis
posed to risk a little slit in his purchase, so as to make sure of its quality
before he paid for it.
No. 2 (“warranted”) was stuffed with rushes.
No. 3 (“all cork”) cork chips and rushes, about 20 per cent, of the
former, and 80 of the latter.
To test the buoyant capability of the three detected impostors, they were
placed in water, a weight of ten pounds being attached to each. This was
the result :—
“Warranted corkwood” sank in an hour.
“Warranted” stood the test for nearly two hours, and then succumbed.
“All cork” floated for four hours, and their sank from view.
We really do not see that we can do better than leave the case as thus
succintly stated. We thought that no form of rascality could surprise us
much ; but this revelation has more nearly produced astonishment than any
atrocity of which we have read for years. Yet, why be astonished ? For
“ bithnetli is bithneth,” as the Jew slop-keeper would say ; and “business is
business,” as his Christian rival would remark. But—would it not be
pleasant to fling a gang of the vendors of these accursed things into the sea
olf Brighton on a blowy day, and pitch them a choice assortment of their
own buoys and belts to save them ? We doubt whether a purer pleasure
could be suggested to us, unless we could hand them to the unfriendly Maories
about dinner-time. We may not have either happiness; but we may call
upon all our contemporaries to do their best to spread the knowledge that
such are among the devilish tricks of trade ; and we may among us save a
good many poor fellows from the deep. Can’t the Sailors’ Home, among
other channels, publish the facts ? And if Jack inquires into the matter,
and, breaking open a buoy at a slop-shop, finds straw or shavings, we hope
that he will not be so hard as to pull the Jew’s nose off—that is, not quite off.
�DEADLY LIFE-BUOYS.
consist almost entirely of straw, overlaid with just a sufficient quantity of
cork-cuttings to deceive a purchaser so cautious as to examine into its
quality. The “warranted” belt was stuffed wholly with rushes. The third
sample of these scoundrelly commodities, marked “all cork,” contained
about 20 per cent, of cork chips ; the rest was rushes. The belts were then
re-closed, and their floating capacity tried by placing them in water, with a
weight of ten pounds attached to each. Let the public note that ten pounds
Was an exceedingly moderate test for articles sold as capable of supporting
a man’s body in the sea ! But what was the result? The best, “warranted
corkwood,” sank to the bottom in the space of an hour; the “warranted”
life-preserver floated two hours; and the “all cork” villany kept itself up for
four hours, and then disappeared. It is needless to observe that, if these
three false and vile specimens had been in actual use, not one of them would
have sustained a shipwrecked seaman or passenger for a moment longer than
the time necessary to saturate with sea-water the belt and the clothes of the
poor betrayed wretches.
And these were three “life-belts” bought at hazard from the shops in
the chief streets of London—bought and sold as “good life-buoys,” and
branded, in plain letters, with the audacious lie that they were, good ! The
heart sickens as we learn what man will plot against his fellow-man for the
mke of a wretched and dishonest profit ! It is bad enough to sand sugar, to
mix horse-beans with coffee, to put alum in bread, quassia in beer, and grains
of Paradise in gin. It is shamefully wicked to defraud the poor, day by day,
and ounce after ounce, with cheating scales and weights. Yet we understand
how the coarse conscience may become indurated by the constant practice of
petty baseness; for the evil is indirect, the mischief is not forcibly present to
the guilty thought. That a human being, however, well aware what a vile
and cruel sham he is constructing, should sit down to fill a “life-buoy” with
deceitful rubbish, that he should go with his painted murder to the slop-shop,
that it should be then and there taken of him at a price which denounces it for
a manufactured lie, and should in turn be sold to the unwary customer as a
means of saving life in time of need, when the shopman knows that in time
of need it will miserably sink the buyer—all this appears to be well nigh the
most cold, awful, and horrible demonstration of unpunished homicide which
we ever encountered. Yes—homicide ! since hundreds of wretched creatures
must have perished by reason of these mendacious goods. Many and many a
poor soul, cajoled into purchasing one of the yellow shams, has trusted his
life, to it; and at that moment only, when no human justice could help him, he
has found that his life had been bought and sold for the paltry shilling or two
which would have made the belt genuine and serviceable. Merciful and just
Heaven ! who can realise the bitter agony of a human being so betrayed ?
�4
DEADLY LIFE-BUOYS.
At the moment, perhaps, when he is on the very point of rescue—-when ,1
little longer buffeting in the waves will give the boat’s crew time to reach
him, or will let him wash on shore alive and safe, though bruised—he feels the
accursed thing to which he trusted become a trap of death. The wicked,
lying fraud sags and sinks under his arms, and he goes to his fate a murdered
man. And there are artizans and traders here among tis who know that such
scenes have been, may be, and will be, and who yet go on fabricating these
painted villanies, or hanging their “warranted” life-destroyers at their
doors, ready to sell them with a smirk and a flourish to the first poor
emigrant—simple soul, taking it for granted that, in such a matter, no man
with a man’s heart would hold the life of his neighbour as nought for the sake
of half-a-crown or three shillings. In some countries, a cross is hung over
the lintel to keep evil things away : with us, people are not afraid to swing a
mock “life-belt” over their thresholds—a token that only the triumph of
evil designs is desired by the heartless shopkeeper. We can almost fancy
those treacherous doors haunted by the ghosts of poor creatures betrayed in
their last hope—angry and awful spectres, banning the wicked places where
death was sold to them under the name of rescue. Let those who inspect
and punish the villanies of trade look into this matter quickly; for it is a
civil curse—a national malediction—that the lives of men should be brutally
endangered, and contingent murder practised, for a gain of thirty pence.
(From the Newcastle Chronicle.')
JAMES GREENWOOD has done a most valuable service to the
maritime community, by exposing the iniquitous conduct of certain
east-end-of-London manufacturers, in the production of an article
they call a life-buoy. Many of these buoys, instead of being filled with cork,
are stuffed with rushes, hay, and such like rubbish, which, of course, will
only hasten the end of the poor drowning man who may lay hold of one of
them. We believe Mr. Greenwood is indebted to Mr. Dixon, of Sunderland,
for having called his attention to the iniquity. This species of manufacture
is free-trade with a vengeance ; but the pirate and freebooter are gentlemen
beside the rascals who make a living by this diabolical fraud. We hope that
the attention of Parliament will be called to it immediately, and that some
stringent test will be applied to the manufacture of life-buoys. Lynch law
is quite good enough for the people who engage in such an infamous trade ;
and it could not be much regretted if a party of indignant sailors were to
lay hands upon those east-end tradesmen and “manufacturers,” and throw
them into the Thames, -with their fraudulent life-buoys fastened about them,
so that they might become the victims of their own villany.
�
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Victorian Blogging
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A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
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2018
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Conway Hall Ethical Society
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Deadly life-buoys; Straws for drowning men; Scoundrelism by the sea
Creator
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Greenwood, James
Description
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Place of publication: [s.l.]
Collation: [8 p.] ; 18 cm.
Notes: 3 articles. Deadly Life-Buoys reprinted from the Daily Telegraph; Straws for Drowning Men, reprinted from the Morning Star; Scoundrelism by the Sea reprinted from Punch. Response to Greenwood's articles from the Newcastle Chronicle. Concerning James Greenwood's investigations into deceptively manufactured life buoys. Pagination of Deadly Life-Buoys and Scoundrelism by the Sea bound in wrong order. Tentative date of publication from KVK. From the library of Dr Moncure Conway.
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[s.n.]
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[1869?]
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G5382
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Health
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Conway Tracts
Health and Safety
Lifebuoys
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Text
LECTURE
ON
VEGETARIANISM.
BY EMERITUS PROFESSOR F. W. NEWMAN.
[Delivered at Gloucester, December 2, 1870; J/r. Price, M.P., in the Chair,
and reprinted from the Dietetic Reformer, January, 1871.]
LONDON:
F. PITMAN, PATERNOSTER ROW.
1871.
Price One Penny, or Five Shillings per Hundred.
�THE VEGETARIAN SOCIETY.
ESTABLISHED A.D. 1847.
$rmtant.
J. Haughton, Esq., J.P., Dublin.
i
Vice^wsi&ents.
i
W. G. Ward, Esq., Ross.
Professor Newman.
i
SrrasuiTf.
John Davie, Esq., Dunfermline.
P^onoratg Sewtsm.
Mr. T. H. Barker, Manchester; Rev. James Clark, 126, Cross Lane, Salford.
g>ecrctarg.
Mr. R. Bailey Walker, 13, Cathedral Close, Manchester.
SLocal specretanes,
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London.................
Leeds....................
Glasgow................
Colchester ..........
Dunfermline ......
Hull .............. .
Perth....................
Bury.......................
Plymouth.............
Dublin...................
Bradford.............
Cardiff.................
Mr. G. Dornbusch, 11, Grove-street Road, South Hackney, N.E.
Mr. John Andrew, 14, Bishopgate-street.
Mr. J. Smith.
Mr. John Beach, Military Road.
Mr. J. Clark.
Mr. T. D. Hardgrove, 1, Rutland Place.
Mr. Henry MTntosh, 36, South Methven-street.
Mr. William Hoyle, Tottington.
Mr. E. H. Poster, Homoeopathic Chemist.
Mr. J. A. Mowatt.
Miss M. A. Kellett, Paradise Green, Great Horton.
Mr. J. K. Collett.
^Foreign CTonrsponlRng SwretariYs.
I
Mr. Emil Weilshaeuser, Neustadt, Silesia.
Baboo Keshub Chunder Sen, Calcutta.
Mr. Alfred von Seefeld, Hanover.
Rev. Dr. Taylor, 349, North Ninth-street, Philadelphia.
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ipHE OBJECTS of the Society are, to induce habits of abstinence from the Flesh |
i
means of tracts, essays, and lectures, proving the many advantages of a physical,
intellectual, and moral character, resulting from Vegetarian habits of Diet; and thus,
to secure, through the association, example, and efforts of its members, the adoption
of a principle which will tend essentially to true civilisation, to universal brotherhood,
and to the increase of human happiness generally.
Constitution. — The Society is constituted of a President, a Treasurer, an
Executive Committee, a Secretary, Local Secretaries, Foreign Corresponding Secre
taries, and an unlimited number of Members in the United Kingdom, and HonoraryMembers abroad, above the age of fourteen years, who have subscribed to the
Declaration of the Society.
Declaration. —“I hereby declare that I have Abstained from the Flesh of
Animals as Food, for One Month, and upwards ; and that I desire to become a
Member of the Vegetarian Society; and to co-operate with that Body in promul
gating the knowledge of the advantages of a Vegetarian Diet.”
The Subscription is Two Shillings and Sixpence per year, which entitles a mem
ber to a copy of the Dietetic Reformer, quarterly, post free.
All inquiries, and applications for information, should be addressed to the
Secretary of the Vegetarian Society, 13, Cathedral Close, Manchester.
i L of Animals as Food, by the dissemination of information upon the subject, by i
.
�LECTURE ON VEGETARIANISM,
BY EMERITUS PROFESSOR F. W. NEWMAN.
[Delivered at Gloucester, December 2, 1870; Afr. Price, M.P., in the chair.]
“ What shall we eat
is really a question of first importance: but it .is seldom so
treated. In general, the rich eat what they like, and the poor what they can;
neither the one nor the other studies what is best. Besides, there is a perverse
influence at work of which few seem to be aware. Rich men are ashamed to give
cheap food to their friends, even when the cheap is better than the^dear. London
sprats are, in the opinion of many, superior to Greenwich whitebait: yet those who
eat sprats in private, and prefer them, dare not offer them to their friends, because
they are cheap. This does but illustrate a pervading principle. It is a baneful
folly to think, that what is rare, what is difficult, and what is out of season, is
best. And when the richer, who can well afford it, aim at expensive food because
it is expensive, the poorer, who ill afford it, imitate them, and get worse food at
greater cost. I cannot treat the subject of food, unless you will, at least for a little
while, consent to look at things with fresh eyes, and refuse to be blinded by fashion
and routine.
I have called my lecture Vegetarianism; but, as the word does not wholly
explain itself, you may justly ask me for its meaning. Many suppose it to mean,
a diet consisting of table vegetables. It is true, that these are an essential part of
Vegetarian diet, yet they are by no means the most important. Vegetarian food
consists mainly of four heads—farinacea, pulse, fruit, and table vegetables.
1. The foremost is farinacea; they are the “staff of life.” They are chiefly
wheat, barley, oats, maize, perhaps rye; also potatoes, yams, rice and sago,
tapioca, and such like. Vegetarians seldom endure baker’s bread; they always
become fastidious about bread, as teetotalers about water; and very often prefer
unleavened cakes, as Scotch scones, or biscuits not too hard; else, macaroni, also
oatmeal porridge. The makers of aerated bread find that four per cent of the
material is wasted in fermentation. Besides, we have delicious Oswego or rice
blancmange, or it may be hominy and frumenty. I guarantee to you all, that no one
loses a taste for nice things, by vegetarian food, however cheap.
2. Under pulse we practically understand peas, beans, and lentils. They have
excellent feeding qualities, but also a particular defect, which is chiefly remedied
by onions adequately mixed,
3. The word fruit speaks for itself; only it may be well to add that the dearer
fruits are j ust of the least importance for food. Apples might be much cheaper
than they are; and no fruit is more universally serviceable. The cheaper figs,
French, Italian, and Spanish, are less cloying and more feeding than the luscious
Smyrna fig of the shops. Raisins and dates are now supplied in cheerful abundance.
But peculiarly, as I believe, nuts are undervalued as substantial food. We do them
great injustice. We put them on the table as dessert, to be eaten when the stomach
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VEGETARIANISM.
is full, and then slander them as indigestible, because the stomach groans under
an excess of nutriment. We call them heavy, because they are nutritious. In
Syria, walnuts and coarse dry figs make an admirable meal. Filberts I count better
than walnuts, and Brazil nuts better still. Chestnuts have the disadvantage of
needing to be cooked, and being hard to cook uniformly well; but when rightly
dressed, perhaps of all nuts accessible in England they are the most valuable.
Cocoanuts, when we are wiser, will be better applied, than to tempt a jaded appetite
to hurtful indulgence. Almonds are too dear to be available as food; yet concerning
almonds, a physician who is no Vegetarian gave me interesting information the
other day. “No man,” said he, “need starve on a journey, who can fill his
waistcoat pocket with almonds. If you crush almonds thoroughly and duly mix
them with water, no chemist in Europe can distinguish the substanee from milk,
and milk we regard as the most perfect food.” This suggests moreover, that nuts,
to become wholesome, must be very thoroughly crushed and bitten. As to other
fruits, I barely add; that the delicious grape, noblest of the fruits in our latitude,
will be hereafter redeemed by teetotalers from corruption, and will become a general
food. But no fruit must be eaten for amusement, and taken on a full stomach ; or
it will not be food at all.
4. A few words on table vegetables. Potatoes and pulse I have noticed, and
now pass them by. Mushrooms are by far the most delicious, and abound with
nitrogen ; a rare advantage : but we have them too seldom in the market. On the
whole I regard those vegetables to be most important which supply flavour
or correct defects in other food; pre-eminently the tribe of onions, also celery,
parsley, sage, savory, mint, with the foreign articles ginger and pepper. Onions
and celery we do not cook half enough ; indeed cabbage and cauliflower are eateih
half raw by the English ; on which account we do not know their value. Much
the same may be said of what the farmer calls roots, i,e., turnips, carrots, parsnips,
beet. Do not think that I despise any of these, when I insist that this class of food
stands only fourth. One who confines himself to these four heads of diet is indis
putably a Vegetarian.
Yet in fact few Vegetarians do confine themselves to this diet, and herein
consists my difficulty in definition. We are open to the scoff of being, not Vegeta
rians, but Brahmins, who do not object to animal food, but only to the taking of
animal life. Few of us refuse eggs, or milk and its products. This is highly
illogical, if we seek consistency with an abstract theory. I do not shut my eyes
to it. The truth is, that in cookery we need some grease, and it is hard to eat dry
bread without butter or cheese. Our climate does not hitherto produce oils. It is _
not easy to buy oil delicate enough for food, and oil (to most Englishmen) is
offensive, from tasting like degenerate butter. Cheese, like nuts, is maligned as
indigestible, barely because it is heaped on a full stomach. However, since most
Vegetarians admit eggs and milk, I define the diet as consisting of food which is
substantially the growth of the earth, without animal slaughter. If you prefer to
call this Brahminism, I will not object. It is a respectable name.
We shall all admit that the food which is natural to man is best for man ; but
we are not agreed how to find out what is natural. I cannot wholly accede to the
students of comparative anatomy, that the line of argument which they adopt is
decisive; yet it is well to know what it is, and How far it carries us. They assume
that as in wild animals we see instinct unperverted, and as such instinct is a test
of what is natural, we have to compare the structure of the human teeth and
�VEGETARIANISM.
3
digestive apparatus with those of brutes, and thereby learn what is natural to man.
Since unluckily certain sharp teeth of ours are called canine, superficial inquirers
jumped to the conclusion that our teeth were made to rend flesh; and on discovering
that the alimentary canal, of the sheep is much longer than of the lion, longer also
than of the man, they inferred that we are not naturally herbivorous, but carnivor
ous. Vegetarians easily refute these arguments. They reply, that our sharp teeth
are ill-called canine, for they do not lap over one another. Such teeth are larger
and stronger in the ape than in the man. I believe they are chiefly useful to crack
nuts, of which monkeys are very fond. Be this as it may, no monkey naturally
eats flesh; if even, when tame, some may be coaxed into eating it. And it is
undeniable that the digestive apparatus of the monkey comes very near to that of
the man: hence Vegetarians generally infer that flesh meat is unnatural to us.
The same thing follows from the doctrine of the old naturalists, who thought the
pig and the man to have marked similarities ; but wild swine certainly will not eat
flesh, therefore man ought not. As to the length of the alimentary canal, there
also the Vegetarians are easily triumphant. The length of it in the man, as in the
monkey, is between two extremes, the lion and the sheep; therefore the human
constitution for food is intermediate. Man is neither herbivorous, as the sheep and
horse, nor carnivorous, as the lion ; but is frugivorous, as the monkey.
There is another argument of Vegetarians which I must not omit, though I do
not undertake to say how much it proves. They allege that carnivorous animals
never sweat, but man certainly does sweat; therefore he is not carnivorous. Here
I feel myself uncertain as to fact. Carnivorous animals, made to prowl by night,
have thick loose skins for defence against cold and wet, even in hot climates. In
consequence sweat would not easily relieve them from internal heat. How is it
with the sheep ? can they sweat ? I find I do not know. But in truth this whole
side of argument from the comparison of animals seems to me but of secondary
value. We cannot find by it what is natural to us ; for, universally, you cannot
find out the characteristics of the higher being by studying the lower being. The
assumption that you can is the main cUuse why external philosophy gravitates into
materialism and atheism. The specific difference of man and brute lies in the
human mind; and this, at once and manifestly, has an essential bearing on the
question of human food. No known animal lights a fire, or fosters a fire when
lighted. However tender their affections, however warm their gratitude or their
resentment, however wonderful their self-devotion, however they may deserve our
fond protection and our reciprocal gratitude, there is not one that understands the
relation of fuel to fire ; therefore there is not one that can cook. On this account
the old logicians called man “the cooking animal;” and though, happily, this
description does not exhaust the capacity of our nature, it affords (on the lower side
of nature) a sufficient criterion, distinguishing us from all known brutes. Without
our power of cookery, we could not make half the use that we do of Vegetarian food.
What would a potato be to us uncooked ? I fear it might turn out to be a narcotic
poison, like the potato-apple. Of how little avail would onions and cauliflower,
turnips and beans, or even corn itself, be without fire ? We can no more conceive
of man without power of cooking than of man without power of sowing, reaping,
and grinding. It may fairly be maintained by the advocate of flesh eating that if it
pleased the Creator to develop the gorilla’s brain, and give him a little more good
sense, without altering his digestive organs or his teeth, the creature would begin
by roasting chestnuts and broiling mushrooms, and go on to discover that roast
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VEGETARIANISM.
flesh has many of the qualities of those princely fungi, in whose praises enthusiastic
votaries rave to us. Now, if I have to admit that a gorilla might perhaps become
a flesh-eater, if he had only the wit to cook, you may think that I abandon the
cause of Vegetarianism. Nay ; but my cause is so strong that I can afford not to
overstrain a single argument.
If man had not the power of cooking, and had a natural incapacity for eating
raw flesh, his command of food would be so limited, that he could not have over
spread the earth as he has done. He certainly never could’have found food in
arctic regions ; scarcely would he have found it adequate for his sustenance in the
temperate zone, when he alighted on a country covered with forest and swamp.
The operations of agriculture require long time and much co-operation before a
wild land can be tamed ; and meanwhile, on what is the first cultivator to live ?
We know what has been the course of history in nearly all countries. Only in
a few, as China, India, Assyria, Egypt, the banks of the great ^navigable
rivers, with alluvial or inundated land, gave such facility to the sower, that
there is not even tradition of the time when tillage began. But in general,
wild men in a wild country ate whatevei’ they could get,—or get most
easily. In the woods wild game abounded—everywhere something, though
varying from continent to continent. Besides birds innumerable, endless tribes
of antelope and deer in one place, of kine in another,—whether the cow or
the buffalo or the bison—of sheep in a third, allured the hunter; and cookery
made the flesh of all eatable. We certainly can eat uncooked oysters. It
is dangerous to deny that savage stomachs, when half-starved, could live on raw
flesh and raw fish. But whether it be cause or effect, the tribes which have come
nearest to this state have been either very degenerate or very primitive specimens
of humanity. If very primitive, they do but display undeveloped man, and they are
the smallest fraction of the human race. The second stage in human civilization, is,
to rear tame cattle; if there are wild animals capable of being tamed. In the old
world the sheep, the cow, the reindeer, or the buffalo became domesticated, time out
of mind; also the camel; and in South America the llama ; but the bison of North
America, it seems, is untameable, so that the pastoral state did not there develop
itself. The transition from pasture to agriculture is a serious difficulty. To defend
crops is most arduous; in fact, is impossible to the private cultivator, unless he is
armed with formidable weapons of war which the savage cannot get. Agriculture
must ordinarily be, in the first instance, the act of the tribe collectively, and the
crops be their common property, protected by their joint force. Until there is a
powerful public executive, armed to defend private property, agriculture is too
dangerous foran individual. On this account certain tribes have abhorred cultivation
and fixed dwellings, as exposing the industrious man to slavery under marauders.
Thus the Nabatheans of old, thus Jonadab the son of Rechab, forbade their children
to build houses, or sow seed, or plant vines, because it interfered with wild liberty.
Tribes who live by hunting only, need a vast space of land in which their game
may live quietly; from a small area it would quickly be frightened away: hence
such tribes have always been a very sparse population, and insignificant in the
world’s history. Those who live by pasturage, driving their flocks and herds from
place to place, and building no houses, have generally been marauders: indeed the
Tartars and Scythians, who used the waggon as their home, in all earlier ages were
the great military nations, the conquerors of the more civilised. Though they
might begin by living on the flesh and milk of their cattle, they soon learned to
�VEGETARIANISM.
5
obtain grain, either by cultivating it themselves (for they were strong enough to
protect it) or by purchasing it from neighbours by giving cattle in exchange or by
extorting it as tribute from peaceful but weaker cultivators. And in proportion as
they lived on grain, they were capable of becoming more populous ; thus population
became denser, step by step, as flesh meat was superseded by wheat and barley, by
maize and rice. In the far north, where Finns and Lapps dwell almost side by side,
the Lapps feed as of old, on the products of the sea, or on the milk and flesh of the
reindeer; but the Finns have introduced corn culture, and live upon grain. The
Finns are the stronger, larger, and handsomer men. At any rate their diet has
agreed with them, even in that latitude; but I do not mean to say that men may
not retain perfect health and strength on either food, so far as health can be tested
by the surgeon. The ancient Germans practised but little agriculture, says Caesar.
By intercourse with Rome, especially on the Roman frontier, they became cul
tivators. In our own island, as we well know, agriculture has existed before Saxon
times; but at the Norman conquest, and long after, the land devoted to cattle or
left in a state of nature vastly predominated. In those days the poorest ate much
more flesh meat than now. There has been a continual diminution of flesh meat,
and far larger supplies of Vegetarian food. This is neither from unjust institutions
nor from unfair taxation ; but it is a normal result of increased population. It is
inevitable on an island, sensibly limited in size: for to produce as much human
food as one acre of cultivated land will yield, three, or even /owr acres of grazing land
are needed. That era had its own disadvantages. The cattle had then little winter
food ; they were killed and salted down in the close of autumn. Much salt meat
and salt fish was eaten, and fresh vegetables were few in species and scarce.
Parsnips are said to have been long the only root, before there were turnips or
carrots : potatoes, we know, came in from America. Native fruit was very limited,
and our climate was thought hardly capable of bearing more sorts ; foreign fruit
was not in the market. Now, what I want to point out, is this : that the diet of
flesh meat belongs to the time of barbarism—the time of loiv cultivation and thin popu
lation; and that it naturally, normally, decreases with higher cultivation. We see the
same thing in ancient civilisation and modern. The Brahmins in India, who stood
at the head in intellect and in beauty, were wholly or prevalently Vegetarians. I
believe, much the same was true of ancient Egypt. Men of lower caste ate flesh,
and the lowest most: and among these principally foul diseases of the skin prevailed ;
no doubt, because, where population is dense, the poorer classes, if they eat flesh
meatat all, are sure to get a sensible portion of their supply diseased and unwholesome.
And now let me say. what is the true test of anything being natural to man.
He is a progressive being; you must test it by his more mature, not by his
immature era; by his civilisation, not by his barbarism. Flesh meat helped him
through his less developed state; it then existed around him in superfluity, while
vegetarian food was scarce ; moreover, the beasts slain for food were then generally
in a natural and healthy condition. But to attempt to keep up in the later and
more developed stage the habits of the earlier and ruder is in many ways perni
cious. At first each man kills his own game, or slaughters a beast of his own
flock; and long after that time is passed, the animals wander in the field or
mountain, or under the forest. The pig eats beech-nuts and oakmast and horse
chestnuts. The steer browses on soft leaves and on grass. There is no stuffing
with oilcake, no stall-feeding nor indoors life. The beast of the field abides in the
field. When the herds abound, and the supply is easily adequate to the human
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VEGETARIANISM.
population, the market is not likely to be tampered with. Neither roguery, nor
artificial management of the animal is to be feared. Great Oriental communities put
the slaughter of cattle for food under religious regulation. With the Jews, and
indeed with the earliest Romans, the butcher was a priest; and anxious distinctions
were made of clean and unclean beasts, to exclude the eating of such flesh as either
was supposed to be unwholesome or was forbidden for some economic reason. Now
ij in fact,—owing, as I believe, to the great pressure for milk in a populous nation,—
i the cow is of a peculiarly feeble constitution with us. This is manifest in her
liability to suffer severely in calving, which is certainly a striking phenomenon.
But surely it is only what might be expected from the very artificial and unnatural
demand that we make on her, to give us milk in quantity far beyond anything
needed for her calf, and for a length of time so prolonged. So intimate is the
relation of calving to milk-giving that to overstrain one side of the female system
must naturally derange the other. But to this is added stall-feeding and cramming,
instead of the open field and natural herbage. Though these practices may save
money to the grazier and produce more pounds of meat and of unhealthy fat, they
cannot conduce to the robustness of the animal, nor of the man who eats it. A
worse thing is now revealed. I lately read in a newspaper that many farmers
believe they have found out the cause of what is called the foot and mouth disease;
namely, they ascribe it to the fact that the animals are bred from parents too
young. Now I lay no stress on their opinion that they have here discovered the
cause of that disease. Their opinion may be erroneous, but they cannot be mistaken
in what they state as a fact; namely, that in eagerness to supply the meat market,
and gain the utmost return to their capital, they artificially bring about a premature
breeding of the cattle. The moment it is mentioned, one sees what the temptation
must be to a breeder; one sees also that the offspring is sure to be feeble, and
therefore liable to any or every disease. It is well known that in Bengal, for
religious reasons, the Brahmin girls are prevalently married at a very tender age,
so that great numbers of mothers are hardly more than children themselves ; and
to this is ascribed the peculiar delicacy and frequent small stature in such classes.
I do not assume that such offspring need be unhealthy; but unless protected as
only men can be protected, if exposed as cattle must be exposed, one must expect
them to catch any epidemic that may be abroad, and more and more to propagate
feebleness. Municipal law struggles in vain against such tricks of the market.
They go on for many years without the persons who practise them being aware of
their harm. Prohibitions are hard to execute ; they are sure to come too late ; and
after they are enacted, some new artifice equally bad grows up. While the pressure
for flesh-meat is great, unless the Government will take into its own hands both
the slaughtering and the sales, it seems impossible to keep the sausage trade under
control. In last Monday’s Daily News I see there is a man to be brought to trial
for boiling up old horses for sausage meat. There is nothing intrinsically wrong
in that, if it were avowed to be horse-flesh; but since all is done by stealth,
evidently far more horrid substances are likely to enter the market.
The United States have a vast abundance of soil, a very thin population : hence
they might, like our ancestors, have flesh meat and milk of a natural kind. But
they have large towns, to be fed on a great scale by enterprising capitalists ; so that
many of the same evils grow up among them as with us. In New York a distiller
of spirits added to his trade the trade of cowkeeping, having learned that co»vs, fed
upon the refuse grains of a distillery, give more milk. It is true that they do ; but
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�VEGETARIANISM.
7
the milk is inferior in quality ; and the cows gradually become diseased—whether
by the food, or by the unwholesome confinement in the cellars beneath the distillery,
I cannot say. But the complaints of the milk are bitter : moreover, the cowkeepers
in the country around have followed the evil example ; and it is positively stated
that the mortality of children in New York is enormous; which is a suspicious
coincidence. These are but single instances and illustrations of the evils to which
we are exposed, from the tampering of the grazier with the animals in whose flesh
or milk he deals.
But I return to my point. With the progress of population Vegetarianism
naturally increases. I do not say, which is cause, and which is effect: they react
on one another. When more food is wanted, and the price of corn rises, there is a
motive to break up new land. Pasture is diminished. Perhaps by artificial grasses
and by cultivation of roots the quantity of cattle is nevertheless sustained; yet if
the process goes on, as in China (for an extreme case), the larger cattle will not at all
increase in proportion to the population. Nor indeed among ourselves has it increased
proportionally. The English roast beef that foreigners talk of is rarely indeed the
diet of our villagers. Thirty years ago even our town artizans ate little flesh meat.
Bacon, principally fat, was nearly the sole animal food consumed by our peasants,
whose state has but little altered. They may almost be called Vegetarians ; for fat,
like oil, supplies only animal heat, not the substance of muscle. Nevertheless, it
is now taught, that on animal heat vital force depends, which muscle will not give.
Now lest you should pity our peasants too much, I must state that we have the
decisive testimony of the most eminent scientific men to the sufficiency of a purely
Vegetarian diet; men, not themselves Vegetarians, nor intending to urge the
practice. Our society has printed a handbill, with extracts from Haller, Liebig,
Linnaeus, Gassendi, Professor Lawrence, Professor Owen, Baron Cuvier, and many
others. Hear a few illustrations how those speak, who mean to be our opponents.*
Dr. 8. Brown writes: “We are ready to admit that Vegetarian writers have
triumphantly proved, that physical horse-like strength is not only compatible with,
but also favoured by, a well-chosen diet from the vegetable kingdom, and likewise,
that such a table is conducive to length of days.” Dr. W, B. Carpenter writes :
“ We freely concede to the advocates of Vegetarianism, that as regards the endurance
of physical labour there is ample proof of the capacity of [their diet"| to afford the
requisite sustenance.” He adds that if it is sufficiently oily, “ it will maintain the
powers of the body at their highest natural elevation, even under exposure to the
extreme of cold.” Thus the labourer, according to these high authorities, is not at
all dependent on flesh meat. And of this we have abundant proof in foreign nations.
We have no stronger men among our flesh-dieted “navvies” than the African
negroes of the U.S. who were fed, while slaves, on yams, maize, and other vegetable
food. We perhaps cannot anywhere produce a class of men to equal the porters of
Constantinople. The London Spectator., not long back (though it is anything but
Vegetarian in purpose) wondered at the ignorance of men who doubted whether
Vegetarian food was compatible with the greatest strength; for a Constantinople
porter (said the writer) would not only easily carry the load of any English porter,
but would carry off the man besides. Mr. Winwood Reade, a surgeon who has
travelled much in Africa; Mr. A. F. Kennedy, once Governor of Sierra Leone, and
Captain P. Eardley Wilmot, attest that the Kroomen of Western Africa are eminent
in endurance. Mr. Kennedy says “ their power and endurance exceeds that of any
race with which I am acquainted.” Mr. Winwood Reade expresses himself even
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VEGETARIANISM.
more pointedly : “ The Kroomen are, I believe, the strongest men in the world.’’
Yet the Krooman, he adds, lives on a few handfuls of rice per day ; and rice has not
been supposed by our chemists to be at all favourable to human strength. They
depreciated it, as giving too great a proportion of animal heat; but they did not
know that animal heat gives vital force also. It may be said, that these cases
bejong to hot climates ; but indeed Constantinople can be anything but hot. And
we can further appeal to Northern Persia, where the winter is intensely cold. The
English officers at Tabriz, the northern capital,—who for a long series of years had
the drilling of Persian troops,—were enthusiastic in their praises, and testified that
they make the longest marches, on nothing but bread, cheese, and water, carrying
three or four days’ provisions in their sash. These, however, are not strictly
Persians, but of Turkoman race. I did not need to go to Persia for illustration.
The Italians of the north, or anywhere on the Apennines, would have served my
argument. Bread, with figs or raisins, are their sufficient food ; and they were old
Napoleon’s hardiest soldiers round Moscow. Indeed, in every civilised country the
strongest class of men are the peasants, who are everywhere all but Vegetarians.
Dr. E. Smith, who reported to the Privy Council on the food of the three kingdoms,
comes to the conclusion that the Irish are the strongest, next to them the Scotch,
next the northern English; after the southern peasants ; lowest of all, the
towns-man; and that their Vegetarianism is graduated in the same way, the
strongest being the most Vegetarian, and the townsfolk, who are the weakest, being
the greatest eaters of flesh. I do not mean to assert that the diet is the only cause
of strength or weakness : it is sufficient to insist that Vegetarianism is compatible
with the highest strength. The old Greek athlete was a Vegetarian : Hercules,
according to their comic poets, lived chiefly on pease pudding.
But what of health? The testimony of scientific men is here still more
remarkable. Haller, the great physiologist, writes thus: “ This food then, in
which flesh has no part, is salutary, inasmuch as it fully nourishes a man, protracts
life to an advanced period, and prevents or cures such disorders as are attributable
to the acrimony or grossness of the blood.” That eminent physician, Dr. Cheyne
of Dublin, who some forty years ago was at the head of his profession, declared:
“ For those who are extremely broken down with chronic disease I have found no
other relief than a total abstinence from all animal food, and from all sorts of strong
and fermented liquors. In about thirty years’ practice, in which I have (in some
degree or other) advised this method in proper cases, I have had but two cases in
whose total recovery I have been mistaken.” A remarkable instance is attested,—
that of Professor Fergusson, the historian,—who at the age of sixty-one had a
dangerous attack of paralysis. He called in his friend Dr. Black, the celebrated
discoverer of latent heat. Dr. Black, though not a Vegetarian, prescribed total
abstinence from flesh-meat. Professor Fergusson obeyed, and not only recovered
entirely and never had a second attack, but was a remarkably vigorous old man at
ninety, and died at ninety-three.* In such cases I think we have an explanation of
the success of some things called quack remedies,—as, the grape-cure of the
Germans. I am ready to believe that it is not so much the grapes that cure, as the
abstinence from a gross and evil diet. Dr. A. P. Buchan teaches that a diet of
farinacea, with milk and fruits, is the most hopeful way of curing pulmonary
consumption : many examples of such cure in an early stage of the disease, says
he, are recorded. He adds: “ If vegetables and milk were more used in diet, we
A gentleman present corrected 93 into 95.
�VEGETARIANISM.
9
should have less scurvy, and likewise fewer putrid and inflammatory fevers.”
Drs. Craigie and Cullen are very strong as to the power of Vegetarianism to preserve
one from gout. Drs. Marcet, Oliver, and other physiologists, declare that human
chyle, elaborated from flesh meat, putrifies in three or four days at longest; while
chvle from vegetable food, from its greater purity and more perfect vitality, may
be kept for many days without becoming putrid. We need not therefore wonder
that Vegetarians are so little liable to fever, or to any form of putrid disease. It is
asserted, indeed, that such a thing is not known, as that a Vegetarian should suffer
cholera. On the other hand, it is also asserted that none but Vegetarians have
attained the age of 100: undoubtedly a majority of centenarians have held to
this diet.
Now I know some persons will answer quick : “I do not want to live to a 100
but remember, I pray you, what such longevity implies. The man who lives to a
100 is generally as strong at eighty, and as perfect in all his faculties, as are the
majority of men at sixty-five ; and he is not as much worn out at ninety as the man
who lives to eighty-two or eighty-three is at eighty. It is not the last seven years,,
of the centenarian which give him advantage, but the twenty years which precede
these seven. However, wish what you please about long life; it remains, that
long life, if it exist in a class of men, implies that that class excels in vital force; is
superior therefore in health, probably in strength ; and health is more valuable than
strength. Once more ; reflect what is contained in the avowal that pulmonary
consumption is best treated, and is sometimes cured, by abstinence from flesh-meat
and wine. Consumption is notoriously a disease of weakness. Hence we must
infer that more strength is given by Vegetarian diet than by that which is called
stimulating. All the arguments converge to the same point. Vital force is
measured by length of life, and by power of recovering from dangerous wounds.
Vegetarianism conduces at once to length of life, and to success in such recovery,
I have mentioned that Dr. Cheyne and Dr. Black trusted in it as a recipe when the
constitution was broken down ; how much more must it be a preservative of
strength to the healthy? Dr. S. Nicolls, of the Longford Fever Hospital, wrote in
1864, after sixteen years’ experience in the hospital, that the success of treatment
by a total withdrawal of flesh-meat and of alcoholic liquors gave him the greatest
satisfaction. The long and short is, that whatever is inflammatory is weakening ;
the highest vigour is got out of that food and drink which gives the maximum pf
nutrition and the minimum of inflammation. We allow ourselves to be cheated by
calling inflammation stimulus. Further, I will ask, of the English race, what
portion is most unhealthy ? Beyond question, the English of the United States.
And they are also the greatest flesh-eaters.
Now let me add a word concerning the North American Indian. It is long
since a few of the tribes introduced the cultivation of maize, ascribed to Hiawatha
in Longfellow’s poem. The Cherokees adopted an agricultural life while yet in
Georgia; but the distant and the roaming tribes continue to dhpend on hunting,
and even their boys and girls must live chiefly on flesh. How solid is the national
constitution is strikingly shown in the strength of the women, who, in the journeyings of a tribe, if visited by child-birth, need but half-a-day’s rest, and then start
on the march, carrying the infant on their back. I lately read a letter from the
well-kno5yn Mrs. Lydia Maria Child, in which she details how an Indian woman
trudged to Mrs. Child’s house through many miles of deep snow, and next day
came the same journey, carrying an infant which she had brought to light in the
i
�10
VEGETARIANISM.
interval. The vigour and activity of the Indian continues unimpaired till within a
short time (perhaps till within a fortnight) of natural death, when he is made
aware of weakness and death approaching. Now some one might quote these facts as
a clear testimony to the value of a flesh diet; but against it there are two draw
backs. If disease arise in an Indian, it is apt to be exceedingly violent; smallpox
may carry off a whole tribe; they seem to be very inflammatory; but I speak under
correction. Further, no one attributes to them peculiarly long life. They are said
to die worn out at eighty. Again, I do not speak confidently; for it is hard to
be sure of facts. Yet I believe they are less longlived, and recover worse from
disease than the Vegetarian Africans dwelling on the same land; less longlived
also than the Arabs, who live more on milk and less on meat. On the whole, I
think that life in the open air, a cautious choice of healthy places for encamping,
and consequent purity of blood, gives to those men and women their great robustness.
All food comes alike to such stomachs, as regards its power of nourishing ; but if
the flesh meat produces a more inflammable habit, it shortens natural life, as well
as intensifies disease.
I have tried your patience long, in the attempt to develop facts. It remains to
draw my conclusion. I first have to insist, that ever since 1847, we have been
striving to reverse the natural current of affairs—an enterprize which will necessarily
entail disease and a vast train of calamity. In the first 45 years of this century, the
population of the three kingdoms more than doubled itself in spite of emigration.
Great areas of land were broken up for cultivation, partly under the allurements of
a high price for corn, partly to take advantage of the Tithe Commutation Act. But
after the abolition of the Corn Laws in 1847, the increased prosperity of the manu
facturing towns led, not only to an importation of corn, but also to a remarkable
demand of the artizan population for flesh-meat. Cattle were brought from abroad
in great numbers. Prices still went up. A great stimulus was given to cattlebreeding. The markets of England were supplied from Scotland (and Ireland as
well as from foreign ports, until in Ireland land was thrown out of culture, and taken
up for grazing. The clamour for flesh continuing, we bring it from Australia and
from South America, artificially preserved. From importing instead of raising food,
our worst evils are increased. Rustic industry is not developed. The new births
of the country can find no employment there, and flock into towns. Masses of
population become liable to starvation from a displacement of foreign markets, or
from the imprudence of their employers ; and when personal prudence has less
reward, improvidence prevails. Town-life is less robust; sanitary conditions are
harder to fulfil. A nation fed from foreign markets suffers convulsion through
other people’s wars. And when more and more the land is occupied by large
estates, by parks, by wildernesses kept for sheep or deer, while huge towns prevail,
we have the type of national decay. Our statesmen look on helplessly, while a
robust peasantry is supplanted by a feeble and unhealthy town-population. Our
sage sanitarians want to bring water to our cities from Welsh, Scotch, or Cum
berland lakes, for fear we should remember that it is as possible for the country to be
occupied and cultivated by men, as to be grazed by cattle. England will not long
hold up her head in Europe, if she allow the system of empty country and everincreasing towns to prevail. There are other causes of the evil, I am aware, besides
this zeal for flesh meat. We have to open our eyes to more things than one; and
a hard battle perhaps has to be fought. But in regard to flesh-meat, each family has
the remedy in its own hands. The waste of its resources is caused by an attempt to
�VEGETARIANISM.
11
bring back the condition of things belonging to comparative barbarism, and make us
a flesh-eating nation again, when the era of flesh-eating is naturally past. And
what is the consequence ? I repeat a sentence which I have already uttered,
Where the population is dense, the poorer classes, if they eat flesh meat at all, are sure
to get a sensible portion of their supply in an unwholesome state. What said Dr.
Letheby, inspector of the London markets, to the Social Science Association lately?
“The use of unsound meat,” he said, “was more injurious than that of any other
unsound food. In the three city markets there are 400 tons of meat received and
sold daily. With a staff of but two inspectors it was hardly possible to make a
sufficient and satisfactory supervision; but nevertheles they seized from one to two
tons of diseased meat every week. The seizures last year (1867) amounted to no
less than 288,0001bs., or 129 tons.” But he says, in the country at large the case
is vastly worse. Taking all the markets in the country, it had been calculated
“that only one part in every Jive sent to market was sound.” Now, I think the last
statement must be exaggerated. I cannot say that I believe it; yet how very bad
the case must be, to allow of such a statement being made ! If instead of one-fifth
of the meat being unwholesome, it were every day one fiftieth, the case would be
awful enough. For remember, that where one ton is condemned, there is sure to
be a margin of three tons which is suspected, but cannot be condemned; and
importers or graziers, to save themselves from great loss, are driven to disguise
disease as well as they can. This suspected meat is sold at half-price,
and by its cheapness attracts the poor. Hence disease is certain to arise.
Smallpox has surprized us by virulent outbursts; yet what reason is there for
surprize? Do not Pariahs in India, and a like class in Egypt, by eating flesh or fish in
an unwholesome state bring on leprosy and smallpox and other foul con
tagious diseases? How do our doctors suppose that the smallpox arose for
the first time ? They say it came from China, and that it cannot, come to us unless
we catch it from a human being. Was ever anything so imbecile? The first
patient did not catch it from an earlier patient, but brought it on himself by foul
diet or some uncleanness ; and of course, if any of us use the same foulness, he is
liable to bring it on himself without anyone to transmit it to him. Paris is the
city that cooks up and disguises offal; Paris can generate smallpox as well as
China. Our doctors divert us from the true scent. For fear that we should discover
what is our uncleanness of living, they tell us that smallpox comes because we are
not vaccinated—and that also is not at all true. Indeed none are oftener vaccinated
than French soldiers, and no part of the French population suffers worse from
smallpox than the soldiers. Bad diet and unclean herding together must be the
cause. Diet? why, if we are to believe our newspapers, for a fortnight past
gentlemen have been eating in Paris the rats from the sewers, not from any real
deficiency of wholesome food, but from an infatuated determination to get flesh
meat. And at the same time, in the same letter, the correspondent who praises
the flavour of the rat, tells us that the smallpox has broken out again during
the siege; and now, says he, in the week ending November 5th the deaths from
smallpox were 380; in this last week [ending November 12th] they were 419.
Perhaps it is needless to say, why the animals brought to market must be diseased.
It is not natural to an ox to get into a steamer, or into a railway car, nor
to walk through the streets, nor to take his place quietly as in a pew at the
market. A great deal of beating and terrifying him is needed. His
fatigue in a long journey—manage it as you will—is necessarily great; he suffers
�12
VEGETARIANISM.
also from thirst. The cars and steamers cannot be cleanly. In short, it would be
wonderful if forty-nine in fifty arrived in tolerable health. Ho long as there is a
forced market, the cattle brought from a distance will be like the miserable Africans
carried in slave ships ; and all our cattle will be of a feeble constitution, liable to
diseases from slight cause, because bred artificially and reared artificially. The
poorer classes suffer, first and inevitably, in the squandering of their resources;
secondly, a fraction of them by disease, and many more by infection from the sick.
And those who evade disease do not get more strength, and do get a somewhat
more inflammatory habit from the flesh meat. At the same time, by eating more
expensive food they cannot afford so healthy habitations. Such are the evils on the
side of health and economy.
But besides, the evils of inhumanity in the slaughter of larger cattle are very
terrible. No one has yet found a remedy for the clumsiness of butchers’ boys. 1
cannot now dwell on this acutely painful part of my subject: I will only say, it
quite reconciles me to be called a Brahmin. At the same time, recurring to the
inconsistency of milk and eggs with strict Vegetarianism, I will observe, that by
the avowal of medical science, milk has none of the inflammatory properties of
flesh meat; in so far, it is akin to Vegetarian food. But undoubtedly the pressure
of dense population for milk is an evil, and tends to the adulteration of the milk, to
a deterioration of it by giving to the cow whatever will increase its quantity, and
to an enfeebling of cows generally, by asking too much milk of them, and by breeding
them too quickly. Therefore I take pains to make no increased use of milk since I
am a Vegetarian, nor yet of eggs. We have not yet learned to get substitutes
from oleaginous nuts. We are in a state of transition. A future age will look back
on this as barbarism ; yet we are moving towards the higher and nobler development,
in becoming even thus partial Vegetarians.
Finally, I must not omit one topic, the evils of over-feeding, which flesh-eating
induces. A Vegetarian may eat too much, yet it is more difficult to him, from the
bulk of his food; nearly all over-feeding is practically caused by flesh, fish, and
fowl. The late witty Sydney Smith, wishing to reprove this vice, jocosely said:
“ As accurately as I can calculate, between the ages of ten and seventy I have
eaten forty-four waggon loads of food more than was good for me.” Every ounce
that a man eats more than he needs, positively weakens him, for his vegetable forces
use up his energy in getting rid of the needless food. The gormandizing in great
towns is despicable, from one side, but from another is afflicting ; when one thinks
of countless disease engendered in the classes who eat too much, while there are so
many who get too little. Yet to the poorer a far worse evil than the deprivation
of flesh is, that they are incited to long for it when they see that all who can afford
it will pay any price rather than go without it. Our working classes will not attain
the elevation which is possible to them, until they put on the sentiment of Brahmins
and look down upon flesh-eating as a lower state.
[Reprinted fromfthe Dietetic Reformer, Jan., 1871.]
A. IRELAND AND CO., PRINTERS, MANCHESTER.
�VEGETARIAN
PUBLICATIONS.
May all be had from the Secretary, 13, Cathedral Close, Manchester.
Published on the 1st of January, 1871, Price 3d., No. XLI. of The
Dietetic
reformer and vegetarian messenger.
Contents:—Twenty-second Annual Meeting: Business Proceedings —
Annual Soiree. Only in Heaven (Poetry). Lecture by Professor Newman.
The Return to Nature. Dr. Bellows on the Philosophy of Eating. Follow
Thou Me (Poetry). Correspondence ; Obituary; Intelligence; Reports, &c.
Just Published, Price Id.
i
□THOUGHTS, FACTS, AND HINTS ON HUMAN DIETETICS.
_L Mr. Thomas H. Barker. Reprinted from “ The Dietetic Reformer,” July,
1865. Friends desirous of aiding the circulation of the above tract will be supplied
with them at half price.
REPRINT OF DR. TRALL’S ADDRESS.
Now ready, Price Threepence; or Six Copies sent post free for One Shilling.
SCIENTIFIC BASIS OF .VEGETARIANISM: An Address
O delivered at the Eleventh Annual Meeting of the American Vegetarian Society,
by Dr. TRALL, of New York.
Reprinted from the Dietetic Heformer.
Royal 32mo, price Id. per packet, or 13 for Is.; also in Sixpenny packets,
Three Series of
VEGETARIAN MESSENGER TRACTS. These Tracts are adapted
. * for extensive distribution, and any one Tract may be had separately by order
ing a Sixpenny Packet, and stating the number required ; or, if no particular number
be specified, “Assorted” Packets will be sent.
A Fifth and Improved Edition of
ipHE PENNY VEGETARIAN COOKERY : Or Vegetarianism
JL adapted to the Working Classes; containing an Introduction, showing the
economical and beneficial tendency of Vegetarian habits; an Invalid’s Dietary
Table (being suggestions for Dyspeptic patients); a Family Dietary Table; a
Bachelor’s Dietary Table ; a Marketing Table ; a Chemical Table, and instructions
and recipes for upwards of fifty different articles of food.
296 pp., Foolscap 8vo., Reduced price 2s. 6d. (by post 3s.), cloth boards, the Fifth
Edition of
VEGETARIAN COOKERY. By a Lady. This edition of VegetaT . rian Cookery has been carefully revised and entirely re-written. Many new
Recipes have been added to those already published, and the work now contains—an
Introduction, explanatory of Vegetarian Principles; an Exposition of Vegetarian
Practice, describing three Styles of Cookery, which are illustrated by plans of Tables
and Bills of Fare, with numerous references to the Recipes ; upwards of seven
hundred and fifty Recipes, and a copious Index.
PRIZE ESSAYS.
rpHE PRIMITIVE DIET OF MAN. By Dr. F. R. Lees. !
JL
Price Fourpence.
OW TO PROMOTE STABILITY AND ZEAL AMONG THE !
H
MEMBERS of the VEGETARIAN SOCIETY. By R. Gammage.
Fourpence. Tubbs and Brook, Manchester. Caudwell, London.
Price j
i
�r
�
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Victorian Blogging
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Lecture on vegetarianism
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Newman, Francis William
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Place of publications: London
Collation: 12, [1] p. 22 cm.
Notes: From the library of Dr Moncure Conway. Signature on front cover: Moncure D. Conway. Delivered at Gloucester, December 2, 1870; Mr. Price, M.P., in the Chair. Reprinted from the Dietetic Reformer, January, 1871. List of publications on vegetarianism on final page. Printed by A. Ireland and Co., Manchester. Objectives and constitution of the Vegetarian Society (established 1847) outlined inside front cover.
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F. Pitman
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1904
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G5299
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Vegetarianism
Health
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Diet
Health
Nutrition
Vegetarianism
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Text
G-E1TEKAL
AND
SPECIAL RULES
BOR THE
Conduct and Guidance of the Persons acting in the Management
OF THE
SEATON DELAVAL COAL MINE
OR
COLLIERY*'
i
1
BELONGING TO
MESSRS. LAMB,
BURDON & CO.,
AND OF ALL PERSONS EMPLOYED IN OR ABOUT THE SAME.
/
PRINTED BY M. & M. W. LAMBERT, GREY STRSET.
1861.
��GENERAL RULES.
To be observed in every Colliery or Coal Mine and Iron
stone Mine, by the Owners and Agents thereof, as
required by the 23rd & 24th Vic-, cap-151, sec-10-
1. —An adequate amount of ventilation shall be
constantly produced in all coal mines or collieries and
iron stone mines to dilute and render harmless noxious
gases to such an extent that the working places of the
pits, levels, and workings of every such colliery and
mine, and the travelling roads to and from such work
ing-places, shall, under ordinary circumstances, be in a
fit state for working and passing therein.
2. __ All entrances to any place not in actual course
of working and extension, and suspected to contain
dangerous gas of any kind, shall be properly fenced off
so as to prevent access thereto.
3. —Whenever safety lamps are required to be used,
they shall be first examined and securely locked by a
person or persons duly authorized for this purpose.
4. —Every shaft or pit which is out of use, or used
only as an air-pit, shall be securely fenced.
5. __ Every working and pumping pit or shaft shall
be properly fenced, when operations shall have ceased
or been suspended.
6. __ Every working and pumping pit or shaft where
the natural strata, under ordinary circumstances, are
not safe, shall be securely cased or fined, or otherwise
made secure.
�4
7. —Every working pit or shaft shall be provided
with some proper means of communicating distinct and
definite signals from the bottom of the shaft to the
surface, and from the surface to the bottom of the
shaft.
8.—AU underground self-acting and engine planes on
Which persons travel are to be provided with some
proper means of signalling between the stopping-places
and the ends of the planes, and with sufficient places
of refuge at the sides of such planes at intervals of not
more than twenty yards.
9. —A sufficient cover overhead shall be used when
lowering or raising persons in every working pit or shaft
where required by the inspectors.
10. —No single-linked chain shall be used for lower
ing or raising persons in any working pit or shaft,
except the short coupling chain attached to the cage
or load.
11. —Flanges or horns of sufficient length or diame
ter shall be attached to the drum of every machine
used for lowering or raising persons.
12. — A proper indicator to show the position of
the load in the pit or shaft, and also an adequate break,
shall be attached to every machine, worked by steam
or water power, used for lowering or raising persons.
13. —Every steam boiler shall be provided with a
proper steam guage, water guage, and safety valve.
14. —The fly wheel of every engine shall be securely
fenced.
15. —Sufficient bore holes shall be kept in advance
and, if necessary, on both sides to prevent inundation,
in every working approaching a place likely to contain
a dangerous accumulation of water.
�SPECIAL
RULES.
1, In every part of the said Colliery, where the
pillar working or broken is in operation, Stations will
be fixed upon by the Viewer, where each Workman’s
Safety Lamp will be examined and securely locked.
From those stations no Workman is to take a Safety
Lamp for use in the pillar working or broken, without
its having been examined and securely locked by the
Overman, Inspector, or Deputy.
The Overman and Inspectors to have full power to
direct the Workmen how to use their Safety Lamps
during the time of working; and it is particularly en
joined that every Workman strictly attend to such
directions. No lamp to be used on which there is not
a tin shield. None but the Overman, or similar Officer
in authority, to be allowed to carry a lamp key.
2. Should any accident happen to a Lamp whilst in
use, by which the oil is spilt upon the gauze, or it be
in any other way rendered unsafe, the light to be im
mediately extinguished by drawing the wick down
within the tube with the pricker; such Lamp to be
directly taken out to the station where the Lamps are
examined, and not to be again used until after having
been properly examined by the Overman, or other re
sponsible person, on the in-bye side of which station
towards the broken workings, no candles are to be
taken.
�6
3. Should any Workman using a Safety Lamp,
detect, by the usual indications, the appearance or
presence of fire-damp, he is first to pull down the wick
with the pricker, as before-mentioned, and then to re
treat to the Lamp Station and give information of the
same to the nearest responsible person, it being strictly
forbidden for any Workman to continue to work in a
place where such indication has been observed by him;
and should the flame continue in the interior of the
Lamp after the wick has been drawn down, the Lamp
then to be cautiously removed, and no attempt what
ever to extinguish the flame by any other means to be
adopted by the Workman.
4. Every Hewer, Putter, or other person, to whom
a Safety Lamp is intrusted, is hereby strictly prohibited
from interfering in any way whatever with the Lamp,
beyond the necessary trimming of the wick with the
pricker. The Lamp in no case to be hung upon the
row of props next the goaf or old work, and not to be
nearer the swing of the gear, on any occasion, than two
feet.
5. Should any Hewer, Putter, or any other person
whatever, in charge of a Safety Lamp, in any case lose
his light, he is to take it himself to the station where
the Lamps are examined, to be relighted, examined,
and locked by the Overman, or some other responsible
person, before being again used.
6. It is expressly directed that any person witnessing
any improper treatment of the Safety Lamps by any
one, shall give immediate information to the Overman
in charge of the Pit, so that a recurrence of such con
duct may be prevented, by the offending party being
brought to justice.
7. Any person found smoking tobacco in any part
of the said colliery where the Safety Lamp is used, or
a tobacco pipe found in their possession, will be liable
to be taken before a Magistrate. No matches, under
any pretence whatever, to be taken down the pit.
�8. No Putter, Pony-driver, Helper-up, or other per
son, is, under any pretext, to carry a Lamp during his
work, except in special cases, where the parties have
leave to do so from the Viewer. Lamps will be hung
along the going-roads, to afford sufficient light for the
performance of the work.
9. Every person using a Safety Lamp to receive the
bottom part of the same himself from the hands of the
Lamp Keeper then in the pit. The gauze to be taken
home at the end of each shift, by the person using it,
for the puspose of having it properly cleaned before
being again used,/>[
10. Any person acting contrary to the above in
structions will be liable to be taken before a Magis
trate, in order that the lives of the Workmen employed
therein may be duly protected. And any person in
forming against any offending party or parties will, in
every case, be handsomly rewarded. . No riding on
loaded Cages except under special arrangement. Sig
nals, see Act of Parliament.
11. The Hewer that keeps his Safety Lamp in the
best order for a quarter of a year, will be entitled to a
premium of 5s.; and for the second best 2s. 6d. The
Putter to be entitled to 2s. 6d. for the same length of
time.
�OFFICERS’ DUTIES.
OVERMEN.
The Fore Overman to give all necessary instructions
to the Men and Boys in the pit respecting their work,
and to see daily that due respect is paid by the same to
the Rules and Regulations in force upon the colliery.
To visit every working place at least once a day, com
mencing at the starting of the pit. To examine daily
all the various air currents of the colliery, also all stop
pings and air brattices connected with the same; and
should any deficiency in the main or separate air cur
rents at any time be observed, notice of such deficiency
to be immediately given to the Resident Viewer. Also,
in the event of any sudden discharge, accumulation, or
indication of inflammable gas in any part of the work
ings, the same to be immediately reported to him, such
workings to cease working until the said gas be removed.
The Overman in the meantime, to the best of his
judgment, to adopt such means as will effect the same.
To examine carefiilly each day, with the Safety Lamp,
the edge of all the goaves in the broken workings, and
to see that due attention is paid to the Lamps by the
Men whilst at work, giving them at all times suitable
directions respecting them, according to the situation in
which they are placed.
To see that a sufficient quantity of timber, of all re
quisite sizes, is daily supplied to the workings, such being
the earnest wish of the Owners, so that every possible
�9
protection may be afforded to the lives of their Work
men, it being at the same time their particular desire
that a proper care of all materials should be taken, and
none whatever, on any occasion, wilfully wasted.
To see that all tramways and rolleyways are kept in
a safe and working state throughout the colliery.
The Safety Lamp to be used whilst examining all
workings; also any old or suspended workings.
To examine first thing every morning the state of the
barometer, it being provided for the purpose of shewing
when the presence of inflammable gas may, more or
less, be expected, and particularly at the edge of the
goaves in the broken workings.
To see the Resident Viewer every night after the pit
has ceased work, and report to him the general state of
the workings of the colliery and to receive directions
respecting the same.
BACK OVERMAN.
The Back Overman to have full charge of the pit in
the absence of the Fore Overman, exercising in every
thing the same authority and attention as the Fore
Overman whilst in the pit.
To report to the Fore Overman every night the state
of the pit, and what may have transpired through the
day, whether of a usual or unusual nature. Not to leave
the pit at night till all the day-shift men and Lads have
ridden, and to examine the main air currents and the
barometer last thing every night before leaving th e pit.
DEPUTIES.
The Deputies to go down the pit every morning two
hours before the Men, for the purpose of examining the
state of the workings previous to the Men going in.
To examine the state of the barometer, first thing, at
the bottom of the shaft. The face of every working
�10
place to be carefully examined, and on every occasion
with the Safety Lamp.
To have full charge of the workings; also control
over the Men and Lads in their respective districts, in
the absence of the Overman. At all times to report to
the Overman in the pit any deficiency that may be de
tected in the ventilation, also all appearances of danger
from any other cause. To examine frequently through
the day the condition of the edge of the goaves in the
working juds, and should inflammable gas at any time
be observed, the working of the jud to be immediately
stopped until the gas has been cleared away—giving
notice of such immediately to the Overman in the pit.
To put in, on all occasions, a sufficient quantity of tim
ber in every working place, putting in the same in the
best possible manner, for affording the greatest Safety
to the Workmen therein employed. The Safety Lamps
always to be used whilst drawing props, both in the
whole and in the broken workings. The Fore-shift
Deputies to see the Fore Overman the last thing every
night, and the Back-shift Deputies to see him every
morning in the pit, both for the purpose of receiving
instructions relative to the workings of their various
districts.
MASTER WASTEMEN.
The Master Wasteman to go down the pit every
morning two hours before the Hewers. To examine
first thing the state of the barometer, and next the prin
cipal intake air currents. To examine in the course of
the day all the various return air currents.
To see that all the working returns are kept properly
open and of a sufficient size, none of which is to be
under 60 feet area where the whole pit’s air is in a
single current, 70 feet area for two, and 80 feet where
the current has three distinct air courses. The Safety
Lamps, on all occasions, to be used in the waste, all of
which must be examined by the Master Wasteman
before being used.
�11
All doors separating the fresh and return air current,
to be fit up with proper locks, which must be kept con
stantly locked, and only opened by persons authorised
by the “Resident Viewer. To see that proper attention
is paid to the furnaces or steam jets. To report daily
to the Resident Viewer the general state of the waste,
also to give to the Overmen any information they may
at any time require respecting the same. The Over
men and the Deputies to travel with the Master Wasteman the whole of the air courses, at least once every
three months, in order to make themselves thoroughly
acquainted with the same.
LAMP KEEPERS.
The Lamp Keepers to keep in a clean and orderly
manner the bottom part of each man’s Safety Lamp,
and to supply the same daily with a sufficient quantity
of oil and wick. To keep a correct account of who
receives the Lamps, and to report to the Overman every
man who in any way injures his Lamp; also, those
who return their Lamps by any other person to the
Lamp Cabin after being done with the same. To see
that no oil, wick, or anything connected with the Lamp
is wasted. To allow no Lamp bottom to go out for use
that is the least out of repair. Any man persisting to
take it, to report him immediately to the Overman in
the pit.
ONSETTERS.
The Onsetters to allow no person to ride, during
work hours, without having sent to bank the token, as
a signal for such, on the previous cage. Not to allow
more than 8 men, or 6 men and 4 lads, to ride at one
time, and on every occasion the tubs to be taken out of
the cage. To allow every person sufficient time for
getting safely into the cage, before rapping away. To
have a stated number of raps, which must be three
when Men are going to ride. Two Onsetters to remain
at the bottom of the pit after the pit has done work, to
�12
see that all the Men and Lads are safely sent away. To
woik the rapper themselves, and on no account to allow
any other person to touch it. To assist in repaiiing the
shaft, taking charge of the rapper on every occasion—
to pay the same every possible care and attention.
Having a clear and distinct understanding with the
Men employed in the shaft and the Banksman, in order
that accidents may be avoided.
BANKSMEN.
A Banksman to attend at the top of the pit, every
morning, to see that the men and lads are sent safely
down the pit and that not more than the specified num
ber descend at one time in a cage. To give the
directions to the brakesman when all is right, and to
tell him that men are in the cage, and to tell him also
when men are going to ride.
To request the men,
when going down the pit, in the absence of the on
setters, to rap one after having got safely out of the
cage. To examine the pit ropes frequently through the
day, and last thing every night. To examine also the
cage chains, and cages, and on every occasion when
any apparent deficiency in the ropes, chains, or cages,
is observed by them, to report the same immediately
to the colliery engineer. Never to allow during work
hours, when men are going to ride, any man to take
his picks, drills or any other gear, down the pit in the
cage with him, but to see that such are sent down in
the tubs.
BRAKESMEN.
A brakesman to be constantly in attendance at the
machine, the good and safe working order of which he
must at all times attend to. Not to leave the handles
when men are riding in the shaft, or working in the
shaft.
Not to lift the cage from the bottom when men are
going to ride, without being told to do so by the banks
�13
man, being, at the same time, certain himself that the
regular number of raps for such have been given by
the onsetters.
To report any deficiency of the machine immediately
to The engineer, which, if considered of a serious nature
by him, to stand until repaired.
On all occasions to
let down and draw the workmen with the greatest
possible care.
ENGINEER.
The engineer to inspect first every morning and ocqasionally through the day, with a view to its proper
working state, all the machinery and its appendages in
use.upon the colliery. To examine also, at least twice
a day, the pit ropes and cages; also the chains belong
ing to the same, the renewing and repairs of which at
all times to be according to his directions, and in every
respect to his entire satisfaction, both in the joiners and
smiths’ department. To inspect and direct also, at all
times, the repairs both of the engine and coal shafts;
for which repairs, on all occasions, the best of materials
to be used. The repairs of the coal waggons and coal
tubs to be inspected by him, and done also to his entire
satisfaction. A book to be kept by him. in which
must be noted all particulars relative to the repairs or
improvements suggested by him in the aforesaid machin
ery, its appendages, ropes, cages, chains, &c.; and in
the event of any deficiency in any parts of the said
machinery, ropes, &c., occurring at any time, the same
to be by him immediately reported to the colliery officer,
adopting at the earliest opportunity such means as will,
to the best of his judgment, remedy the said, deficiency.
To see that all chains connected with the pit ropes and
cages are annealed, or put through the fire at least once
a month; and no riding permitted till all is in repair.
MINES INSPECTION ACT.
That the wages of each and every person shall be
paid to him or his authorised representative, in money,
�14
at the Colliery Office at Seaton Delaval, such Office,
not being contiguous to any house where spirits, wine,
beer, or other spirituous liquors are sold.
GENERAL REMARKS.
Any person observing any door standing open that
ought to be shut, or stoppings injured, or brattice
knocked down or broken, or any other thing, whereby
the ventilation of the mine may be deranged or ob
structed, is immediately to inform the Overman or De
puty, or other officer then in charge of the pit, so that
it may, with as little delay as possible, be remedied.
No Hewer to commence working in any place until
it has first been inspected by the Overman or Deputy,
or some other authorised person.
No Workman to commence or continue to w^rk in
any place where he may consider the timber insufficient
to support the roof of the mine, or any other cause that
may render the place unsafe, until it is put right by the
Deputy or other person in charge.
Any person wilfully or negligently injuring any Safety
Lamp, or in any way obstructing or deranging the ven
tilation of the pit, or breaking any of the Regulations
or Rules, shall be immediately discharged from his em
ployment, or, at the option of the owners of the colfiery, be prosecuted according to law.
LASTLY.
It is the particular desire of the owners and principal
agents of the colliery, that the various officers, whose
duties have been enumerated, will, at all times, report
to the proper authorities every individual case of neglect
or wilful disobeying of the rules and cautions herein set
forth, in order that the safe and proper working of the
colliery may be duly maintained.
�PENALTIES UNDER THE ACT.
Any Owner, or principal Agent, or Viewer, neglect
ing, or wilfully violating any of the General or Special
Rules, which ought to be observed by him, such person
shall be liable to a Penalty of not exceeding Twenty
Pounds; and to further Penalties, in case the default or
neglect be not remedied with all reasonable dispatch
after notice in writing thereof given to him by an In
spector of Coal Mines. Penalties are also attached if
the Special and General Rules be not painted on a
board, or printed upoD paper to be pasted thereon, and
hung up or affixed in some conspicuous part of the
principal office or place of business of the Coal Mine,
or Company, and maintained there in a legible state,
and a copy supplied to all persons employed in or about
the colliery who shall apply for such copy.
Penalties are also attached if proper Plans be not
kept up every six months; and if loss of life to any
person employed in or about the colliery, or any seri
ous personal injury. from explosion, be not within
twenty-four hours after loss of life, reported to the Secre
tary of State, and to the Inspector of Coal Mines for
the district in which the colliery is situate, every person
(other than the Owner or principal Manager) em
ployed in or about a coal mine or colliery who neglects
or ■wilfully violates any of the Special Rules, established
for such coal mine or colliery, shaft, for every offence,
be liable to a penalty not exceeding Two Pounds, or to
�16
be imprisoned with or without hard labour in the com
mon Gaol or House of Correction, not exceeding Three
Calendar Months; and every person who pulls down,
injures, or defaces any Notice hung or affixed as re
quired by the Act for the Inspection of Coal Mines (23
and 24 Victoria, Chap. 151) shall, for every such
offence, be liable to a Penalty of not exceeding Forty
Shillings.
Any person wilfully obstructing an Inspector in
carrying out the Act, shall, for every such offence, be
liable to a Penalty not exceeding Ten Pounds.
�
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Victorian Blogging
Description
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A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
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Conway Hall Library & Archives
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2018
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Conway Hall Ethical Society
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General and special rules for the conduct and guidance of the persons acting in the management of the Seaton Delaval coal mine or colliery belonging to Messrs. Lamb, Burdon & Co., and of all persons employed in or about the same
Creator
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Lamb, Burdon & Co. (Firm)
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Place of publication: Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Collation: 16 p. ; 21 cm.
Notes: From the library of Dr Moncure Conway.
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M. & M.W. Lambert, printers
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1861
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G5398
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<p class="western"><img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /><br />This work (General and special rules for the conduct and guidance of the persons acting in the management of the Seaton Delaval coal mine or colliery belonging to Messrs. Lamb, Burdon & Co., and of all persons employed in or about the same), identified by <a href="www.conwayhall.org.uk">Humanist Library and Archives</a>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</p>
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Text
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English
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Industry
Health
Coal Mines
Conway Tracts
Health and Safety
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Text
THE DIETETIC REFORMER
AND
NJ? XXXVI.]
OCTOBER, 1869.
[Price 3d.
THE ANNUAL MEETING, 1869.
The Executive Committee have arranged for the annual gathering to
be held at the Trevelyan Hotel, Manchester, on Wednesday evening,
October 20th. The Business Meeting, to receive accounts and elect
officers, will be held at four o’clock. The Evening Meeting will be held
at six o’clock, when tea will be provided. Early application for tickets
is much desired, in order that proper arrangements may be made.
Members and friends whose annual contributions are in arrear will
facilitate the duties of the secretary by an early remittance, to meet the
liabilities of the society.
It is very desirable that our friends should assemble in as great force
as possible, to aid an effort which it is intended to put forth for the
more effectual working of the movement. Professor Newman has been
desired to prepare a suggestive paper; and it is intended to devote a
large part of the evening meeting to the consideration of his and other
suggestions. The meeting will be open to receive practical advice from
any friendly quarter; and any members who may be prepared to
lend active help are cordially invited to come forward and offer their
services.
DIETETIC
FALLACIES.
The question of food—kind, quality, and variety, as best suited to man in the
various climates of the earth—is one that perhaps deserves a more extended, careful,
and thorough treatment than it has yet received. That various and greatly diverse
climates require corresponding varieties and adaptations of diet, will not be seriously
doubted by anyone who has observed widely and thought closely upon the question.
Still, we are of opinion that these changes are not so essential and not so pro
found as are generally and popularly supposed, provided we are satisfied to live
upon the simple products of the earth, taking them in moderation and in their most
wholesome condition, properly prepared, and in suitable quantities, unaccompanied
with intoxicating beverages and other pernicious substances, such as tobacco,
opium, &z. The typical foods—bread, grapes (fresh or dried), figs, olives, rice,
�98
THE DIETETIC EEFORMER
cheese, &c., can be eaten,enjoyed, and digested almost anywhere by an average healthy
human system. And water, pure, sparkling precious water, cold, warm, or hot
according to circumstances, is always a boon and a blessing to man. But there are
some things that seem to be more specially adapted to particular climates, seasons,
or ages than others, and, for the most part, our beneficent creator and preserver has
so arranged and adapted the products of the various regions and seasons as to
facilitate man and beast in their instinctive and rational efforts to obtain what is
best and most needed. Still this provision is not so uniformly complete and manifest
as to preclude the necessity for wise and discriminating observation, and for the
discipline and stimulus of effort, enterprise, and commerce. At some ages, in some
conditions and climates, men can and do indulge in a greater variety of food than
in others; and it would appear to the unthinking savage, or to the more civilised
but equally unreflecting gourmand, that almost anything in any quantity can be eaten
by some men with impunity. Neither quantity nor quality, provided there is plenty,
seems to be matter of much moment to some carnivorous animals, especially those
of the man kind. But this impunity is only seeming, and is only for a time. Nature,
the law of God in the life of man, as in all other lives, and in all spheres and modes
of being, will not and cannot be mocked or cheated for long. It is a profound
truth, an unrepeatable taw, that whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap.
We may for a time deviate from the line of rectitude as to diet, and still continue
to live on ; but the life we live, not being so true to our nature, will not be so full
of the pure instincts, healthy activities, and joyous inspirations of nature.
If we look through animated nature, we find every creature so wisely con
structed, and endowed with such marvellous instincts as induce it to make choice of
that diet and of those means which are best calculated to maintain and preserve its
existence. Were not this the case, animal life would soon terminate. Man is
surely not intended to be an exception to this grand and beautiful law of adaptation
and healthy conservation. He is the last and the most finished result of Divine
contrivance and creative power and wisdom. But, alas! how has the fine gold
become dim! how has the wine of life become soured! There is no other creature
on the face of the globe that has so manifestly deviated from rectitude and from the
manifest moral intent of his being as man; and we cannot but believe and perceive
that much of the degradation and depravity of human character, conduct, and con
stitution arise from his enormous dietetic transgressions, alike as to the kind of
food, the quantity, and the strange mixings-up of our fantastic cookery, our epicu
rean cravings, and our depraved lusts.
We have been led into making these remarks rather to induce other, with abler
and more discriminating pens, to take up the subject they suggest, than from any
intention to pursue the inquiry in any elaborate essay. Our object is only to write
a brief article or two, hoping to stimulate those who have more leisure and more
ability to go deeper into the question and to treat it more exhaustively.
A recent number of Cassell's Magazine, which we have not seen, is credited with
the following suggestive paragraph, to which our attention has been turned:—
“ Eating in India.—Nor is moderation in eating to be disregarded. Could we
eat as do the natives—that is, confine ourselves to a vegetable diet, and make a
feast of a handful of rice—probably the climate would be as innocuous to us as to
them, but then there would perhaps be an end of the energy which flesh-eaters
show. There seems to be little doubt of this, for, as is well known, when the
French railways were beginning to be made, it was the English ‘navvy’ who
made them, and his French coadjutors were looked upon as a feeble and effeminate
�AND VEGETARIAN MESSENGER.
99
race; and so, for the business of railway making, they practically were. But as
hands were very scarce, a leading contractor tried what he could do with what he
naturally called ‘the foreigners,’ and insisted on his French excavators eating and
drinking somewhat after the fashion of their English mates. The result appeared
decisive—the French navvies grew to be, and are, nearly as effective as the genuine
midland counties man. Thirty years ago no one would have predicted a riot in
England because of an immigration of foreign excavators, yet we have lived to see
even that come to pass. In India the food is seldom to the liking of a European, it
must be eaten when so freshly killed that it cannot be tender. The driver starting
on his journey often takes a live fowl with him, to be killed and cooked when
required ; it would be thoroughly tainted did he kill it beforehand.”
Now, we are ready to admit that this paragraph—which we observe is doing
duty in the periodical press—as a select sub-editorial clipping, is quite as sensible,
though quite as fallacious, as most of the newspaper writing that we see upon
dietetic questions. “ Moderation in eating” ought not to be “ disregarded ” either
in India or elsewhere; but it is not always good policy to eat as the natives do,
as the following spicy paragraph cut from the Daily News will indicate :—
“ How to Cook a Man.—If any one of us looks forward to being eaten by
cannibals, he may wish to be informed how he is likely to be cooked. It is a com
fort to know that the savages who devour him are by no means devoid of refinement
in their culinary disposition. Some French soldiers were lately taken prisoners by
the Canaks, and one of them was killed and eaten. His comrades describe the
process. The Canaks first decapitate their victim, a matter of no small difficulty
cons'dering the bluntness of their hatchets. Ten to fifteen blows are necessary.
The body is then hung up to a tree by the feet, and the blood allowed to run out for
an hour. Meanwhile a hole, a yard and a half deep and a yard wide, is dug in the
ground. The hole is lined with stones, and then in the midst of them a great fire
is lit. When the wood is burnt down a little and glows with heat, it is covered
over with more stones. The man is then cleaned out, and divided into pieces about a
foot long, the hands and feet being thrown away as worthless. The pieces of the
man are placed on the leaves of a large rose tree peculiar to the tropics. The meat is
surrounded with cocoa-nuts, bananas, and some other plants noted for their delicate
flavour. The whole is then tied together firmly, the fire is removed, from the pit,
the meat is placed among the hot stones, and thus, carefully covered, is left to cook
for an hour. Women do not partake of this warriors’ feast. Men alone are allowed
to enjoy so great an honour and so rare a delicacy.”
It is clear from this Daily News paragraph that the Canaks have a system and
morality of diet and social habits very much divergent from those natives of India
who “ make a feast upon a handful of rice.” And, if we had our choice of living
and dying, cooking and eating, we would prefer not to be amongst the Canaks! but
to be as far removed from their philosophy and practical dietetics as .possible. They
may have the more savory dishes ; but commend us to the rice feast. “Better is a
dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith.” “ Better is
a dry morsel, and quietness therewith, than an house full of sacrifices with strife.”
Solomon perhaps had never heard of the Canaks or other cannibals, in his time ;
but he had observed that flesh eating tended to strife and hatred; whilst a simple,
natural, and bloodless diet favoured and promoted a more amiable and affectionate
social condition.
The very fact that the flesh-eater has to kill before he eats, and to kill what he
eats, cannot but tend to make him a man of strife and bloodshed: and there is but
a step—a fearful yet still a possible step—from killing and eating an ox, and killing
and eating a human being. Our flesh-eating friends are next-door neighbours to
the Canaks, whilst we prefer to live nearer to the rice-eaters of India, who will
never be tempted to cook and eat us, however hungry or angry they may be.
�THE DIETETIC REFORMER
100
But it is objected that if we “ eat as do the natives of India,” that is, confine
ourselves to a vegetable diet, and make a feast of a handful of rice, though
“ probably the climate would be as innocuous to us as to them —what a grand
admission !—“ but then there would perhaps (?) be an end of the energy which flesh
eaters show." Here we have the curious and astounding hypothesis, that what
favours Health and Longevity will perhaps destroy Enebgy ! In our next article
we will look at this curious dietetic problem ; and in the meantime we shall avoid
the Canaks, whose energy, though no doubt great, is greatly to be feared and not
at all to be admired, and certainly ought not to be imitated in civilised and Chris
tian countries. Indeed it is not good enough for even benighted India or degraded
Africa.
B.
MAN’S
AN
ARGUMENT
BEST
FOR
FOOD:
VEGETARIANISM.
(Continued from page 36.J
Our illustrations are, however, open to the objection that they are too few to
afford scientific proofs of the suitableness of such a diet to men in general. We
therefore proceed to adduce facts on a larger scale, and including persons of various
ages, who have been systematically experimented upon for the purpose of discovering
the effects of various kinds of foods. This method seems best adapted to the people
of this century who mostly dislike abstractions and remote inferences. In this
direction we offer substantial facts which tell their own story.
*
An eminent
German physiologist (Vierordt), weighing carefully the results of numerous expe
riments on that which enters the body as food and that which leaves it through
the several channels of purification and discharge, tells us that an adult male, to
keep in good condition, should take about 4oz. of albuminous matter, nearly 3oz. of
fat, and about lOJoz. of amylaceous food daily. About 84oz. of water would be
taken as drink, and about an ounce would have to be allowed for saline matters
contained in or added to the three leading articles of food. The four articles of
diet in the quantities specified below are therefore a model dietary as to chemical
composition.
Bread..........
Potatoes ...
Oatmeal ..
Milk..........
Albuminous Matter:
Gluten and Albumen.
lib
= 861
lib
50
|ib
— 638
lpint. = 350
Fat.
65
7
198
245
1,899
Vierordt ................. 1,920
515
1,440
21
Defect.. 925
+ 653
Defect..
Amylaceous Matter:
Starch, Sugar, and Gum.
3,847 grains.
701
„
1,810
„
315
„
6,673
5,040
Excess.. 1,633 = 653 grains
Defect.. 272
By careful observation then we have it ascertained what a man requires as food,
and by exact analysis we learn what any kind and quantity of food can supply. If
the kind and quantity can be supplied from a Vegetarian diet our case as to its
efficiency will be established, but we can prove much more than this. The experi
ments made at the Glasgow Bridewell in 1840j- shows an advantage in a simple
* Day’s Physiological Chemistry, p. 496.
f Fifth Report of Inspectors of Prisons, Scotland.
�AND VEGETARIAN MESSENGER.
101
Vegetarian diet over one containing a small quantity of flesh-meat, as seen in the
table below. The experiments were made upon eight groups of prisoners, the
greater part being adult males.
(baked)
4
—
91
224
5
—
91
112
28
3
—
91
336
2
1
Oatmeal ..................... 91 oz. 91
336
Potatoes, boiled.......... 336
56
343
259
Bread ................................
427
427
Total solid food.. 427
Buttermilk .............
104 pts.
6
—
56
112
7
—
91
li2
56
280
147
2|
101
10J
101
7
2|
10J
10J
10J-
7
(skim milk)
Total liquid food.
10 J
672
10J
■
*
Broth ................................
8
—
.. per week-.
672
14
24$
2f
3J
less than £ib .,
li very slight
li
—
—
—
■ 1 ■■
—
■
1078 men and
15 m. 570 m. 578 m.
5 m. 378 m. 16 m.
Prisoners submitted 15 m.
to experiments... J 5 boys. 58 fem.
5 fem.. 5 fem. 5 fem. 578 fem. 5 fem.
boys.
2 boys.
* The broth contained 4oz. barley and loz. bone, with vegetables to one quart.
Average weight gained 4
„
„
lost
4
■
The facts here show in No. 1 an improvement in condition upon a diet
consisting of three articles only, viz., oatmeal, potatoes, and buttermilk; and
in No. 2, even with a serious reduction in the last named article, the results are
still very good. No. 3 is a similar dietary, but the potatoes are baked, and half
the prisoners experimented on are young women, but they fell off in weight. 4
and 5 have flesh-meat, Iflbs. being substituted for 71bs. of potatoes, and 3£lbs. for
141bs.; the proportion of females was smaller, but the effect was to produce nearly
as great a loss in weight in one case and a slight loss in the other. No. 6 changes
the flesh for twice its weight in bread, taking away 3| pints buttermilk and 35oz.
oatmeal, with the effect of producing a gain in weight instead of a loss, and we
notice this is the only case in which a group consisting partly of females shows
a gain in weight. Considering the quantity consumed, No. 6 must be pronounced
the most satisfactory diet; No. 3 the least so. No. 2 and No. 7 stand higher than
4 and 5, and on the whole the Vegetarian lists, though restricted to a few articles,
come out triumphant.
Dr. Guy, to whom we are already indebted, quotes! the dietary of the Irish
Military Prisons as excellent for their purpose, although no flesh-meat is used in
them; they consist of bread 56oz., oatmeal 56oz., Indian meal 42oz., total 154oz.,
with 10J pints of milk per week. Dr. Tuffnell reports on the Dublin Prison : “ To
the increase of the dietary, and especially to its alteration I have ever been
upon principle opposed, because I found that I could upon the old scale of dietary
maintain the man in the most perfect condition.” A good reason indeed, and the
highest enconium that could be passed upon a dietary. The same gentleman says
of the dietary used for the “ penal class” at Millbank Prison, and which consists of
bread 84oz., oatmeal 70oz., Indian meal 70oz., potatoes 56oz., and 10| pints of milk
per week:—“ The dietary was favourably reported on by my predecessor, Dr. Baly,
in 1858, and in my own report for 1859. It has stood the test, both of experimental
weighings and of more general observation of the state of health of the prisoners.”
In summing up a very able paper containing a widely-extended view of facts and
experience he has these among other conclusions :—“ That we possess conclusive
f Journal of the Statistical Society, September, 1863.
�102
THE DIETETIC REFORMER
evidence of the sufficiency of a diet from which meat is wholly excluded, and even
of a diet consisting entirely of vegetable matter ; that such a diet would probably
suffice for able-bodied paupers, and even for prisoners sentenced to hard labour, and
for convicts employed at public works; and that this is true of men previously
accustomed to animal food. That the potato is an important element in our
dietaries, and that its omission has probably been the true cause of outbreaks of
scurvy which have been attributed to a mere reduction in the quantity of food.”
We are indebted to Mr. Edwin Chadwick for a view of this similar experience,
combining the effects upon health and life, which is extremely interesting, and
brings our proof out into strong relief. In a speech to the Society of Arts he said :—
“The death-rates in the army had been reduced in many instances by sanitary
measures by one-half, without any important alteration of the dietaries. The effects
of the prison dietaries, combined with improved sanitary conditions, were the most
instructive. Soldiers were taken from the ranks, generally the worst conditioned
men, where the death-rate was seventeen in a thousand, and put into military
prisons in Ireland, where the death-rat§ was reduced to two and a half per
thousand, and the sickness in proportion. The dietary consisted of eight ounces
of oatmeal, eight ounces of Indian meal, and eight ounces of wheaten bread, with
half a pint of milk at the three meals, daily. There was no meat, no tea, no coffee,
no beer, no tobacco, none of the stimuli which they got in the ranks, and their
general health and strength was vastly improved. The medical authority who had
observed the effect of this dietary for years declared he would make no alteration.”
In another part of his address he mentioned the following facts:—“ It had fallen to
him to collect and compare, rudely as it might be, the effects of different public
dietaries, before chemical analysis had been brought to bear on foods. It was at
that time urged by medical authorities, and indeed is still so by many, that dietaries
containing high stimuli beyond those got by the hard-working honest population,
were necessary to sustain the health of the prisoners. He found that the quality of
the diets, as containing more or less of animal food, was very much represented by
the cost, and this varied from Is. 2d. to 5s. and even 7s. per head per week. Now,
it should follow, from the medical recommendation, that the health of the prisoners
would rise in proportion. To determine this question he resorted to statistics.
Taking 104 prison returns—which enabled a comparison of the 20 gaols where the
expense and the quantity of the diet were the lowest, the 20 where the expense and
the quantity of the diet were the highest, and the 20 where they were intermediate
between the highest and the lowest—the results came out as follows :—
Ounces of solid Cost per head
Sick per
Deaths per
food per week.
per week.
cent.
1000.
Twenty lowest prison diets ..................... 188 ................ Is. 10£d. ................. 3
1|
Twenty intermediate diets......................... 213 ............. 2s. 4jd. ........ 18
3
Twenty highest............................................ 228 ............. 3s. 2d. ............... 23J................ 4
The results were objected to on the grounds that in some of the larger prisons,
where the lower dietaries were adopted, the terms of imprisonment were shorter
than in others. But those objections were met by the trial of the simpler dietaries
in the same prisons, with the same classes of prisoners, with labour and without
labour, for the like periods, where the like results appeared. No doubt changes of
diet were beneficial, if not absolutely necessary, for persons in sedentary conditions
or prolonged confinements, but variations wfth simple foods might be made to suffice,
I instead of augmentations in quantities, and in foods of the more stimulating and ex
�AND VEGETARIAN MESSENGER.
103
pensive character, beyond those which sufficed for the general population. Later
experience was in the same direction.”
Hence it appears that animal food plays an unsuspected and deadly part in cases
where it is consumed even in moderate quantities, a conclusion which must astound
most inquirers, and which ought to weigh with all classes and conditions. Length
of days is one of the blessings promised to the faithful, and in this case faithfulness
to knowledge offers the same reward. “ What man is he that desireth life and
loveth many days, that he may see good ? Depart from evil (in eating) and do
good.” We take it to be now demonstrated that good health and length of days
are the reward of a well-chosen diet from which animal food is excluded. In
relation to this world, no more important truth can be declared, for good health is
the most essential element of active life and enjoyment. The exercise of mental
and bodily power depend so directly upon its possession, that no society can attain
to its full growth or do justice to itself whilst it remains in a practice which preys
upon its vitals; nor should the economy of that simple diet which conduces most to
health be an unconsidered element: it may mean less labour and more leisure to
the overworked, or less confinement and more liberty to the delicate; or less devo
tion to the body and more to the mind for the thoughtfully inclined; or it may
render possible a better education, more spacious and better adorned homes, the
cultivation of taste in innocent enjoyment from art—music, drawing, carving,
painting—and more extended converse, and, consequently, closer sympathy in the
family. Some, perhaps many, of these sources of recreation and delight might be
open to the humbler classes in return for habituating themselves to a simple,
healthful diet—a change not always the most attractive to the palate until habit
has made the best course the most delightful. It must not, however, be understood
as absolutely necessary to refrain from delicacies or luxuries on the vegetarian
system, nor yet that vegetarian fare is necessarily cheap. Many desirable fruits are,
with us, very dear, and, if used at all, must be a tax upon the means of our ordinary
population. But we wish to show they are unnecessary; yet, in various ways, a great variety is possible, both in the methods of cooking and in the articles
selected, without injury to health, and, indeed, with good effect.
Having shown the advantages of abstaining from flesh, let us add a word to our
working people on their peculiar position. It has to them, no doubt, been a
stumbling-block that the goods of this world should be so unequally distributed,
when they have observed how the intelligent part of society esteem flesh alone
worthy to be called meat, and treat other dishes as adjuncts only. If animal food
be so necessary and so superior in power to yield strength, they might ask : How
comes it that they who have most need of strength get least, and in many
cases none, of this necessary; whilst that part of society which has less occasion
for strength gets most flesh, and nearly monopolises that class of food? It must
appear mysterious. But if our demonstration be sound, it shows, on the contrary,
khat the necessary and best foods are most abundant, and within the reach of all
classes and nations. In that there is no mystery, but supreme satisfaction. It
may thus increase their contentment when reflecting on their condition, by mani
festing the love of our common Father. This makes the poor man rich, for—
Poor and content is rich;
But riches infinite is poor as winter
To him that ever thinks that he is poor.
(To be continued.)
Kappa.
z,
�104
THE DIETETIC REFORMER
MEDICAL AND SCIENTIFIC TESTIMONY IN FAVOUR
OF A VEGETARIAN DIET.
[Note.—It is not implied that all the authorities mentioned are in favour of Vegetarianism, either
in theory or practice. They are Quoted to prove facts, rather than to enforce opinions.]
Peofessoe Owen.—“ The apes and the monkeys, which man nearly resembles
in his dentition, derive their staple food from fruits, grain, the kernels of nuts, and
other forms in which the most sapid and nutritious tissues of the vegetable king
dom are elaborated; and the close resemblance between the quadrumanous and
human dentition shows that man was, from the beginning, adapted to eat the fruit
of the trees of the garden.”—Odontography, p. 471.
Baeon Cuviee.—“ The natural food of man, judging from his structure, appears
to consist principally of the fruits, roots, and other succulent parts of vegetables.”
Animal Kingdom (Orr, London, 1840), p. 46.
M. Daubenton.—“ It is, then, highly probable that man in a state of pure
nature, living in a confined society, and in a genial climate,—where the earth
required but little culture to produce its fruits,—did subsist upon these, without
seeking to prey on animals.”—Observations on Indigestion.
M. Gassendi.—“ Wherefore, I repeat, that from the primeval and spotless insti
tution of our nature, the teeth were destined to the mastication, not of flesh, but of
fruits.”—Works, vol. x. p. 20.
Linnaeus.—“ This species of food [fruit] is that which is most suitable to man;
which is evinced by the series of quadrupeds; analogy; wild men; apes; the
structure of the mouth, of the stomach, and the hands.’’—Linnai Amenitates
Academicce, vol. x. p. 8.
Ray.—“ Certainly man by nature was never made to be a carnivorous animal,
nor is he armed at all for prey or rapine, with jagged and pointed teeth, and crooked
claws sharpened to rend and tear; but with gentle hands to gather fruit and vege
tables, and with teeth to chew and eat them.”—Evelyn's Acetaria, p. 170.
Peofessok Laweence.—“ The teeth of man have not the slightest resemblance
to those of the carnivorous animals, except that their enamel is confined to the ex
ternal surface. He possesses, indeed, teeth called ‘ canine but they do not exceed
the level of the others, and are obviously unsuited to the purposes which the cor
responding teeth execute in carnivorous animals........................ Thus we find that,
whether we consider the teeth and jaws, or the immediate instruments of digestion,
the human structure closely resembles that of the siamce; all of which, in their
natural state, are completely herbivorous” [frugivorous ?]—Lectures on Physiology,
pp. 189, 191.
Bell.—“ It is, I think, not going too far to say, that every fact connected with
the human organisation goes to prove that man was originally formed a frugivorous
animal.................... This opinion is principally derived from the formation of his
teeth and digestive organs; as well as from the character of his skin, and the
general structure of his limbs.”—Anatomy, Physiology, aud Diseases of the Teeth.
De. Spencee Thompson.—“ No physiologist would dispute with those who main
tain that man ought to live on vegetables alone, the possibility of his doing so, or
that many might not be as well or better under such a system as any other,” &c.—
Dictionary of Domestic Medicine, Art. “ Food.”
Hallee.—“ This food, then, which I have hitherto described, and in which flesh
has no part, is salutury ; insomuch that it fully nourishes a man, protracts life to
�AND VEGETARIAN MESSENGER.
105
an advanced period, and prevents or cures such disorders as are attributable to the
acrimony or grossness of the blood.”—Elements of Physiology, vol. vi. p. 199.
Liebig.—“ Grain, and other nutritious vegetables, yield us, not only in starch,
sugar, and gum, the carbon which protects our organs from the action of oxygen,
and produces in the organism the heat which is essential to life, but also in the form
of vegetable fibrine, albumen, and caseine, our blood, from which the other parts of
our body are developed....................... Vegetable fibrine and animal fibrine, vegetable
albumen and animal albumen, hardly differ even in form ; . . . . and when
they are present, the graminivorous animal obtains in its food the very same
principles on the presence of which the nutrition of the carnivora entirely
depends.......................... Vegetables produce, in their organism, the blood of
all animals; for the carnivora, in consuming the blood and flesh of the graminivora,
consume, strictly speaking, only the vegetable principles which have served for the
nutrition of the latter.”
De. Lankestee.—“ Animal food is composed of the same materials as vegetable
food. It is formed of the same elements, and presents the same proximate prin
ciples.”—Guide to the Food Collection, p. 79.
Moleshott.—“ The legumes are superior to meat in abundance of solid consti
tuents which they contain; and while the amount of albuminous substances may
surpass that in meat by one-half, the constituents of fat, and the salts, are also
present in a greater abundance.”
De. Caepentee.—“We freely concede to the advocates of Vegetarianism that,
as regards the endurance of physical labour, there is ample proof of the capacity of
what is commonly called the vegetable regimen, that is, abstinence from flesh meat,
to afford the requisite sustenance.................... We are inclined, then, to believe that
a purely vegetable diet, if it contains a due proportion of oleaginous matter, is cap
able of maintaining the physical powers of the body at their highest natural eleva
tion, even under the exposure of the extreme of cold, &c.”
De. S. Bbown.—“We are ready to admit that Vegetarian writers—especially
the author of Fruits and Farinacea [Churchill, London]—have triumphantly proved
that physical, horse-like strength, is not only compatible with, but also favoured by,
a well-chosen diet from the vegetable kingdom ; and, likewise, that such a table is
conducive to length of days.”—Westminster Review.
“De. Maecet, Omvee, and other physiologists unite in stating that chyle elabo
rated from animal food putrifies in three or four days at longest; while chyle from
vegetable food—from its greater purity and more perfect vitality—may be kept for
many days without becoming putrid.”—/Smith's Fruits and Farinacea.
Edinbuegh Medical and Suegical Jouenal.—‘‘We have known various per
sons who have been delivered from painful and obstinate disorders by giving up the
use of animal food entirely; and others in whom disorders of the nervous system
and the chest have been very much relieved by the same procedure.’’—No. 166.
Medico-Chibuegical Review.—“We are by no means sure, indeed, whether
the entire dietetic treatment of dyspepsia, ordinarily practised, is not fallacious; and
whether, instead of a highly-animalized regimen, it would not be preferable to have
recourse to a simple vegetable diet. Mr. Smith [Fruits and Farinacea} has collected
several cases of the benefits of such a system, from the writings of eminent medical
authors, who had no particular doctrines to support, such as Abercrombie, Cheyne,
and Thakrah ; and from the considerations we have already adduced, we think that
a strong case has been made out in its favour.”
�106
THE DIETETIC REFORMER
Dr. J. S. Wilkinson.—“ It is quite undeniable that many persons are benefited
by resortingto such a mode of diet.”—Literary and Scientific Lecturer, vol. ii., p. 110.
Dr. Cheyne.—“ For those who are extremely broken down with chronic disease,
I have found no other relief than a total abstinence from all animal food, and from
all sorts of strong and fermented liquors. In about thirty years’ practice, in which
I have (in some degree or other) advised this method in proper cases, I have had but
two cases in whose total recovery I have been mistaken.”
Dr. A. P. Buchan.—“Of the effects of a regimen of the farinacea, combined
with milk and fruits, in subduing the early attacks of phythisis, many examples are
recorded; and there would, probably, be many more, were an appropriate regimen
adopted rather with a view to prevent than to cure this disease, .... When
there is a tendency to consumption in the young, it should be counteracted by strictly
adhering to a diet of the farinacea and ripe fruits. Animal food and fermented liquors
ought to be rigidly prohibited.................. If vegetables and milk were more used in
diet, we should have less scurvy, and likewise fewer putrid and inflammatory fevers.”
Dr. Craigie.—“ Diet consisting of bread and milk, or rice and milk, or the flour
of farinaceous seeds and milk, is quite adequate to prevent the formation of the
gouty diathesis, and to extinguish that diathesis if already formed. . . . Such diet
is also adequate to prevent the disease from appearing in its irregular form, and
affecting the brain and its membranes, and the heart or lungs.”—Elements of the
Practice of Physic, vol. ii. p. 633.
Dr, Cullen.—“ I am firmly persuaded that any man who, early in life, will
enter upon the constant practice of bodily labour and of abstinence from animal
*
food, will be preserved entirely from gout. . . The cure [of rheumatism] requires,
in the first place, an antiphlogistic regimen; and particularly a total abstinence
from animal food, and from all fermented and spirituous liquors.”
Dr. S. Nicolls says (1864.)—“ This hospital [Longford Fever Hospital] is con
ducted on vegetarian and temperance principles—not one pound of flesh-meat, pint
of whisky, or bottle of wine having been used in it for the last fifteen years,—long
experience having satisfied me that animal food, wine, brandy, &c., require to be
given with great caution; indeed, I have seen sad results from their use. . . It
may be said that the class of patients was unused to good food and stimulants—
therefore did not require them. However, such is not the fact, for among them
were officers of this house, members of the constabulary force, tradesmen, gentle
man’s servants, and others accustomed to substantial food. . . A large proportion
of cases (in 1865) were spotted, with sordes on the teeth, and a tongue like maho
gany, and many were brought in with bed sores on their hips and back, and some
with gangrene of the toes and feet. . . Nine persons stricken with the same fever
were removed from one house to the fever hospital, and every one recovered, though
they got neither wine, brandy, nor animal food. . . I still continue the treatment
which for sixteen years I have found so successful.”
Arbuthnot.—“ I know more than one instance of irrascible passions being
much subdued by a vegetable diet.’*
Hufeland.—“The more man follows nature, and is obedient to her laws, the
longer will he live: the further he deviates from these, the shorter will be his
existence. . . Plain, simple food only, promotes moderation and longevity; while
compounded and luxurious food shortens life. . . Instances of the greatest Ion gevity
are to be found among men who, from their youth, lived principally on vegetables,
and who, perhaps, never tasted flesh.”
�AND VEGETARIAN MESSENGER.
107
P.S.—The following may be mentioned as being, entirely or partially, adherents
of Vegetarianism:—Daniel, Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato, Epicurus, Plutarch;
Cornaro, Milton, Swedenborg, Wesley, Howard, Franklin, Shelley, Newton,
Lamartine, Rousseau. Sir Richard Philips, Ritson, Brotherton, General P. Thomp
son, and F. W. Newman.
[The testimonies collated above are issued in a Tract, to be sent to medical men inviting their
opinions and experience. Eriends can be supplied on application to the Secretary. The Execu
tive Committee of the Vegetarian Society also hereby request readers of the Dietetic Reformer
to call the attention of their friends and acquaintances belonging to the medical profession to
the views expressed above, and invite them to write any facts in their experience, whether
favourable or otherwise, and send them to the Secretary. ]
THE VICTORIES OF TRUTH.
What errors (he that reads may see)
Have rul’d in turn the human race,
Have cried to nations, “ Bow the knee,”
And said to hated Truth, “ Give place,
No longer let me see thy face ! ”
What troops have followed at their heels !
What zealots at their shrines have pray’d,
And died beneath their chariot wheels !
What abject homage men have paid !
What gifts upon their altars laid !
But when submitted to the test
• .
Of Time, they fail’d that test to stand;
*?,
Then some one, bolder than the rest,
The downfall of their pow’r has plann’d,
And dragg’d them down with daring hand.
But let the friends of Error mourn,
When Error yields her tainted breath;
Truth to eternal life was bom;
Her friends shall never mourn her death,
Nor weave for her the cypress wreath.
Time spares not age, nor pities youth ;
Man’s proudest works he doth abuse,
Yet has no power to injure Truth;
The wasting years but add new grace
And beauty to her form and face.
She will not fail her friends, and none
Shall live to see her strength decay,
Or beauty fade and die : her sun
Moves on towards a perfect day,
Her glory shall not pass away.
And though we perish in the strife,
The truth is not a thing of breath,
And still the truth shall live, though Life
Roll writhing down the jaws of Death Who too shall die, the scripture saith.
And though he drive us from the field,
And hand us captive to the grave,
From whose black dungeons, barr’d and seal’d,
He calls on Truth her friends to save,
Short is the triumph he shall have.
For He who toil’d at Nazareth
The captive from the strong shall take,
And we shall live and reign when Death,
And he that follows in his wake,
Are buried in the fiery lake.
R. Phillips.
Mm
�108
Z
/
THE DIETETIC REFORMER
SHerttb >rtuM
VACCINATION VIEWED POLITICALLY: LETTER FROM
PROFESSOR NEWMAN.
[From the Anti- Vaccinator, of September 25th, 1869.]
Dr. ar Me. Pitman,—You call my attention to an article in the Lancet, commenting
on a private letter of mine to you, which you have thought fit to publish. You
kindly desire to print some reply from me. I really think I may claim that
you or other anti-vaccinators will make the reply, which is not at all difficult. I
have po taste for detailed controversy, especially with an anonymous opponent, and
with a medical man on a medical topic. But I regard the political side of the
question as the primary. It is not developed in that letter—which I never intended
for the public; but I will now enter upon it somewhat more fully.
It does not rest with Parliament to enact how a disease shall be treated. If a
bill were proposed to enforce that everyone who is seized with apoplexy shall be
bled, the Lancet would probably be foremost in the outcry. I should expect it to
propound that Parliament is no authority in medicine; that to protect us from
dangerous treatment by ignorant pretenders, Parliament enacts medical degrees
as mere tests of knowledge, but it must not dictate to those who have displayed
their knowledge by gaining the degree.
Nor is it to the purpose to say that Parliament took advice of physicians before it
legislated. Some thirty or forty years ago, when homoeopaths first disused bleeding
for apoplexy and fever, the disapproval of their conduct by the orthodox medical
faculty was so universal and so vehement, that Parliament might easily, have got
medical warrant to enforce bleeding. Nay, one hundred years ago, physicians were
zealous for inoculation. My father was with difficulty saved from it by the sturdy
refusal of his mother, who said (as she told me) “ If God send small-pox on my
child, I must bear it; but never will I consent to give it him on purpose : how can
anyone know what would come of it ? ”
At that time Parliament might have been advised by educated and learned, phy
sicians to make inoculation compulsory ; and I make no doubt those physicians
spoke as dogmatically to my grandmother in favour of it, as any can now speak of
vaccination ; yet, by the advice of physicians, inoculation is. now made penal! It
is certainly possible that by the advice of physicians vaccination also will hereafter
be made penal. Medicine is a changing and (let us hope) progressive Art; it has
no pretension to be Science, or to have any fixedness at all. The editor of. the
Lancet has probably read the article in the Quarterly Review of April, 1869, entitled
“ The Aims of Modern Medicine.” It is a storehouse of detailed fact for those who
are too young to remember what it narrates of unanimous medical error, pernicious
on the hugest scale. Medicine cannot improve, unless the younger and fresher
minds among physicians are left perfectly free to deviate from the routine of their
elders. Nothing can justify Parliament in enacting a medical creed, or enforcing
any special medical procedures.
.
.
But if physicians must have hands unfettered, have patients no right to choose
lheir physician ?—no right to repudiate treatment which they think quackery ? We
all ought to be re-vaccinated periodically, according to the Lancet. Does, then,
Parliament dare to enact such a thing ? It does not; else I might be taken by
force and vaccinated to-morrow. And if I understand the argument for compulsory
vaccination, it cannot rightly stop short of this. I may be told that extreme danger
requires extreme remedies. Well—I will put really extreme.cases. . In an age and
country of barbarism, I am seized with the plague, or with a highly-infectious
leprosy. If I have the plague, I am to be shot dead with arrows, and mould is to
be heaped over me where I lie. If I have the leprosy, I am to be hunted into soli
tude, and there live, if I can.
.
The law is hard, yet I might accept my fate without murmuring. One who is
dangerous to society, whether from contagion or from mania, cannot retain ordinary
social rights. Better for me to die outright than to infect my kind, nurses, for the
miserable chance of lingering. To put me to death for plague is sharp law, no
doubt; but the legislator would at least know that a pestilential body, once well
�AND VEGETARIAN MESSENGER.
109
covered with earth, does no further harm, so that the despotism effects its end—at
least it stops contagion. I should feel that I died for my country’s good. But if
he enacted that I should be bled, or should have the sore places cut out. or that
poison should be infused into my veins, he could never be sure that the public
gained any benefit from his cruelties. A far more overwhelming proof is needed
by the legislator than so very shifting a thing as medical advice. And here it is
advice from one country only in all the world, and that where men peculiarly
experienced in vaccination condemn it.
One who carries disease with him is ostensibly dangerous. This—and this
only—.justifies legislation against him. But when a man or child is ostensibly
healthy, no case is made out for legislation at all. To enact that a healthy person
shall have a disease lest hereafter he get a worse disease, is a form of despotism
hard to parallel; and, what is peculiarly disgraceful, it is directed against innocent
infants alone, because they are helpless: it does not dare to attack us adults. This
fact justly arouses parents to indignation. Let parliament enact that every M.P.
shall be at once vaccinated, and that it shall be done from arm to arm among them,
every four or five years, as the doctors may prefer,—if they will enact such things
concerning children. The law now says to a parent—“ We are alarmed to see
that your child has no disease. Cow-pox (for the public good) it must have, with
the chance of other hideous diseases: submit, or else make yourself a criminal,
have your hair cropped, and dress in prison garb.”
Such legislation implies that parliament is a Medical Pope, and would justify no
end of monstrous violations of sacred personal right. The Lancet “begs respectfully
to tell me” that, in the matter of “vaccine lymph,” “ the State (!) and private prac
titioners take great care.” Is this very comforting—very reassuring—to one who
has read Ira Connell’s frightful case ? I have a paper before me—reprinted from
the Lancet of Nov. 16, 1861—which contains a detailed account of 46 children in
Piedmont being infected with loathsome disease—soon fatal to some of them—from
receiving the lymph (called vaccine!) out of the arm of one child called (and sup
posed to be) healthy. As the surgeon cannot be omniscient, he eannot know the
diseases hidden in a particular child; he is not to blame for not knowing; but this
is precisely the reason why parliament ought much rather to forbid than to enforce
the vaccinating of one child from another. It makes the enforcement so indefen
sible, that one is unwilling to affix the right epithet.
But.even if cows would kindly get cow-pox for our convenience, so that each
child might have the disease direct from the cow, even so it would be blind tyranny
for the law to say to a parent—“ You shall not keep your child in perfect health: that
is too dangerous a course.” When to this the parent replies by defiance of the law,
and is treated as a criminal, the law-makers are (in my opinion) the real criminals
before God and man. Parents who become martyrs by resisting the law, deserve a
sympathy akin to those who are martyrs of religion.—Yours, F. W. Newman.
>
/
/
/
/
J. STUART MILL, ESQ., AND TEMPERANCE POLITICS.
[The secretary of the United Kingdom Alliance, Mr. T. H. Barker, has been favoured
by the Hon. Gerrit Smith, of the State of New York, with the following copy
of a letter which that distinguished philanthropist has recently addressed to
John Stuart Mill, Esq., on the subject of “ Temperance Politics.” The letter
will be specially interesting as having been suggested by the correspondence
between Mr. Mill and the Alliance secretary, published in the Alliance News
just before the general election.]
GERRIT SMITH TO JOHN STUART MILL.
Honoured and dear Sir, —A gentleman in England, who is rendering eminent
service to the cause of temperance, requests me to criticise your attitude toward
that cause. So profound is my sense of your pre-eminent wisdom—perhaps, wellnigh as profound as was Buckle’s sense of it—that I could not, without heavily
‘
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THE DIETETIC REFORMER
taxing my diffidence, presume to criticise you in any respect. Nevertheless, I
venture to comply with the request.
The gentleman I refer to would have Government shut up the dramshop. You
*
would have Government leave it open. How shall so wide a difference on a subject
of so vast importance be explained ? Is he more radical in his theories than you are ?
Probably not. Few of the world’s great writers are less cramped than yourself by
the spirit of conservatism. Are you less disposed than he to reduce radical theories
to practice ? Your admirable pleas for woman’s voting prove that you do not
shrink from the boldest practical innovations. This wide difference must be. other
wise accounted for. Perhaps, whilst his philanthropy is particularly moved by
intemperance, yours is by some other vice or suffering. Or, perhaps, it is to be
accounted for, in part or entirely, by the supposition that you are especially jealous
of the interference of society with the rights and practices of the individual, and
he, of the interference of the individual with the interests and welfare of society.
On this supposition it is quite natural that one of you should argue the right of the
individual to buy or sell drams, and the other the right of society to punish him for
such buying or selling.
You make the province of civil government much narrower than most do. I
(though not forgetting that, in doing so, I go against the judgment of many a man
far wiser and better than myself) make it still narrower. For instance, whilst you
would have Government compel the idler to work, I would let him remain an idler,
should moral influences prove inadequate to change him; and whilst you would
have the parent compelled to educate his child, I, with my dread of all possibly
avoidable compulsion, would look to his enlightened and benevolent neighbours to
supply, as far as they can, the unnatural parental lack. Again, I would have
Government shut out not only from the church but also from the school. It should
have nothing to do with either. Then, too, I would have the right to buy and sell
so free, as not to leave a custom-house upon the earth. Nor would I allow Govern
ment to concern itself with the cause of temperance, nor with any other moral
reform, nor with asylums for the blind or the deaf mutes, nor with any other bene
volent institutions. Why, then, you will ask me, am I in favour of the enactment
of sumptuary laws ? I am not. Families should be left to dress as they please,
and to eat and drink what they please. There should be no laws to regulate living.
If, in saying so, I open the way for the question—how I can then consistently be in
favour of Government’s shutting up the dramshop—my reply is that this question
will be answered in what I shall say of the province of Government. I have said
what is not its province—in other words, wbat it should not do. I will now say
what is its province—in other words, what it should do. It should protect person
and property ; and it should attempt nothing more. Its one work is to hold a shield
over its subjects beneath which they can, unjostled by each other, and secure from
foreign aggression, pursue each his own chosen calling, and each live out his own
views of life. The protection of person and property being its sole office, Govern
ment is to protect society not only from the criminal but from the insane, be it
liquor or disease that has produced the insanity. Hence, whilst we are to look to
enlightened and benevolent persons for asylums for the sick and poor, we are to
regard lunatic asylums, including inebriate asylums, as part of the machinery of
Government. By the way, the almshouses and kindred institutions would scarcely
be needed were the dramshop abolished. Rare, in that case, would be the person
who is so impoverished or debased, as to cast himself upon the public charity; and
rare too, in that case, would be the person, whose friends are so impoverished or
debased, as to allow him to be cast upon it.
If I have rightly defined the office of civil government, then, manifestly, were
every part of the earth to be blessed with a true civil government, there would not
be so much as one dramshop left in any part of the earth. For what is the dram
shop but the great manufactory of incendiaries, madmen, and murderers? Its
staggering army in Great Britain counts up nearly a million ; in America scarcely
less. Because of the dramshop hundreds of thousands of British and American
families are deep sunk in misery, stricken with terror, and not a very small portion
of them besmeared with blood. Because of the dramshop night is so often made
* The practioal proposition of the Permissive Bill is something short of this: It is that the
people should have the power of local option or veto.—T. H. B.
�AND VEGETARIAN MESSENGER.
Ill
hideous in Britain and America by screams of “ murder,” and sunrise made sorrowful
by its revelations of the deeds of drunkenness. And, yet, even John Stuart Mill
will not have Government suppress the dramshop ! Its evils, surpassing the sum
total of all other evils, stare him in the face—and yet he allows himself to be
swayed by that microscopic view, which detects in such suppression a particle of
seeming sumptuary legislation I Pardon me for being reminded by your hypercritical
and fastidious objection to the only way of salvation in this life and death case, of
the old story of the extreme ceremoniousness of the gentleman, who made his neverhaving-been-introduced to the drowning man his excuse for not rescuing him.
Even if there is in this proposed suppression of the dramshop something of the
form or semblance of sumptuary legislation, there, nevertheless, is not the least
spirit of it. Moreover, were it so that, incidental to this suppression, there must be
violations of some minor rights and inconsiderable interests, no account should be
made of the violations, but all of them should be forgotten in the joy of the
accomplished object.
I admit that the shutting up of the dramshops might put some families to a
little inconvenience, if not also to a slightly additional expense, in obtaining
alcoholic liquor. I admit, too, that, whilst it is not only unnecessary but pernicious
to persons in health, there is occasionally a bodily ailment in which, provided there
are not other remedial agents of similar effect at hand, such liquor is useful. But
to make trifles like these excuses for keeping open the floodgates of the deadly
dramshop argues the impossibility of finding worthier excuses for continuing the
murderous wrong.
I do not forget that, although you would leave the dramseller unpunished for
keeping a soul-and-body slaughter-house, you would have his customer punished
for the violence of which he may have been guilty in his drunkenness. But to
make this the only security against such violence is too much like stipulating with
the men, reckless or malignant enough to bring fire into the powder house, that
they shall not be punished until an actual explosion has come of their recklessness
or malignity. Surely, surely, London is entitled to more security against dramshop
violence than this, which you propose—yes, to immeasurably more, seeing that,
probably, never a day passes without some of the dramshops being chargeable with
one or more deaths. The deaths may be from suicide or murder—produced suddenly
or gradually—nevertheless, they are all dramshop deaths.
I do not forget the frequent cavil, that, even were the dramshop shut up,
drinking and drunkenness would not therefore be diminished. Nevertheless, over
whelming are the proofs that the drinking and drunkenness are in proportion to the
temptations—in proportion to the frequency and attractiveness of the places for
gratifying the unhappy appetite. Of course, no one is less chargeable with such
cavil than yourself. For your argument against shutting up the dramshop is the
solemn one that human rights would thereby be invaded—invaded by lessening the
facilities for tippling and drunkenness! I scarcely need add that the cavillers I
refer to entirely ignore your argument. With your fear of the increased difficulty
of getting rum they have no sympathy. Their confidence that rum will still be
within as easy reach as ever remains undiminished.
How sad it is that even the wisest and best of men do, by getting used to
crimes—to the presence of criminal usages—become patient with them! Possibly,
before the year is ended, thousands of shops may be opened in London for the sale
of a newly-discovered gas. It will craze no small part of their frequenters. Some
of them it will turn into incendiaries and some into murderers. Nevertheless, so
attractive will be the gas that scores of thousands will go to inhale it. No sooner,
however, will the effect of it be well ascertained than petitions for shutting up
these gas-shops will pour into Parliament. Amongst the most influential names
upon them will be your own. The gas-shops, unsustained by the plea of custom,
would be tried solely by their character, and would, therefore, be as quickly and as
thoroughly condemned as would be the dramshops, were they also unsheltered by
this plea, and put on trial for their character only—their emphatically infernal
character.
We are both in favour of having the people own Government instead of being,
as is the case in many nations, owned by it. Hence we both deprecate Govern
ment’s travelling beyond its legitimate limits. Could it be kept within them, it
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THE DIETETIC REFORMER .
would be a blessing above all price. Travelling beyond them it becomes an evil,
not only from its meddling with matters which do not belong to it, but from its
consequent neglect of its own proper duty. Has it never occurred to you, that
the most effective way to recall Government from its meddlings is to hold it firmly
and constantly to the discharge of its one duty to protect person and property ?
When it shall have been brought to see that, in leaving the dramshop to pour out
destruction and death, it leaves person and property more unprotected than from any
or all other causes ; and when it shall, consequently, have been brought to see that
it has no higher duty to perform than to shut up this fountain of woe, then will
civil government be in a process of education and change, that will leave it no taste
nor time nor talent for continuing its usurpations And then, with hands filled
with its legitimate work, and heart filled with zeal to perform it, and destitute
alike of affinity and ability for every other work, civil government will realise the
sublimest expectations of the most enlightened and philanthropic statesmen. In
that day, it will be held, not only that civil government has the right to shut up
the dramshops, but that, wherever it fails to exercise this right, it fails to prove
itself worthy of the name of civil government.—With the highest regards, yours,
Gebbit Smith.
THE NATIONAL HEALTH.
The Westminster Review for the current quarter has reached a second edition,
the cause of the extraordinary demand for the number being a remarkable article
on “ Prostitution in Relation to the National Health.” The difficulty and delicacy
of this subject have prevented its full discussion, and the result is that there exists
amongst all classes a vast amount of ignorance with respect to it. A writer in the
Westminster Review brings to the investigation he has entered upon a full knowledge,
a powerful pen, a thorough consciousness of the importance of the work he has to
do, and, considering the subject, he avoids everything which may be called offensive.
He states his facts in plain, unmistakable English, it is true, but this is no doubt
the best mode of treating a subject of such vital importance to the community; and
while he pays no respect to the false delicacy of the time, his language is as pare
as his evidence of the existence amongst us of a terrible social pestilence is abundant.
We cannot quote the whole of the article, which is a long one, but the opening,
which is as follows, will show the object of the writer:—
“ We purpose in this article to examine a disease which is at once social, moral,
and physical, and, especially, to exhibit the nature and extent of its agency in
destroying the health and vigour of a large proportion of the inhabitants of the
British Islands, tainting their blood with an ineradicable poison. Of all the mala
dies with which humanity is afflicted, prostitution is, we believe, the worst: its
causes are the most persistent, its physical effects are the most terrible, its social
and moral complications are the most numerous and inextricable, its whole aspect
is the most saddening, and its cure is the most difficult. Among the social prob
lems which it behoves philanthropists and statesmen to solve, this—how may pros
titution be annihilated ?—stands pre-eminent; and though, together with the several
subordinate ones related to and grouped around it, urgently demanding solution, it
is seemingly the most insoluble. The mere statement of the elements of the ques
tion is beset with almost insuperable difficulties; how much greater, therefore,
must be the barriers opposed to its exhaustive discussion ? By conventional agree
ment society is forbidden to speak on the subject unless in whispers ; and he who
ventures to write upon it in a journal for general readers must either suppress
many of the most important facts and arguments relating to it, or run the risk of
damaging the medium which he uses.
“ Women, who ever, as a rule, shape their conduct conformably to the views
and wishes of men, offer the most powerful conservative resistance to any agitation
of this momentous topic: many observe and impose the silence of hypocritical
ignorance—feeling constrained, while wholly conscious of the vast importance of
the evil in question, to act and speak as if unaware of its existence; and many
more, from genuine delicacy, avert their eyes and resolutely ignore it. But surely
�AND VEGETARIAN MESSENGER.
113
this ostrich-like cowardice or timidity cannot continue much longer I It seems
impossible for English women to persist in ignoring a social evil, the disease inci
dental to which is undermining the strength and indirectly destroying the lives
of a large proportion of the adult male population—of their brothers, their sons,
and their husbands, and which is directly destroying their infants, both before
and after birth. We trust that social propriety and true feminine delicacy will
always be held sacred; but there is a false delicacy which is alike hostile to needful
physiological knowledge and physical well-being, which is incompatible with a
healthily-constituted mind, and which ought to be resolutely put away ; and there
are occasions when even true delicacy must suffer violence if the lives and welfare
of others, or self-preservation, cannot be otherwise insured. When, as a genius of
beneficence, Florence Nightingale encountered the horrors of the military hospitals
during the Crimean war, she gave practical recognition of this duty.
“ But it is not on behalf of others only that we now appeal to English women—
it is equally and still more urgently on behalf of themselves. Thousands upon
thousands, chiefly of the lower classes, but partly of the higher, are the innocent
and defenceless victims of a pestilence whose march is so secret, and whose attacks
are so insidious, that none can be certain of escape ; many a trusting maiden radiant
with happiness, health, and beauty, who gives herself in marriage, speedily finds
her joy turned to mourning, her health to disease, and, it may be, her beauty
defaced by its loathsome poison ; many a mother has to deplore the contamination,
not only of her own constitution, but that of her child, to which, either before or
after birth, in countless instances that poison proves fatal. Thus the social malady
which we now propose to discuss is vitally interesting to woman : it affects her
both as a wife and as a mother, and while destroying the health of herself and of
the dearest objects of her affections, too often blights those affections themselves.
Suffering as she does from its effects, shall she be restrained by conventional pro
hibitions, or even by her own sensitive delicacy, from manifesting her interest in
it, from exerting her influence at once to repress it and to remove its causes, or
from labouring in every possible way to place herself and those related to her out of
danger? On the contrary, we believe that this is precisely one of those subjects
which it is her most solemn duty to examine for herself. We believe that only through
the resolute co-operation and influence of women w any great and permanent diminu
tion of the evil in question possible. If the sexual Relation is to be ennobled, if passion
shall ever be so restrained as to become only the intensest expression of affection,
if love shall ever be so purified and hallowed as never to degrade and sacrifice, but
always to exalt and bless its objects, women will assuredly be the chief agents of
the change. So greatly do our hopes of social amelioration depend on the co
operation with wise and earnest men of intelligent and beneficent women, that we
entreat their attention to the facts we are about to describe. We shall say nothing
but what a most delicate and refined woman might listen to from her physician,
nothing but what every woman, if she be capable of understanding it, should, in
our opinion, know. On this subject we believe the language of simplicity to be the
purest and the least calculated to offend the most delicate nature. But the contem
plation of disease, of which we shall have much to say, ih always painful, and not
seldom revolting; no painting can make the pictures of it pleasing; and especially
would the attempt be futile with reference to those diseases the character and
magnitude of which it will be our duty to portray.”
The writer points out that according to the Registrar-General’s returns 408
deaths occurred from diseases associated with thejvice of the streets, and that this
number, great as it is, gives no idea of the real amouiff, as from the shame attaching
to the disease it is assigned as a cause of death in public practice only, and seldom
or never in private practice. A human organism once tainted can never be restored,
he asserts, to the condition of health and strength which it might otherwise have
enjoyed, and this it is that makes the subject of so great social importance. In the
conclusion of the article the writer gives his opinion of the Contagious Diseases
Act in these words:—
“ Prostitution presents two aspects—one social, the other physical, and hence
two questions for solution. First, how may prostitution be eradicated ? And,
second, until it is, how may the diseases engendered of it be extirpated, or" at least
reduced within the narrowest possible limits ? Any adequate discussion of the first
�114
THE DIETETIC REFORMER
involves such a wide and comprehensive consideration of every aspect of the relation
of the sexes, as few men, if any, of the present day are duly qualified to undertake;
the other, dealing only as it does with certain results of prostitution—the diseases
we have described—is more simple, and this we propose to grapple with hereafter,
and pledge ourselves to prove that this question can and ought to be practically
dealt with, that the plan of dealing with it now vigorously pressed on the Legisla
ture of extending the Contagious Diseases Act to the civil population will both
signally fail to accomplish the object in view, and will itself entail evils far
greater than those it is intended to remedy, and that there is a plan open to no
such objection, in harmony with the free spirit of English institutions, which, if
practised, will be successful, and which it is our intention fully to explain in a
succeeding number of this Review."—The Western Daily Press, Sept. Wth.
PHYSICAL HEALTH, STRENGTH, AND ACTIVITY CAN
BE REGULATED BY DIET.
The vitality of plants, the muscular activity of all animals, and the mental as well
as muscular and organic health and vigour of man, depend on phosphorus. These
are legitimate inferences from facts, presented clearly, as you shall see, in the
organisation of plants, animals, and man. In grains and all seeds, the phosphates
which give vitality, and furnish food for the brain and nerves, reside in the germ or
“ chit,” while the fixed phosphates, which are devoted to bones, &c., are mixed with
gluten in the crust under the hull, as seen in the plates of corn and wheat. That
the phosphates are concentrated in the germ of all seeds, and that they vary in
different seeds, is easily ascertained by chemical tests applied to the grain or seed.
It is thus ascertained that some seeds and some grains contain two or three
times as much phosphates as others. Wheat, for example, contains two per cent,
while millet four per cent. 'Grass seed from six to seven per cent, and some, as
clover and herds-grass, from seven to nine. In all seeds and roots and nuts, which
germinate from chits or eyes, the phosphates centre about these eyes, and what is
not found there, is always found connected with the muscle-making part of the grain
or fruit, showing that the phosphates are connected with vitality and the life-giving
principle.
The same thing is shown in animals by a test of their flesh, and by their manner
of living. The flesh of quadrupeds and birds, and fishes, contains phosphorus in
just the°proportion to their natural activity, wild animals much more than domestic ;
the most active birds, like the pigeon and migrating birds, much more than domestic
fowls, and quiet and lazy birds. The migrating fishes, whose astonishing muscular
power enables them to swim up rapids and over falls, contain more phosphates than
the flounder and halibut, which are clumsy and comparatively dormant.
Insects abound in phosphorus in proportion to their activity and strength of
muscle, and among them are the greatest gymnasts in the world. The leap of a
flea is as great in proportion to size of muscle, as if a man should jump over the
Atlantic Ocean, from Boston to London; and a beetle, not weighing s scruple, will
lift and move a junk bottle with contents, weighing, a pound—a weight more than
one hundred times as great, in proportion, as Dr. Winship could lift (and the beetle
wears no yoke). Being wanted for scientific purposes, a beetle was.placed, for safe
keeping, under a bottle filled with liquid, in the inverted cup made in the bottom of
the bottle. Immediately the plucky little insect was seen walking off with the
bottle on his back—as if the strong doctor, being shut up in his own office in the
basement of Park-street Church, with a steeple two hundred feet high, should hoist
the old thing, steeple and all, over into the cemetery.
.
The active bird lives on active insects or small seeds, which contain the most
phosphorus, while the sluggish hen or robin is content with corn or worms, which
contain much less of the life-giving element; and migratory birds,
bbey
remain quiet, raising their young, live on worms and berries, but in the fall get a
supply of strength for annual flight by eating seeds and active insects. The king
bird is the smartest little bird in New England, and gets his name from the fact
�115
AND VEGETARIAN MESSENGER.
that he governs all other birds—large and small, or drives them from his domain if
they give Um offence. Even the hawk, which is such a terror to other birds, seems
to be a source of amusement to the kingbird. Many a time have I seen this little
bird, not one-tenth as large as the hawk, flying just over his back in the air,
keeping out of his way by superior activity, occasionally pouncing on him, and
giving him such annoyance that he was glad to leave the neighbourhood to escape
■Ra little tormenter. A brace of these jolly and eccentric little kingbirds are just
now affording infinite amusement to the denizens and visitors of Chester square,
in Boston, June, 1867. Having, according to the custom of other royal families,
selected a beautiful city residence for a part of the year, and having built their
nest, and the queen being engaged in matters pertaining to the perpetuation of
royalty, the king is obliged to entertain visitors^ This he does by pouncing on the
backs of dogs and driving them from the square; diving at the bright buttons on
the policemen’s coats; knocking off tall, black, awkward stove-funnel hats, &c.
Looking out of my office window, which looks over an open lot to the square, the
other day, I saw this kingbird pouncing with tremendous vigour into a thicket of
shrubs, and soon came out a big cat, escaping as' for life, to the nearest shelter,
with the little bird every moment striking at his back and head. This little king
bird lives on bees and hornets—insects proverbial for their industry,.strength, and
persevering activity—and on flies, whose activity keeps them up inthe air for
amusement, and the bird amuses hirnself in catching them; and thus it is clearly
established that active animals require food which contains more phosphorus than
inactive animals, and the inference is conclusive that man also will have more or
less activity of brain or muscle in proportion to' the elements he takes to feed the
brain and muscle.—Philosophy of Eating.
DR. MUSSEY ON HEALTH
*
[From The Radical (Monthly), for January, 1869.
(Continued from p. 69.J
Boston, U.S.]
But to return to the point, as to what feeds the world. Look first at the great
flesh-eaters, — the inhabitants of Northern Europe, Eastern Asia, and North
America, the Laplanders, the Tungooes, and the Buracts. ;. They are the weakest
and least brave of men. Take some of the New Zealand tribes,—-eating like cows,
on all-fours, tearing a smoking hog to pieces with their fingers, and eating all up,-—
flesh-eating monsters ! They are theinost savage and unhealthy of men; while their
children, fruit-eaters during youth, are healthy and mild.. They get disease and
savageness when they leave the fruits for flesh. Take a, tribe of one of the Westmann Islands. The people die rapidly, and have few.children. They live on eggs
and birds almost exclusively. But the Irishman with his potato lives to old age,
and the number of his children we know. On the other hand, look at the fifteen or
sixteen cases which the doctor cites. 1. Some tribes in the South Pacific. Excel in
■beauty and grandeur of form. Few cripples or diseased persons among them. They
are entirely fruit and grain eaters. 2. The earlier Greek athletse. Very powerful.
Ate no animal food. 3. The Saracens under Mohammed. A' terror to. Southern
Europe. Heroes. Food, water, milk, vegetables. And so their great chief, Oinar.
He, too, lived entirely on vegetable food. Celebrated'for his endurance,, purity,
genius. 4. A tribe at Jenno, east of Gape Mesurado; They have flesh which they
can have if they would prefer it. They do prefer fruits and vegetables. A stronger
■race of men not to be found. 5. The Spanish peasants. Food/ milk and wheat
flour, or bread steeped in oil, or bread and cheeSe. Great labourers. And one traveller
says they are the liveliest, healthiest, best-favoured peasants he has seen. 6. The
inhabitants of East Scotland. Strong, large, healthy. Diet, vegetables and oat
meal ; no meat. Scott speaks of the “ hardy warriors of Douglas who lived on the
oat-meal taken from the bag suspended by the great chimney.” 7. The Russian
grenadiers. Called the “ finest body of troops.” Food each day, one pound of black
gbread, and half a pound of vegetable oil. 8. The porters of Smyrna. Carry through
* Health; Its Friends and its Foes.
Lincoln.
By R. D. Musaey, M.D., LL.D.
Boston: Gould and
�116
THE DIETETIC REFORMER .
the streets on their backs four-hundred-pound boxes of sugar, .gome take up nine
hundred pounds of boards for a single-load. Food spare ; coarse bread, figs, other
fruits, water. 9. The blacks of South Carolina,—field hands. Live on sweet potatoes
and corn meal. Healthy during the malaria. But if they become house domestics,
and live more generously, subject to malaria. A proof that the fever is kept off more
by the careful diet than the black’s constitution. It is also said that the young field
hands, who subsist entirely upon fruit and grain, learn much better than the home
servants,who eat everything. 10. The famous Cherokee athletae. They play a most
bellicose game of ball of two hours’ duration, taxing their muscular system to the
utmost. Their food is corn meal. Sometimes those who eat flesh enter the lists. At
first more vigorous than the others. But never endure so long as the corn-eaters.
They fail in breath. 11. The Chili miners. Carry stones of three hundred and sixty
pounds’weight on their backs from the bottom of the mines, three hundred feet deep.
Have no ladders to go up on. Diet, very seldom meat. Usually harricot bean and
bread. 12. The hardy pupils in the old Persian schools. Trained, according to
Xenophon, to heavy camp exercise and severe hunts. Very strong. Food, bread
and water-cresses. 13. The athletse of the Himalaya Mountains. One of them is
often stronger than three Europeans. Can grasp a man at the breast and back
between their palms, and lift him at arms’ length. Never eat meat. 14. The trappists of Kentucky. Labour ech day twelve hours. No cases of cancer and liver
disease. Hardly any sickness. Live to great age. When the Western fever and
cholera have raged about them, they were exempt,—not one case of sickness. Food,
vegetables and milk.
Nor do these statements as to masses of men exhaust the subject; though it
must be admitted they make out a splendid case for grains and vegetables as against
beef and luxuries. As facts making against the necessity of a meat diet, we think
them victorious. Whether they prove more, we do not discuss. But, besides these
cases, the doctor adduces others of individuals which are valuable. He alludes to the
great world-geniuses, Pythagoras, Plato, Newton (when at his heaviest work), and
Descartes, who managed to subsist their minds and bodies to boot without patronising
the butcher. To one Golonel Twitchell, who found himself a bankrupt. He made a
resolution to eat no meat or rich food till he had paid his debts. A very blessed
resolution, worthy of being followed in honest Boston. Had been troubled with cold
feet and little coughs. But, bravo I his bread and water helped him to perfect health
and a fortune. To Colonel Haskett. In perfect health. Walked two thousand miles
in ninety days, on fifteen, eighteen, twenty ounces of bread, with one or two quarts
of water, per diem. To Dr. R. Jackson, a British surgeon. He boasted that he
had worn out two British armies in two wars, and could wear out a third. He never
ate meat. To the Arabs of the desert. Perfectly healthy. Live, some of them, to
200 years. They subsist on very moderate quantities of camel’s milk. On so little,
in fact, that sometimes, upon an autopsy, their stomachs are found greatly contracted.
These Arabs are as hardy and fiery as their splendid horses. Finally, he tells the story
of a miser and his new wife. At forty, the miser proposed marriage with a rich widow
*
The widow possessed the blessing of wealth, but not health. His protestations of
affection were the strongest. “ He loved the very ground she walked on ” (she was
a large holder of real estate). But the widow was out of health. Constitution
shattered. Very much reduced. Stomach used up. The marriage took place. And
her ardent lover, whether, as was surmised, to bring a seasonable issue to her exist
ence, and thus get the property, or to keep her and himself from debts at the
butcher’s and grocer’s, proceeded at once to put her on low diet. She descended to
corn-meal bread, hasty-pudding, and boiled potatoes. But the miser’s ambition over
leaped itself. The widow become healthy, and added to her life fifteen years. So
much, then, for a simple diet. In fact, from a moral point of view, the doctor is
sure that an unstimulating diet of grains tends directly to make people calm, pure,
happy. He alludes to the beautiful type, the Quaker family; cheerful, healthy,
moral; eating, of course, little meat. And to a flesh-eating and most fierce Auburn
prisoner. He was most dangerously violent; but at once became quiet and docile on
a bread and vegetable diet. It was the only thing which would bring him to terms]
The world at large, therefore, attests to the fact that hardihood and health may go
with the grains and fruits. The cutlet and turtle may be very nice and palatable, but
labour can go on bravely without them.
�AND VEGETARIAN MESSENGER.
117
But we must not dismiss the doctor’s book quite yet. His second cardinal rule as
ttrhealth refers to quantity. He insists on a moderate amount of food for the maximum
of health. Especially does he insist on this for the ailing person, and for that unfortunate individual among the class who carries in his body a bottomless pit, a bad
itomach. He admits that a man may drink deeply and advance to ninety, or eat
heartily and live as long. But do you want brilliant nerves, clear tissues, blood that
can leap and bound because unclogged by the weight of an august dinner, a brain
whose tides of light will run through the year with little ebb ? then, he says, look
to the amount of what you eat. And if you are a melancholy, pulled-down repro
bate of a dyspeptic, here, here is your salvation. We will close what we have to
say by giving a few of his capital illustrations upon the point.
First, as to the general matter of quantity. He thinks that from one to two
pounds a day furnish sufficient nutriment for the body to do its work. And facts
which we have gleaned from other sources lead us to believe that his rule could be
made universal, and the race be better off. It is said that in Central Brazil there
are tribes who are as muscular as any men to be found among the Caucasians, and
as hard labourers too. They eat but one light meal a day. A cup of coffee takes
the place of the others. The Egyptian peasantry are a very fine class of men.
Hire them for a Nile expedition. They will bake their bad flour in a heated hole in
the ground, throw the rock-like lump into the boat, work all day at the oar, or at
the pole or line, and then, chipping off a piece of the bread, as big as an orange,
with an axe, will soak it in the muddy Nile, and eat it as an abundant supper.
Breakfast, the same. In many parts of India, too,, where the labourers compare
quite favourably with the English, their diet is almost exclusively rice, and small
at that. Four cents a day pays their wages. They will live on one, and lay up
the other three. John Wesley did enormous work. He averaged eighteen
hours a day in labour. Rode thousands of miles (seven hours a day for months
on horseback). Preached thousands of sermons (often five a day.) Published
over forty volumes. And lived strong till ninety. Jonathan Edwards was a
great student. What he accomplished we know. His allowance was a pound
for a day. Many English poorhouses and workhouses give out daily rations
of two and three pounds. The work done and health accruing are not the maxi
mum. But those work and poor houses where the daily allowance of a pound and
a half is given make the best exhibit of work, and health too. We all know of the
alertness and military prowess of the Bedouins. Yet the majority of them eat but
six ounces of food a day. Often six or seven dates soaked in melted butter give
them all their food for twenty-four hours. The addition of a little ball of rice is
considered a luxury. The case of an English captain is cited. He was taken
prisoner at Algiers. He lived nine months on one pound Of black-bread and a
pitcher of water a day. Moreover he did hard work. Yet he was perfectly well.
A Mr. Reed lived twenty-eight days on thirty pounds of corn. Stronger than ever
at the end of the four weeks. He alludes also to several cases where men have
>lived for years healthfully and happily on apples alone. But, without mentioning
more, what we have shown ought to be conclusive. And when we consider the
feasting habits both of past and present^ and their consequences, stupidity of mind,
loathsome disease of body; when we remember that letter of Cicero, describing a
supper at his house,—his illustrious guest, the bald first Caesar, preparing for the
battle at the board by an emetic taken just before the repast, .that he might feast
high and long; when we recall that famous German Krocher who put down into
his capacious stomach a whole calf in twenty-four hours; the hungry Texans in
the mountains, grumbling because they could get but seven pounds of Buffalo
meat for each man per diem; and the numberless great suppers of everyday occur
rence, paid for by precious headaches, colds, neuralgias, restless nights and fevers,
and followed by other not very pleasant consequences, poor sermons, poor briefs,
poor fields, poor money-drawers,—these melancholy things should cast a light upon
the fact as to the alliance of simplicity of diet with health and happiness, and make
men cease to be fools at their meals.
One word more for the sick man. We have current some very delightful rules
as to the healing art. One is, for example, stuff a cold. A second, fill up the
body, if you feel weak. A third, decidedly Napoleonic, is, a man, like an army,
moves on its stomach. And the joke is, a person seems to use these charming rules
�118
THE DIETETIC REFORMER
all the more as he grows sicker and weaker, until he winds up with a fever or dis
eased bronchial tube. Now we venture to say that in New England every year
thousands fling themselves into graves by their excesses at the table. Nay,
thousands do it, believing the excess a necessity. And we are sure that the saving
gospel to thousands of invalids around us is, “Limit your diet. Don’t starve.
Don’t eat sawdust nor drink skim-milk. But cut off a respectable portion from
every meal.” Look at these rules. Stuff a cold! The very condition of a cold’s
departure is that the system must be freed from an excess of solids and liquids.
Feed up, if you feel weak 1 The very thing which often makes weakness is too
much food ; the chemical laboratory of the stomach becomes used, and needs rest;
and to eat adds to the weakness. We never work a weary limb to get strength.
We let it be quiet. And of the two kinds of overwork for the poor body, common
labour and the overtaxing the chemical power of the assimilative and digestive
organs, we know that where one man gives out from the first fault, fifty give out
from the second. Work a battery of the chemist to excess, and it is done. Give
the inner bodily tissues enormous labour by flinging to them vast quantities of food
to be made into blood and fibre, and these batteries are damaged. But let the
tissues be relieved, and work moderately, and then, soon, daily labour will be
invigorating. The strains which bring disease are not usually on the muscles or
brain, but on the digestive and other internal organs. And now, what the remedy ?
The doctor answers, reduce your feeding. »He tells of a child, quite sick and
feverish, and living, said its mother, in a most careful way. What was the careful
way ? “ Oh ! it has just taken the breast of a chicken, a piece of apple-pie, a slice
of cake, and only a mug of tea ; nothing more.” He mentions a sick student, used
up from a cold and bilious attack. The poor sufferer had been reducing his diet.
Had just eaten only a piece of mince-pie, ditto of squash, two large slices of buttered
bread, a piece of pound-cake, and drank seven cups of tea. Famishing fellow!. A
wonder of abstemiousness! Now perhaps these are uncommon cases. But it is
still true that two-thirds of New England, by leading not an active, robust life, but
a quiet one, by feeding at almost every meal a trifle more than it ought, finds that
in the course of weeks or months, at any rate, years, it has rolled up these trifles,
so as to make a great excess, like the invalid’s fast on pound-cake and the seven
cups. The result in the two classes of cases is the same.
He tried his cure on a miserable asthmatic. Had had in a year a dozen con
vulsive attacks. A short diet of bread and water cured him. He tried a merchant.
Had most severe pains in ,the region of the bowels, and was reduced. His physician
told him to feed up. Accordingly brandy, beef-steak and wine, were largely appealed
to. But no better. While bread and water, in small quantities, cured him, and he
grew fat. A boy was afflicted with constant vomitings for months. Became a
skeleton. Nothing would help. The doctor began treatment by a table-spoonful
of milk a day. Gradually increased the quantity. Was cured. A person was reduced very low from indigestion, with a voracious appetite. The doctor put kim
on four ounces of crackers for eleven days, and five for the next twenty-eight. The
result was, the craving ceased, strength restored. Dr. James Jackson tells of a
convalescent from lung difficulty, who gained flesh on two crackeis a day. We
have all heard of the crusty Englishman, Dr. Abernethy. He probably helped
more of John Bull’s subjects out of bilious troubles than any other physician. And
his one solitary rule for a man sick from indigestion was twelve ounces of coarse
bread per diem, with an interval of six hours between meals. The recipe cured
hundreds. He cites the case of a woman who constantly lost flesh as she increased
her rations, and as constantly gained as she decreased the food to a sPec’flc quan
tity. And now for the case of Jervis Robinson. He was a ship-builder. At
thirty-two he was a profound dyspeptic, weak as water. Tried the filling-up sys
tem ; attacked every day luscious buttered beef-steak; but grew worse At last
tried the radical’s diet. Ate, for four months, three ounces of wheat-meal per day,
one ounce at each meal. For liquid, to a third of a gill of water at each meal, or a
gill a day. At the end of sixty days had lost twenty pounds But bowels became
regular. Kept on his strict diet sixty days more, leaving off the third of a gill of
water for supper. And then, behold! at the end of the two months, on three ounces
of food a day, he had gained twenty pounds. Was well. And, moreover, was
always satisfied with his meals. Now we beg to say that this case is most remarkable
�AND VEGETARIAN MESSENGER.
119 *
and instinctive. Dyspepsia is the small dragon which accompanies a third of the
people of New England. It seems to go with them, like the little dog following in
the street. We are aware of the usual remedy—the pill. The doctor mentions one
senli-martyr who swallowed in four weeks six hundred Brandreth’s pills. And
another who put down one thousand three hundred Morrison Boluses in six months,
or eight a day. We know a man who for twenty years paid out twenty-five hundred
dollars for patent medicines. He took every quack preparation he had ever heard
ofi and the day of his death sent off' for a new medicine. He had emptied into his
stomach four thousand boxes of pills. And finally would buy medicine by the
wholesale, put his pills into a bean-pot, and take a heaping teaspoonful every twentyfour hours. It may be refreshing to know the result of this magnificent dosing.
He finally died. But there is a more excellent way than this. It is the rule as to
Quantity. And we are sure, as blessed old Amos Lawrence used to say, there is
more exhilaration and inspiration to be got from a temperate diet than from all the
baskets of champagne and choice cuts of marbled beef in the world. Louis Cornaro
is, of course, a classic example. At forty he was in consumption, and given up. He
took to a careful diet, and ate for the next fifty years but twelve ounces of food a
day, drinking but the same number of ounces of liquid—two tumblers of wine.
Twice he deviated from his rigorous rule, and paid a severe penalty in each case.
But the diet made him strong and happy. At eighty he wrote a book on the plea
sures of temperance. And, moreover, at forty he was poor, though a nobleman.
But after recovery he purchased a farm, did his farm work on the twelve ounces,
and grew rich. It is known, too, that our ven.erablfi Dr, Jackson (a name never to
be mentioned without respect), considerably changed his views in later years, as to
the matter of quantity and kind of food in connection with lung diseases. He
believed that in very many cases a diet of very moderate quantity, and, moreover,
mostly vegetable, would furnish a far better remedy than any other. And the reason
is clear. In consumption, the system is weak. The organs are enfeebled. Part of
the chemical apparatus has collapsed. And the remedy lies in applying the same
law to the body which you would apply to a horse-wearied out, or a brain exhausted
from thinking. It wants rest. Give the internal organs little to do in the way of
assimilation and digestion ; let nature, the great curer, have time to clean out foul
matter from the tissues and great organs, and then assert its own force. Do this,
and you may expect fruitful results. Finally, the testimony of another distinguished
physician is in point—that ornament of his profession, that representative of our
bright gift of brain, that Christian man, Dr. John Ware. Unfortunately, he has left
us for the higher and holier walk. But his magnificent power of judgment will
Bong be remembered in Boston. At first, the doctor treated cases of indigestion in
the old way; believed in the generous breakfast, dinner, and supper; generally
advised the dyspeptic to eat at least a pound and a half each day; nay, would advise
this quantity with medicine, rather than less without it. But later he revolutionised
his system, and confessed his mistake : and his own later diet is not a bad prescrip
tion for all suffering from that unamiable devil, a torpid liver. Breakfast, one cup
of tea (or coffee), one baked apple, one thin slice of toast. Dinner, a piece of meat
as large as your two fingers, one tablespoonful of squash, and one of potato, or their
equivalent. No more. No bread, no pie, no pudding, no dessert, nothing more,
except part of a tumbler of water. Supper, a baked apple, and at times a cup of
tea. Before retiring, took a cup of milk boiled with half a cup of the hulls of wheat
(which, by the way, to our own disadvantage, we give our horses under the name of
“ shorts’’)- That new diet he used to remark made him a different man. Cured his
costiveness (most obstinate). Gave him strength and cheerfulness. Checked a
disease of the brain that for many years he was sure was in progress. Allowed him
to see and visitKany patients during the day, and to study into midnight. In fact,
added to his life, and took from him years of pain and depression. Now, when it is
remembered that our usual diet goes up to two pounds, and often to four, sometimes
to six and eight, and that a sick man or woman is no wonder in our community, but
is almost the average type of the population, we submit that, in the great light of
the cases we have stated, we need here a vast reform. We need, as the good Dr.
Mussey says, a more simple diet, and in much less quantity.
I
,
<
<
||
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THE DIETETIC REFORMER
“SLINK” AT SWINTON.
“ Slink” is a word used to describe unsound or diseased meat. “ Slink” is, in fact,
“ shoddy” meat, and, like “shoddy,” “slink” is of various qualities and prices.
The “ slink” trade is an important one, and many men have realised fortunes in it.
The cattle plague, whilst it ruined thousands, made hundreds. It will hardly be
credited, but it is nevertheless true, that no matter what the disease, or how the
animal has met with its death, the carcass is too valuable to be buried, but is con
verted into food. “ Pig’s cheek,” “ brawn,” “ sausages,” “ veal pies,” are all more
or less under the influence of “ slink.” Manufacturers of these articles exist out
side our towns, and it is chiefly in the cooked state that this abominable traffic is
carried on. Milk cans are the favourite means of conveying “ slink” from place
to place. They attract no attention, and are not liable to be inspected. Some may
be inclined to discredit our statements, but it is only a month or two ago that a
celebrated veal-pie man was fined for having in his possession several putrid calves ;
and every week some person appears in our police courts for exposing diseased cattle
or meat for sale. Last week the Salford magistrates fined one I. Bury £10 and
costs, for bringing a diseased heifer to market; for which offence he is now taking
the alternative of “ three months” in prison.
The Nuisances and Cattle Market Inspectors reduce the live “slink” made in
our large towns to a minimum, but they are almost powerless to prevent the impor
tation of dressed and cooked offal. The inhuman dealers in this traffic are well
read in the law. They know that an inspector’s power terminates with the city
or borough boundary, and just over the line they bid him defiance. In the same
way, just let a cart loaded with “ slink” cross from Salford to Manchester, or vice
versa, and the authorities of either cannot follow and seize it.. They can only give
information to their brother officials. In giving this information much time is lost,
and the fox generally manages to get to earth. Again, only officers of health and
inspectors of nuisances can legally detain suspicious meat, &c. A policeman, as
such, has no right to stop any butcher’s cart or examine any slaughter-house. The
law wants extending here ; and it ought to be lawful for any policeman or inspector
of nuisances to seize any unwholesome meat wherever he may find it. If such
were the case, the “ slink” factories in the neighbourhood would soon be stamped
out. The sickness caused by the fearful amount of bad meat that is sold must be
considerable. Fancy eating joints of meat cut from a cow which has died of puer
peral fever, consumption, pleuro-pneumania, abcesses, and hosts of other com
plaints. We are just learning that consumption is an innocuable complaint, and
therefore the fair inference is that it may also be propagated by means of eating
meat saturated with tubercle. No disease is so catching or fatal as puerperal fever,
and yet we are told on most incontrovertible authority that hardly a cow dies in
or after calving, but is dressed and sold for food. We could enter into many more
details, but they are so disgusting that we will spare our readers their recital, and
only say hardly a parasite exists which cannot be, and is not, propagated in
the human frame by means of unsound meat.
The reason we have called attention to this disagreeable subject this week is
because only the other day a case occurred at Swinton, which well illustrates the
difficulties which surround the seizure of “ slink.” A cow was seized at Swinton
as unfit for food. The nuisance inspector seized it; and to assist and confirm his
judgment, Inspector Bird, of Salford, and Mr. Bostock, veterinary surgeon, were
also called to examine the animal. The verdict was an unanimous one against the
cow. And so the carcase was destroyed. For giving an honest professional opinion,
Mr. Bostock has been favoured with the following specimens of the Swinton Art of
Polite Letter Writing:—
.
,
“ Swinton, August 10th, 69.
“ Mr. Bostock, Sir,—I write to inform you that a public meeting of the ratepayers
of. the Swinton Local Board will be holden at the Bull’s Head on Wednesday evening
next, at seven o’clock, to condemn the proceedings and conduct of Bird, Bostock,
and Claridge, and the shamefull Robbery which by them was committed last week,
and to take further proceedings with respect to the same and to the removal of
Claridge.—Yours respy.,
“A Ratepayer.
�AND VEGETARIAN MESSENGER.
“Your conduct in this affair has met with public condemnation from all Classes
Bffine most respectable Ratepayers.”
“ If you think your qualification worth defending you had better attend tor, it
will be severely tested by Public Opinion. Against other Respectable gentlemen.
Inspectors Claridge and Bird have also been subject to much personal abuse.
The cow in question was very much diseased, lungs and kidneys both being unsound,
especially the lungs.
.
,
Whether or no the “ indignation meeting” was held we do not know, but tor the
fair fame of the Swinton ratepayers we will hope not. The Swinton folks it seems
are indignant” over many things. They object to their Local Board; in other
words they object to being compelled to be less filthy. They cannot understand
being “penny wise and pound foolish,” and so they were to have an “indignation
meeting” against the Local Board. At this meeting we suppose an attempt would
be made to drag in the consumptive cow. If we could have ordered matters, all
present should have been compelled to sup on this cow ; that would have cured them.
Even supposing those indignant Swintonians should prefer eating diseased meat,
we cannot allow them to indulge their unnatural propensities. We should have to
keep their sick, and we know that health depends in a great measure on good food.
PAb-o’-th’-Yate’s” friend’s cow hung herself, and Ab profited thereby; but honest
Ab would not have iled his children’s hair with dripping from a consumptive beast.
We should be happy to contribute our mite towards sending f a ratepayer” to
the village school, for he evidently knows nothing.of two out of the “three B’s;”
and in all probability he has no need to know aught of the last one, for the ‘ sBnk ’
trade is so profitable a one as to render ’rithmejbi©-superfluous.—From, the Shadow
(Manchester).
_______________ _________
Milk Diet.—The general indications for its use are so well laid down by
Niemeyer, that I shall quote what he says:—In the selection of suitable diet for
consumptive patients, the old rules, derived partly from common experience, agree
completely with the views now received in physiology respecting nourishment and
renewal of tissue. All the articles of food especially recommended to consumptive
patients contain large quantities of fat, or of substances which form it, and propor
tionately little of protein substances. This selection corresponds with the empiri
cally ascertained fact, that the production of urea, or the conversion of nitrogenous
elements, is increased by a large supply of protein substances; while,on the other
hand, the conversion and expenditure of the organs and tissues most important to
the organism is reduced by an abundant supply of fat and fat-forming articles.
Therefore, the freest possible use of milk cannot be too strongly recommended to
phthisical patients. But it is entirely superfluous, and indeed erroneous,, to remove
the casein from the milk and make it be drunk in the shape of whey; this, can only
be necessary in the rare cases when the stomach bears whey well and milk badly.
When I frequently order my patients to drink three times daily a pint of milk warm
from the cow, my only object is that, the milk should not be robbed of any of. its
constituents or skimmed before it is drunk.” Warm milk is like other warm fluids,
useful in chronic bronchitis. Milk is also an agent of very great value in affections
of the stomach and of the intestines. It is easy to see how it is useful when we do
not wish to give these organs much work to do; in chronic catarrhs of the stomach,
and in perforating ulcer, milk is constantly used with great advantage. In infants,
when amylaceous food is given too early, a return to milk is often the appropriate
remedy. It is also useful in chronic diarrhoea and dysentery; in the chronic diarrhoea of children its use is familiar; and it is an old and rather neglected remedy in
dysentery. If used with care, it is a valuable adjunct in many stages of the disease,
and I believe that, if more freely and systematically used, it would be found to be
one of the best cures for the obstinate diarrhoeas and other sequelae of tropical .dy
sentery. Of course the milk must be taken with care, and it must be ascertained
whether it is digested or not. If given in too large quantities, it may overload the
stomach and increase the diarrhoea. To improve general constitutional states, there
is no necessity, as in Dr. Karell’s employment of it, for the milk being drunk at
precise hours and in precise quantities. The chief object is to drink the milk in
such quantities as are digestible. There is no virtue in drinking milk warm from
the cow, if you do not like it. It is better to have it previously boiled.
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THE DIETETIC REFORMER
The Philosophy of Marriage.—Few people, in estimating the happiness of a
married couple, make due allowance for human imperfection. No two human
beings can be brought into the intimate relationship of husband and wife without
the occasional development of something discordant. Only perfect, absolutely sin
less persons, could live absolutely perfect lives together; and such men and women
can never be found in this world; and as in another world there will be no marrying,
absolutely perfect marriages can never be realised, either in this world or in that
which is to come. But are not the vast majority of married persons quite as happy
as an equal number of unmarried ones? Nay, more, are not the great majority of
married people as happy in their married state as they would be unmarried ? And
still more, are they not as happy with each other as they would be with anybody
else ? By a change of partners, they might get rid of some one or more causes of
disturbances between them—some constitutional defects or infirmities, or some dis
agreeable cherished habits; but they would find in other parties other causes of
disturbance quite as serious, though of an entirely different kind; so that, after all,
it might be very difficult to say on which side there was the greatest amount of
happiness or misery. The fact is that men and women are susceptible of only a
given amount of contentment and happiness in any condition of life; and marry
whom they will, they can never exceed their capacity for enjoyment. Many people
are foolish enough to imagine that marriage is the sovereign cure for all the dis
quietudes and miseries of life; and when they get married, and yet find their
favourite panacea does not work perfectly, they jump to the conclusion that it is
because their marriage was not a true one—that it was ill-assorted, and therefore an
unhappy one; whereas the only difficulty is, that both husband and wife are
human—neither divine nor angelic—and have, like all other human beings, more
or less of sinful infirmity about them.
Physical Influence of Sunday Rest.—“ I have practised as a physician
between thirty and forty years, and during the early part of my life, as the physician
of a public medical institution, I had charge of the poor in one of the most populous
districts of London. I have had occasion to observe - the effect of the observance
and non-observance of the seventh day of rest during that time. I have been in
the habit during a great many years of considering the uses of the Sabbath, and of
observing its abuses. The abuses are chiefly manifested in labour and dissipation.
Its use, medically speaking, is that of a day of rest. As a day of rest I view it as
a day of compensation for the inadequate restorative power of the body under con
tinued labour and excitement. A physician always has respect to the preservation
of the restorative power, because if this once be lost, his healing office is at an end.
A physician is anxious to preserve the balance of circulation as necessary to the
restorative power of the body. The ordinary exertions of man run down the circu
lation every day of his life; and the first general law of nature, by which God
prevents man from destroying himself, is the alternating night and day, that repose
may succeed action. But although the night apparently equalises the circulation,
yet it does not sufficiently restore its balance for the attainment of a long life.
Hence, one day in seven, by the bounty of Providence, is thrown in as a day of com
pensation, to perfect by its repose the animal system. I consider, therefore, that
in the bountiful provision of Providence for the preservation of human life, the
Sabbatical appointment is not as it has been sometimes theologically viewed, simply
a precept, partaking of the nature of a political institution, but that it is to be num
bered amongst the natural duties, if the preservation of life be admitted to be a duty,
and a premature destruction of it a suicidal act.’’—J. R- Farre, M.D.
Bread without Grinding Corn. —The Daily News says, a method has been dis
covered of making bread without grinding the corn, and a patent has been taken out
for the process. It is said that whereas in the process for making bread from flour
there is much waste, so that lOOlbs. of grain yields only 1121bs. of bread ; according
to the new process lOOlbs. of grain will produce 145 or 1501bs. of bread. The new
bread is not only increased in quantity, but is also said to be of better quality. Accord
ing to the old process much, of the gluten was decomposed and lost in the heat of
grinding. It is preserved when grinding is unnecessary; and the new mode of fermen
tation contributes greatly to the whiteness of the bread. Of course we give no opinion
on the invention, whether it does or does not proceed on sound principles ; or whether,
if the principles be sound, their application is practicable.
�AND VEGETARIAN MESSENGER.
133
VEGETARIAN QUERIES.
To the Editor of the Dietetic Reformer.
■ Dear Sir,—I shall be glad if you would permit me to ask a few questions on
practical matters which may possibly be of service to many others like myself, if
some old practised Vegetarians will be at the little trouble to reply to them from
their larger experience.
Rice.—How is this to be ground ? In what sort of mill—what is its cost—and
where obtained? In an ordinary steel flour mill it grinds with great difficulty, and
seems in danger of injuring the mill. It could be used in various ways, but only
safely if ground at home.
Earley and Rye.—Will these grind in an ordinary steel grinding mill used for
corn ?
L Cocoa.—How may the nuts be ground ? I have heard of a cocoa mill: Does it
work satisfactorily, and to the best advantage? An iron pestle and mortar (the
nuts, pestle, and mortar made hot, and then pounded) is said to be the most success
ful method of preparation, as it is then pasty, and the oil comes out.. If so, where
can such pestle and mortar be had, and at what cost ? I do not consider the boiling
of the nib as satisfactory, as well as being a very long process.
Oatmeal.—Is there any simple means of preparing this for domestic use from
the oat, at home. Any simple plan of drying and doing the- necessary decortication
or crushing ?
I Perhaps these are enough for one number.
An Outside Friend.
INFANTS’ FOOD.
To the Editor of the Dietetic Reformer.
Dear Sir, —I wish to let you know what has Recently occurred here, proving the
wisdom and correctness of Dr. Sylvester Graham’s advice for bringing up infants
by hand. An infant, for which the mother had no milk, and which they were
attempting to bring up by hand, was shown to me when a few weeks old. It was
puny, weak, and sickly. It always cried when an attempt was made to feed it, and
could not hold up its head, which hung on one side from weakness. On inquiry, I
ibund that it was fed on gruel, made of fine flour, mixed with ;unboiled milk, and
heavily sweetened with brown sugar; and that latterly, to still its peevishness and
cause it to sleep, a small quantity of rum was added to this. The sugar was given to
prevent costiveness which, otherwise, it suffered from. 1 It was acknowledged that
the child was getting worse daily. “ Put the sugar in your own tea," said I.
“ Throw the rum out of the door, and send up your daughter to me immediately for
a bowl of whole meal wheaten flour, the same as my own bread is made of.” This
I directed them to make into gruel, according to Graham, thus:—“ With a tablespobnful of this meal, and a pint of pure water, make a thin gruel, which should
be boiled about fifteen minutes, and then about a pint of new milk fresh from, the
cow should be added
the milk being of course unboiled, as before. These direc
tions being followed, and the child being fed accordingly, in a week there was
visible improvement, at thosame time that red blotches, like those on the face of a
drunkard, began to appear on the infant’s face. All costiveness had now gone. At
the end of six weeks from the commencement of change of diet the flesh of the
child was firm and hard, its skin clear and bright, and it was perfectly good-tempered and quiet. Its weight, too, was about double what it was a few weeks before.
The red blotches on the child’s face, which appeared after the spirit was given up,
were to be attributed to its constitution having gained strength by that time from its
fiMd sufficient to throw out the poisonous spirit, and they soon went away altogether.
The infant is now at least fully as strong as the generality of children of the same age.
Narberth, S. W.
A. B.
�124
THE DIETETIC REFORMER
DIETETIC SUGGESTIONS INVITED.
To the Editor of the Dietetic Reformer.
Dear Sir,—I should very much like some one to give a few suggestions, rational
and reasonable, as to particulars of the daily consumption of food, in kind and
quantity, for breakfast, dinner, and evening, adapted for a man and wife living on
£200 a-year. I believe a few such suggestions, founded on individual experience,
supplied through the medium of the Dietetic Reformer, would very much help the
cause. I am aware that it may be said that stomachs vary ; but let the examples
furnished be suited for persons in good health and no idlers. If thou canst give me
what I ask, well, if not, can thou give me the name of some one with whom I
could make free to write to ?
I will give thee my fare for to-day :—Breakfast: 5oz. of bread and butter, and
two cups of homoeopathic cocoa. Dinner: Two roasted potatoes; a quarter of a
baked rice pudding (made of 1 quart of milk, Jib. of rice with a little tapioca, and
1 egg); and finished with a slice of bread and butter. Teatime : 6oz. of bread and
butter, and two cups of homoeopathic cocoa. I make my cocoa with one cup of
water and one cup of milk.
I am 84 years of age and my wife 92 ; we have lived together 60 years ; and
are both able to do a day’s work. I can walk a mile in a quarter of an hour.
Have we not much to be thankful for ? So I am.
J. B.
Substitute foe Cod-Liver Oil.— A correspondent, writing from Edinburgh,
says:—“You will be glad to know that Oleum Arachnis (Earth-Nut Oil) is an
advantageous substitute for cod-liver oil, in many cases, especially for children.’’
SLeptfe, fa.
AMERICA.
The American Association for the Advancement of Science held its annual meeting
at Salem, Massachusetts, in August last., From the report of the proceedings of the
Association, furnished by the correspondent of the Toronto Daily Globe, we make the
following extract:—
Your correspondent, not possessing the power of ubiquity, had no difficulty in
making up his mind to leave the learned speakers in section A (on Mathematics,
Physics, and Chemistry) to the regular reporters, and betake himself to the more
attractive session of sectioii B, where the interesting subject of that bugbear of
pork-eaters, the Trichina spiralis, was the first on the list. The subject was intro
duced by Professor J. Baker Edwards, of Montreal, whose remarks may be briefly
related as follows:—
, tt ...
The occurrence, he stated, of two fatal cases of Tnchimasis at Hamilton,
Ontario, and the successful treatment of several cases at Montreal, had drawn fresh
attention to the parasite causing this disease, and accordingly he thought that a
short account of its natural history might be interesting. The cysts containing
this parasite had been first observed and examined microscopically by 1 ledman m
1822 ; these were found in human muscle after death, and occasioned much specu
lation as to their real nature. In 1835 they were minutely examined by Mr James
Paget, and described and named by Professor Owen, but for some years no further
clue as to their origin was obtained. In 1841 it Was found that dogs fed on parts of
a badger containing these worms became infested with them in their muscles ; but
it remained for Zenker in 1860 to show that the human body becomes affected by
these creatures after eating pork containing them. Since that time thousands of
deaths have been traced to this cause, which had previously been attributed to
various other diseases. Trichiniasis was now fully established as one of the ills
that flesh is heir to.” In several hospital examinations of human bodies after death
from various causes, from 2 to 3 per cent of adults were found to contain old en
crusted capsules containing these parasites, showing that the disease existed at
some previous period. In Chicago a medical commission found 2 per cent ot the
�AND VEGETARIAN MESSENGER.
1W
pork offered for sale affected in this manner. Thus it may be inferred that the dis
ease occurred much more frequently than had previously been suspected, but that
it was only in exceptional cases that it caused fatal or even serious results. The
Professor then proceeded to give an account of a case that occurred in Montreal last
March, and which, being speedily diagnosed of a slight nature, was successfully
treated. His description and remarks are of so much general interest and value,
that they may very well be reported here, though at the risk of making this letter
unduly long:—
p ** On Wednesday, the 24th of Mareh, a family in a boarding-house partook of
some hastily fried ham. Within an hour afterwards two of the adults felt nauseated,
And had some pain in the stomach. One took a large dose of brandy, and vomited
his dinner ; the other felt only abdominal pain, spasms, and faintness. He returned
from his work and went to bed. During the night his wife and wife’s mother felt
ill, and suffered from pains in the bowels, together with great feverishness and
Ehirst. During the following day, five other persons, who had partaken of the same
meal, suffered more or less from similar symptoms, and in the evening of Thursday
called in a physician, who, after careful enquiry, diagnosed Trichiniasis, and called
in a second opinion on the case. On Good Friday a slice of ham was submitted for
microscopic examination, in which Professor Edwards discovered, after some hours’
investigation, several characteristic specimens of Trichina spiralis. By Monday
morning, with the assistance of his friend, Mr? Ritchiej he had found several groups
of Trichina, both in the free state and partially, as well as fully, encysted. These
were during the same day shown to a considerable'number-of medical friends.
“ It was evident that the disease was recent in .the young pig from which the
ham was taken, and that, being in the free and semi-encysted condition, the worms
were in a condition to be aroused into action and activity in a much shorter time
than had they been fully and calcareously encysted.. According to Virchow and
Benker, the period of incubation of the cyst in the stomach is from six to eight days.
This had been erroneously interpreted to mean that such a period must elapse before
any marked symptoms can be recognised. < Such a period of time, however, is meant
to be inclusive of the reproducing power of each individual, from whose body suc
cessive broods of young, numbering from 100 to 200, are discharged. Dr. T. S.
Cobbold had found a period of sixty-nine hours amply .sufficient for the development
of the young muscle flesh worms of the human subject . into the sexually mature
adult Trichina of the dog. If all the worms were calcareously encysted a delay of
from three to six days might be expected before intestinal irritation was a marked
symptom. But in cases where the worms were young and free in the muscle,
development might take place in a few hours, and rapid multiplication take place
before other encysted worms were released from their capsules.
“ Thus a succession of fresh irritations to the muscular and nervous system
might-be expected from the first few hours to a period of- eight or ten weeks. In
the fatal cases examined in Chicago and Hamilton, no-singlecase of encysted trichina
was found in the flesh, but in the Montreal cases one or two distinct and complete
cysts were extracted from the man’s leg. This was eight weeks after eating the
pork, and when the symptoms had somewhat abated, but considerable pain still felt
in the muscles. The great shock to the system, which frequently terminates
fatally, appears to result from excessive generation of the worms at any one period ;
thus young and healthy persons are frequently killed sooner than older and more
feeble persons, the reason being that in the former case probably more food is eaten,
digestion is more rapid, nausea more readily overcome by active exertion, and the
breeding of the worms becomes excessive and continuous. In the Hamilton cases
the young woman died in three weeks, whilst her mother survived six weeks after
eating the fatal repast.
“ In 1866 some valuable experiments were conducted, in reference to the propa
gation of these worms, by Dr. T. Spencer Cobbbld, whose researches on Cestoid
Entozoa place him at the head of English authprities on such subjects. After
feeding animals with trichinous food, seven experiments on birds all proved negative.
fThree sheep, two dogs, one pig, and one mouse gave also negative results. Nine
cases were successful, viz., four dogs, two cats, one pig, one' guinea pig, and one
hedgehog. While we might, therefore, conclude that birds and herbivorous
mammals were very unlikely subjects for infection by this means, it was also found
�126
THE DIETETIC REFORMER
that other animals, as the dog and pig for instance, might partake of the food, and
yet escape infection. This helped to explain the recorded facts, that large parties
have eaten of trichinous food in company, and some have been killed, others have
suffered slightly, and again some escaped altogether.
“ Moreover, in the human objects examined post mortem, where the disease had
not proved fatal, in some cases the cysts were by no means numerous, whilst in
others they had been estimated at from forty to one hundred millions. The exces
sive alarm which was apt to seize the public mind by the discovery of a case here
and there was not, therefore, justified by the facts when properly understood. At
the same time, whatever means could be adopted by the public authorities to prevent
its becoming a familiar disease in our new dominion, should be forthwith adopted.”
At the close of this interesting paper, which was listened to with great attention,
Professor Agassiz stated that he thought parasites existed in all kinds of meat, and
that everybody who eats fish, eats hundreds of them; hence only one of two alter
natives could be adopted to escape injury—either to stop eating flesh and fish, or to
have these articles of food well cooked. With this high authority the reader may
rest assured that, however unpleasant the idea may be, the Trichina Spiralis is quite
harmless as an article of food, provided only it be well roasted or boiled.
The next paper, by Mr. Meehan, was of a botanical character, and of no parti
cular general interest. He was followed by Professor B. W. Hawkins, of New
York, who made some remarks on “ Visual Education.” After referring to the
inability of the majority of mothers to answer satisfactorily the questions constantly
asked by intelligent children, he advised the education of the powers of observation,
rather than those of memory, and recommended the establishment of museums in
connection with the public parks of large cities, so that healthy exercise and
amusement might be combined with instruction. Such institutions, if properly con
ducted, would, he thought, do more good than reformatory establishments, and
would also enable boys to remain longer under the good influence of their mothers
than was the case with the present imperfect system. Professor Agassiz followed by
expressing his belief that we should, ere long, see a great change in our educational
system, and that the basis of it would be the contemplation of the works of nature,
and no longer the study of languages, the study of the human mind, or the process
of mathematical reasoning. Although these must form a part of liberal education,
they should come after the organs had been trained in seeing through observation,
and the mind taught to argue by comparing observations; that was the first great
step in education, and all that followed in scholarship should come afterwards.
geHttos oft JMuo nf gwK
Proceedings of the London’Co-operative Congress, 1869. Price Is. London : F.
Pitman, 20, Paternoster How, E.C.
This large and neat pamphlet of 118 pages, is edited by J. M. Ludlow, and contains
the proceedings of the Co-operative Congress held in London, at the Theatre of the
Society of Arts, on the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd of June, 1869. There are also appendices
containing statistical details respecting societies represented at the Congress; papers
by Mr. Malcolm Macleod and Mr. James Samuelson and other information. Those
*
who take interest in this important movement will be greatly interested with this
report of Proceedings of the London Congress.
The Anti-Vaccinator. Edited by Henby Pitman, Manchester. London : F. Pit
man, 20, Paternoster Row. Manchester : John Heywood. Price Id.
This is a weekly organ of the new movement against compulsory vaccination. We
have before us the first six numbers, and find them replete with facts, arguments, and
reports of progress. No. 6 opens with an able and spirited letter from Professor
Newman on “ Vaccination viewed Politically,” which will be found in another page of
the present number of the Dietetic Reformer. The movement seems to be making
headway ; and we hope will soon result in forcing the question upon Parliament for
a most sifting inquiry leading to a repeal of the obnoxious Act.
Human Nature. London: J. Burns. Monthly.
A publication, thoroughgoing and progressive on dietary questions, and equally so in
philosophy and religion. It includes spiritualism, on which we have nothing to say in
these pages.
1
�AND VEGETARIAN MESSENGER.
AN AUTUMN RAMBLE.
One autumn afternoon, my friend and I
Escaped from city smoke and ceaseless roar
To breathe, along with nature’s breath, somewhat
Of Nature’s loving, beauteous tenderness.
Along the river’s meadowy marge we strayed
By cot and farm to where its banks rise high,
With overhanging trees, which fain would dip
Their thirsty branches far below into
The rippling, glistening wave. And as we went
We spoke of man, self doomed tffijfedless toil
In mine, and mart, and mill, with little time
(And less desire) for art or poesy ;
But rather bent at best on wanton play,
And oft engulfed in drunken orgies wild
And Cyprian vice. Anon we turn aside
Through clough and pSai by many an ashen bush
Tn coral berries clad, to where ’mid groves
And gardens stands serene the stately hall.
The fuchsias hang in showers, and ripening fruit
Makes glad the eye and scents the whispering
While many a marble vase and antique gem
Recalls the classic memories of the past.
In winding lanes we meet the lowing kine
Which stand and gaze’ with gentle, wistful orbs,
Nor dreS@Egit we have no intent to wield
The butcher’s axe to feed a pampered taste.
Returning by the stream as fast the sun
Sinks down ’mid clouds and woods of transient gold,
Our lengthening shadows stretch across the path,
And lendj^bmbreitfnt tolbrook. and hedge,
And fluttering heaps of rustling autumn leaves.
In yonder field, new reaped, a startled hare,
Pursued-l^^oejafnotWogs. but men), makes way
Along the hedge straight for the river’s brink,
Nor stayJMfliwt behind, but plunges in,
And swims beneath the bridge; then, panting, rests
Below the pier upon a stony heap—
*
Appearing one itself—until its foes
Approach as if a murderer theljB™^MF
The one a farmer, fork in hand, goes o’eS' The bridge, and waits the foe on th’ other side;
His fellow stays on this—a collier he,
Returning homeward, safety lamp in hand.
The science which had given the lamp had failed
To give him light. He seized a stone, and hurled
It at the terror-stricken thing, which sprang
Once more, though sorely bruised; into the stream,
And sank, at length, despairing and quite spent.
The farmer went to gather golden grain,
Just reaped from gentle Nature’s bounteous lap ;
The collier went his way to tell the tale
To boon companions ; we pursued our path
With one great question weighing down our hearts—
Why man to man and brute should be so vile,
While Nature’s face wears still a fairy smile.
127
�128
THE DIETETIC REFORMER.
Facts fob Smokers. —A fact for the Anti-Tobacco Association is brought out in
a Parliamentary return just issued. The consumption of tobacco in this country is
enormously increasing. Over 41,000,000 pounds’ weight has been consumed in the
United Kingdom in a single year, without taking into account the illicit trade. Thus
1 lb. 5- oz. per head of population is yearly consumed, as compared with only 13J oz.
a quarter of a century ago. Now, we shall not be so ungenerous as to ascribe this
great increase in the quantity of tobacco consumed to the vicious habits with which
some are wont to credit the “ girls of the period.” But it may be as well that our fair
smokers should be made aware of a fact or two concerning the ‘‘fragrant weed.” In
the laboratory of th’e Excise Department certain tests are occasionally made as to the
genuineness of the tobacco sold. Of 118 samples, 88 were found to be adulterated,
and 45 of these contained liquorice ranging in amount from 1 to JO per cent; four
contained liquorice and sugar, varying from 2 to 10 per cent. Among the other
adulterants were oom mon salt, aniseed, starch, brown paper, and an excessive amount
of sand. A few instances have again occurred of “ smoking mixture ” having been
found adulterated with sweetened cavendish. Of course, the Excise authorities do
what they can to check adulteration. Last year they made a raid upon six Irish
manufacturers who supplied English dealers with Irish roll tobacco coated with starch,
which had been coloured to resemble tobacco. Some 28,0001b. of the adulterated
tobacco were seized in Ireland, and 4,0001b. in England; and the penalties and for
feitures amounted to £4,000. Despite all the precautions, however, the revenue is
extensively defrauded, while the people are poisoned by these adulterations, which
will never be stopped until the act is constituted a criminal offence.
The Resurrection Plant.—This is one of the latest curiosities in the plant line.
We obtained one of Mr. Vick, of Rochester, last spring, and it then resembled a
bunch four or five inches in diameter, of curled-up shoots of young cedar, with a small
cluster of thread-like roots depending from the bottom. Placing it in a saucer of
water the bunch unrolled in a few hours, spreading out quite flat, and presented some
what the appearance of a heavy patch of moss. In this state it remained two or three
weeks If the supply of moisture failed for a time, the plant gave warning by
assuming its regular ball-like form. At the end of that time we transplanted it to the
ground and it looked fine and green under the influence of genial showers. But the
weather grew dry, and the resurrection plant rolled itself into a ball and rolled away
before the wind, the roots not having much grasp on the soil. It lay in the sun on the
ground for a month, when we gave it to a friend,, who placed it in a saucer of water,
and lo it spread out its arms again and showed the green colour of vegetable life. An
American paper thus speaks of this singular plant: “These plants are brought from
the southern parts of Mexico. During the rainy Reason they flourish luxuriantly, but
when the dry weather and hot sun scorch the earth, they, too, dry and curl up, and
blow about at the mercy of the wind. To all appearances they are as dead as the
‘ brown and sere leaf,’ but as soon as the rain comes again, the roots suck up the
water the leaves unfold, and assume a beautiful emerald green appearance. No
matter where the plant may be, on a rock, on a tree, or a house-top, wherever the
winds have blown it, there it rests, and being a true temperance plant, it only asks
for water and at once bursts into new life. Having purchased one of these tufts,
and placed it in a soup plate filled with water, the reader will be surprised to see
it gradually unfold and take on a deep green. The leaves are arranged spirally,
and altogether the resurrection plant is the latest curiosity.”—Rural New Yorker.
We are indebted to some German friend for copies of “ Vereins-Blatt fur Freunde der
naturalichen Lebensweise (Vegetariener.)
Emil Weilshauser.—See second page of our cover.
Subscriptions received since our last issue ;—
July 9.
20.
Aug.12.
22.
” 23.
Sep. 25.
C. Hunter, D. R. 2 0 Sep. 25. R. Templeton.. 10
,, 29. Thos. Ashley.. . 2
Charles Hart .. 2 6
J Hull............. 20 0 Oct. 1. J. H. Sweetnam 2
1. J. Ashmore.... 2
Robert Palmer . 10 0
,, 1. A. Bayle .......... 2
John Kershaw . 2 6
„ T. E. Miller.......... 10
J. Templeton ..50
0 Oct. 1. A. Erlebach ....
„ 1. S Stocks ..........
6
For Tracts :
6
6 Sep. 11. J. Robertson ....
,, 29. W. Lawson........
6
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10 0
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�
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The Dietetic Reformer and Vegetarian Messenger. Vol. XXXVL, October, 1869
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Collation: [97]-128 p. ; 23 cm.
Notes: From the library of Dr Moncure Conway. Printed by A. Ireland and Co., Manchester.
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<img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /><br />This work (The Dietetic Reformer and Vegetarian Messenger. Vol. XXXVL, October, 1869), identified by Humanist Library and Archives, is free of known copyright restrictions.
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Health
Conway Tracts
Health
Nutrition
Vegetarianism
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NATIONAL SECULAR SOCIETY
PAPERS FOR THE PEOPLE, No. 8.
THE TRUTH ABOUT
VACCINATION.
BY
JOHN M. ROBERTSON.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
1—“THE P1UEST AND THE CHILD.”
2—“THE PEOPLE AND THETR LEADERS.”
3—“GODISM.”
4—“THE BLOOD TAX.”
5—“ SAVING AND WASTE.”
6—“ HOME RULE AND RULE OF THUMB.”
7—“THE VOTE FOR WOMEN.”
8—“THE TRUTH ABOUT VACCINATION.”
9—“WHAT HAS CHRISTIANITY DONE.”
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THE
TRUTH ABOUT VACCINATION.
I.
T
he above title is that given by Dr. Ernest Hart, Editor of the
British Medical Journal, to a pamphlet first published in 1880.
It is an out-and-out defence of vaccination as by law established.
I read it with great care, soon after its publication, in the hope of
finding the value of vaccination proved by it, and it had the effect of
converting me to a decided disbelief in the general power of vaccination
to prevent smallpox. It may be well to explain the circumstances.
I was a journalist, and I had had occasion to write on the case of a man
who refused to have his child vaccinated, giving as his reason the fact that
a previous child had been killed by disease set up through vaccination. He
produced medical evidence for his statement, yet the magistrate, without
disputing the evidence, fined him for his refusal to risk the life of the
second child in the same way. The magistrate said the law gave him
no choice.
This struck me as a monstrous tyranny, which could never
have been contemplated by the parliaments which made vaccination
compulsory. I myself then confidently believed in vaccination ; and I
remarked, in discussing the point, that were an epidemic of smallpox to
occur near me, I should get re-vaccinated, taking what precautions I
could against “diseased” lymph. To my surprise, my editor objected
to any comment on the case I have mentioned, urging that we ought to
do nothing to bring vaccination into discredit.
This, to me, unsatisfactory position set me upon fully investigating
the subject, and I spent many weeks upon it, reading all the literature
I could obtain on both sides. Some of the attacks on vaccination, in
particular the pamphlet by Mr. P. A. Taylor, struck me as extremely
weighty. But, as I have said, it was the zealous defence of vaccination
by Dr. Ernest Hart that convinced me that his side was in the wrong.
In an appendix to his pamphlet he gave the figures of the smallpox
cases and resulting deaths in the army and navy during a number of
years. As all the men in the army and navy are vaccinated on entering
the service, whether or not they were vaccinated before, we have in
their case one of the best available tests of the value of vaccination.
Yet not only had there been, on Dr. Hart’s own showing, a large number of
deaths from smallpox in the army and navy; but in the case of the
latter service it came out very clearly that its measure of freedom from
smallpox was due not to vaccination but to the sailors being usually out
of the reach of infection.
First, as to the simple fact of the failure of vaccination. In the
year 1860, as Dr. Hart shows in his appendix E, there were 2,749
deaths from smallpox in England and Wales. But of these only 638
occurred among adults of 20 years of age and upwards, being at the rate
of 59 deaths per million persons of that age. In the same year there
occurred in the home force of the British navy 84' cases of smallpox,
�3
with 12 deaths. But as the number of men and boys in the home force
was only 23,500, these 12 deaths represented a rate of 5T0 deaths per
10,000 of strength, that is, a death rate of over 500 per million. That
is to say, there was more than eight times as much disease and death, in
proportion to numbers, in the navy, where everybody was officially
vaccinated, as in the ordinary grown-up population on land, where a
number were unvaccinated. Of course the proportion was different in
different years ; and in some years there were no deaths from smallpox
in the navy, though in twenty years there was only one year without a
case of the disease; but in several years, as in 1860, the proportion of
deaths was.higher in the navy than in the general adult population.
And as showing in particular the futility of vaccination, we have
this fact. In the year 1864, with a home strength of only 19,630 men,
there were 199 cases of smallpox in the navy, with nine deaths, or at
the rate of 458 deaths per million persons. And on this year’s figures
Dr. Hart has the following note :—
“ This remarkable return, being so greatly heavier than any other year ” fwhich it
was not, as regards deaths] “ needs a word of explanation. No fewer than threequarters of the cases (151), and two-thirds of the deaths (6), were from infection at
Portsmouth, where the very large number of 228 deaths from smallpox occurred in
1864. Nor was this all. From infection traced to Portsmouth, the disease manifested
itself on board the Duncan, when on its voyage for the North American station ; 38
men were temporarily disabled by it, and one died.”
This note served to satisfy me, and will probably satisfy many
others, that Dr. Ernest Hart is not very well qualified to form a sound
opinion on a question of statistical evidence. Vaccination, in the terms
of the argument, is claimed to be a safeguard against smallpox infection.
Dr. Hart here admits, apparently without knowing it, that when
vaccinated and re-vaccinated sailors, living on normally healthy ships
of war, happen to meet with infection, they catch smallpox wholesale;
and that if the whole of the royal navy had been at Portsmouth, at the
same time, there would probably have been thousands of cases, and
hundreds of deaths. By offering such an “ explanation ” to save the
credit of vaccination, Dr. Hart showed that, in the case of ships that
do not touch at an infected port, and in which, accordingly, the men
could not catch smallpox if they wanted to, he would give the credit
of their immunity to vaccination. To any intelligent reader, these facts
will suffice to show that Dr. Hart’s defence of vaccination, at least, is
childishly fallacious. And the point is one which any intelligent person
can reason out for himself, as well as any doctor. It is purely a
question of figures and logic.
But further, if the figures given by Dr. Hart be accurate, vaccfnitself is an utter fallacy. The case of the navy is what is called, in
a phrase of Bacon, an experimentum crucis, it is a “ crucial test.” Every
man in the navy being vaccinated, we only need, in order to test the
value of vaccination, to bring a few crews within the range of infection:
when we then find them going down like ninepins—38 catching the
disease on one ship while at sea, from one original infection—-we have a
conclusive proof that vaccination does not prevent smallpox.
I wrote a letter pointing out ail this to my old friend Dr. Andrew
Wilson, the editor of Health ; but he, being a champion of vaccination,
declined to insert my communication. Other people, however, must
have shown Dr. Hart what a mess he had made, for in' the second
edition of his pamphlet the note which I have copied above was dropped,
�4
and there was inserted, in its place, one to the effect (I cannot now
procure that edition and am citing it from memory) that there was
supposed to be something wrong with the vaccinations in that particular
year or in the particular ships affected.
Now, I leave it to sensible and practical men to say what they
would have thought of this attempt to save the case if it had been made in
any other dispute. Would they not have said that it was an absurd
subterfuge? Would they not decide that Dr. Hart just caught at any
possible pretence to retrieve himself? If therS had been any doubt
about the vaccinations in question, why was it not heard of before the
second edition of the pamphlet ? It is ludicrously clear that the doubt
was invented only when the significance of the facts was seen. And
that Dr. Hart did not see it when he first published his pamphlet, is a
startling proof of the possibilities of incompetence in men who pretend
to special knowledge and special wisdom in these matters.
II.
One such refutation as the foregoing is logically as good as a
thousand. No statistics whatever can unsay what is proved by those
above cited from Dr. Hart. But let us give vaccination another chance,
and assume that in the year 1864 the 199 sailors who caught smallpox
had all, by a miraculous coincidence, been badly vaccinated. In that
case, we learn that when vaccination is performed even by surgeons in
the employment of the Crown, there is an enormous risk of its being so
badly done as to be of no value whatever. So that people are bullied
by law into submitting their children to an operation which not only
carries a risk of loathsome and fatal disease, but is very likely to be
otherwise badly performed. So be it.
But smallpox continued to occur in the navy after 1864 ; and I
learn from the work of. another champion of vaccination, the Vaccination
Vindicated of Dr. John C. McVail, of Kilmarnock (1887), that after the
law of 1871 (passed in the panic of a bad epidemic), vaccination was
much more carefully enforced. Let us then take the home navy figures
for 1871 and 1872. They are : for 1871, with a strength of 22,100
persons, 67 cases with four deaths, being at the rate of 181 deaths per
million living; for 1872, with a strength of 23,000 men, 62 cases, with
nine deaths, being at the rate of 391 deaths per million living. So that
after the most strenuous measures had been taken to perfect vaccination,
there were more deaths and hardly fewer smallpox cases them before.
After 1872, of course, there were very few cases, but that was clearly
not because of vaccination, but simply because the epidemic had run out.
There was in general no chance of infection. Even in 1871-72, by
simply keeping ships as much as possible away from infected ports, the
disease was kept under much better in the navy than in the general
population. But it is very plain from the above figures that if another
equally bad epidemic came round, there would be just as many cases
and deaths as before, unless some better preventive than vaccination be
found.
III.
The case for vaccination, then, breaks down on the official
statistics themselves. I have used no others. And if it be asked why the
case is not equally clear on the face of other statistics, the answer is this,
�5
that it is a very easy thing to “cook” statistics, by choosing those which
best suit you, and by grouping sets of years in particular ways. Thus
Dr. Hart takes the figures for the years from 1838 (an extremely bad
year) to 1842 (after which for four years the statistics are lacking), and
from 1847 to 1853, when compulsory vaccination was established; then
he takes all the years from 1854 to 1879, a much longer period, with a
number of good years in it : then he divides the total deaths in the two
periods by the number'of years in each, and shows that in the twelve
years 1838-42 and 1847-53 the rate of smallpox mortality was 420 per
million living, while in the twenty-six years 1854-1879 it was only
208’5 per million living. Even by Dr. Hart’s own account, vaccination
would only be a half cure ; but when we go into details we find that
in 1842, without compulsory vaccination, the deaths from smallpox were
only 168 per million living, while in 1871 they were 1,024, almost as
high a rate as that of 1838 ; and even in 1877 they were 175 per million.
Any unprejudiced person can see that it is all a matter of epidemics, and
that vaccination makes no general difference.
But doctors constantly tell you that in epidemics the proportion of
un-vaccinated cases and deaths is much greater than that of the vaccinated.
Observe, the original pretence of Jenner, on which he got his money
reward, was that no one would take smallpox after vaccination; and if
it be admitted that a number of vaccinated people can die of smallpox
the whole theory is put in hopeless doubt. But, passing over that, we
find that it is left to the doctors to decide whether or not the sick and
the dead had been vaccinated, and they often refuse to take the word either
of the patient or of his family. If they cannot see proper marks on a
corpse (through a smallpox eruption!) they will return it as unvaccinated.
What is the value of such evidence as this? For my own part, I believe
that many conscientious doctors get an erroneous idea as to vaccination
in general from the fact (as I believe it to be) that during the few weeks
of the vaccination fever itself patients are inapt to take smallpox. One
fever may in this way exclude another; hence a belief in the special
efficacy of re-vaccination during epidemics. But the naval statistics above
given suffice to show how brief is the protection in adult vaccination as
in that of infancy.
Let us ask, again, who are the unvaccinated? They may be classed
under three heads : (1) children of anti-vaccinators, (2) children who
were too sickly in infancy to stand even vaccination, (3) children of
vagrant parents, or street arabs, who escape the vaccination officer. If
then it can be shown that the children of anti-vaccinators suffer more from
smallpox than other people, there will so far be something of a case for
vaccination. But who has ever pretended to prove this? Who can
pretend to prove it? For many years there were very few anti-vaccinators,
but plenty of smallpox and of vaccinated people, and in those days the
officials said what they say now; if on the other hand the deaths of un
vaccinated persons, young and old, (they are mostly young) be mainly
those of people who had been very sickly in infancy, and of those whose
childhood was one of poverty and bad feeding, there would be nothing
strange in their succumbing rather easily to smallpox. But Dr. Me Vail
tells us there are very few children too sickly to be vaccinated, and he
tries to make out that there are few street arabs. Then, as he cannot
show that the unvaccinated are mostly children of anti-vaccinators, he
does but throw doubt, once more, on the official figures. In all likelihood
�6
many patients described by medical officials as unvaccinated were really
vaccinated.
So notorious is it, indeed, that vaccination does not prevent small
pox, that doctors constantly result to what J must call a very sorry
subterfuge, telling patients that the vaccination has prevented their dying
(though many vaccinated people die of smallpox, and many un vaccinated
patients recovery, or that at least it has prevented their being pitted.
A few years ago I met a hospital nurse who had been so persuaded She
happened to mention that, there being an epidemic at the time, all the
nurses in her hospital had just been vaccinated. “But” I remarked, “you
only entered a few months ago; were you not vaccinated on entering?”
“ Yes, ” she answered, “ but we were all re-vaccinated last week.” I
observed that the doctors did not seem to have much faith in their own
specific, and she assented, adding, “ I have now been vaccinated five
times.” I remarked, laughing, that she ought to be pretty safe. “ Oh,”
she answered, “ but I have had smallpox too !” That would be, I suggested,
before she had been vaccinated ? “ No,” was the answer, “it was after my
third vaccination ; but they told me that but for vaccination I should have
died or been very badly marked!” Thus do men defend error by untruth.
Her own experience as a nurse might have taught her that whether a
patient is pitted or not pitted is a matter either of the virulence of the
attack or of the nature of the treatment. With care, pitting can nearly
always be prevented, whether the cured patient be vaccinated or not.
At this moment, however, there are still a good many pock-pitted people,
though vaccinators tell you that you “ never see them now.” And when
it is admitted that a vaccinated and re-vaccinated man may die of small
pox, it is a little too impudently absurd to say that if he lives and is not
pitted, vaccination has been the cause.
IV.
*
If all this holds good, it may be asked, how is it that the great
majority of the medical profession continue to believe in vaccination?
This is a very important question, going to the heart of the matter, and
I will here answer it. The majority of doctors stand by vaccination,
either passively or actively, for one or more of three reasons :—(1) They
were taught to believe in vaccination as in other current medicine, and
they stand to what they were taught, the great majority never making any
independent investigation of the subject. (2) Even when a medical man
does investigate the subject, if he be young he knows he will be to a
large extent boycotted if he condemns vaccination ; and if he be elderly
his prejudices and his self-esteem are enlisted in favor of what he has
been doing for many years, making him loth to admit that he has all
along been under a gross delusion. (3) Vaccination is a considerable source
of easy income to the majority of medical men ; and among doctors as
among other men, a pecuniary interest sets men against even listening to
arguments which, if accepted, would involve a heavy loss. I may be told
that this last is an unworthy argument to use against an honorable pro
fession. But I am arguing in the case of doctors just as I would in the
case of any other body of men, lawyers, priests, soldiers, policemen, or
authors ; and, what is more, I am meeting professional vaccinators with a
kind of argument which many of them have used against anti-vaccinators.
I think as highly of the medical profession as most men; and I have the
highest esteem for many of its members, knowing as I do their devotion,
�7
their benevolence, and their public spirit. But the question is one of
averages and of average human nature. On the other hand, I find a
medical man, Dr. Howard Barrett, writing in a work on The Manage
ment of Infancy and Childhood in Health and Disease (p. 233) that
“from time to time ignorant people, from a love of notoriety or for their
own selfish ends, try and stir up the prejudices of the uneducated ” against
vaccination. Here is a man who earns money by vaccination, charging
low ends on all anti-vaccinators. Clearly then we are free to retort the
charge, as well as to deny his right to make it. Not one anti-vaccinator
in ten thousand can possibly make a farthing by his propaganda ; and the
rest risk money loss,' persecution, and boycotting by it. On the other
hand, I repeat, ninety-nine doctors out of a hundred know nothing of the
history of the theory and practice of vaccination ; nothing of the facts as
to the changes made in lymph; nothing but the myth about Jenner;
nothing of the statistics but what is officially served out to them. And
it is the strict truth that nearly all we know about the history of vaccination
is due to the anti-vaccinators. If any careful reader doubts this, let him
spend a few weeks in mastering the works of Dr. Creighton, Professor
Crookshank, and the late William White : then let him question all the
doctors he knows and see how much they know on the subject. How
should they be well informed on it ? They are mostly hard-worked men ;
and in their student days they were taught what passes for scientific
truth on the subject. The most thorough research in it has been made
within the last ten years, and the two standard scientific authorities on
the history and nature of vaccination are Creighton and Crookshank,
both of whom were originally orthodox, and both of whom were led by
their studies to give up their belief. And many other competent medical
men have at different times declared against vaccination.
In the face of these facts, it matters little whether the majority of
a Commission who set out on an inquiry with full faith in vaccination
end in the same faith. We are told that almost no physician who was
over forty when Harvey published his discovery of the circulation of the
blood could be got to believe in it. Conversion in these matters is a
question of time. But although nearly all the doctors twenty years ago
insisted that vaccination could not possibly convey other diseases, and
that “ sanitation ” was of no avail against smallpox, it is now proved past
all question that vaccination can and does convey other diseases ; and
many vaccinators now admit that sanitation counts for a very great deal
in checking smallpox epidemics. Year by year the superstition loses
hold. Men see that; other contagious diseases, against which there is no
vaccination (though on the current theory there ought to be), are being
kept in check by sanitation; and that the supposed special results of
vaccination are thus illusions. Were it not for the vested interests,
official and professional, the majority would have seen it ere now.
Nothing else could keep ordinarily intelligent men wedded to the principle
of compulsion when, if they really had faith in the nostrum insisted on,
they would feel that no compulsion is needed, since each man, in the terms
of the doctrine, can protect himself if he will. Compulsory vaccination
is at once an assertion and a denial that vaccination protects from small
pox. The theory is as contradictory as the practice.
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Title
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The truth about vaccination
Creator
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Robertson, J. M. (John Mackinnon) [1856-1933]
Description
An account of the resource
Place of publication: Bradford; London; Manchester
Collation: 7 p. ; 22 cm.
Series title: Papers for the people
Series number: No. 8
Notes: Stamp on p.[2]: Bishopsgate Institute. Reference Library, 17 NOV 1987. Written in reply to a pamphlet of the same title by Ernest Hart, editor of the British Medical Journal, first published in 1880. Publisher's advertisements on back page. Part of the NSS pamphlet collection.
Publisher
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Truth Seeker Co.; R. Forder; A. & H. Bradlaugh Bonner; Joihn Heywood
Date
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[1897]
Identifier
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N563
Subject
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Vaccination
Health
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<a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"><img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /></a><span> </span><br /><span>This work (The truth about vaccination), identified by </span><a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk"><span>Humanist Library and Archives</span></a><span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</span>
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Text
Language
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English
NSS
Smallpox
Vaccination
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Victorian Blogging
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A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
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Conway Hall Library & Archives
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2018
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Conway Hall Ethical Society
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The extinction of war, poverty, and infectious diseases: containing essays on Home rule and federation; Can war be suppressed?; State remedies for poverty; and The extinction of infectious diseases by a Doctor of Medicine [George R. Drysdale].
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Drysdale, George
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Place of publication: London
Collation: 157 p. ; 18 cm.
Notes: Printed by A. Bonner, Chancery Lane, E.C. Sold by R. Forder, Stonecutter St. E.C.
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Geo. Standring
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1904
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G4999
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Social problems
Health
Poverty
Rights
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<a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"><img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /></a><span> </span><br /><span>This work (The extinction of war, poverty, and infectious diseases: containing essays on Home rule and federation; Can war be suppressed?; State remedies for poverty; and The extinction of infectious diseases by a Doctor of Medicine [George R. Drysdale].), identified by </span><a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk"><span>Humanist Library and Archives</span></a><span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</span>
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English
Home Rule
Home Rule-Ireland
Infectious Diseases
Malthusianism
Poverty
War
War;Poverty
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THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH,
AND
JOURNAL OF THE TRUE HEALING ART.
Volume n.]
NEW YORK, FEBRUARY, 1867.
[For the Gospel of Health.]
PHYSIOLOGICAL TRANSGRESSION
IN HIGH PLACES.
[Number 8.
Until we learn to know aright,
And knowing, care to do,
Transgression, in the bud will blight
The Noble and the True.
BY MONTADELPHOS.
How foolish are the ways of man !
Since Adam sinned at first,
To kill himself because he can,
By wickedness the worst.
The Parent wonders at the Youth,
Because he’s heedless growD ;
When he, himself, to tell the truth,
Has sins still worse his own.
The Minister, he wonders why
The World he cannot save ;
Whilst his own conduct gives the lie
To the Profession grave.
The Son of Temperance wonders too,
And raves about the same,
Because “ Old Sots” at times get “blue,”
When he’s as much to blame.
He's tipsy, too, from morn till night—
Tobacco’s all the rage ;
And coffee ’s just the thing that’s right
To make him feel so sage.
The Doctor, too, he wonders why
Mankind, so premature,
' Will still get sick, lie down and die,
In spite of Physic-Cure ?
If men transgress the Laws of Life,
And sickness comes at last,
Why should the Doctor, then, in strife.
Their hopes with poisons blast ? ,
[Written for the Gospel ofHealth.J
FIRST PRINCIPLES, NO. I.
BY J. F. SANBORN, M. D.
Many of the readers of the Health journals
know that certain articles in common use in
bread-making, as bi-carbonate of soda, salt,
yeast, cream-of-tartar, are not proper articles for
food. They know that alcoholic liquors, tea,
coffee, and even hard water, are not proper for
drink ; that impure air is improper for us to
breathe : But why they are so, is not generally
understood ; and one reason is, it ig easier to
write an article, that will please even the read
ers of a Health journal, stating that this or that,
is thus and so, than it is to explain why they
are so. The enlargement of the Gospel of
Health will enable us to elucidate some of
these first principles, somewhat at length.
That matter which is endowed with life, is
called organic matter. To sustain life, organs
are furnished ; to animals, lungs, heart, bowels,
kidneys, arteries, veins, nerves, etc.
Vegetables have organs as rootlets, roots
trunks, branches leaves, etc.
Inorganic matter has no life—it has no need of
organs to support its existence, for it exists from
age to age ; it may be subject to change of form
and place, but does not grow old as domen, ani
mals, trees, and all matter endowed with life.
Life must at some time cease, and the organic
matter ot which living bodies are composed,
must return to the earth from which it came—
the organic dies—decays, and becomes inorganic
matter.
The vegetable kingdom subsists on inorganic
matter, and by a process of vitality peculiar to
its organization, changes the inorganic into or
ganic matter.
In animal life there is a continual change of
�50
THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
substance, nutritious matter becoming a part of
the living body ; and while this addition is be
ing made, other parts are broken down and re
moved.
This change in animals, and growth in vegeta
bles, are carried on by small structures known
as cells, somewhat analogous to an egg that has
no shell ; their size is very minute, and tlieir
form varies by the pressure of surrounding
cells.
In animals, the materials of these cells are
formed from the food eaten.
Now, can animals take the inorganic ele
ments of earth, and organize them into cells,
form and structure, and add them to their
bodies? Can an animal eat clay or soil, and be
nourished thereby? No one will claim that
such materials are food for “ man or beast
and if one should eat it, it could not be so
changed as to make anything organic.
Vegetables, on the contrary, do subsist on the
inorganic, elements of earth, and decayed or
broken-down cell-structure of plants and ani
mals ; changing them into their own structure,
by cell formation ; adding cells to the end of previ
ously-formed cells, thus increasing in length, or
by placing several around on the outside of others
and thus increasing in size. Thus has God made
the vegetable kingdom to prepare the inorganic
materials of earth, and organize them for food
for the animal kingdom. Animals take of the
cell-formation of the vegetable kingdom, and
build up their own solid structure. Vegetables
furnish food for animals by their growth ; and
animals furnish food for plants by decay, or the
breaking down of their cell-structure.
It is a fundamental law of animal life that it
can in no wise add to its cell-structure any matter
that is not cell-structure. If cell-structure is
broken down, be it animal or vegetable, it can in
no wise become a part of the cell-structure of
animal life. Inorganic matters cannot be digest
ed—they are not cell-structure—they are the
same when they leave the body that they are
when they enter it ; which is not the case with
an apple, or bread, or anything that is food.
Food is digested and by assimilation becomes
a part of the body—a part of the cell-structure
of the living, moving body ; and when it leaves
the body, it does so as broken-down or waste
matter, which is food for plants.
This principle is not generally understood ; if
it was, all matter not of cell-structure would
sedulously be excluded from the vital domain, as
bearing an abnormal relation to the Jiving
tissues.
A statement was made in alate number of the
Dental Cosmos, that a man died for want of phos
phate of lime in his bones, and yet he had taken
large quantities of the phosphates as a medi
cine.
The statement was a part of the report of the
doings of one of the most learned Dental Socie
ties in the United States ; yet no one explained
the mystery. All mineral medicines are inor- 1
ganic matter ; iron, of which such large quanti- i
ties are used as a “ tonic,” by the very learned
Allopathic M. Ds., is an inorganic substance, and
as a consequence, it can never become a part of
the cell-structure of the blood, or of any other
part of the body; but in common with all other
inorganic matters, bears an abnormal relation to
the living system. This is a sufficient reason
why we, as Hygienists, should not use it.
As soon as the cell-structure of our bodies be
comes broken down, it becomes as repugnant ^o
the living system, as dead bodies are to a living,
refined, civilized community ; and if it is retained
in the body, or becomes absorbed from without,
it must be expelled, or death must soon follow.
Broken down cell-structure, taken as food,
bears an abnormal relation to the living tissues,
so that it matters not how good food a substance
may be, in its natural state of perfect develop
ment ; as soon as it becomes decayed or broken
down in its structure, by fermentation, so far as
the change has taken place, so far has the arti
cle of food deviated from its perfect adaptation
to the wants of the system ; and the part sc
changed is no longer food ; it cannot become a
part of the cell-structure of the living body, but
is a poison to be expelled.
Fermented articles, either as food or drink,
are more or less broken down cell-structure,
and bear an abnormal relation to the living
system.
Disease is the effort of the system to rid itself
of obstructing materials.
These obstructing materials are—first, the
broken down cell-structure of the system itself,
and not depurated or removed from the body ;
or, second, those which are received into the sys
tem by absorption, or as inorganic substances in
food, as bi-carbonate of soda, or bi carbonate of
potassa, or common salt used in making biscuit.
Hard water contains carbonate of lime, which is
an inorganic substance, and bearsan abnormal re
lation to the living system. Fermented bread
is made by decomposing the sugar in the meal
or flour, as the case may be, converting it into
carbonic acid gas and alcohol, thus destroying
at least one sixteenth of the nutriment there
was in the flour, and breaking down the cell
structure so that so much of the flour as has
undergone the change by fermentation, not only
does not nourish, but thereby becomes a source
of disease. Alcohol is broken down cell-struc
ture. There is no alcohol in any of the grains
in their natural degree of perfection, but they
all contain both sugar and starch ; the sugar is
first decomposed; then the starch is changed
into sugar, and both sugars are changed into
carbonic acid gas and alcohol. The carbonic
acid gas is used in n aking carbonate of soda
and potassa, which are used in making bread
which the good temperance people use, while
those who make no pretensions to being tem
perate, use the alcohol itself. All of these brokendown cell-structures are poisons to the living
tissues, because being broken-down matter,
they bear an abnormal relation to it. Many
substances that are of cell-structure bear an ab
normal relation to the living system, which it
is not proposed to discuss at this time
Chemical action invariably destroys the cell
structure of all organic matter on which the
action takes place, so that in the chemical prep
aration of medicines from vegetables that are
good for food, as soon as the chemical change
has taken place, they are no longer tolerated by
the vital powers, because their cell-structure
being destroyed, they bear an abnormal relation
�51
THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
to vitality. All medicines are poisons. They
all bear an abnormal relation to the living sys
tem, and almost without exception, are, when
taken, but adding inorganic matter or broken
down cell-structure to that already the cause of
the disease ; so that it matters not according to
what school of practice the medicine is adminis
tered, it is but adding broken-down cell structure,
which is obstructing matter, to that already the
cause of the disease, and is but carrying out
the principle of “ like cures like and we read
the “ blind lead the blind, and both fall into the
ditch,” alias the grave.
[to be continued.]
WHAT IS TEMPERANCE?
BY HYGEALTnEUS.
There is probably no subject upon which
less perfect views are entertained, than that of
Temperance. Some persons hold that abstinence
from alcoholic liquors is temperance, whilst
others maintain that the moderate drinking of
the same constitutes temperance ; and upon the
one or the other of these two propositions the
majority of the people are stationed.
Now, to my mind, both positions are, in re
ality, wrong. Temperance is moderation, no
matter to what it be applied; and intemper
ance, immoderation. Persons, too, may be as
truly intemperate in not using enough of a thing,
as in using too much ; as it is the proper quan
tity, or degree, which constitutes temperance—
degree or quantity always entering in as an
element—and not total abstinence, as some sup
pose.
“Well,” says one, “you believe, then, that
the moderate drinking of alcoholic liquors is
temperance, do you not ?” Not by any means.
If they are right who contend against absti
nence because temperance implies moderation,
then it is evident that we would all be justified
in doing what is manifestly wrong; for St.
Paul admonishes us to be “ temperate in all
things,” and as “ all things,” as this class of
persons would have it, necessarily includes a
great many wrong things, therefore we would
be advised to do many wrong things, moder
ately, however. This, though, is too absurd to
be admitted. There must, therefore, be some
other criterion whereby we are to be governed
in our eating and drinking habits, which is sub
stantially the relation existing between our
selves and the universe of matter around us.
Nothing having an unhealthful relation to
man can ever be a subject of temperance. The
use of all such things is qualitatively an evil,
as was the eating of the forbidden fruit by our
first parents; whereas, the use of thingshaving a i
physiological or healthful relation, can only be
an evil quantitively—because of an improper
quantity or degree. Who would ever think of
swearing, lying, or stealing temperately ? Or
who would for a moment contend that fornica
tion and adultery could be committed in mode
ration ? Or where is the individual to be found
who would call the performance of one or all of I
these deeds intemperance ? I venture to say
that no person of intelligence can be found en !
tertaining such an idea, from the simple fact
that all such conduct is wrong in its very na
ture. and hence can have nothing to do with
temperance. Why, then, should we contend
that other things may be done temperately,
which are, in their very nature, wrong or unpliysiological ? Or why should we call absti
nence from the same temperance ? The fact is,
the imbibition of alcohol, and all other poisons,
is a violation of physiological law, because of
the chemically incompatible relation existing
between them and the tissues of the organism,
and hence can have no more to do with temper
ance or intemperance, than stealing or commit
ting murder has.
It may be said, however, that St. Paul would
have you «“ eat and drink whatsoever is set be
fore you, and ask no questions for conscience’
sake but if the “ whatsoever” is not restricted
to such things as bear a physiological relation
to the body, then of course the injunction is
equivalent to a command of self-destruction ;
and we would be entirely excusable for »uicism,
should “ mine kost” chance temptingly to pre
sent a poison.
Temperance, then, is the moderate, use of
things having a physiological or healthful rela
tion to our being ; whilst intemperance is the
immoderate use of these same agencies, and the
immoderation may be because of either excess
or deficiency. The imbibition of things, how
ever, having an unhealthful relation to the or
ganism, is physiological transgression, from the
infinitesimal nothingness of the Homeopath,
up through the ponderous doses of the heroic
Allopath, to the practice of the Suicide, who
takes the same for the purpose of separating the
soul from its tenement of clay.
[For the Gospel of Health.]
DRUG MEDICATION THE CHIEF
CAUSE OF OUR PRESENT PHYS
ICAL DEGENERACY.
NO. I.
BY THOS. W. ORGAN, M. D., CHALFANT, OHIO.
Radical and revolutionary ideas are of slow
growth. The human mind, in its perversion
and depravity, will grasp error quickly, while
truth and right may be unnoticed, or if noticed
at all, only to be opposed and persecuted. The
subject on which I propose to write a series of
articles, is the most radically and aggressively
reformatory in its bearing of any of which I can
now conceive. It anticipates, as the grand re
sults of an enlightenment of the people, the
overthrow of drug-shops, dram-shops, and to
bacco-shops. Could a nobler or grander reform
occupy the human mind, or engage the labors
of the’ philanthropist ? It more deeply involves
both our individual and collective weal or woe ;
our future felicity and destiny, physically, mor
ally, and socially, than any other that can be
named, except the Gospel of Christianity. If
not Christianity itself, it is essentially a part or
element of it. It is not Christianity either to
give drugs or to take drugs. True science
�52
THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
based on the unerring laws of Nature, and all
LETTER FROM A SCAVENGER.
experience, properly interpreted, demonstrate
that the administration of drugs is fearfully
destructive of human health, of human life, and
Dr. Trall—Dear Sir: In the December
of human happiness. And if destructive and
detrimental to human interests, is not their use number of the Gospel I asked, in substance,
a fearful wrong ? If wrong, can their adminis the question: Why cannot man be, safely al
tration be in consonance with Christianity ? lowed the same freedom in diet as other ani
True science and Christianity can never conflict. mals that mix their food, without detriment to
The fact that nine tenths of the physicians of health or longevity ? to which you replied : you
our land do not take their own medicines when could not see the pertinency of my reasoning,
sick, is sufficient evidence of another very im- ' and that if the devil could change his habits,
portant fact, “ They do not do unto others as he would become a better being.
Very “pertinent” “if” indeed. An if style
they wish to be done by.” If physicians would
apply the golden rule in all cases, drugging of argument is pardonable when founded on
would soon be extinct. There can scarcely be something within the bounds of possibility;
found an intelligent physician that would not but, when a debater resorts to an assumption,
prefer to risk his life to the efforts of nature, (to illustrate a point at issue) that is utterly
rather than to the remedies of a physician of inconsistent with nature, illogicalyand impossi
his own school. He would also do so with his ble as yours was in “ raising the devil,” it por
patients, but for one “ small consideration.” tends an extreme want of something real or
“ There is not much money in such a course.” | reasonable on which to base an argument.
Why, sir, it is worse than falling back to the
His patient would doubtless recover more speed
ily without his drugs than with them, vet that “last ditch” (for in that there is still hope.) It
would involve him in another fundamental dif is, in fact, going beyond, over the verge, into
ficulty. “ They would quickly perceive that his dark and empty space for impossibilities as
services irere not necessary.” It is therefore ne weapons to defend a one-sided, fanatical theory.
cessary for the existence of the drug medical And, even then, in his blindness, to say he
profession that its practitioners continue the “fails to seethe pertinency” of the logic that
business of dosing and drugging, (no matter I drove him to so extreme a measure, is decidedly
how.) behind an array of technical jargon which cool indeed.
Apropos to your “pertinent” style of reason
they cannot understand, which the people can
not understand, and which, I think, never was > ing and to follow out its absurdity, wonder if it
wouldn’t be better for the rattlesnake to rid
intended to be understood.
This subject not only interests us as individu itself of its venom in some possible way, and be
als, but as a nation. The aggregate of indi come as harmless as a dove.
Wonder if it would n’t be better for God,
vidual existences constitutes a nation. It con man, and the Devd, if the “ Old Nick” had n’t
cerns also the physical and moral growth or
decline, development or decay, of our national been created at all ? Or, if the “ Old Fellow”
existence. It is therefore self-evident that the would commit suicide and thus tempt man, no
destiny of the race is involved in the discussion ! longer to pervert his mind, injure his health,
of this subject. A nation’s character is read by and shorten his life by sinful flesh-eating. Oh,
the health or vigor of its people. If the indi the “ permitted" monster ! why mil he persist in
viduals constituting this nation become dis acting so unnatural a part toward God’s crea
eased and effeminate, the inevitable result must I tures ?
Wonder if it wouldn’t be better for the lion,
be that the nation will be deteriorated in a pro
portionate degree. Whatever affects our indi tiger, Esquimaux, etc., to quit flesh-eating in
vidual existence must, in an exact ratio, modify ■ favor exclusively of corn, potatoes, grass, etc.,
our nationality. The constitutional vigor of and thus hasten on the glorious coming (?) mil
the people determines the physical and moral | lennium ?
condition of our nation. Although we are nu- | By your permission, I would ask a few more
merically strong, yet, comparatively speaking, | questions on this important subject, so vital to
in physical vigor and vital force, we are depio- I the welfare of man immortal.
You claim that all constituted flesh-eaters
rably deficient. It is estimated that fully threefourths of our people are in some way diseased. , were calculated by the wise Creator as scaven
gers to rid the earth of obnoxious offal, and ren
All forms of disease tend to physical degeneracy. I
The average of human life in boasted America der the air more wholesome for the decent por
is scarcely thirty years. Why should it not be tion of animation and man. Now, the Esqui
one century ? One-half of the children born die maux are considered men, and why did God in
before they are five years old. Scarcely one- his goodness consign man to so low an office,
half of tlu' remainder reach manhood or woman- I they being obliged to scavenge, the earth in the
hood. Never was there a time in our nation’s absence of anything else to sustain life ? or are
an exception to Nature s plan?
history when there were more dyspeptics, liver they is fair to presume that ’Mary, the mother of
It
disorders, scrofula, and consumptives, than now. Jesus, was a meat-eater. How do you make
Wherever I go, I see too plainly the evidence of
that compatible
these conditions impressed on those around. ■ her offspring? with the great purity of Christ,
Pale faces, sunken, hollow cheeks, bloodless
And, why
not Christ, the most
extremities, sunken eyes on one hand, or on the ! dipped bread didsop, and divided fishes holy, (who
in
to the mul
other, bloated faces, bloodshot eyes, eczemated : titude,) strike at a prominent root of evil, and by
6kins. Each set of symptoms indicates the his divine precept and example, try to abate the
physical depravity of our people.
sinful practice of flesh-eating ? Or, was he un-
�THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
53
So stands the common human opinion upon
one of the greatest of all the moral and social
questions which agitate the world. It is easy
to see that prejudice and ignorance are at the
bottom of this ridiculous and cliildish estimate
of woman. The young maiden grows to woman’s
estate under the eye of her mother, who still
persists in treating her as a child, and so it is in
the other case. ’The day has gone by when
woman could be speculated upon as merchan
dise, or treated as one of the effects of the house
hold. She has enfranchised herself by her in
telligence, education, and virtue, and holds the
foremost and topmost rank in the modern civ
ilization. Our literature, -which appeals alike
to both sexes ; our newspapers, which are read
by all. educate all. Slowly 'but surely has the
female element come to a great recognition in
these times. We are beginning to ask ourselves
why she who includes within the boundaries of
her own nature so many noble virtues, and half
the intellect of the world, should be held in
subjection, because one strong-minded female
without a tooth in her .head, has put herself
forward to advocate, in a somewhat unwomanly
manner perhaps, the rights of her sex !
We are proud to own that-we claim for woman
all that she can ask or think, in the direction of
Elkader, Iowa, Dec. 28, 1866.
mental, moral, and social freedom. We claim
it as a right, not at all as a privilege, that she
shall have an equal vote with men upon all sub
jects and upon all occasions. We are ashamed
WOMAN’S RIGHTS QUESTION.
of man’s injustice, and astonished also, at the
One would think, to hear the crusty old bach short-sightedness, that he will give a vote to
every ignorant and degraded serf of Ireland and
elors talk of politics, that womankind lias no the other European countries, and deny it to his
rights at all which mankind has any right to own educated and refined mother, wife, and
respect. Woman, according to their estimate
of her, is a mere appendage to man—is here sister.
upon sufferance and ought to be kept well un I If we are to have a manhood suffrage, and
der. They do not quite sanction the ancient I extend its latitudes and longitudes until it take
traditions of her social status, which record her ' in also the refuse of the colored belts of the
as little better than a household drudge, who tropics who may chance to be “ round” at voting
was cuffed and abused at pleasure by the lords time, including the African, who, poor fellow,
paramount of the family : but they think she is is only two generations removed from the bar
by no means entitled to the same rights and barism and fetishism of his native forests, then
privileges which they possess, or so much as a in God’s name let the suffrage be universal, and
tithe of them. What, they ask, has a woman put it into the power of American women to
to do with the great emprises of human thought, save, by their wisdom and fervid patriotism,
or the affairs of society ? Her proper sphere is this great Republic from being swamped like
the household, and her higher right is the right old Rome by the inflooding of the barbarians.
of doing her duty to her husband and her chil We do not expect to see women in Congress
dren. As to her meddling with politics—they during the next dozen years, although far more
laugh that proposition to scorn. Politics are impossible things have happened in the lifetime
for rough, strong men, not for weak, tender of all now living. But this is one of the great
women. What should they know about the questions which has to be met. It is society’s
functions of office, the business of the state, or biggest egg, and she must hatch it. Already,
the diplomacy of governments ? These are mat we are happy to say, this Woman’s Rights ques
ters beyond the reach of her intellect, and which, tion has received the consideration of some of
even were they not so, would unsex her if she our greatest modern thinkers, and they have
lent their sanction to the fact that woman has
interfered with them.
But the climax of all absurdities in their re inalienable rights, and that the right to vote is
gard, is the idea of giving a vote to women. It one of them. She, being born out of the loins
.so completely upsets all their preconceived no of this great Commonwealth, is fully armed and
tions of public and private decorum, that they equipped for service, and can assuredly as well
are driven almost to their wits’ end at the bare be trusted with the destiny of the country which
thought of it. It is not so long ago that woman she loves, as those ignorant foreigners who go
was a mere chattel ; and even to this day both to the polls like oxen to the market, in obedi
the laws of England and the canon of the ence to the whipper-in of their party. Twenty
Church, recognize her only as the property of years will not elapse before this voting phase of
her husband, whom she is sworn to love, honor, the Woman’s Rights question will be brought
before the whole male people for issue, and itj
and obey.
luckily ignorant (?) of its evil effects on the
bodies and morals of men, and thus failed to put
in His holy and timely protest against its use ?
And, how could He remain so pure and good,
while partaking of so pernicious an article of
fo< >d ?
In sickness, you say, allow the patient to eat
whatever he naturally craves; and why make
meat an exception ? Perhaps you would answer
“ the taste is abnormal!” Then why object in
cases of babes ? Here, again, you would assume
the taste inherited ; Very well, follow the mat
ter back, and, pray tell us, where in the world’s
history did the taste begin ? Who knows, per
haps at the “ fall of Adam thus accounting for
our consequent misery. Perhaps these sugges
tions may lead you to solve the mystery of the
“ Fall of Man
if so, you are welcome to
them.
How do you make your Gospel teachings, on
this question, harmonize with the Holy but
flesh-polluted Bible?
Hoping you may, philanthropically, enlighten
my flesh-polluted mind (?) by answering these
questions, I close, and,
With respect, remain,
Your Purifying Scavenger,
J. M. Snedigar.
�54
THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
will be carried in the affirmative. Then we may
hope to see a more Christian courtesy in the
conduct of affairs, and a new public morality
and decorum. Woman, who refines and ele
vates whatsoever she touches, will create an at
mosphere of purity around the foul places where
legislators and aidermen most do congregate.
Her beauty will grow into their manners, and
her wisdom into their work ; ^nd with this new
element infused into the executive of the coun
try, we may look for a new development of our
civilization.—The New Republic.
ITEMS FROM ILLINOIS.
I
with those who would rather help me up than
pull me down. Still I rejoice that you have suc
ceeded in securing a territory where the pros
pect is favorable for a much better life, tho’ I
may never participate in it.
“ The Kingdom of God cometh not with obser
vation, but is within you!” How consoling.
Heaven is a condition. The happiest man I ever
saw, was blind and poor. The wisest man I ever
saw, was the most permanently happy. As to
smartness—we are all about alike, we are like
measures of the same size, (pint tin cups if you
please.) The man that is full of party politics,
is not of necessity or generally, full to overflow
ing of a broad and comprehensive philanthro
py. He who is racking his brain to get up a
perpetual motion, is not the most successful agri
culturist. The great mathematician is often a
great fool, (in a horse trade.} “But the mind
expands by culture and education.” Aye, and
like most other things, becomes thinner by the
operation. Education is the father of pedantry,
and the foe to progress. He who fools away his
time in rummaging over the musty thoughts of
the past, to be consistent, ought to live on
“ hash,” and wear his grandfather’s hat.
The more I think of it, the more I regard the
stomach the citadel of life.
Parents, I see many of your children with
sore eyes, and raw, running sores on their
hands and faces, and I hear them complain of
ear-ache, tooth-ache, stomach-ache ; and I see
that they have a pinched, shrivelled, and some
times a flushed face ; and some of the little ones
lay down and moan, refuse to eat or play. Then
you hunt up the pill-box or phial of worm med
icine, or send post haste for the doctor. In this,
or all of these, it seems to me you are unwise.
You had much better do nothing, let the child
CONSISTENCY.
rest, and for mercy’s ■•sake, let its stomach rest,
Consistency, fudge ! If one should practise it
for here is where the trouble lies. Over-eating,
and eating too nutritious or concentrated food, in any community, Jje would be ridiculed as a
are filling the world with disease and premature dolt, and justly too.
Suppose a doctor, after giving his patient a
death.
dose of physic, should order him to mount a mill
CONFIDENTIAL, SUGGESTIVE, AND BUSINESS.
saw lathe, so as to have it well shook up. This
Friend Trail & Co.: I find that accidentally I seems to me both logical and analogical, and
do once in a while write on both sides of a consistency here would be a jewel (in a hog’s
sheet, and am inclined to all the time, and don’t nose) very much out of place. If I advocate a
see why I may not, for you see it is much more more natural life, must I throw off my clothes,
economical, and I believe in economy, in fact, run to the woods, and climb a tree ?
seem to have been compelled to practise it all
Check any evil, as well as any heavy body
my life. The December number of the Gwspel suddenly, while in rapid motion, or under full
has just come to hand, so the suggestions I headway, and the result is more or less destruc
thought of making are impracticable, or rather tive. *
*
*
uncalled for. I am so glad that you are able or
I hardly dare say there is evil in the world,
encouraged to increase the size of the paper. would rather prefer to use such terms as misfor
I like your decision to have it issued as now time and inliarmony, for what seems to me to be
once a month. I would say, do not change it wrong. Tastes differ ; my Heaven would prob
from a monthly, though it might be necessary to ably be somebody’s hell. I would like to live
tncrease it to five times its present size. Cut, with a people who had no coercive laws, no
trimmed, and stitched, no broad, blank margins, domestic brute animals, fowls, insects or rep
or blank leaves, a plain, neat, compact style—is tiles, and of course no fences, barns, yards, pens,
what I like.
or stables, and no prisons, asylums, or churches,
I hope you will be able to stereotype it, for I no distilleries, poor-houses, or court-houses, and
think it will be demanded in coining years.
where all fashions and customs impose no re
COMPROMISES.
straints upon a joyful, free, spontaneous life. I
My life is, and ever has been, only a sort of do not want to live any longer with a people
compromise. How dearly I would like to live who spank their children, fight, pull hair, take
�THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
medicine, wear hoops, paper collars, boot and
shoe heels, or shear and shave.
■ Now, readers, it you know of such a place or
people, do tell us where it or they may be found.
“ There is none”—none in this broad world,
why? Must wranglings, and fightings, and
want, and ignorance, and folly, ever sit en
throned in the hearts of men ?
A friend tells me we could not live without
brute-animal force or power. He says we must
have horses or oxen to do our heavy hauling
and plowing, and that by their use we can have
more life, i. e. more people can and will be gen
erated or created, “and the more life the bet
ter.” But these are only assertions, and I think
facts would not sustain them ; and as to life
being desirable under all conditions, is ques
tionable.
I suppose the uncivilized portions of humanity
are generally not as prolific; but such, I be
lieve, cultivate the earth but little, but subsist
mostly or its spontaneous productions and other
animals.
1 doubt even the economy of brute power. I
believe human beings pay in advance for every
ounce of power or moment of labor they get
out of a brute. True, after we have been the
humble servant for three or four years in rais
ing, breaking, and furnishing harness, etc., for
a horse, he can pull about eight times as much
as one of us; but he can do nothing else—not
even provide his own food, harness or curry
himself—and then we don’t need all this extra
labor.
Suppose he does help us to produce more, we
produce of some things too much now. I some
times think over-production is the great foun
dation stone of evil or inharmony.
All machinery, all power, and all contrivances
that enable any healthy human being to live
without their just and equal proportion of labor,
is a curse to the world. But we must get out
of this evil of brute dependence, gradually, I
suppose, or else we shall encounter obstacles
that will put our faith and patience to their ex
tremist test. For a while I might find it more
convenient—if not absolutely necessary—to ex
change my labor for food, fruits, vegetables, and
grain, and some of my clothing, etc., for that
which had been in some manner raised or cre
ated with the use of brute-animal power, for all
our industries are now in some way, directly or
indirectly, interwoven with them. And still I
see no necessity for their continuance after a
short time. Next spring, I should like to com
mence the culture of the earth with a few or
many associates, using nothing but simple hand
55
utensils, aided, it may be, with a few “mechani
cal powers
but these utensils and powers
should be of the best kind. Various forms of
spades and hoes, all made of the right size and
shape, and of polished steel, and kept so; for I
find if all such articles are made and kept in
this way, much more labor can be done in a
given time, and with far greater pleasure too.
If large logs or rocks are to be removed, com
bined human power, aided with wedges, screws,
levers, ropes, and railways, could do it, and
more economically and pleasantly, too, I think.
It is not true that “ man wants but little here
below.” The trouble is he wants too much.
His needs are few and simple. The great de
sideratum is contentment, or a calm acquies
cence in the inevitable. How to attain this
contentment, is an interesting question, and not
so easily communicated, unless one has an or
ganism in harmony with the laws of God or
Nature; and if they have, there is surely no
demand for it.
* * Yes, you must allow me again to insist
upon this general idea. Our highest mission is
not to minister to the sick, give to the poor, or
simply relieve the miseries and wretchedness
around ug. What should we think or say of a
•man who knew of a fallen bridge or a railroad,
when he heard the rumbling of the distant
coming train, should raise no signal to stop it,
but should start off after a load of liniment
and coffins ?
CONFIDENTIAL AGAIN.
I think myself rather smart gifted or talented
in mechanism. Have known, very few, if any,
that excelled me in variety of mechanical pur
suits, including speed and workmanship, and
should like to live where I could be the most
useful in helping get up good tools, implements,
etc., for hand labor, or of making labor easy or
pleasurable. I think, too, I can communicate my
ideas or knowledge of mechanism to others—
rather help give them confidence in their own
abilities. Men like me will no doubt be in de
mand in the “ good time coming,” and perhaps
now in Hygeiana ; but can’t go; am one of the
Moseses, I ’spect—not permitted to enter the
“ Promised Land.”
Hurry up the new Gospel, I want to try and
get more subs.
H. B.
Hath any wronged thee? Be bravely re
venged ; slight it and the work is begun ; forget
it and ’tis finished. He is below himself that
is not above an inj ury.
A CHEERFUL spirit makes labor light and
sleep sweet and all around happy, which is much
better than being only rich.
�56
THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
while adhering to some one, or ten, or twenty,
or the whole ninety-nine remaining ones, may
XLI.
be strictly professional, but is not so conducive
to the progress of the temperance reformation
ALCOHOLISMUS.
as it is to the pecuniary interests of the profes
Dr. Alonzo Clark teaches the theory and sion, the apothecary, and the rumseller.
practice of medicine in the College of Phys
“ UNHEALTHY PORK.”
icians and Surgeons in the city of New
This caption we copy from the newspapers
York; Williard Parker, M. D., is Professor
of Surgery in the same school. Both gen We do not believe that pork was ever healthful,
tlemen are eminent in their profession, and en nor that domesticated porkers can be any thing
joy a large and lucrative practice. But we have I but a mass of morbid and disease-producing
thought for many years that, hardly a physi matter.
cian could be named who was more sure kill I Trichinosis, measles, scrofula, diphtheria, car
than either of them, in a simple case of fever. buncles, cancers, leprosy, erysipelas, and cholera
We have known many cases of sudden and un morbus, are not sufficient warnings against eat
expected death under their medication, wherein ing that filthy scavenger, the hog, and so sud
we believe, and have reasons as plenty as black den deaths are occasionally credited to the fear
berries for believing, that, but for their treat ful catalogue of consequences. '
Hardly a week in the year passes away
ment, the patients would have recovered with
out difficulty. We say this with no ill-feeling without some account being published of
toward the learned professors. We wish not to deaths resulting from eating swine-flesh
disparage either their integrity or their intel The last account of the kind comes from
ligence. They are scientific, according to the Louisville, Ky.; and the peculiarities of it
system into which they have been educated, and consists in the statement that the mischief
they practise the Healing Art as it has come chief came from “ choice porkers,” from a “ fine
down to them from time immemorial. And if drove” which produced “ splendid hams!” The
their treatment causes the death of their pa Louisville Journal says:
tients, very frequently, the fault is not in the
'■ One of the most prominent and highly-re
physicians but in their system.
spected farmers living in the vicinity of Crab Or
In their clinics of the present college course chard, whose name we did not, unfortunately,
killed
use,
choice
they have spoken very emphatically against the j procure, from a for his family hogs a few he had
porkers
fine drove of
that
prevalent alcoholic medication, especially as it raised, and sent a few neighboring families a
is in whisky. They have even declared the few splendid hams as presents. Nearly every
present mania for administering whiskv to be family to which the pork had been sent, partook
productive of vastly more injury than benefit, of what they supposed were delicious morsels.
Early the following day the members of the sev
and, indeed, a prolific source of intemperance eral families were taken violently ill, with all
among the people, and of death among the sick. the symptoms of cholera. The best medical
A temperance reformer could hardly have taken skill was at once procured, and every exertion
made to relieve rhe sufferers. The patients suf
more radical and ultra ground against -alcohol, fered, we are told, intensely, and by night five
no, against whisky, as a medicine, than have Drs. of the number had died.
“ The wife of the owner of the hogs has died,
Clark and Parker in their clinical instruc
and there are no hopes of his recovery. Several
tions.
others lie in a very critical condition and are not
But we happen to know that both of these likely to survive.
gentlemen have been among the foremost in ad
“ The same day on which the families were at
ministering some kinds of alcoholic liquors (bran tacked, the remainder of the drove of hogs were
seized with
disease, having some
dy, for example) in typhoid fevers, consump thing of the some strangehog cholera, and nearly
character of
tion, and a variety of diseases of low diathesis. | all have died. The occurrence has caused great
And now we are curious to know whether our | excitement in that section of the state, and is
professional brethren of the school which cures likely to extend its influence to others.”
“ Great excitement!” of course ! But will it
the disease by killing the patient, have really
experienced a change of opinion. Have they i not all end in excitement ? Will anybody sug
abandoned brandy as well as condemned i gest that any thing ought to be done about it
whisky ? Grog-medicine exists in a hundred [ except to be excited ? Will any person propose
shapes, and to tickle the ears of the temperance i to discontinue using the foul carcasses—we mean
folks, and make the thoughtless stare by de- I the “ delicious morsels ”—of the infectious
nouncing one form of alcoholic medication, | beasts as food ? Will not the pork interest
RAMBLING REMINISCENCES.
�THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
(many millions a year) induce many editors of
numerous newspapers, and diverse agricultural
journals to re-assure their readers that there is
no danger ? And will not medical men again
be found to certify that trichina in the flesh are
the most harmless things imaginable? And,
that, if fifty millions, or fifty thousand million
billions of them are diffused through the head,
heart, liver, lungs, stomach, bowels, kidneys,
muscles, nerves, and blood and bones of the
“ human animal ” nothing at all need be appre
hended ?
That so many who use hog-food freely sicken
and die suddenly of “ acute poisoning,” or rot
away by the slower process of chronic disease,
cannot surprise the true physiologist. He can
only wonder that any body survives the abomi
nable aliment.
ADULTERATIONS OF FOOD AND DRINK.
In a late speech at a reform demonstration
in London, England, Thomas Hughes, M. P.,
«aid, while advocating the extension of the elec
tive franchise, “ Then there is the question of
food and drink. The stories about adulterations
are perfectly true. The food of the people is
abominable.” The poorer classes in England,
as well as in all countries, pay a greater price
for provisions than the rich, while the articles
palmed off upon them are villanously adultera
ted. Few persons who have not fully investigated this subject, can believe to what an enor
mous extent the business of adulterating foods,
drinks, and medicines, is carried. Scarcely a
pure drug can be found at an apothecary-shop.
Nearly all the articles employed as beverages—
tea, coffee, chiccory, chocolate, and the hundred
kinds of alcoholic liquors, are adulterated in va
rious ways ; while a large proportion of the but
ter, cheese, milk, flour, and some other things,
is not far from “ abominable food,” when they
'reach the mouth of the consumer. There is,
however, a very simple and perfectly infallible
remedy for these evils and frauds, and perhaps
some chance reader of the Gospel of Health
may thank us for the suggestion. 1. Take no
medicine. 2. Drink nothing but water. 3. Buy
your materials of food as nature produces them,
and do your own preparing and cooking. We
have followed these rules for a quarter of a cen
tury, and can speak by authority.
sr
altogether too stony for any immediate
fruit. The people are more fixed in their habits
and customs in that country than in this ;
are more conservatively inclined, and are
a quarter of a century behind us on all
the subjects pertaining to Health Reform.
Moreover, they are very disinclined to accept
foreigners as teachers, preferring to be guided
by the advice and opinions of their own coun
trymen who occupy high positions in society, or
great reputation as authors, professors, &c. .
We have no doubt that, in a general sense,
these views are entirely correct. But from a
somewhat extensive correspondence, and a rath
er limited personal observation, we incline to
the opinion that competent lecturers of our
school, could be eminently successful there, at
least in many parts of the Queendom. Among
the middling-classes are many quiet, thinking
men and women, who are unknown to fame as
Health Reformers, for no other reason than be
cause they have, not seen the opportunity to be
useful in that capacity, nor to organize them
selves for co-operative effort. They want a lead
er. They need some one to expound the system
of Hygeio-Therapv in its purity ; some one who
can meet their drug-doctors, cliemico-physiologists, and metaphysical-phvsicits in argument,
and show the fallicies and absurdities of the
prevailing medical system, and the incalculable
benefits to result from its overthrow. We are
of opinion that if either one or half a dozen per
sons we could name, should spend one year in
lecturing in England as opportunity presented,
a large body of Health Reformers would mani
fest themselves, and, probably, establish a Col"
lege of Hygeio-Therapy. Some persons think
that the political agitations of that country so
preoccupy the public mind as to embarrass any
attempt to introduce a new subject for discus
sion. But we think just the contrary. Politi
cal agitation causes the people to think, and
while in the thinking mood, they are the bel
ter prepared for listening to argument ; and
if our system is properly presented, the labor
ing people can hardly fail to see the immense ad
vantages and power its adoption would place in
their hands. It would very soon solve the
vexed question of Labor and Capital by making
the laborer independent.
GREAT BRITAIN NO PLACE FOR REFORMERS.
A gentleman aud his wife, who are graduates
of our school, have recently spent several months
in Great Britain, and bring a discouraging ac
count of the prospect for Health Reformers in
that country. They regard the ground as I
THE WATERS OF VALS.
Some friend in Paris has sent us a small pam.
phlet of 22 pages, with the disproportionately
long title, Memoir Concerning the Acidulous.
Gaseous, Bi-carbonated, Sodaic Waters of Veil :
by Dr. Tourrette. The work is devoted to a
chemical analysis of the waters of the various
�58
THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
mineral springs in the Department of the Ar
dèche, and a laudatory and commercial state
ment of their remarkable therapeutic prop
erties. These waters contain, in varying pro
portions, chalk, soda, potash, common salt,
silica, iodine, iron, arsenic, and some other
poisons, with a small proportion of some other
impurities. These are precisely the ingredients
which render water unfit for drinking or cook
ing purposes. Should any one put them in a
neighbor’s well in the same proportions and
quantities in which they are found in “ The
Waters of Vais,” he would almost certainly be
prosecuted for an attempt to kill. But, when the
person is sick he will swallow them in any
quantities his stomach can hold, per advice of
the family physician, and regard it as an attempt
to cure. There are some strange inconsistencies
in this world, and swallowing poisons because
one is sick is one of them.
We quote a specimen of the author’s style :
In the diseases of the digestive organs, gastralgy, dyspepsias, the alkaline mineral water
of Vais impregnates to the digestive mucous
membrane lasting physiological modifications.
Pâtissier, a fellow of the Academy of Medi
cine, traces in a few lines the principal effects :
“ In a healthy state,” he says, “ the water of
Vais, taken as a drink, increases the appetite,
renders digestion easier, regulates the alvine
evacuations, and sometimes produces a pur
gative effect ; the circulation increases, the
skin becomes warmer, there is an unusual
feeling of strength and well-being ; some
glasses of that water are sufficient to ren
der alkaline the sweats and the urine, which
naturally are acid.
“ It has been observed, that .mineral waters,
when well borne by the stomach, stimulate its
vitality, and increase its digestive power. This
influence is especially the property of the gas
eous, alkaline, sodaic, cold waters of Vais.”
Petrequin and Socquet (medical treatise on
mineral waters, a work having obtained a prize
from the Academy) :
“ The influence which the waters of Vais
bear on the digestive organs, as soon as they
are made use of, is most remarkable, and their
effects are so soon felt that it might be said,
without exaggeration, that they present some
thing marvellous.”
This is good advertising, but bad grammar,
and worse logic.
In the “ healthy state,” the appetite should
not be increased. To alter a healthy appetite is
to render it unhealthy—morbid. And, again, in
the healthy state, the digestion is always per
fectly easy, and the alvine evacuations regular.
How can that which is perfectly easy be made
easier? and why should regular evacuations
be regulated ? With all due deference to the
distinguished savans of the French Academy,
we must dispose of their euphonious lingo by
applying to it the uneuphonious epithet—
fudge!
VEGETARIAN
FESTIVAL
LAND.
IN
ENG
Our English exchanges contain an account of *
a festival on vegetarian principles. Says one of
them :
A rather remarkable festival was held at
Blennerhasset, England, on Christmas Day, upon
the farm of Mr. William Lawson. The farm is
conducted upon the co-operative principle—a
tithe of the profits being divided among the
workers, and Mr. Wm. Lawson and his servants
are vegetarians. All the people of the district
who chose to write beforehand for free tickets,
or to pay 4d. on Christmas Day, were invited.
Musicians were requested to take their instru
ments with them, and it was added “ those who
like may bring their own spoons.” About 1,000
people attended. The farm buildings were dec
orated, and in the large rooms, singing and
dancing, and lecturing on phrenology, co-opera
tion, vegetarianism, and physiology, went for
ward at intervals during the day. At noon a
meal of grain, fruit, and vegetables was given,
which rather surprised some of the beef-eating
peasantry, who had assembled to take part in
the festival. There were raw turnips, boiled
cabbages, boiled wheat, boiled barley, shelled
peas, (half a ton of each of these three lastnamed :) oatmeal gruel, with chopped carrots,
turnips, and cabbage in it; boiled horse beans,
boiled potatoes, salads, made of chopped carrots,
turnips, cabbages, parsley, &c., over which was
poured linseed boiled to a jelly. As there were
no condiments of any kind, either upon the ex
traordinary messes, or the table, and all beingcold except the potatoes, it may be imagined
that the guests did not sit down with much rel
ish to their vegetarian fare. Each one had an
apple and a biscuit presented on rising from the
table. Good order was maintained all day, the
farm-servants of the establishment acting as
officers, and Mr. W. Lawson himself performing ■
the duty of special constable, a fact which was
announced by placards posted up on the farm
buildings, bearing the words, “ W illiam Lawson,
sworn constable.”
The Tomb of Semiramis.—It is said that
Semiramis directed the following inscription to
be placed upon her tomb : “ If any king stand
in need of money, let him break open this mom
ument.” On reading this Darius ransacked the
tomb, and found inscribed the following rebuke ;
“If thou hadst not been insatiably covetous, thou
wouldst not have invaded the sacred mansion
of the dead.” He retired with shame and dis
appointment, as will every one who is guilty of a
dishonorable action.
NATURE.
Read nature ; nature is a friend to truth ;
Nature is Christian ; preaches to mankind;
And bids dead matter aid us in our creed.
�THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
Agricultural gqmrtmort.
POMOLOGY IN HYCEIANA.
BY E. YODER, M. D.
59
in hermetrically sealed cans and jars, for winter
use, and for exportation, than was used for all
purposes, green and dried, ten years ago. And
yet millions of people use it only as a luxury,
not aware of the fact, that human life can be
sustained in its best conditions by making fruit
the staple, if not the sole article of diet.
THE COST OF CULTIVATION.
Settlers in a new “ colony ” intending to
engage in fruit culture, can not over-estimate
the importance of planting largely and atten
tively cultivating small fruits.
The standard fruits, apples, pears, peaches,
cherries, etc., require more time to complete
their growth before bearing fruit; and hence
to persons who need quick returns for small
outlays of capital, are less profitable and incur
greater risks than small fruits.
The expense of raising and marketing of
strawberries, does not ordinarily exceed five cents
per quart. Canning establishments can afford
to pay from ten to fifteen cents per quart.
Therefore settlers in “ Hygeiana ” need not fear
over-stocking the market, even if an acre of
strawberries were planted on each ten acre farm.
A CANNING FACTORY
should be built by the settlers of “ Hygeiana.”
They should organize a joint-stock company,
STRAWBERRIES.
so that the handsome profits realized by can
When well planted and properly cared for, ning establishments would be kept in the hands
strawberries yield a full crop the second season of the fruit-growers, to whom it justly belongs.
of their growth.
FIVE ACRES ENOUGH.
MANNER OF CULTIVATION.
Five acres of land are enough for a family of
Any person who is familiar with the cultiva five persons, if planted to fruit in the following
tion of Indian corn can easily manage strawber order, thus giving the first necessary requisite.
ries. This remark applies equally to the culti
A FIVE-ACRE SYSTEM.
vation of all kinds of fruit.
Prepare the ground as for corn, d’lant in rows
One acre planted to Strawberries,
U li
“
“ Raspberries,
four feet apart, and set the plants 15 inches
Il
Ct
“
“ Blackberries,
apart in the rows. Be careful in planting to give
Cl
CC
“
“ Grapes,
the roots their natural position, (instead of being
crowded into a little hole). Keep free of runners, leaving one acre fol buildings, ornament
except where you wish to propagate plants, and grounds, roads and a grove.
there remove all blossoms and fruit. Cultivate
RASPBERRIES.
thoroughly between the rows and irrigate freely.
The common black cap is the safest, and has
ROW TO PROCURE PLANTS.
the advantage over other varieties in bearing
Obtain plants only of reliable dealers, and transportation better.
Plant them eight feet apart. This will give
avoid all new, untried and consequently high
priced varieties. Do not under any circumstances room between the rows for one row of beans,
take, even as a gift, unknown varieties ; labor, potatoes, cabbages, or other vegetables ; thus
time, and the opportunity to produce good crops, securing thorough cultivation, so essential to
with good plants, are thus lost, and strawberry the production of good fruit.
Dig holes a» foot deep and fifteen inches in
culture called a failure.
diameter. Place six inches of leafmould, or
THE “ WILSON.”
muck, in the bottom of the hole ; fill up with
Of the different varieties, none give better fine loam and cover the roots of the young
satisfaction than that known as the “Wilson’s plants about two inches. Spring planting is
Albany.” The “ Russell” strawberry described best.
in the July number of the Gospel of Health,
BLACKBERRIES.
is perhaps larger in size, and under the manage
The
or
Dor
ment of experienced pomologists, may yield chesterLawton,bestNew Rochelle, and thebeing
are the
varieties. The latter
larger crops, but for amateurs, (and for this class the earliest and sweetest, but not so prolific a
I write,) the “ Wilson ” will prove more profit bearer nor so large in size.
able, because it will flourish under all kinds of
Plant four by eight
but
treatment, better than any other variety. It is four to grow in each hill.feet apart. Allowprop
If you wish to
the best for marketing because it is solid, and agate plants, appropriate a part of your land
beats transporting a long distance.
excep
At Hammondton and Vineland, N. J., this exclusively to that purpose, and, with the ” keep
of a single row of
“ hoed crops,
variety is so decidedly preferred, that fruit tion remainder as cleansome corn-field. Cultiva
growers in these places have almost entirely ' the is equal to a thickas a
tion
coating of “vegetable
discarded all other varieties.
not always
obtained.
Fruit-growers in southern Illinois, say, when ' rubbish,” which can number of thebeospel con
The September (1866)
G
speaking of strawberries: “we mean Wilson’s tains appropriate hints on shortening in, which
every time." So hardy are they that they send I will not repeat.
them to Chicago, Buffalo, Pittsburg, and even
GRAPES.
to New York city.
Grapes will prove among the most profit
THE DEMAND FOR FRUIT
able of all fruits for cultivation in our new “ El
is steadily increasing. More fruit is now put up 1 dorado but, one acre will be enough in con-
�60
THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
nection with the plan above specified, which has
been found to give such an admirable succes
sion of employment as well as fruit. The vari
ety which is best under all circumstances is thus
expressed by an experienced grape-grower in
Vineland, N. J. He says, “ If I were to plant a
thousand grape-vines, I would first plant five
hundred of the Concord variety ; 2. I would
plant four hundred Concord grape-vines; 3.
Seventy-five Concords ; 4. Twenty-five Concords,
and, to make up the thousand, I would plant
one good Concord.
Much has been written about trenching for
grapes, until many people actually believe that
to produce grapes deep trenches must be dug ;
these filled with bones, stones, old-leather, and
rubbish generally. This method would neces
sitate an expense of from $1,000 to $1,200 per
acre. But there is a better as well as cheaper
way. Plant the grape-stocks as you would a
young fruit tree, eight by twelve feet apart;
having first cleared the ground and prepared it
as for corn. To insure thorough cultivation,
plant melons, vegetables, or some other * ‘ hoed
crops” between the rows, but not so near, how
ever, as to prevent the free use of the cultivator
every two weeks next the rows ; thus keep the
surface in as good condition the entire season as is
required to make corn grow, and you will not be
troubled with the worms, bugs, and caterpillars,
whose homes are on neglected farms, and who
flourish by reason of the luxuriant growth of
weeds, found too often in vine-yards. Without
thorough cultivation the farmer would not ex
pect to be successful in corn-culture ; but many
who attempt fruit-culture seem to think plant
ing should suffice, and are ready to denounce
grape-raising as a failure, and fruit-growing gen
erally as a humbug, when they are simply get
ting nothing for doing nothing.
VV hen we consider the fact that from $300 to
$700 per acre is realized by fruit-culture, we cer
tainly owe the soil and the plants which pro
duce such results, proper cultivation and care.
•
STANDARD FRUITS.
can be planted among small fruits in the follow
ing order:
Among Blackberries, plant apple-trees, 30 ft.
by 30 feet.
Among Raspberries, plant pear-trees, 25 feet by
25 feet.
Among Strawberries, plant peach-trees, 18 feet
by 18 feet.
Cherries, plums, apricots, nectarines, and all
fancy fruits, with evergreens and flowers, find
their places in the ornamental grounds around
dwellings.
MANURING.
“ Fertilizing” with stable-manure is perni
cious. It impairs the quality of the fruit, and
produces insects, which destroy both trees and
fruit. Eternal vigilance is required, especially
in new settlements, to protect fruit from the
depredations of insects, without adding to their
opportunities to multiply their numbers.
The “ virgin soil ” of “ Hygeiana ” contains
all the elements necessary to the production of
all the fruits in perfection.
Thorough stirring is the secret of success. Ir
rigation and cultivation will enrich even the
most sterling desert on the globe.
THE PLAN OF PLANTING.
This should be such as to give rows extend
ing lengthwise through the entire lot. If less
than an acre of each of the fruits we have men
tioned be planted, the same general plan can be
adopted, extending the rows in the direction of
the land which is to be planted next, giving an
opportunity to extend the rows. Thus econo
mizing the horse-labor required in cultivation.
SOCIAL REORGANIZATION.
The leading problem in Sociology—the re
organization of society on its natural and only
practical basis—is well stated by Francis G.
Abbott in the Radical:
Now the great problem of sociology is the
right adjustment of the relations between the
unit and the aggregate, the part and the whole,
the individual and society. Neither war accord
ing to Hobbes, nor savage isolation, according to
Rousseau, is “ the state of nature,” but, these
being excluded, only one alternative remains,
and that is co-operation. The state of nature is
mutual co-operation, which is the Christian ideal
of society. But co-operation implies a common
end for which all co-operate; and what is that ’?
This is a most important question, and the an
swer to it will effect essentially the character of
every voluntary organization into which men
enter.
The ideal end of society is accomplished in the
highest possible development of all its individual
members, according to the law of their natural
individualities. The individual cannot develop
in isolation, independently of social helps ; and
that is the sufficient answer to the advocate of
pure individualism. From birth to death men
are dependent on each other in countless ways;
there is no such thing as human independence,
except in a very Pickwickian sense. The com
pletes! possible education of all its individuals,
their most perfect development in all directions,
is the grand end and function of society. This
end attained, the highest welfare of all is se
cured in the highest welfare of each. It is the
duty of society to propose this end ; it is the duty
of the individual to co-operate in achieving it.
Society defeats its own end if it violates the
individuality of any one of its members ; the
individual defeats at once his own end, and the
end of society, if he refuses to co-operate with
his fellows. The prosperity of a state depends
on commerce, in a higher sense of that word
than the common one. The free commerce of
intellectual, moral, and religious influences, the
unstinted interchange of ennobling ideas, senti
ments and social helps of every kind, is the verv
condition of true social progress ; and all this is
co-operation, mutual giving and taking, practi
cal outcome and income of all that is best in
humanity. In no other way than by this per
petual co-operation of each with all, can society
attain its ideal end.
How clear, then, is the duty of society to
respect to the uttermost the liberty of the indi
�THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
fll
vidual! The good of society is at once sacrificed I organization which represses individuality, but
oy any restriction on the individual’s free activ ! only in favor of organization which shall develop
ity, whether of body or mind. How clear, on it. Disorganization is simply anarchy, social
the other hand, is the duty of the individual to [ death. Scrutinize, therefore, the fundamental
work heartily for the welfare of society ! His principles of social organizations as severely as
own highest good, in which that of society is you will; but do not defeat your own end by
also involved, is sacrificed by a selfish refusal to destroying what you seek to reform. Let every
bear his part of the common burden. Private new organization be helped and encouraged
culture and public usefulness are thus recipro which shall tend to accomplish the genuine
cally ends and means; the highest individual object of all organization: namely, the higher
culture is impossible unless dedicated to public development of the individual. That is the
uses, and the highest usefulness to society is touchstone, the test of all beneficial organization.
impossible, except through the most perfect Individual development need not be the direct
culture of the individual. This mutual exist object proposed ; but if it is not the ultimate
ence of the individual for society, and of society object attained, if it is in any way, shape, or
for the individual, constitutes the human race a manner interfered with, then the organization,
single organism, which the immortal Kant de no matter how dazzling its professions, or phil
fines as " that in which the whole and the parts anthropic its intentions, obstructs the genuine
are mutually means and ends.” The more highly progress of society, and should either be re
society becomes thus organized, the richer, freer, formed or abolished. If reform is impossible,
and grander, is each individual life. Let society there is no remedy but abolition.
and the individual be faithful in the perform
ance of these reciprocal duties, and the greatest
THE TEMPERANCE FAILURE.
of human triumphs is achieved—liberty in union,
the unimpeded evolution of every soul accord
ing to the Divine ideal implanted in it, and the
It is refreshing to read, among the intermin
harmonious working of all souls for the highest
good of each. Is not this the true idea of the able nonsense on this subject, a writer on tem
perance who can see to the root of the matter.
kingdom of God ?
It seems quite unwise, then, to object to The majority of temperance writers and speakers
organization per se,-or to hold that it naturally ! are directing all their efforts in mitigating the
and inevitably tends to evil; for social progress evils of intemperance, while a moiety of the
manifestly consists in perpetual movement to
ward a profounder organic integration of the money, time, and brains, expended in the right
whole, and a higher spiritual differentiation of direction would rid the earth of the curse en
the parts. There is nothing antagonistic in j tirely. The Church Union has a pertinent
these two ends; on the contrary, the attain- ; article which concludes with the following para
mentof one depends directly on the attainment I
of the other. The most highly organized plants graph :
and animals are precisely those in which the ■ “ It was found one thing to stop the sale of
individual organs are most dissimilar. To hold rum, but quite another thing to stop the drink
back, therefore, in jealousy of organization as ing of it; very soon no one was found willing to
such, from the great social duty of co-operation i prosecute under the act, when of course it
for human welfare, is to distrust the nature of ' became a dead letter, and to sum up the matter
things and the wisdom of God’s cosmical laws— i in a word—in the whole history of the enter
which is the worst kind of skepticism. Organ- j prise, temperance men never had so much law,
izations crystallize around all great ideas, and and drunkards never had so much liquor, as at
every great idea creates its own appropriate . this present time. This result might have been
form of organization. If a vitally powerful idea ; expected. The Maine Law went on the princi
gets hold of men’s minds, it will organize them [ ple that the evil came from the traffic, but it is
almost in spite of themselves ; it will bring them I just the other way, the traffic comes from the
together as inevitably as the force of gravitation I evil. Intemperance does not come from the
brings together the tiny streams, trickling down tippling-shop, it comes from the heart; it is
the mountain’s sides, into the larger stream of found everywhere. Notv having stated the
the valley. There is no use in fighting against cause of failure, let us at some future time apply
nature. If men keep apart, it is because they the remedy.”
have no common purpose or principle to unite
We are anxious to see the “ remedy ” which
them; continued separation is a verdict pro the writer proposes to indicate. We confess
nounced against their principles—“guilty of
our fears that it will be another compromise
worthlessness in the first degree.”
Least of all should the liberal preacher of to after all. Intemperance certainly comes from
day look askance on organization. For what is morbid appetency—in one sense, “ the heart.”
he preaching? Clearly for reform—political,
social, religious. But he who works for reform, But what is the cause of the morbid appe
must first believe in form, and form is organiza tite? To this cause the remedy should be
tion. The modern prophet of humanity aims applied, or it will never be successful.
not to disorganize society, (though often falsely
accused of that,) but only to re-organize it, on
the basis of love, righteousness, and truth. He
Great men direct the events of their time ;
can only aim to correct the wrong basis of pres wise men take advantage of them ; weak men
ent organization; he protests against every are carried along in their current.
�62
HYCEIANA
THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
AGRICULTURAL
LEGE.
COL
One of the institutions that we desire to see
in operation at the earliest practical moment, is
a school where children of both seXes—old or
young—can he taught the most important of all
human avocations, that of tilling the soil. How
earnest we are in this matter may be learned
from our advertising department, wherein we
offer to donate fifty acres of land in Hygeiana,
to any competent person who will purchase as
many acres more, and devote the whole to the
purposes of an agricultural school. The better
plan would be, of course, to combine it with a
general educational institution, where the ordi
nary branches of a college course, as well as all
the branches of the primary school, are taught
in connection with manual labor. The writers
in our educational magazines do not agree re
specting the propriety of connecting the study
of agriculture with a regular college course. A
writer in the American Agriculturist presents
one side of the subject thus :
“ It is a noteworthy fact, that agricultural
colleges and schools, as thus far organized and
conducted in this country, have, with a single
exception, perhaps, proved practical failures.
Students in law schools become lawyers, medi
cal students become physicians, and so on, but
the students in our agricultural schools do not
distinguish themselves as farmers, and time
enough has passed for them to have done so if
they would. How is this to be accounted for ?
We may not be able fully to explain it, but may
point out some of the defects in the plans of the
institutions thus far established.
“ It is a mistake to make an agricultural school
a school also for general education. Our com
mon schools and academies teach the rudiments
of geography, grammar, arithmetic, &c.; why
burden an agricultural school with these ele
mentary and common branches? They cannot
teach them any better or more economically
than is now already done elsewhere, and it only
wastes time and clogs the working of the pro
fessional school to bring them into their courses
of study. It not only takes up the time which
should be devoted to studies strictly profession
al, but it lowers the standard of attainment. It
tends to make a young man’s education super
ficial, and hurries him into practical life at too
early an age. The growing tendency in our
country to shorten the period devoted to
education, is hurtful, and should be resisted.
As the country grows older, the tendency should
be in the other direction.
“ Again, it is a mistake to connect the study of
agriculture with a regular classical college, and
make it a part of a course of general and classi
cal education. This' would tend to divert the
mind too much from the regular studies. If a
young man who intends to be a doctor, should
have the science of medicine taught him in the
midst of his college course, he would be very
apt to neglect the other studies and give his
chief thoughts to medicine. It might, in some
cases, be wise to have an agricultural school in
the same town with the classical college, but
they should be separate institutions. In this re
spect, they should be organized just as our exist
ing schools of medicine, law, theology, and prac
tical science, are—separate and independent.
“ It is a mistake, also, to make an agricultural
school a manual-labor school. The student in
any and every department of knowledge should
have daily exercise in the open air for the pres
ervation of his health. But his exercise should
partake of the nature of recreation, not labor.
No man can well carry on two kinds of work
at once: it may be either brain-work or muscle
work, but not both in the same day. If he toils
with hands the largest part of each day, his
reading, during his hours of rest, should not be
of the nature of study. If he toils with his
head the largest part of every day, he should,
for the remainder, seek some kind of diversion,
amusement, not additional labor of any sort.
For all kinds of labor exhaust vitality. ‘ All
work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.’ ”
To this very superficial and most unphiloso.
phical argument we may oppose all the teach
ings of physiology and a thousand lessons of
experience. A vast majority of the men who
have been truly and originally great in the
world, were in some way laborers when they
were students. It is not true that “ all kinds of
labor exhaust vitality.” It is only excessive la
bor that does it. A certain amount of ^exercise
is essential, not only to the development of an
organic structure, but also to the preservation of
its health. If the brain organs are fatigued,
they can be restored while the muscles are ex
ercised, and vice versa. We are of the opinion
that boys and girls, or men and women, will
make better progress in classical studies by
working several hours in each day. It is stated
that, at the Michigan Agricultural College the
boys all work three hours a day, and those who
are reported by the farmer as the best in the
field, are uniformly the best scholars.
Foreign Beds.—It is curious to notice the
habits of different nations in regard to beds.
However dress, food, manners, cooking, political
conditions may vary in other countries, the beds
differ as notably as anything does. In Eastern
nations the bed is often nothing but a carpet,
and is carried about and spread in any convenient
spot, and the tired native lies down in his clothes.
We remember a child who used to be puzzled
with those miracles of -our Saviour, who, in re
storing an impotent man, directed him to take
up his bed and walk—his idea of a bed consisting
in a four-post bedstead, with its palliasse, mat
tress and feather-bed, besides blankets, sheets,
and pillows. But even in very cold countries
the beds are closely allied to the Eastern carpet.
In taking a furnished house in Russia, on inquir
ing for the servant’s bed-rooms and beds, which
�THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH
did not appear in the inventory on our surveying
the apartments, it comes out that the Russian
servants are in the habit of lying anywhere—
in the passages, on the floors, on the mats at the
room door, or even on the carpets in the sitting
rooms—generally as near as possible to the
stoves in the winter season. The emperor
himself sleeps on a leathern sofa, in a sitting
room, lying down in a dressing-gown, but not
removing his under-clothing. But in Russia
the houses are kept so warm by the system of
stoves through the walls that much bed cover
ing is no more required in winter than during
the heats of summer. In Germany, the con
struction of the beds gives one the impression
that the Germans do not know what it is to lie
down. The bedstead is a short, wooden case,
there is a mattress extending from head to foot,
but so formed that at the half-way the upper end
is made to slope at an angle of considerable ele
vation, and upon this are two enormous down
pillows, which reach from the head of the bed to
the half-way down to the feet; consequently the
occupant of the bed lies at an angle of at least
forty-five degrees, and is nearly in a sitting posi
tion all night. In some parts of Germany there
are no blankets ; there is a sheet to lie on, and
another over it, which is tacked to a quilt wad
ded with down ; and this is the entire covering,
with the exception of a sort of bed, a thick,
eider-down quilt, but not quilted, which is placed
on the top, and which, unless the sleeper is very
quiet in,his sleep, is usually found on the floor
in the morning. In hot weather there is no
medium ; either a sheet is the only covering, or
one of these over-warm eider-downs.—[All the
Year Rbund.
A PREMIUM FOR CRIME.
63
government. The proposition of Commissioner
•Wellsis simply offering a premium on crime;
and we are glad that a few of the newspapers of
our country are intelligent enough to understand
it, in this light, and honest enough to express
their thoughts in words. The New Republic
well says:
The reasons for the proposed reduction of
the tax are 1st, the ratio of taxation to cost, and
2d, to promote morals.
We insist that the taxation should bear a
ratio to the profits of an article, rather than to
the cost of its manufacture, and it is a wellknown fact, that on every gallon of whisky
there remains a net profit to the trade, of from
$3 to $15 per gallon. In other words, the $2
tax per gallon can be paid, and leave a mean
net gain to the trade of at least $5 per gallon.
This comes from the consumer, a reduction of
tax would be only so much additional gain to the
trade, the cost to the consumer would remain
the same.
Instead of adjusting the ratio of taxation to
the cost of an article, equity requires it to be
adjusted to the profits, and in the whisky trade,
the cost becomes almost 000 compared with the
profit—it is almost all profit. If a man clears
$8 a gallon on whisky, why should he not pay
$2 to the government ? Rather, we say, pay
$5 to the government, for even then his profits
would exceed those of almost every other busi
ness.
But the “ improvement of morals ” to be
secured is a suggestion worthy of the “ Forty
Thieves! ” The distillers are styled “ dishonest,”
they defraud the government, therefore a ‘‘limit
has been reached.” To prevent fraud and dis•honesty, yield to the demands of these dishonest
men, although the deficit must be ‘‘wrung from
the hard earnings of labor! ” Here’s a Daniel
come to j udgment. Here is a sovereign balm
for burglary, and crime of every hue—take off
the tax! Ten years in the penitentiary is too
high a tax on horse-stealing, reduce the tax to
one year! The scaffold is too high a tax on
murder, reduce it to a fine of $11)0 ! I The ques
tion is thus: Is the ratio of tax to profit too
high? Manifestly not. Then enforce the law!
When was the Rum power honest? Under
Washington, they refused to pay the tax im
posed, and raised the standard of revolt. What
was Washington’s remedy to “benefit the mor
als ” of these people? An army of 16,000, each
with a persuasive musket, the logic of which
they saw the force of, and submitted. The
government should legislate in this matter, as
for burglars and thieves. The whole business
begins, progresses, and ends in robbery and
perjury. To succumb to this wicked monopoly
is infinitely worse, than to have yielded to all
the demands of the Confederacy. We respect
fully commend to our Commissioner a study of
the old adage “ The bird that can sing and will
not sing, must be made to sing!” Surrender
to thieves, never!
The whisky makers, having succeeded in
defrauding the Government out of $53,000,000,
Mr. Commissioner Wells proposes to reduce the
tax to the degree that the whisky lords will be
pleased to condescend to pay, with the ulterior
view, probably, of inducing those who amass
wealth in ¿he ruin of their fellow-beings, to
become honest dealers. We are not in favor
of licensing either the manufacture or sale of
intoxicating drinks, nor even of tolerating them.
But the public mind is not yet educated up to
the moral point of distinguishing between prop
erty and poison, nor of understanding that all
vocations which are pernicious to society, are
criminal in the sight of God and all true men.
Hence we must do the best we can in mitigating
the evil of that which the law and public sen
timent permit, and in keeping the fiends in
human form, as near the line of honesty as is
compatible with a dishonest calling. But we
protest, in the name of all that is decent in
morals, or respectable in legislation, against
An editor says the only reason why his house
allowing the makers and traffickers in the drunk was not blown away during this late gale, was
ard’s drink to be above law, and to control the because there was a heavy mortgage upon it.
�64
the; gospel of health.
moral and intellectual world, to be measured by
the literary retailers, and the literary yard-sticks
In the Galaxy for the present month is a ' of our ordinary or average life.”
biographical notice, by Eugenia Benson, of that ■
remarkable and gifted woman, Madame Du[For the Gospel of Health ]
devant, better known in the literary world by
the nom-de-plume of George Sand. The follow NEW YEAR ON HYGIENIC PRINCI
PLES.
ing account of her prodigious labors and the
expansive scope of her genius will interest our
Dear Dr. Trall.—Would your readers like
readers. Is not such a woman entitled to the I to hear how Hygienic New-Yorkers can cele
elective franchise?
brate the first day of the year ? I am sure they
“George Sand has given forth an amazing would, so will give you a short account of “ our
quantity of literary work, and she is at the pres New Year’s.” are aware that some 20 or more of
Perhaps you
ent time either contributing to the ‘ Revue des your students are rooming in one house, corner
Deux Mondes’ or writing a play for the stage, j of 7th avenue and 53d street ; a fine airy place,
It would be impossible for me to enumerate all | only a few blocks from Central Park. A fun
loving class as
her works, still less to analyze them, for I do i life. Well, we well as living earnest workers in
thought to .celebrate the bright
not know them, nor are they accessible to me. new year, with a Hygienic dinner, and a “ good
I propose to express the character, to give the i time” after it, in the rooms of Mr. Stockwell,
drift of, to analyze as I may, certain leading one of the students, who has a wife and baby to
pleasant while
works, which, by common consent, best express make his home hours happy and under Hygeia’s
he is ea rnestly seeking knowledge
the scope and meaning of her prodigious literary own tutelage. New year's morning dawned
activity.
beautiful and sunny. Smiling faces were in
“ George Sand could not be silent; she is the [ each room preparing something for the grand
dinner.
voice of her age ; through her, not France alone, | Those of us 'who eat only one meal per day
but Europe, has spoken. With the people rest omitted our breakfast, and gratified our alimenless, the old order of society broken up, laws, tiveness, in exercising our ingenuity in getting
theologies and creeds from obsolete conditions j up goodies, or something more substantial for
the table that “ Was to be.”
of life and thought—the whole moral and in
Two o’clock, the dinner hour, came, and the
tellectual world detached from the sixteenth ! company assembled, nor do I believe that a
and seventeenth centuries by the disorders and more tasteful or inviting table was spread,
assaults of the eighteenth, yet, restless to reform neither a brighter, happier company assembled
in New York, on that day. Vegetables, pud
itself on an industrial basis, in consonance with J dings, pies, fruits, appeared in many and various
universal benevolence and in accordance with forms. Yet nothing that would not nourish
the Christian idea—it has been the work of the body was to be found there. Every one ate
Madame George Sand to make known all this ; with a relish ; the best feeling prevailed, each
thought more of the comfort and happiness of
she has sought to express the spiritual and others than of his or her own.
moral needs of her age, to unmask established
The dinner passed off to the gratification of
forms of injustice, to expose the pretensions of all concerned. In the evening the company
customs derived from an old and different order assembled again, and spent the time in recita
tions of poetry, speeches, plays, etc., retiring at
of society, to weaken social bonds that retard i an early hour, feeling the better prepared for
aid often paralyze the best impulses, and de life’s work, for the short period of relaxation.
Hoping that ere many years roll around, there
stroy the free activity of men. It was for this
that George Sand, artist in her genius and in i ■will be many Hygienic dinners in answer to your
earnest, hopeful efforts, I am,
her instincts has been the conscience, the moral
Most truly, yours,
“ K.”
sense, and the intellectual protest of her time ;
New York, Jan. 1, 1S67.
it was for this that she has been forced to pro
duce such an amazing quantity of work, as from
“ Do you eat well ? ” asked one of our modern
an inexhaustible source ; it was for this that she
has been animated by a genius at once artistic pill-venders, who was in the process of manu
facturing a patient.
and moral, at once unrestrained and self-pos
“Yes, very well.”
sessed. Madame George Sand, who has shocked
“ Do vou sleep well ?”
“ Yes.”
moral people in England, America, and France,
“ Eh ? you do, eh ? That’s not exactly the
is among French writers an example of purity
thing for one in your condition. I’ll do away
and nobleness. But she is altogether too grand with that for you. Take four of these every
and impassioned a type of woman, too compre morning, and four after dinner. You’ll soon
hensive in her mind, covers too much of the see a change! ”
A “ STRONG-MINDED ” WOMAN.
�THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
SUFFRAGE FOR WOMEN.
ADDRESS OF ELIZABETH
CADY STANTON IN
BEHALF OF THE AMERICAN EQUAL RIGHTS
ASSOCIATION TO THE LEGISLATURE OF THE
STATE OF NEW YORK.
Gentlemen of the Judiciary : I appear before
you at this time to urge on you the justice of
securing to all the people of the state the right
to vote for delegates to the coining Constitutional
Convention. The discussion of this right in
volves the consideration of the whole question
of suffrage, and especially those sections of your
Constitution which interpose insurmountable
qualifications to its exercise. As representatives
of the people, your right to regulate all that
pertains to the coming Constitutional Conven
tion is absolute. It is for you to say when and
where that convention shall be held, how many
delegates shall be chosen and what classes
shall be represented. This is your right. The
actions of the Legislatures of 1801 and 1821,
furnish you a precedent for extending to dis
franchised classes the right to vote for delegates
to a Constitutional Convention. Before those
conventions were called the right of suffrage
was restricted to every male inhabitant who
possessed a freehold to the value of £20, or
rented a tenement at the yearly value of 40
shillings, and had been rated and actually paid
taxes to the state ; and yet the Legislature of
those years passed laws setting aside all prop
erty limitations, and providing that all men,
black and white, rich and poor, should vote for
delegates to said conventions. See Session Laws
of 1801, page 190, chapter 69, section 2 : also,
those of 1821, page 83, act 90, sections 1 and 6.
The Constitutional Convention of Rhode Island,
in 1842, affords another precedent of the power
of the Legislature to extend the suffrage to dis
franchised classes. The disfranchisement of
any class of citizens is in express violation of
the spirit of our own Constitution, which says,
art. 1, section 1 : “ No member of this state shall
be disfranchised, or deprived of any of the rights
or privileges secured to any citizen thereof,
unless by the law of the land and the judgment
of his peers.” Now women, and negroes not
worth $250, however weak and insignificant, are
surely “members of the state.” “The law of
the land” is equality. The question of disfran
chisement has never been submitted to the j udgment of their peers. A peer is an equal. The
“ white male citizen ” who so pompously parades
himself in all our codes and constitutions, does
not recognize women and negroes as his equals,
therefore his judgment in their case amounts to
nothing ; and women and negroes constituting
three-fifths of the people of the state, do not
recognize this “ white male” minority as their
rightful rulers. On our republican theory that
the majority governs, women and negroes must
have a voice in the government of the state ;
and being taxed should be represented. “White
males ” are the nobility of this country. They are
the privileged order, who have legislated us unj ustly for women and negroes as have the nobles
of England for their disfranchised classes. The
existence of the English House of Commons is a
65
strong fact to prove that one class cannot legislate
for another. Perhaps it may be necessary, in this
transition period of our civilization, to create a
Lower House for women and negroes, lest the
dreadful example of Massachusetts should be
repeated here, and black men take their places
beside our Dutch nobility in the councils of the
state. If the history of England has proved
that white men of different grades cannot legis
late with justice for one another, how can you,
honorable gentlemen, legislate for women and
negroes, whom, by your customs, creeds and
codes and common consent, are placed under
the ban of inferiority? If you dislike this view
of the case, and claim that woman is your supe
rior, and therefore you place her above al]
troublesome legislation, to shield her by your
protecting care from the rough winds of life, I
have simply to say your statute-books are a sad
commentary on this position. Your laws degrade
rather than exalt woman ; your customs cripple,
rather than free ; your system of taxation is
alike ungenerous and unjust. In demanding
suffrage for the black man of the South, the
dominant party recognizes the fact that, as a
freedman, he is no longer a part of the family,
therefore his master is no longer his representa
tive ; and as he will now be liable to taxation,
he must also have representation. Woman, on
the contrary, has never been such a part of the
family as to escape taxation. Although there
has been no formal proclamation giving her an
individual existence, unmarried women have
always had the right to property and wages, to
make contracts and do business in their own
name. And even married women, by recent
legislation in this state, have been secured in
some civil rights. At least as 'well secured as
those classes can be who do not hold the ballot
in their own hands. Woman now holds a vast
amount of property in the country and pays her
full proportion of taxes, revenue included; on
what principle, then, do you deny her represen
tation ? If you say women are “ virtually rep
resented ” by the men of their household, I give
you Senator Sumner’s denial in his great speech
on Equal Rights in the XXXIXth Congress.
Quoting from James Otis, he says: “No such
phrase as virtual representation was known in
law or constitution. It is altogether a subtlety
and illusion, wholly unfounded and absurd.
We must not be cheated by any such phantom
or any other fiction of the law or politics, or any
monkish trick or deceit or hypocrisy.” In re
gard to taxation without representation, Lord
Coke says: “The supreme power cannot take’
from any man any part of his property without
his consent in person or by representation.”
Taxes are not to belaid on the people (are not
women and negroes people) without tiieir con
sent in person or by representation. The very
act of taxing those who are not represented
appears to me to deprive them of one of their
most essential rights as freemen, and if contin
ued seems to be in effect an entire disfranchise
ment of every civil right. For what one civil
right is worth a rush after a man’s property is
subject to be taken from him without his con
sent.” In view of such opinions is it too much
to ask the men of New York either to enfran
chise women of wealth and education, or else
�66
THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
release them from taxation ? If we cannot be
represented as individuals we should not be
taxed as individuals. If the “ white male ” will
do all the voting, let him pay all the taxes.
There is no logic so powerful in opening the eyes
of men to their real interests as a direct appeal
to their pockets. Such a release from taxation
can be supported, too, by your own Constitution.
In art. 2, sec. 1, you say, “ And no person of
color shall be subject to direct taxation unless
he shall be seized and possessed of such real
estate as aforesaid,” referring to the $250 quali
fication. Now a poor widow who owns a lot
worth $100 or less is taxed. Why this partiality
to the black man ? He may live in the quiet
possession of $249 worth of property and not be
taxed a cent. Is it on the ground of color or
sex that the black man finds greater favor in
the eyes of the law than the daughters of the
state ? In order fully to understand this partiality
I have inquired into your practice with regard
to colored women. I find that in Seneca Falls
there lives a highly estimable colored woman by
the name of Abby Gomore. She owns prop
erty to the amount of $1,000. It consists of
village lots. She now pays, and always has
paid, from the time she invested her first $100,
the same taxes that any other citizen paid, just
in proportion to the value of her property, or as
it is assessed. After excluding women, and
“ men of color ” not worth $250, from represen
tation, your Constitution tells us what other
persons are excluded from the right of suffrage.
Article 2, section 2 ; “ Laws may be passed ex
cluding from the right of suffrage all persons
who have been or may be convicted of bribery,
of larceny, or of any infamous crime, and for
depriving every person who shall make or be
come directly or indirectly interested in any bet
or wager depending upon the result of any
election, from the right to vote at such election.”
IIow humiliating! for respectable, law-abiding
women and “men of color” to be thrust outside
the pale of political consideration with those
convicted of bribery, larceny, and infamous
crime, and, worse than all, with those who bet
on elections, for how lost to all sense of honor
must that “ white male citizen ” be who pub
licly violates a wise law to which he has himself
given an intelligent consent. We are ashamed,
honored sirs, of our company. The Mohammedan
forbids a fool, a madman, or a woman, to call
the hour for prayers. If it were not for the invi
dious classification we might hope it was tender
ness rathor than contempt that moved the
Mohammedan to excuse women from so severe a
duty. But for the ballot, which falls like a flake
of snow upon the sod, we can find no such ex
cuse for New York legislators. Article 2,
sections, should be read and considered by the
women of the state, as it gives them a glimpse
of the modes’of life and surroundings of some
of the privileged classes of “ white male citi
zens ” who may go to the polls. “For the
purpose of voting, no person shall be deemed to
have gained or lost a residence by reason of his
presefice or absence while employed in the ser
vice of the United States, nor while engaged in
navigating the waters of the state, or of the
United States, or of the high seas, nor while a
student of any seminary of learning, nor while
kept at any almshouse or other asylum, at public
expense ; nor while confined in any public pris
on.” What an unspeakable privilege to have
that precious jewel—the human soul—in a set
ting of irhite manhood, that thus it can pass
through the prison, the asylum, the almshouse,
the muddy waters of the Erie Canal, and come
forth undimmed to appear at the ballot-box at
the earliest opportunity, there to bury its crimes,
its poverty, its moral and physical deformities,
all beneath the rights, privileges, and immuni
ties of a citizen of the state. Just imagine the
motley crew from the 10,000 dens of poverty and
vice in our large cities, limping, raving, cringing,
staggering up to the polls, while the loyal
mothers of a million soldiers, whose bones lay
bleaching on every Southern plain, stand out
side, sad and silent witnesses of this wholesale
desecration of republican institutions. When
you say it would degrade women to go to the
polls, do you not make a sad confession of your
irreligious mode of observing that most sacred
right of citizenship. In asking you. honorable
gentlemen, to extend suffrage to women, we do
not press on you the risk and responsibility of a
new step, but simply to try a measure that has
already proved wise and safe the world over.
So long as political power was absolute and
hereditary, woman shared it with man by birth.
In Hungary, and some provinces of France and
Germany, women, holding this inherited right,
confer their right of franchise on their husbands.
In 1858, in the old town of Upsal, the authori
ties granted suffrage to 50 women holding real
estate and to 31 doing business in their own
name. The representative their votes elected
was to sit in the House of Burgesses. In Ireland
the Court of Queen’s Bench, Dublin, restored to
women in 1804 the old right of voting for town
commissioners. In 1864, too, the government
of Moravia decided that all women who are tax
payers had the right to vote. In Canada, in 1850,
an electoral privilege was conferred on women,
in the hope that the Protestant might balance
the Roman Catholic power in the school system.
“ I lived,” says a friend of mine, “ where I saw
this right exercised for four years by female
property holders, and never heard the most
cultivated man, even Lord Elgin, object to its
results.” Women vote in Austria, Australia,
Holland, and Sweden, on property qualifications.
There is a bill before the British Parliament,
presented by John Stuart Mill, asking for house
hold suffrage, accompanied by a petition from
11,000 of the best-educated women in England.
Would you be willing to admit, gentlemen, that
women know less, have less virtue, less pride
and dignity of character under republican insti
tutions, than in the despotisms and monarchies
of the old world ? Your codes and constitutions
savor of such an opinion. Fortunately, history
furnishes a few saving facts, even under our re
publican institutions. From a recent examina
tion by Lucy Stone, of the archives of the state
of New Jersey, we learn that owing to a liberal
Quaker influence, women and negroes exercised
the right of suffrage in that state 31 years—from
1775 to 1807—when “ white males ” amended
the constitution and arbitrarily assumed the
reins of the government. This act of injustice
is sufficient to account for the moral darkness
�THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
that seems to have settled down upon that un
happy state. During the dynasty of women
and negroes does history record any social revo
lution peculiar to that period ? Because women
voted there, was the institution of marriage
annulled, the sanctity of home invaded, cradles
annihilated, and the stockings, like Gov. Mar
cy’s pantaloons, mended by the state ? Did the
men of that period become mere satellites of the
dinner-pot, the wash-tub, or the spinning-wheel ?
No! Life went on as smoothly in New Jersey
as in any other state in the Union. Anc^the fact
that women did vote there created so slight a
ripple on the popular wave, and made so ordinary
a page in history, that probably nine-tenths of
the people of this country never heard of its
existence until recent discussions in the United
States Senate brought out the facts of the case.
In Kansas, women vote for school-officers, and
are themselves eligible to the office of trustee.
There is a resolution now before the legislature
of Ohio, to strike the words “ white male ” from
the constitution of that state. The Hon. Mr.
Noell, of Missouri, has presented a bill in the
House of Representatives, to extend suffrage to
the women of the District of Columbia. * w * As
to property and education, there are some plausi
ble arguments in favor of such qualifications, but
they are all alike unsatisfactory, illogical, and un
just. A limited suffrage creates a privileged class,
and is based on the false idea that government is
the natural arbiter of its citizens, while in fact it
is the creature of their will. In the old days of
the colonies, when the property qualification
was £5, that being just the price of a jackass,
Benjamin Franklin facetiously asked, “ If a man
must own a donkey in order to vote, who does
the voting, the man or the donkey ?” If read
ing and money-making were a sure gauge of
character, if intelligence and virtue were twin
sisters, these qualifications might do ; but such
is not the case. In our late war black men
were loyal, generous, and heroic, without the
alphabet or multiplication-table, while men
of wealth, educated by the nation, graduates of
West Point, were false to their country and
traitors to their flag. There was a time in Eng
land’s history when the House of Lords even
could neither read nor write, Before the art of
printing were all men fools? Were the apos
tles and martyrs worth $250? If a man can
not read, give him the ballot, it is a school
master ; if he does not own a dollar, give him
the ballot, it is the key to wealth and power. I
have called your attention, gentlemen, to some
of the flaws in your constitution, that you may
see that there is more important work to be
done in the coming Constitutional Convention
than any to which Gov. Fenton has referred in
his message. I would also call your attention
to the fact that while His Excellency suggests
the number of delegates at large to be chosen
by the two political parties, he makes no pro
vision for the representation of women and
“ men of color” not worth $250. I would,
therefore, suggest to your honorable body that
you provide for the election of an equal number
of delegates at large from the disfranchised
classes. But a response to our present demand
does not legitimately thrust on you the final
consideration of the whole broad question of
67
suffrage, on which many of you may be unpre
pared to give an opinion. The simple point we
now press is this : That in a revision of our con
stitution, when the state; is, as it were, resolved
into its original elements, all the people should
be represented in the convention which is to
enact the fundamental laws by which they are
to be governed the next twenty years. Women
and negroes, being five-eighths of the people,
are a majority ; and, according to our republi
can theory are the rightful rulers of the nation.
In this view of the case, honorable gentlemen, is
it not a very unpretending demand we make,
that we may vote once in twenty years in
amending our state constitution ? But, say you,
the majority of women do not make the de
mand. Grant it. What then ? When you es
tablished free schools did you first ask the ur
chins of the state whether they were in favor of
being transplanted from the street to the school
house ? When you legislated on the Temper
ance question, did you go to rum-sellers and
drunkards and ask if a majority of them were
in favor of the Excise law ? When you pro
claimed emancipation, did you go to slavehold
ers and ask if a majority of them were in tavor
of freeing their slaves ? When you ring the
changes on “ negro suffrage ” from Maine to Cal
ifornia, have you proof positive that a majority
of the freedmen demand the ballot ? On the
contrary, knowing that the very existence of
republican institutions depend on the virtue,
education, and equality of the people, did you
not, as wise statesmen, legislate in all these
cases for the highest good of the individual and
of the nation ? We ask that the same far-seeing
wisdom may guide your decision on the ques
tion before you.
Remember the gay and
fashionable throng who whisper in the ears
of statesmen, judges, lawyers, merchants, “ We
have all the rights we want," are but the mum
mies of civilization to be galvanized into life
only by earthquakes and revolutions. Would
you know what is in the soul of woman ask not
the wives and daughters of merchant princes, but
the creators of wealth—those who earn their
bread by honest toil—those who, by a turn in
the wheel of fortune, stand face to face with the
stern realities of life.
Speculators.—There are a species of idlers
called speculators—I mean visionary speculating
in regard to the future. ’Tis pitiable to see a
strong man live day after day in the shadow of
the sometime; he shuts his eyes, and lo! a
vision, far off on the enamelled plain of the
“ To-come ” appears, then he wiM do so and so ;
when he makes such an acquirement he will
rear himself a fabric of splendor ; then he will
sway the throng with the sceptre of power; then
he will stand on the “ Parnassus of Fame; ”
then he will find ease and happiness! O fool
ish speculator ! that then will never come. Daily
you will rear fair fabrics and dream dreams, and
daily will your fabrics fall, your dreams fade,
till you and your visions will pass into the vale
of the unknown. Rouse the faculties that have
lain dormant 1 Act for the present! Be vigorous,
heroic, and persevering! While the now looms
in strange beauty around you, improve it.
�68
THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
THE SMOKE QUESTION.
Few persons, even among those who reside,
“ from the cradle to the grave,” in the smokiest
of smoky places, are aware of the deleterious
substances they are taking into their lungs
with every inspiration. The following article,
from the pen of R Agnus Smith, M. D., F. R.
8., though applied to the large English manu
facturing towns, is equally applicable to many
cities and villages of the United States, and par
ticularly to Pittsburgh, Pa., Cincinnati, Ohio,
and St. Louis, Mo.
Warm interest has compelled me for many
years to attend to the condition of the air of
towns. Habit has no power of rendering smoke
pleasant. Few men living in a smoky town
require to be convinced that they are in the
daily endurance of a monstrous evil. You do
not require details, but it is well to remind you
of some points, as possibly some present might
have long ago given up all consideration of a
sight which during all their lives had taken
the appearance of an unavoidable misfortune.
Many substances make their appearance as
smoke from chimneys ; that kind to be now con
sidered is coal smoke ; all other kinds are com
paratively rare ; and with us here smoke means
generally coal smoke. There are various colors
characteristic of smoke from pale blue to gray,
brown, and intense black. The first comes chiefly
from domestic tires,when the heat is considerable
but the combustion slight. A dark gray or a deep
brown smoke is the product of the distillation
of coal. When the dense hydro-carbons have
been heated highly, but with insufficient air,
we have them decomposed, and carbon of a pure
black is thrown out. The colored substances
in smoke are tar and carbon chiefly; the com
pounds vary with the heat, and may be numer
ous. Some time ago I calculated that sixty tons
of carbonaceous matter were sent off in a day
into the atmosphere in Manchester. A very
small amount affects the atmosphere ; a grain in
18 cubic feet is sufficient to convert good air into
Manchester air, so far as carbon is concerned.
About one half the color is due to tarry matter,
and the other half to black carbon only. This
black matter is the coloring material of all our
smoky towns, and, to a great extent, of the
clothes, as well as of the persons of the inhabi
tants. We live in houses colored by it, and we
walk
roads colored by it, and we can see the
sun, the moon, and the heavens only after they
have been, to our eyes, colored by this universal
tincture.
These are calamities of themselves ; but, al
though some men would look on such a view
of the case as mere sentiment, not one amongst
us can fail to have his spirits tinged with the
darkness of the sky. I found this strangely cor
roborated lately. One of the best men of business
in Manchester informed me that, on an atmo
spherically dull day, no one would give a high
price for goods, no one had the courage to give
it, but on the other hand they could buy goods
at a lower price—the seller had not the courage
to hope for better.
These dull days are caused in part by the cli
mate, but their remarkable oppressiveness is un
questionably due in great part to the smoke. We
do not consider that by the smoke we make wa
are affecting our own spirits and clouding ourt
own j udgment. It is my belief that this effects
on the spirits is the most powerful of all objec-i
tions to smoke, even in the minds of those who!
believe themselves above such feelings. There i
is, however, no denying the next great fact, than
everything coming in contact with a smoky at-|
mosphere is so blackened that cleaning becomesl
difficult or impossible. Smoke gives to every,
household it visits either a greater amount oil
labor, or a lower social appearance. Let us sup ,
pose a housewife only strong enough to do al',j
the work of her house so as to keep it comforta!
ble when there is no smoke plague, she will
break down before attaining the same results in,
a smoky town. We may, however, fairly doubt!
if it is possible by any means to attain the sama
results, and in reality they are not attained!
We areapt to call the people who suffer most
by it indolent, and they sometimes believe them«
selves so, but the cause is rather despair at thtjii
amount of work demanded of them. Even th«
higher wages in towns fail to make them recon*
ciled to curtains blackening in a few days, where
in country places these would have kept theii
windows neat for many months. Nor can th«,
higher wages of town reconcile them to having
their clothes blackened as soon as they arq
washed, instead of being dried when they ar<|i
hung out for that purpose. The poor pay dig
rectly for the smoke, living where it prevails^
and the middle-classes and the wealthy suffeli
proportionately in being compelled to live oup
of the town, and to spend time in going to ani
fro. It is quite true that carbon, tar, and suli
pliurous acids, are disinfectants ; but we do nog;
wish to breathe them constantly—we cannot;
live on medicines. The disinfecting powers oi
smoke have not rid us of disease, nor does it pre!
vent occasional pestilences. If it does good, it doe*
more evil, and much of the mortality of Maur
Chester must be attributed to smoke. It hag
been said that if the carbon was thoroughly
burned, the amount of sulphurous acid woulir
be so great as to be intolerable ; but when th I.
blackness is removed the sulphurous acid seemlr
to escape more easily. We can imagine thd
carbon, soaked with the acid, falling down witlB
double effect upon the town.
One product of the combustion of any carbol»
naceous substance is carbonic acid ; this is iwi
evitable, and must be endured. Another prod«,
uct is carbonic oxide, which has a deadly chart
actor, is invisible, and is not sent out by th k
domestic fire, and only to a small extent b;a
high chimneys. From a sanitary and economic
cal and an a?sthetic point of view, we shall gainb
much by the removal of the carbon, and an adj.
ditional gain will be obtained by removing th*
carbonic oxide. We are not, however, to supl
pose that all is then gained ; we are not entire! 4
safe until we have removed the sulphuroul
acid. To effect this is not a problem which w|
can expect to solve rapidly. The sulphur gasel
collect wherever there is any obstruction t-j
ventilation. Sometimes the smoke is retainer:
in the town as certainly as if a firmament werl
�THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
.“put over it of impenetrative material. On a
‘still day, with a clear sky and considerable cold,
the smoke lies on Manchester until the streets
' become dark at midday. It is then that the
acids are found painful to the eyes, bad to the
taste, dangerous to the breathing. The black' ness might be removed ; what shall we do with
the sulphur ?
It is the sulphur acids which render the air
and rain of Manchester so destructive to metals.
Iron roofs will not remain there ; even houses
cease rapidly to exist, and become old at an early
period. The lime of the mortar becomes sul
phate of lime, and the rain washes it away. The
very stones decay under the constant action of
acid, and the bricks crumble more rapidly.
Even in places less troubled with smoke, we
j see the decay. The Parliament Houses, built
to remain for ages, are rapidly, before our eyes,
! turning into plaster of Paris and Epsom salts.
Probably some of the evil might be avoided.
The finest buildings in London appear less
handsome than flimsy structures in many Con
tinental cities. With us, the peculiarity of the
climate is a great enemy. On ceriain days the
acids rise rapidly ; but, as a rule, they fall.
Great extremes of dryness and of rain are the
best protectives, and, during heavy showers, the
air of Manchester is not unpleasant to breathe,
because the sulphur is carried down in the rain.
The coal used here contains not less than one
per cent, of sulphur, and one of sulphur makes
, three of vitriol. Some coals contain more. The
. amount of sulphurous acid sent out is enormous
. —it cannot be less than one hundred and eighty
' tons per day. The rain is acid. It falls on the
’living grass, and puts it out. Young plants
! struggle against it, but they cannot do so long.
1 We scarcely know how much of the beautiful
and useful is destroyed by this acid. The fine
i arts could scarcely flourish in an atmosphere
’ which attacks without fear a great building
' which ought to remain sound for centuries.
One of the foremost printers of Lancashire
told me that there were some colors which he
found almost instantly to fade. They were fre
quently sent back upon his hands. He was
annoyed to find that the French sent the same
colors to the same markets without the risk of
/having them returned, and it was only after
^inuch time and loss that he found that the
goods must not be allowed to pass through Man' Chester. One day was enough, but in some
weather two hours were sufficient for their
deterioration. The colors imbibed a poison and
went off to die of it. He now sends such goods
from his works without coming here, and he is
as successful as his rivals in France.
It must be remembered that even if we burn
Chmoke colorless, this sulphurous acid will remain.
¿The rain will be equally acid, but ifwe burn the
[ smoke no particles of carbon filled with vitriol
’will fall upon us. It will more readily diffuse.
■This seems to be the experience, but it is mat?ter for open discussion. We are told on one side
that the sulphurous acid is decomposed by the
♦carbon, and that the sulphur falls down with it
{In a solid state. 1 do not know if this is a fact,
but if it be, the result will be that the sulphur
will be very finely divided, and in that state be
r oxidized by the air and water, forming oil of
69
vitriol where it lies. It will not be less innocent,
although it may change the sphere of its iniqui
ties. This may explain why the black vegetation
is so frequently very acid, as it most surely is
often or always found to be.
The only sure mode we know of diminishing
the amount of acid given out by chimneys is by
burning less sulphur. This can be donej- per
haps, to some extent, by burning less coal, and
burning it more economically ; next by not al
lowing the most sulphurous of the coals to be
burnt in large towns. This latter is a simple
mode of doing some good, and cannot in all
cases be considered too great a demand on manu
facturers. I inquired of engineers the amount
of coal burnt per horse-power per hour in the
best and the most careless establishments, and
was told that it varied from three pounds tc
fifteen pounds. I obtained other answers, which
went lower and higher, but enough if we know
that coal is, in many places, burnt at a wasteful
rate. This is a department concerning which I
am not called on to speak, but it comes as a
part of my subject. If we examine this care
fully, we shall find, in all probability, that the
amount of heat we really use is trifling, whilst
the coal is in amount enormous.
A wasteful management of coal is the perpe
tration of a nuisance not justified by the exigen
cies of manufactures, and the agents can scarce
ly plead that they are following a legitimate
occupation. I shall say little of this ; probably
the change in this branch will be more gradual
than the destruction of the blackness, but we
must not forget it. A great thinker of the time
said to me once. The nation reminds me of a
man who has left a great barrel of wine for long
use; he pulled out the bung to fill his little
glass, and had not sense to see that the most of
the liquid ran off on the floor. The diminution
of the amount of coal burnt without giving out
its equivalent of power, will be a benefit sani
tary as well as economical. How far we have
this in our hands, it is not easy to say ; but it is
so to some extent, and it would be well if the
subject were kept before us permanently. Peo
ple inform us that the selfishness and self-inter
est of manufacturers are sufficient for this. That
is a theory which I never have found reason
to believe in fully. The manufacturers are not
more selfish than other men ; and if they were,
the most selfish man is often blind to his own
interest.
One of the effects of the combustion of coal is
to remove from the air a certain amount of
oxygen, putting in its place the gases and car
bonaceous substances spoken of along with coal
ashes, which are in paft carried upwards. The
removal of the oxygen occurs only to a
small extent, but it is perceptible, and in some
cases considerable. This deterioration of the
air occurs most in places where there is most
carbon floating, and where it is therefore least
pleasant to open our windows. Now, if there
is less oxygen, we require the air to be renewed
more frequently, and this we cannot permit
because of the blackness. The smoke acts like
a prison wall, and we shut windows and cease
| to ventilate. Bad as the air may be, it is better
than that which we manufacture for ourselves
| by shutting our rooms, which remain closed
�70
THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
until the bed-rooms, even in the large hotels of
all our town, become unpleasant to the senses.
It is the custom to ventilate by the doors from
corridors only, in London, and elsewhere, in
hotels, lest the blacks should enter by the win
dow, from which the freshest air comes. Private
houses suffer equally. The weavers of SpitalfieldB were glad to be able to open their win
dows when the establishments near began to
burn their black smoke, and this is a powerful
argument against the opinion of those who
would attempt to show that the sulphur is the
only thing to be feared. Bad the sulphur gases
unquestionably are, but it is the carbon which
causes the alarm of housewives and house
maids, and which prevents the needful change
of air in our town houses. The oxygen which
is removed from the air is the whole of the most
active portion. It has long been called ozone
and peroxide of hydrogen; but, by whatever
name, it is a something always found in agree
able air. This is never found in Manchester.
It is for medical men to consider wliat class
of disease may arise from this diminution of
oxygen. Children suffer most in smoky towns,
we are told. They have rapid circulation, they
require much oxygen, and are instinctively fond
of fresh air. It seems to me that the analyses
of the air, showing a diminution of oxygen,
even forgetting the sulphurous acid, explains
why children should suffer so much, and helps
along with other causes, to explain what Mr.
Leigh has called “ the massacre of the innocents.”
The deficiency of active oxidation is equal to a
deficiency of power and of healthy stimulus. If
so, we need not wonder that some persons should
6eek artificial means of stimulus, nor why others
should rather seek the less vigorous oxidation of
a town. I cannot doubt that we have here some
(>f the reasons for a deterioration of race spoken
3f by Dr. Morgan as visible amongst us. Our
trength must be proportionate to the amount
of healthy oxidation. If by any method we
reduce the amount of floating blackness, we
shall increase the purity of the air of the town,
increase the beauty of its buildings, and im
prove the appearance of the inhabitants. We
shall enable the houses to be ventilated more
thoroughly, and we shall diminish the inten
sity of those days of darkness that sometimes
paralyze the whole community. Every day
will be brighter, and I think, happier to every
inhabitant. If we diminish the sulphur by
burning less coal, we shall diminish the amount
of coal dust also, and these two points are not
to be forgotten, although the full combustion
requires first to be settled. *
A conceited young fellow, calling upon an
old lady friend previous to his departure for
China, was taken somewhat by surprise when
the good-natured lady advised him to be careful
of himself in the “ flowery kingdom,” as she
understood “ the Chinese feasted on puppies.”
A Western paper strikes the names of two
subscribers from his list because they were re
cently hung. The publisher says he was com
pelled to be severe, because he did not know
their present address.
LEADING THE VAN.
The Evening Post, in a leading editorial un
der the caption, “ Connecticut Leads the Van,”
says:
“ The republicans of Connecticut deserve suc
cess, and, we doubt not, will gain it. They
have adopted a platform of equal political
rights ; they assert ‘ that the only just basis of
human governments is the consent of the gov
erned ; that in a representative republic such
consent is expressed through the exercise of the
suffrage by the individual citizen, and that the
right to that exercise should not be limited by
distinction of race or color.’ ”
We fail to see the equality or the justice of
this platform. Race and color are very well as
far as they go, but they comprehend only one
half of the human race. Has the Post never
heard that woman claims the elective franchise,
without regard to race, color, or sex ?
CATOPATHY.
That marvelously learned body, the Paris
Academy of Sciences (said to be the most learned
body of men in the world—the earth-world, not
the moon), has made another marvelous discov
ery, and, as usual, through the manipulations
and investigations of some distinguished chem
ist. The learned chemico-dietico-physiological
and categorical therapeutist aforesaid, has pre
sented to the Paris Academy of Science above
mentioned, a report of an analysis of the milk
(the mammary secretion—lac catawaulimeouw)
of that familiar household pet and mousehole
pest, commonly denominated pussy, and has
“ proved” (this word is copied verbatim et litera
tim from one of our exchanges), that it (the
milk aforesaid, not the cat above mentioned,*
but, being, and intended to be, nevertheless, the
milk of the cat or pussy aforesaid and above
mentioned) has (we quote the next three words)
“ extraordinary restorative qualities.” The ex
change hereinbefore alluded to goes on to say
and state and expatiate in manner following:
It would, he argued, be found of great value
in cases of debility and consumption. Two or
three queries naturally suggest themselves : Are
cats to be raised and tended like cows ? Who
is to milk them ? What would be deemed a
sufficient quantity for a daily dose or beverage,
and how many cats would be required to furnish
this quantity ? To those, a fourth question
might not improperly be added, viz.: If the
new beverage is to be generally adopted, what
is to become of all the kittens ?”
O “ scat,” you unhandsome editor! Who cares
for all the kittens, “ to be or not to be,” when
�THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
the milk of the cat, or the cat of the milk (we
think it does not matter much which) is a great
restorative remedy ? If cat-milk will cure con
sumption, kittens must take care of themselves.
But what if the supply of cats should fail?
What would the thousands of consumptives, all
of whom are cured on cod-liver oil (see weekly
bills of mortality), do in that event ? We have it.
Soon after the expensive cod liver oil came into
vogue, it was discovered that any cheap fish oil
was just as good (witness medical journals).
Should the cat-cure become so popular, and the
remedy in such demand as to alarm the four
legged quadrupeds 60 that they should all run
away and refuse to be milked, it may be found
that the milk of any other animal will answer
all purposes. Perhaps, however, the restorative
qualities of cat’s milk are due to the fact that
the cat is carnivorous. The codfish is, weknow,
flesh-eating. If so, we should only milk for
medicine in the line of the carnivora—lions,
tigers, hyenas, wolves, leopards, dogs, etc. Shall
we not have a specimen of this extraordinary
medicine at the Great Exhibition?
“A DIFFERENT FO OTINC”-QUEER
LOGIC.
The English papers are reporting the sayings
and doings of Dr. Mary E. Walker, and com
menting on her morals, manners, dress, personal
appearance, eccentricities, &c., from their re
spective stand-points of observation. They all
concur in regarding her pants as perfectly awful;
none of them, however, seem disposed to argue
the question of its utility nor even of its propri
ety, but proceed to judge it, and as a matter of
course, to condemn it, by the standard of fash
ion. Indeed they treat the subject very much
as nearly all of the American newspapers did
fifteen or twenty years ago, when women in the
“ Reform Dress,” first appeared “ on the world’s
wide stage,” in this country. Dr. Walker has
lectured to a large audience in St James’ Hall,
London, on which occasion, a lot of young men
of rowdyish proclivities, most of whom are said
to have been medical students of the allopathic
colleges (Dr. Walker is opposed to allopathic
druggery), undertook to interrupt or prevent her
performance by singing, hooting, and other de
monstrations always at the command of rowdy
ism. As a specimen of rather queer logic, we
copy the following concluding paragraph of an
extended, and, on the whole, fair notice of her
lecture in St. James’ Hall:
“As regards physique, it is plain that Dr. Walk
er’s frame has been subjected to hardships per
71
haps in excess of its powers of resistance. That
consideration increased the regret that every
one must have felt that a lady should be exposed
to constant and by no means mannerly interrup
tions. At the same time, a lady who comes for
ward to claim ‘ perfect equality ’ with men,
occupies a different footing from other ladies.”
How different ? This is certainly queer logic,
and seems intended to propitiate the rowdies,
while obliged to condemn their conduct. We
are unable to comprehend how the claim of any
woman to perfect equality with men justifies or
excuses ill-treatment, or places her on any differ
ent footing from “ other ladies.” Is it a crime
to claim equality ? Suppose a servant, or a
serf, or a slave, should honestly believe and
plainly declare himBelf entitled to the same po
litical rights and privileges as his employer,
guardian, or owner, would this fact authorize
any one to abuse him? The golden rule is
beautiful when our fellow-beings apply it to us
—but when we are asked to apply it to others
—a-hem !
Cheese-eaters.—The consumption of cheese
in England amounts to the amazing quantity of
821,250,000 pounds a year. This may be one
of the reasons why Brother Bull is so conserva
tively inclined, for there is not, in our humble
judgment, a more stupifying article of food in
use. It is befouling to the mouth—inflaming
the stomach, constipating to the bowels, obstruct
ing to the kidneys, congesting to the liver, clog
ging to the skin, thickening to the blood, stiffen
ing to the muscles, irritating to the nerves, torpifying to the mental powers, and wholly unfit
for human food—“ only that and nothing
more.”
DRILL FOR VOLUNTEERS.
Fall in ! To good ways and habits.
Attention ! To your own business.
Right Face ! Manfully to your duty and keep
sober.
Quick March! From a temptation to do any
thing which is unmanly.
Halt! When conscience tells you that you are
not doing as you would like others to do unto
you.
Right about Face ! From dishonesty and false
hood.
Present Arms! Cheerfully when your wife
asks you to hold the baby for an hour.
Break Off! Bad habits, and everything that
is likely to retard your advancement in this
world.
TnE following bill was lately presented to a
I farmer in Sussex :
1 “ To hanging two barn doors and myself seven
I hours, four shillings and sixpence.”
�THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
HOUSES, CHEAP AND CONVENIENT.
By permission of the publisher of
the American Agriculturist, we are
enabled to present the readers of the
Gospel of Health with another
plan for the construction of cheap and
convenient dwelling houses,
think it will be difficult to plan a
house better combining the consider
ations of convenience and economy,
and the design seems well adapted
to many who propose to build plain
and comfortable bouses in Hygeiana
the ensuing season.
In this design, upon the ground
floor, as seen in fig. 2, are a Parlor,
Bed Room and Kitchen ; A, Porch ;
G. Front Entry;
Stairway; A1,
Pantry, connecting by slide with the
sink in the Back Entry (E); C, C, marks the
China Closet. Each room has independent
facilities for warming ; and while the rooms
Fig. 2—ground plan.
are in close communication with each other,
they yet can be quite separate. The bed-room
has a spacious closet. Upon the chamber floor
Fig. 1.
in the roof. This Cottage, if well built, may
be made a comfortable, and as they say, a
“ genteel ” house. It is very compact—not an
inch of room is lost. If desirable, the partition
between the closets over the pantry and back
entry, may be moved a little to one side, making
one of the closets larger ; a circular window may
be inserted in the gable ; and to the room used
for bathing, water may be carried by a force
pump, and even heated by a boiler connected
with the kitchen fire. Few plans of this size
afford a greater amount of convenience than may
be found in this simple design. True, the
economy in side walls, accompanying square
ground plans, is sacrificed to the greater light
and airiness of the structure, but in a snug cot
tage like this that is a small fault.
Poisoning by a Human Bite.—A sad occur
rence has happened at Arth, in France. Lieu
tenant Felchin was some time back bitten io
the thumb by a man named Muller, but he
thought nothing of the wound, and went next
day on a journey on his private affairs. On
reaching Bale he found his hand and arm began
to swell, and a medical man declared that the
case was one of poisoning from a human bite.
He at once returned home in haste, but he
refused to have the arm amputated. The con
sequence was that the inflammation increased
frightfully, and he died some days after in
horrible suffering.
Employment, which Galen calls “nature’s
physician,” is so essential to human happiness,
that indolence is justly considered as the mother
of misery.
Fig. 3.—BED-ROOM PLAN.
He who lives with a good wife becomes
(fig. 3), are three nice bed-rooms and four closets- better thereby, as those who lay down among
Each room has direct access to a chimney flue- violets arise -with the perfume upon their gar
The stairway can be lighted by a glazed scuttle ments.
�THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
THE
GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
NEW YORK, FEBRUARY, 1867.
TOPICS OF THE MONTH.
•
The Problem of Problems.—To him who
can “ look through nature up to nature’s God,”
no truth is clearer than that the Health Problem
underlies all reforms among men, and is the
basis of all permanent improvement in the con
dition of the human race. Hence it is the
problem of problems. For this reason it is the
most radical and revolutionary of all problems ;
and its advocates can hardly expect that the
masses of the people, to whom physiology is as
a sealed book, and the great body of the medical
profession—whose physiology is mainly chemi
cal, and hence contains more false principles
than true ones, and whose pathology and thera
peutics are inexplicable dogmas and absurd
errors—will regard them otherwise than as
enthusiasts and fanatics. The world has always
applied these epithets to those who advocated
truths in advance of public sentiment, who op
posed ancient and venerable errors, or who
taught against the current of popular prej udices.
But what was radical a hundred years ago is
conservatism now, and what is ultra to-day may
be conservatism a hundred years hence.
And now, what is the Health P»oblem? And
why should the world be so indifferent to it,
and the medical profession so opposed to it ?
Health is the “normal play of all the functions;
disease is their disarrangement or abnormal
action ; health is happiness ; disease is misery ;
health is power ; disease is disability ; health is
beauty ; disease is deformity ; health is the re
sult of obedience to the laws of the vital and
mental organism ; disease is the consequence of
disobedience to them. Vital laws and mental
laws are God’s laws, as much so as are moral
or spiritual laws. Disobedience to the laws of
our bodily organization is as sinful in the sight
of the Creator of all, as is disobedience to the
laws which apply to our moral powers—what
ever distinctions we may make.
Health Reform means obedience to all the laws
of our being. To have healthy muscles, nerves,
brains, bones, stomach, bowels, liver, kidneys,
skin, etc., we must in all respects conform to the
laws which our Heavenly Father has implanted
in their organization. And to have healthy
73
perception, judgment, conscience, will, passions,
emotions, propensities, etc., we must obey the
irreversible laws which control the organs of
the mental and moral manifestations. In short,
Health Reform means “ cease to do evil and
learn to do well” in all things ; and to do this,
we must “ prove all things and hold fast to that
which is good.”
The basis of all good, all truth, all progress,
is integrity in the bodily structures, which are
“ the temples of the living God.” The immédi
ate source of all error, all falsity, all crime in
the world, is morbid conditions of the bodily
organs. The idiot, the madman, the murderer,
are but extreme illustrations of the principle.
Avarice, gambling, licentiousness, selfishness,
and multitudinous vices and crimes and faults
and foibles, which are so prevalent as to be re
garded by many as “ necessary evils,” and by
some as the normal condition of society, are
more common but not less significant demon
strations of foul blood and bad digestion.
If the Christian would succeed in evangeliz
ing the world ; if the Temperance Reformer
would rid the earth of the terrible curse of in
toxicating drink ; if the Moralist would close
the dens of debauchery and prostitution ; if the
Statesman would purify legislation of party po itics and chicanery ; if the Philanthropist would
shut up the gambling palaces in high places
(witness stock exchanges and produce specula
tors), and if the Sociologist would induce men
to deal equitably with each other, they must go
back to first principles, and teach all classes and
all conditions of human beings that the first
rule of conduct and the highest good of all re
quire a life in accordance with the laws of life.
“ Strong-Minded Women ” in Ohio.—We
have long believed and thought that all licensed
laws, and all statutory’ enactments in any man
ner pertaining to thê regulation of the liquor
traffic, are a curse to the world and ought to be
abolished. No law except that of absolute and
unconditional prohibition ought to be recorded
in the statute books of a civilized nation, and
even this would be superfluous were the whole
subject left to the compion sense of society and
the common law of humanity. A beautiful illus
tration of the doctrine we have indicated, oc
curred a few days ago in the state of Ohio. A
correspondent of the Cincinnati Commercial tells
the story :
Some time in July, 1865, the ladies of Green
field, Highland county, took it into their heads
that there should be “ no more whisky sold in
I Greenfield.” The question of abating the nuii sance had been discussed frequently, when an
�74
THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
accident occurred that brought things to a crisis.
A young man named Blackburn, highly esteem
ed, only 21 years of age, was the victim of a
whisky brawl. A party of drunken men got
into a quarrel and a shot was fired, and this
young man, who was passing the house, received
his death wound. Shortly after this the ladies,
with a.secrecy unparalleled in the history of wo
man, met and resolved on the destruction of the
spirit. So in broad daylight, about noon, a
posse of about seventy started on the cleansing
expedition, armed with hatchets, axes and
woman’s determination. Some three or four
stores were entered and the bottles made to
dance jigs and the whisky to gurgle down the
gutters before the other wdiisky fiends were
made aware of what was going on. When they
did become cognizant of the situation of things,
they barred, bolted and barricaded their doors.
But nothing daunted, the women quietly de
manded the liquor, and if not admitted into the
house they quickly battered down the doors or
shutters. This was carried on till nearly every
respectable wliisky-sliop was demolished. Suits
were brought, but the verdict of equity said,
“ Served cm right.”
Now the whisky-dealers have combined to
bring suits against the husbands of many of
the ladies for damage to property, but nearly
everybody feels that the slight damage tempora
rily done is nothing to the benefit derived there
from. The most extensive preparations are be
ing made to escort the ladies of Greenfield, sev
enty of whom have been subpoenaed as wit
nesses. Large wagons are to be fitted up, and
their male relations wiil accompany them to
Hillsborough, where the court will be in session
on the 16th of this month. The ladies of Hills
borough are making the most ample prepara
tions to receive them as welcome guests, and
they are to be entertained by the ladies of that
place.
Just imagine seventy women in court! Im
agine the ineffectual cry of “ silence ” from the
stentorian lungs of the sheriff! What will the
judges do ? what will the jury do ?
We care very little what the judges or the
jury do, or all the people of the species mascu
line, in and about the court, or neighborhood, or
state, or nation, provided the women of Green
field and the region round about are true to
themselves. If they will follow up the kind of
“ moral suasion” they have so successfully com
menced, they will do more for the cause of Tem
perance during the year 1867 than the men have
done in fifty years. We would rather have a
grand Temperance army of seventy women,
armed with hatchets, or even broom-sticks, and
“ woman’s determination,” than all the organ
izations of Washingtonians, Sons of Temper
ance, Rechabites, Good Templars, &c., that the
world has ever seen. These may talk, and re
solve, and preach, and sing beautifully, but those
do the work.
Our Cottage Illustrations.—We are in
debted to the politeness of that sterling journal,
the American Agriculturist, for the illustrations
which appear in the present number of the Gos
pel of Health, and also for those which ap
peared in our January issue. It is our duty to
say that these cuts are copyrighted, and cannot
legally be published without permission of the
Agriculturist. We intend, in future issues, to
give a great variety of designs for buildings, and
extensive illustrations of the best fruits of all
kinds, so that our colony at Hygeiana can have
all necessary data on which to predicate success,
both in building Hygienic houses, and in rais
ing the very best varieties of fruits.
Profitable Crops.—Several persons have
written us for information concerning the most
profitable crops that can be raised in Hygeiana
before returns can be had from the growing
fruit trees. We answer, there are many kinds
of vegetables, roots and seeds, which are ready
sale and always command a good price, and
which produce sure crops. Among these are
onions and white beans. Probably it would be
impossible to realize more the first season from
any crops that could be raised than from these.
The best article of small white beans is now
retailing at twenty cents a quart in this city.
There are other kinds of garden beans which
will produce more to the acre, and which find
ready sale ; but, we doubt if anything, unless it
is onions, will yield a greater return of money
for the quantity of land cultivated and the
amount of labor performed, than white or field
beans. Tomatoes, cabbages, sweet corn, and
beets, are usually very profitable crops, but are
more troublesome to preserve and market. Some
correspondents have suggested the propriety of,
raising our own cereals, especially wheat and
corn ; but as these grains are plenty and cheap
in the neighborhood, it is our opinion that we
should find both pleasure and profit, at least
in the infancy of our colony, in limiting our
product ions to a few of the choicest fruits and
vegetables. These crops can be raised without
interfering much in the cultivation of fruit
trees. In this connection, we commend to the
attention of our readers the able article of Dr.
Yoder, in the present number, on the subject of
immediate fruit-raising in Hygeiana. Dr. Yoder
has had much experience in fruit-culture, is a
thorough Hygienist, and a graduate of the Hygeio-Therapeutic College, is well acquainted
with the locality we have selected for our pio
neer colony, has been a practical fruit-culturer
in Vineland, N. J., for several years past, and
has, moreover, sold his property in Vineland
�THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
and invested the whole amount in the purchase
of five ten-acre farms in Hygeiana. These cir
cumstances evince his earnestness and capacity
in Health Reform movement, and give especial
importance to his suggestions. We have the
pleasure to state, also, that Dr. Yoder will be
among the “ first settlers” of our colony, so that
others may profit by his experience.
Suffrage for Woman.—We publish in
another department, in full, the address recently
delivered by Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, to
the Legislature of our state. It covers the whole
ground. And now that the “Woman Question ”
is rapidly assuming form and magnitude, so
that it can and must be discussed in all its
length and breadth, we are sure that the great
majority of our readers will be interested in the
perusal of Mrs. Stanton’s able and admirable
address. We have long regarded the full recog
nition of woman’s rights—her equal, social, civil,
political, and religious rights—as one of the pre
requisites to her full and just influence in the
medical profession and in the great field of Health
Reform. And no one who understands the import
ance of woman’s work in aiding us to revolu
tionize many and reform most of the habits and
fashions of society, which are now rapidly de
teriorating the human race, will regret the
prominence we give to this subject. If we can
correctly read the signs of the times, the day is
not far distant when the greatest and most
beneficial reformation agitated since the dark
days of the middle ages—the enfranchisement
of woman—will be achieved in all the length and
breadth of our land. Every day witnesses the
accessions to her cause of noble, influential,
earnest, practical men ; and whether the “ ma
jority of women” petition, or not, for the right
to vote and hold office, the voice of the Creator,
which endows her inalienably with all the rights
and privileges that pertain to humanity, will be
regarded in the legislation of all intelligent and
Christian states and nations, and then her equal
opportunities for development, for education,
and for avocations, will soon follow as a matter
of course.
Twenty-four Dollars a Gallon.—Several
weeks ago we called upon an artisan of this city
to get a little work done. He was sick of a cold.
In a few days we called again. He had been
better, but had suffered a relapse. Two weeks
later we visited him the third time. He was
now decidedly and fatally consumptive. His
friend informed us that he had just changed his
physician. We saw at a glance the whole state
of the case, and knew from the array of bottles,
75
phials, poisons, plasters, etc., that the poor pa
tient was another illustration of
The deadly virtues of the healing art.
He had been drugged to death’s door. Among
other potent medicines which he had been tak
ing was a very powerful kind of brandy. It
was a rare and choice brand ; so rare and choice
and powerful that it cost twenty-four dollars a
gallon. He was taking a teaspoonful every
hour. The doctor told him he might eat what
ever he pleased, so long as he took the brandy.
The physician gave the patient to understand
that the brandy was so powerful a promoter of
digestion and so infallible a supporter of vitality
that he might safely follow his appetite or fancy
in the matter of victuals. The poor victim of a
murderous medical system was suffocating by
night and by day in a dark, damp, unventilated
bedroom, the door and windows kept con
stantly closed, and the confined air redolent of
typhus miasm from the effete matters of his
own body. Not a word had been said about
bathing or washing ; not a hint had been ut
tered about the necessity of fresh air. Pure
water and wholesome food were never men
tioned. But drug and dose, and dose and drug,
narcotize and stimulate, and stimulate and nar
cotize, brandy and opium, and opium and more
brandy. These were the remedial measures
prescribed by a member of the New York Acad
emy of Medicine in this enlightened 19th century
and the year of grace, 1867. But why need we
dwell on this particular case. He is only one
of the thousands who are killed annually by the
same or similar means. The case, however, has
an unusual significance in illustrating the com
mercial side of the healing art as it is in druggery. The profit on such a gallon of brandy can
not be less than twenty dollars. Suppose (we
admit the case isn’t supposable, but suppose it
was supposable) that the doctor and the apoth
ecary divide the profits between them. The
doctor gets ten dollars (in addition to his pro
fessional fee), for prescribing the brandy, and
the apothecary gets ten dollars clear profit for
dealing it out. And as doctors and apothecaries
must live, and as sick folks, however poor, will
have medicine, why not accommodate all round
in this way ?
The Prince of Wales.—Since our article on
“The Smoking Palace of Frogmore” appeared,
a correspondent has sent us the Philadelphia
Press containing an article from a London letter
writer, in which the Prince is very severely
handled. It is not only intimated but openly
asserted that the Prince is becoming addicted to
�76
THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
other bad habits besides tobacco-smoking; in
deed that he is rapidly going the downward road
in various ways through dissolute associates
and evil communications, which so frequently
corrupt both the morals and manners of young
“ Princes of the blood.” We hope these state
ments are not true, or that they, are greatly ex
aggerated. And lest injustice might be done to
some person, or persons, we refrain from giving
any further publicity to the matter.
Wayside Jottings in Great Britain.—
With this number we commence the publication
of a series of extremely interesting articles, under
the above head, from the pen of Mrs. Susannah
Way Dodd§, M. D.,of Antioch College memory.
She has recently returned from a tour through
many parts of the Queendom, and her keen ob
servations, practical views, intelligent criticisms,
and candid statements, cannot fail to instruct and
profit our readers in thSt country and in this.
Vegetarians will be especially pleased with the
assurances that ample provision exists for them
in that part of the “Old World,” and her direc
tions for finding and enjoying them.
Flowers and Plants in Sleeping-Rooms.
—W. M. writes from Maryland : “ My son is a
subscriber to your Gospel of Health. It is
truly what its name imports—a joyful visitant—
and its monthly instructions bring most blessed
instructions. In the November number there is
an important subject named—ventilation. But
the writer says, ‘ Leaves of the trees lake in car
bonic-acid, and emit oxygen.’ Now, some au
thors say that this is only true of the leaf in the
daytime, but not in the night, or during hours
of darkness. Will you be so kind as to give us
the correct chemical process ? Are flowersand
plants in sleeping-rooms conducive to health, or
are they injurious ?”
There is no “ chemical process ” of any kind.
But the vital process that governs the nutrition
—the assimilation and disintegration—of the
vegetable kingdom as a general law is, that
leaves emit carbonic-acid gas to some extent
during the night, and oxygen gas during the
day ; hence, it follows that any considerable col
lection of plants or flowers in a sleeping-room
would be injurious ; and a single one would be
if there was defective ventilation.
Hygeiana and Vineland.—It is known to
many of our readers that the citizens of Vine- j
land. N. J., are, on the whole, a much better 1
class of people—more progressive and reforma
tory—than are “ the generality of mankind in
general,” as we find them in most of the large |
villages and small cities of the United States.
The manner in which the place was settled, the
provisions made for improvements, and the
protection against many of the nuisances to be
found in all other places, were well calculated to
attract a high order of human nature. And
those who have lived there a few years have
experienced the great comforts and advantages
of the precautions which have been so judi
ciously taken to prevent the seeds of vices,
crimes, debauchery, etc., from contaminating
their domain. Yet there are some nuisances
tolerated there. Tobacco is cultivated, drug
shops exist, and we are not aware that rum-shops
are prohibited. And because we prohibit all
nuisances of every name and nature, except
original sin, from entering the domain of Hy
geiana, several residents of Vineland have al
ready purchased farms in Hygeiana, and intend
to remove there early in the season. And more
than a dozen others write us that they will
emigrate Hygeianaward as soon as they can sell.
Indeed we have sold more lots to the citizens of
Vineland, than we have to the people of any
other place. Can there be any more convincing
testimony that our scheme is not only right but
bound to “ go ahead ” ?
Vaccination.—A Jew was lately fined in
London for refusing to allow his child to be
vaccinated. The Jew was right. Since the
days of Moses and the prophets the Jews have
had a salutary horror of pork, scrofula, small
pox, plague, leprosy, and viruses, venoms and
infections of all kinds. And what right has any
one to infect their blood and bones with the
virus of small pox ? If the learned medical gen
tlemen of the Board of Health of the city of
New York should order us to poison our chil
dren, or anybody’s children, with this or any
other infection, wTe should, most respectfully,
decline to do it, and most peremptorily prevent
others from doing it, fine or no fine. Neither
nature, Bible, science, nor common sense, teaches
the absurd doctrine that poisons are remedies
for the ills that flesh is heir to ; but, on the con
trary, each and all teach that cleanliness is the
only preventive of disease. Vaccination is
one of the many curses which the abominable
drug medical system has inflicted on humanity.
The child that is vaccinated has to take the
chance of being infected with humors a thou
sand times worse than “ small-pox the natural
way,” while it is almost certain to be in some
way contaminated. That a large proportion of
those who are vaccinated become affected with
venereal disease, may be learned from the fol
lowing paragraph which we clip from the Med
ical Record of this city:
�THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
“ Syphilis by Vaccination.—In the ‘Depart
ment du Morbihan,’ France, a great many
children have been found affected with syphilis
after vaccination. The report of the commis
sioners charged by the Academy of Medicine
with the duty of investigating the subject, con
cludes as follows: I. Several of the children
presented to the commission were really affected
with secondary syphilis. II. It seems impossi
ble to account for their contamination otherwise
than by vaccination. III. It appears evident
that the virus was contained in the vaccinal
liquid. M. Ricord gives his assent to these
conclusions, provided they contain (as well as
the report itself does) the mention that primary
syphilitic accidents were also present.”
Hygeiana at Cost.—Since our last issue,
several persons have offered to purchase one or
two hundred acres each in Hygeiana, and im
prove them at once, provided we would sell the
land at a small advance from cost—say ten or
fifteen per cent. We reply that we will do even
better than that: we will sell at actual cost,
as nearly as we can calculate. In a business of
$200,000 or more, we can’t estimate within a
few hundred, nor possibly within a few thou
sand dollars, the exact receipts or expenditures.
Our aim is to make receipts and expenditures
balance ; and if any person or company sees
any chance for a pecuniary speculation, he or
they shall be more than welcome to take the
business out of our hands, provided he or they
will guaranty the enterprise to be carried out
according to our printed programme. We have
to reserve the streets and avenues, and all the
public grounds, which make the land we have
to sell some hundreds of acres less than those
we have to purchase. Then, again, we have
the expenses of surveying, advertising, travel
ing, the commissions to agents, etc., and lastly,
unmarried women (several of whom have al
ready purchased) must have their farms at half
price. If one-half of the purchasers should be
unmarried women, we should be many thou
sands of dollars out of pocket. We shall be sat
isfied if we come out minus one or two thousand
dollars ; and if the result should be plus that
amount, or even more, we should not be very
sorry. But, as already remarked, our plan and
prices are intended to be “ six of one, and half-adozen of the other.” If we make any money, it
will be in the next purchase.
77
velop and reform our mental and moral nature ;
and if all medical sects, who profess to be the
conservators of our vital organisms, would
adopt the platform of principles set forth in
this article, or rather make the principle of tl.e
article their platform, they would be vastly
more successful than they ever yet have been
in saving the souls and preserving the bodies
of men.
Is Salt Necessary for Stock?—The Cali
fornia Rural Home Journal says: “ Some
eighteen years since, while living at Tangier,
in the empire of Morocco, we sent into the in
terior of the empire to purchase of a tribe of
Bedouins, who were famous for their choice and
rare stocks of barbs, or Arab horses, one of their
fine barbs for our own use, which we were so
fortunate as to obtain, after not a little maneuv
ering and diplomacy. As a matter of course, we
made a great pet of him ; and almost the first
thing we offered him, as a condiment to his feed
of barley and straw (the universal food of the
horses of that country), was a handful of salt;
but, to our surprise, he would not touch it, but
turned up his aristocratic nose at it, as if he felt
a big disgust at such, to him, unsavory dose.
On making further inquiry, and experimenting
with several barbs that we owned subsequently,
we found that neither the Moors nor Arabs ever
gave salt to their horses, cattle, or sheep. And
yet there are no horses in the world equal in
healthful vigor, in powers of endurance, or elas
ticity of movement and robust constitution, to
these same Arab horses.”
The Cattle Plague in Holland.—The
Belgian Moniteur publishes the following par
ticulars of the cattle plague in Holland : “ The
cattle plague appears to be making dreadful
ravages among the cattle in Holland. The num
ber of fatal cases do not cease to increase, and
if the progress observed to have been made by
the disease since the end of November con
tinue, the losses of the Dutch farmers will soon
exceed those of the English cattle-owners at
the time when the plague was most violent.
According to the official reports, the number of
cases among cattle were, for the weeks ending
November 3d, 1,443 ; 10th, 1.551; 17tli, 1,592 ;
27th, 3,257 ; and December 4th, 7,162. The last
number is more than double that w’hich is re
corded when the epidemic w-as at its worst in
December, 1865, and everything tends to show
that it does not indicate the greatest height of
the disease. The cattle plague was especially
virulent in the provinces of Utrecht and South
ern and Northern Holland ; but it has also shown
itself in Friesland and Overyssel, and has lat
terly attacked many parishes of Guelderland
Wholeness.—We commend the article in and North Brabant.”
tlie present number from the Spiritual Repub
When the regulations of the Boston and Cam
lic to the careful and prayerful consideration of bridge Bridge were drawn by two famous law
our readers. The philosophy of sociology is yers, one section was written, accepted, and now
stands thus:
stated with a clearness and precision that leave
“ And the said proprietors shall meet annu
nothing to be desired. If all religious denomi ally on the first Tuesday of June, provided the
nations, whose teachings are intended to de same does not fall on Sunday.”
�THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
78
VOICES OF
THE PEOPLE.
One of Many.—The experience and observa
tions of the writer of the following are similar
to those of a thousand who have written us their
story. But it is on a subject whereon “line
upon line and precept upon precept ” is neces
sary. She writes from a rich agricultural dis
trict in a Western state. “ Dr. Trail—Dear Sir :
although a stranger to you, I am not a stranger
to the great principles so nobly advocated in
your writings. Two years ago I became acquaint
ed with them, and ordered your Encyclopaedia,
Hand Book, Cook Book, Diphtheria, Water-Cure
for the Million, and would have purchased
more of your works had I been able. I have
lent my books to my neighbors and tried to
convince others of the value and importance of
Hygienic principles. But the great majority
seem bound to live as they list, be the conse
quences what they may. Very few ‘ eat and
drink to live.’ It has been more than a year
since I discontinued the use of all animal food,
butter, salt, spices of every kind, and all warm
drinks at meals. In short, I am striving to live
in accordance with the laws of health. My
husband does not sympathize with the Health
Reform, and thinks the idea of a Vegetarian
Colony very unlike the manner of all other
great reformers. He says, that, if they think
they are right and everybody else wrong, it
would be more Christ-like to remain among
the people and try to enlighten and reform them.
But I am thinking it is not easy to work much
of a dietetic reform among those ‘whose God is
their belly,’and ‘whose glory is their shame.’
To explain our principles to them seems very
much like ‘casting pearls before swine.’ For
my part I am tired of living in society where the
people are addicted to such gross habits. It is
all that I can possibly do to live among them
without contamination; and what can I hope
for my children ? I have four now living, and
two in the spirit-land, who, doubtless, would
have been living at this time, if I had not been
in utter darkness as to the proper manner of
training them.”
Tired of Fashionable Life.—S. R. writes
from Ohio : “I intend to look at your location
for a vegetarian colony in Ross county, and if
the scheme suits me to remove there at an early
day. 1 feel, and my wife does also, just about
ready to go into a Hygienic settlement, but, as I
am pretty well circumstanced here, I must ne
sure of making an improvement before pulling
up stakes. I am thoroughly disgusted with
the bloody-boned surroundings here. My finer
sensibilities are continually outraged by the
butchering of the bloated scavengers (swine) and
the grinding of their corrupt carcasses into dis
ease-engendering food. I hear their last and
smothered groans saddening the merry hum of
the balmy breeze, and am almost forced to ex
claim, 0 God, how are thy children sunken in
iniquity! Then, perhaps, before the crimson
blood is dried up, the besotted devotee of the
corner groggery comes staggering along, breath
ing his venomous breath upon all around ; and,
perhaps, before he has disappeared, along comes
the tobacco-smoker, puffing his detestable ex
halation into every passer’s face. I turn from
all these, horribly disgusted, but to meet the
knight of the pill-bags dispensing his vaunted
nostrums to a deluded people ; and then my
heart sickens, and I long for the promised land
where these debasing influences cannot come. I
have a little cherub growing up that I do not
want exposed to all of these morbid and pollut
ing influences which exist all around us.”
Mountain Land for Fruit-Growing.—J.
G. P., writing from North Carolina, near Black
Mountain, strongly recommends that part of
the country as a proper location for a Vegetarian colony. The following remarks are equally
j
applicable to his location and to Hygeiana:
'
“ The great and chief business of colonies, such
as we contemplate, will be that of raising fruits;
and as there is but one kind of locality (in this
country, at least), which never fails to hit (as
the saying is), and as the land hereabouts is
mostly of this kind, so I regard it as of great
value, although for raising Indian corn, which
is considered the neplus ultra of successful farm
ing, it is not as well adapted as the bottom lands
along the rivers and creeks; hence the hilly
lands are considered of little value by people
generally, and can be purchased for a trifle com
paratively. The land I speak of as best adapted
to the purposes of a Vegetarian colony is moun
tain land ; and I have no doubt that thousands
of acres which can be cheaply purchased, are
perfectly adapted to the raising of all kinds of
fruits. I consider a large quantity of this kind
of land a sine qua non to a successful Hygealthic community, and my policy would be to lo
cate as much of it as possible. Mountains were
the ‘ sunny spots’ of earth with our Saviour, and
his most sacred acts were performed upon them.
And why should they not be dearest to us also ?
Besides, the ‘ good time coming,’ according to
Isaiah, will be ushered in on or in the moun
tains. Let us, then, have at least one Hygeal1 thic mountain colony, and call it Montadelphia.
�THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
79
“ P. S. The above was written before I saw typographical appearance and its doctrines. I
your ‘ Hygeiana.’ You took this word ‘ out pity the man who is so mystified and befogged
that he can read its pages and not be convinced.
of my mouth.’ as the saying is.”
A Good Word from Missouri.—T. S. writes To me, who am one of the most radical believ
ers in the Hygienic system and its philosophy,
from Clinton county, Mo.: “ The Health Reform
seemed to be entirely unknown here when I it is utterly incomprehensible how men can so
settled in 1863. But by circulating your jour often have the truth presented to them and yet
nals among the people, I have made some con see it not. You may or may not recognize my
verts. Several families of my acquaintance are name among the list of your students for 1863—4.
now zealous advocates of the Hygienic system, As I have not been heard from since then, do
and do not employ the drug doctors when they not think I have been a backslider. From my
organization, that I could not be. I am prepar
are sick.”
ing to take the field at no distant day, and work
A Watch for Hygieana.—An unmarried with heart and soul for the cause of Health Re
lady writes from Ohio : “ Dr. Trail—Sir: On form and for all reforms. I have a large vol
noticing in the last number of the Gospel of ume (manuscript) of reports of your lectures,
Health that a whole score of unmarried ladies which I took phonographically, and which I
had entered into your enterprise of Hygienic value far more than any book I have. W ithout
homes, I bid them God-speed, and wished that trespassing further upon your time, believe me
I was among the number ; but not having any
always your
“ Co-worker.”
ready funds, I have delayed sending an applica
tion. I am very desirous to try my hand at
Hogs and Dogs, Tobacco and Drugs.—A.
farming, and have bethought myself of my E. writes from Vineland, N. J.: “My Dear
watch which, perhaps, you will accept in ex Friend Dr. Trail: I am glad that the colony
change for a ten-acre lot in Hygeiana. It is is finally located, for 1 have been waiting and
considered a good gold watch, but there is no working for this for twenty years. I feel that
sale for such property here ; but if you think the time has come to come out from the wicked,
you can dispose of it to advantage, and can afford and to get away' from hogs and dogs, the vile
to take it. Please let me know.”
weed tobacco, and the doctors’ drugs. Hygei
Send on the watch ; the farm is yours. We ana, in a few years, with its fruits and flowers,
will not dispose of the watch, but keep it as col its sweet lawns and beautiful cottages, its hap
lateral ; and when our fair unmarried corre py homes and healthy inhabitants, will present
spondent earns the money and can conveniently the most remarkable contrast with the general
spare the money, she shall have the watch aspect of society that the world has ever seen.
again.
Will it not be a second Eden, or Eden restored ?
Tired of the “Natives.”—C. D. B. writes An influence cannot fail to emanate from its
from Illinois : “ Dr. Trail—Dear Sir: I have green fields and beautiful hills that will extend
missed your teachings very much since you the blessings of the Hygienic system far and
discontinued your connection with the Herald wide. After looking over your programme for
of Health, and did not know what had become colonization, I have no fears that it will be too
of you until I accidentally met with a number radical. I am a gardener and nurseryman, and
of the Gospel of Health a few days ago. I think that I can be a useful man among you.
do not wish to part company, and so send my At all events, put me down for one farm. I
subscription for one year. I am very much in will send the amount in a few days, and shall
terested in your project for a Hygienic settle purchase several lots if I can raise the means
ment, and would like to become a member of soon enough. My family will remove to Hygei
it. This is a fine fruit country, but I am sur ana just as soon as I can dispose of our property
rounded by ‘ natives’ who think that hog and in this place. Myself and wife are getting old,
hominy and strong coffee are the -necessities of but we desire to do good to our fellow-mortals,
and I know no way of accomplishing more, as
life.”
Our New Volume.—G. G., who is principal we are in feeble health, than to settle in Ilyof a seminary for learning near Philadelphia, geiana and take an agency for circulating your
Pa., writes : “ Dr. Trail—Dear Sir: Permit me journal and selling your books, and procuring
to express my great pleasure at seeing the Gos orders for nursery stock—choice kinds of vines,
pel of Health come out in a new and vastly apple, peach, and pear trees, etc. I am willing
improved form. It is now in a style fitted to to exchange property—let you have my houses
go forth and challenge criticism, both as to its and lots in Vineland—and take their value in
�80
THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
land in Hygeiana. I would like to take a thou
sand copies of the Gospel ok Health to give
away, but have no means until I sell. The
Gospel ought to be in every family in the
United States.
TO CORRESPONDENTS.
A Hotel in Hygeiana.—E. B. B.—Dr. Trail
—Dear Sir: I would like to have you answer a
few question in the Gospel of Health, es
pecially as they may interest others as well as
myself. 1. What is the name of the nearest
town to Hygeiana? 2. What is the nearest
Post-office? 3. Is the Sciota river navigable?
4. Will there be a house or shanty erected by
the first of April, so that persons can have shel
ter for a night or two, till he can construct a shan
ty of his own ? I shall send you the names of
several purchasers in time for the March num
ber.”
1. Hygeiana is bounded on the north by
Chillicothe, and on- the south by Waverley.
2. Waverley is the nearest Post-office. 3- The
Sciota is not navigated, a canal along its banks
doing the freight business, and the railway
transporting the passengers. 4. As to the shanty
we cannot say. Probably a number will be
built before the middle of April. But persons
can get lodgings near by, among the farmers,
for a few nights, or they can live in tents, or
sleep in a covered wagon as thousands of travel
ers do on long journeys.
Buckwheat—Itch—Gripes.—E. O. M.—“1.
Is buckwheat a wholesome article of food ? 2. If
so, why does it give people, cattle, and hogs the
itch? 3. How do you heal gripes and green
discharges in children ?” 1. Yes. 2. It does
not do it. 3. Abdominal fomentations or warm
hip-baths, with proper attention to diet. I&the
child is nursing, the mother’s habits of eating,
drinking, exercise, etc., must be attended to.
Sick-Headache.—A. S. T.—“ What can be
done for one who is subject to what is called
the sick-headache ? It is either constitutional
or caused by the measles when a child, or by
drug medication for the measles. The patient
is thirty years of age ; was in the army three
years, and st ffered much from sickness or from
the prescriptions of the M. Ds. His paroxysms
of headache are much more frequent than be
fore going into the army.” A disordered liver
is the immediate cause of the trouble, whatever
may have been the remote or primary causes.
An abstemious diet, a daily ablution, and occa
sional hip-baths, are the proper remedial meas
ures.
Palpitation.—0. S. F.—Constipation of the
bowels is the most common cause. An enlarged
liver will occasion it. The remedy is plain food,
moderation in the quantity of food, and correct
habits generally. Bleeding affords temporary
relief, but always aggravates the trouble event
ually.
Panting.—S. S. R.—Short breath, panting,
and “fluttering of the heart,” etc., are caused
by obstructions in the livgr or bowels, weak
ness of the abdominal muscles, congestion of the
lungs, and many other causes. Ascertain the
abnormal condition, and medicate accordingly.
Quick Returns.—S. O. wants to know what
are the best crops for immediate profit to raise
in Hygeiana while the fruit-trees are growing.
There are several, and among them are onions,
beans, beets, and sweet corn. These are always
saleable at a remunerating price, are easily cul
tivated, and require no special attention or
preparation.
The Appetite for Tobacco.—T. S.—“Please
give me, in the next Gospel, a plan of home
treatment to destroy the appetite for tobacco—of
long standing, say twenty or thirty years.”
Let the patient discontinue the use of it for
as many days as he has used it years. He must
not touch it again during his life lest the appe
tite return with redoubled fury, and he become
more the child of the devil than before.
Spinal Irritation.—M. A. S.—Tenderness
of some part of the spinal column does not prove
the existence of spinal disease, but in nine of
every ten cases, is merely indicative of disease
or obstruction in some of the internal viscera.
Caustics applied to the back for supposed spinal
diseases, have ruined the health of thousands
who never had spinal disease at all.
Zymotic.—E. S. S.—This term is applied to
such diseases as are more especially occasioned
by foul air, as typhoid fevers. Accumulated
excrement, imperfect ventilation, and too long
retention of the waste or effete matters of the
body, are the causes of zymotic diseases. Clean
liness would be a complete preventive of all
contagious diseases, as measles, small-pox, hoop
ing cough, etc.
Baker’s Bread.—A. L. R.—Physiologically
we regard baker’s bread as a worse article of
diet than lean flesh-meat. We know of no
article that is baker’s manufacture that is proper
food for human beings, nor, indeed, for ani
mals.
�THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
Plethora.—A.M.—Sugar, butter, starch, etc.,
may be very fattening, but are also very disease
producing. They are in no proper sense proper
food at all. It is not fat but flesh that you need.
You have too much adipose matter already, and
the more you increase it the more you will
diminish the flesh. Avoid sugar, milk, grease,
salt, and seasonings of all kinds.
Books.—A. R. R.—Your letters were answered
and the books forwarded according to order, by
mail Why you have not received them we
have no means of knowing. It is customary for
everybody to blame publishers for all disap
pointments, but we happen to know that the
fault is much more frequently with mail-carri
ers and post-masters, than with publishers or
their clerks.
Eastern IIygeiana. Home.—S. S. C.—We
shall be ready for patients at Florence, N. J., on
the first day of April next. During the summer,
heating apparatus will be distributed through
out the building, so that it will not be closed
another winter.
OUege geiiartmeut.
81
rejoice, as it has not had since the advent of
Hippocrates, when the best Allopathic medical
class is reduced to a Homeopathic dilution of
the tincture of the shadow of a shade of noth
ing at all.
No Summer Term.—In reply to frequent in
quiries, we reiterate the statement we have
often made, that there will be no summer term
of the Hygeio-Therapeutic College in 1867. This
is settled, whether we go to Paris or not. Other
work, which we have delayed for years on ac
count of the college, must now be attended to,
after which we hopo to resume the college
terms under improved auspices. All scholar
ships, outstanding or hereafter purchased, will
be good for the next or any subsequent term of
the college.
A Court Journal on Crinoline.—The
London Court Journal, of a late date, has the
following remarks on this expansive subject:
No beauty of form or splendor of material
in costume can compensate for manifest incon
venience to the wearer. No dress is sanctioned
by good taste which does not permit, and seem
to permit, the easy performance of any move
ment proper to the wearer’s age and condition
in life ; for it defies the very first law of the
mixed arts—fitness. Form is the most impor
tant element of the absolute beauty of dress, as
it is of all arts that appeal to the eye. The
lines of costume should in every part conform
to those of nature, or be in harmony with them.
We must, therefore, regard as the elementary
requisites of all dress, that it be comfortable and
decent, convenient and suitable, beautiful in
form and color, simple, genuine, harmonious
with nature and itself. The taste for the very
wide, full skirts, aDd large jupons, which has so
long prevailed, is now beginning to decline ; and
ladies distinguished for their good taste are
adopting a moderate style of crinoline. Many
persons are apt to run into extremes at the least
indication of a change in fashion, but nothing
can be a greater error. Fashion, as we have
hinted, changes by almost imperceptible de
grees, in accordance with the progress of public
taste ; and every new style which is introduced
must, to become successful, be an improvement
on those which preceded it. It is, therefore,
ludicrous to see a few ladies who have quite dis
carded thejupon without modifying the form of
their skirt, thus leaving the dress to trail on the
ground, and form very ungraceful folds.”
The theory of dress announced by the Court
Journal, is both sensible and true; but the
practice it recommends seems to ignore the the
ory entirely. If the lines of costume are to
conform to those of nature in every part, why
not adopt the “ American Costume ‘I ”
Medical Schools at a Discount.—The
Medical Record of this city imputes the small
- classes of medical students now attending the
Allopathic Colleges to the increase of the lecture
fees. We incline to the opinion that this cir
cumstance has little or nothing to do with the
question. We think it is owing to the obvi
ously diminished demand for their services on
the part of the public. Precisely as the people,
in any part of the world, become more enlight
ened on the subjects of medical science and the
Healing Art, as they exist in Poisonopathy, the
less will they have to do with doctors of the
drugopathic persuasion. Before the war there
was a remarkable diminution of medical stu
dents ; but the war created an opportunity for
some thousands of physicians and surgeons to
find temporary employment. Then there was
a rush to the medical colleges, which did not
♦
end with the war, and the year immediately
preceding the cessation of hostilities witnessed
unprecedented crowds of ambitious young men
en route for the places where diplomas were
conferred. But the “ reaction,” to use the usual
absurd expression of Allopathic friends, has al
ready “ set in.” Students have fallen off like
the subsidence of the hot stage of a quotidian.
Well, we hope the “ subsidence ” will continue
A lady advertises in a Glasgow paper that
to increase, and humanity will have cause to she wants a gentleman “ for breakfast and tea.”
�82
THE
THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
CHURCH UNION
ENCE.
ON
INFLU
There are words of wisdom in the following
remarks, which we clip from a religions paper
recently started in Brooklyn. Without assent
ing to or dissenting from its political predilec
tions, we can most heartily recommend the
principle inculcated to all Health Reformers
and especially to those whom the world de
nounces as crazy one-ideaists.
INFLUENCE.
must therefore never be measured by his FifthAvenue Church, and its wealth, quality, and
obsequious obeisance to his flatteries. The
camel’s hair and leather girdle has a revolution
bound up within it, even if locust and wild hon
ey is its meat.
•
George Fox, in his leather-breeches, was more
powerful than archbishops ; yea, popes, when
the whole column of debit and credit shall be
run up some time yet. Wait till the battle is
over, and see if the little corporal isn’t emperor
at last.
•We are induced to commend these reflections
to the consideration of all men in search of pow
er to do good. Power for evil never comes in
this way—that is therefore out of the reckoning.
Power for good is gained by devotion to truth.
He is a “ Brick ” who never worships only at
the shrine of truth ; who hates all sycophancy,
all ceremony of diplomacy, all indecision, all
Chesterfieldian morals, all high-low cliurchi.m,
all vicars of Bray, all mutual admiration, Chris
tian unionism—but loves and fears only God
and his Truth, and he, only, has influence. Such
men are not now in power among the sects, for
sectarianism draws its life from sycophants.
We used to think a man’s, and especially a
minister’s influence, was proportioned to the
number of admirers, imitators, and sycophants
he could gather around him. This is’ the pop
ular idea. We can point to the so-called lead
ing men in the different sects, and the world
will always judge of their influence by this
standard. He who has the most fashionable
congregation, who presides at all social or sec
tarian meetings, who sits in the seat of honor
when Morton Petolias a dinner of notables, who
make the clerical speech when the President, or
Japanese Tom comes, he is the man of in
CFor the Gospel of Health.]
fluence ; so thought we once in Callow’s simple
WHAT THEY HAD FOR SUPPER.
days. So think the crowds yet. A little reflec
tion, and more acquaintance with men, have com
pletely revolutionized our ideas. Jesus of Naz
First, I will tell you something of the family
areth—shall we leave him out of the list of in
It consisted of six persons, father, mother,
fluential characters ? Or, if he be said to have and four children—all boys, respectively, ten,
been divine—Wickliffe, Huss, Galileo, Burns, ' twelve, fourteen, and sixteen years of age. The
Milton, Wilberforce, Garrison—what will we do father was U large, well-formed, intelligent, and,
with them ? None of them were appreciated, I must say, healthy-looking man, about fortynor had they much visible influence.
five years of age. The mother was pale, deli
The man most dreaded to day in this nation, cate, intellectual, and miserable. The boys
the man who has done more to bend this nation, were sallow, cadaverous, and voracious.
give it ideas, shape its policy, nerve it for the
Now for the supper. There was half a bushel,
conflict of the age, is a man of so little personal or a little less, of hot, saleratus biscuit—prop
influence, that he probably could not get elected erly so called, as from their looks I should judge
to the office of hogreeve for the township where they were made of two parts saleratus and
he dwells. He has been President of these I grease,and one part flour; pork sausage, swim
United States these ten years past, and is quite mingin grease ; potatoes fried in grease ; a large
likely to be for thirty years to come, if not long bowl of grease—called gravy ; apple-pie, of which
er, though he couldn’t be elected to Congress the crust was at least one half grease ; dough
in any district in the country. Don’t think we j nuts, or crullers, cooked in grease, and rpplemean Pierce, Buchanan, Lincoln, Johnson ; No 1 sauce, spoiled by spices, of some kind. For drink,
these have been mere clerks of the great leader 1 they had strong, green tea.
of public opinion, who has presided over states
Of all these various abominatione, all the fam
where a vote for him would have been an ear ily (except one of the boys, who was sick with
nest—of tar and feathers, if not a gentle suspen- j headache) partook hugely, and just before retir
sion from the nearest tree. We mean, of course, ing, the sick boy was so far recovered, as to be
Mr. Phillips.
able, at the earnest sol ¡citation of the mother, to
In short, no influence is so absolutely Omnip eat a quarter of a pie, and a handful of the
otent as that of the Truth-teller. Devils fear doughnuts.
and tremble before him ; timid time-servers flee j Now, is not the ignorance, as such a supper
before him as they did before him of the whip I as this displays, of all of God’s laws of health,
of small cords.
perfectly astounding ?
They who judge a man’s influence by the
Yet, as I said before, the parents were intel
flattery the people give him, tremble for fear ligent people, on nearly all other subjects. The
“ he may hurt his influence.” “ You destroy father had held a lucrative position in the army,
your power with leading men by your radical and had just bought and furnished a nice little
ism,” say men with gold spectacles and white home of fifty acres in the country.
chokers. Not a bit of it. Never fear. The
They were well supplied with books, papers,
great truth-teller of Judea lost his life by his &c.
radicalism, but his death was victory over sin
I tried to get them to subscribe for the Gos
and hell. A man’s influence, and a minister’s pel of HEALTH.but no—they could not afford it!
power, whose whole stock in trade is truth, Poor man !—he had better take it if it cost hint
�THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
•$200 a year, instead of $2. Perhaps some read
er may be ready to inquire, “ Well, what did
you find to eat at such a table?’’ Easily an
swered—nothing. I excused myself from going
to the table as best I could.
In the morning we‘had for breakfast about
what we had for supper, with the addition of
buckwheat cakes. I ate some of the latter, and
a little of the apple-sauce—considering these the
least objectionable of anything I could get.
My business calls me from home a good deal
of my time, and I believe it is no exaggeration
to say that three-fourths of our people live as
does this family. Is it any wonder we are a na
tion of invalids ? Occasionally, I meet with a
family intelligent upon the subject of Hygiene
—and whose practice is in accordance with their
belief. Such a family to me, is like an oasis in
the desert to the lost and weary traveller.
Intelligence upon this subject is generally bom
of much suffering, and untimely death of friends
and relatives.
Let all who have been enlightened, labor to
extend a knowledge of the Gospel of Health.
j. w. M.
WHOLENESS.
Wholeness is completeness. Applied to
things it signifies unity and symmetry of form.
Applied to persons, it supposes power ; a wellbalanced distribution of activity, and a certain
execution of purpose, implied in the constitu
tional functions of our being.
Womanhood and Manhood are the significant
terms for human wholeness. A stone may be
whole as a stone; an edifice may be whole—
complete—as an edifice ; a child may be whole
—healthily performing its emotional functions
as a child ; but more than this, Womanhood and
Manhood, in wholeness enshrines greatness,
which, like a star, sheds its light on all con
tinually, and brightens as there is need for
light.
It must be seen, however, that human whole
ness, as above defined, is not a birth right only
by possibility of attainment.
The fabled ones of old have no corresponding
facts in human experience; we are not born
women and men, bnt babes ; as we are not born
noble and virtuous, but innocent; the latter be
ing a prophesy of the former.
Evidently, the grand purpose of our earth life
is, by a process of culture, to attain human
wholeness. Will persons say the purpose of
life is to glorify God? We answer, the glory of
God is his manifestation, and the highest mani
festation of any divine life on earth is in the
human consciousness of spiritual things. And
the cultivation of human life produces higher
'and higher manifestation of the divine will or
purpose, therefore, the highest cultivated life,
human wholeness, is the greatest glory, and the
highest thinkable end of earthly action.
In the light of this corollary we view all pres
ent aims, methods and institution with this
further provision:
1st. That all thingsand conditions,actually
desirable are attainable by human effort in keep
ing with natural law.
83
2. That the things and conditions attainable
are associates, therefore cannot be legitimately
sectarized. The one cannot be attained, held,
and used successfully, without reference to the
other.
Our first proposition, we presume, will be
readily seen and accepted by all thinking per
sons unless we except some theologians who
will as readily drop it as “ infidel.”
The second is like unto it, in point of fact,
though if involves methods that are not so
readily mastered. Herein we see the waste of
effort, the want of wholeness.
We will take to illustrate our thought, the
process of physiological evolution in the child.
We may supjjose the babe j ust born to be whole
as a babe. Bodily organs, respiration, circula
tion, all complete. There is a perfect adjust
ment of one part to the other, leaving no undue
extremes. Here, then, to our observation, com
mences a struggle upward toward womanhood
or manhood. We know that all things desira
ble are possible, so far as the constitution of the
child is concerned, and the only questionable
ground is the method adopted in rearing the
child. But what are the requirements ? Sim
ply that an equilibrium shall be maintained, as
between the several organs and functions of the
body; that wholeness be perpetuated, and that
no one part feed upon and devour the other, or
in any way rob it of its required vitality or ex
ercise. As the child advances, new functions
will appear, broader scope of action will be de
manded, and therewith the nicer adjustment of
one part to all the rest. If the newly-born babe
be subjected to extremes of heat and cold ; it
it be starved and overfed alternately, and if in
after-years it be subjected to extremes of affec
tion and anger, caressed and beaten ; if extremes
rapidly alternate through life, or if an extreme
in any one direction be taken and maintained ;
we shall hardly fail to see, as a result, some
glaring fault, some insurmountable weakness,
and withal a fretful waste of life’s forces.
May not this process of individual growth find
an exact counterpart, so far as methods and re
sults are concerned, in society ? Society is not
merely a collection of men, women, and children,
any more than the human form is merely a col
lection of bones, muscles, and nerves. One part
of society cannot be fostered at the expense, or
to the neglect of the other, without abating the
action, and impairing the health of the whole.
Witness even the extremes of American society
in this respect. Our appeal to arms in 1861 had
no other cause, primarily, than the persistent
effort of one part of the body politic to usurp the
rights of another part, and socially to make
equals in fact, subservient in use. One can but
see the inevitable consequence of such a course.
It came, and corresponding results will continue
to come, as long as similar causes exist, or until
an equilibrium metes out equal and exact jus
tice to all.
In the religious department of society, we
find excessive turmoil: sect warring with sect,
and in sheer contention for masteiy, wasting
more than one-half their energy ; and the whole
theological or “ orthodox ” school deny the right
of equal Divine favor to others, who, just as no
ble as they, differ in forms of belief. Who can
�84
THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
not prophecy that just as certain as authority to
dictate is assumed by the “ orthodox,” and per
sistently urged, that they will be overthrown
by the dissenters; and the extreme measures
employed for their overthrow will be in exact
proportion to the gravity of their assump
tion, and the tenacity of their adherence to
it ?
As between the sexes, the same comparison
can be drawn. Without any inherent right
whatever to do so, man assumes the control of
society. He makes and administers what is
called law, demanding of woman not only obe
dience to it, but also to his wishes, often to her
own destruction, and oftener to her inexpressi
ble disgust. In this respect, the record of wrongs
silently borne, in intensity and depth of mean
ing, exceed, perhaps, that of any other depart
ment of life, at least in the present century, and
it becomes more and more significant. Is there
no remedy ? Yes, it is in the very constitution
of society, and cannot be forever, or long with
held. And, further still, the classes are terribly
unbalanced. Money, even in America, warrants
favor, and gains position, as against brains and
integrity. Capital owns labor, and degrades it
just as the priest degrades the layman, or man
the woman, that thereby its power and rule may
be perpetuated. Now, we affirm that as human
wholeness is the grand aim of individual life,
that as woman and man, physically, mentally,
morally, and spiritually equilibrated, are the
highest earthly expression of Divine wisdom, so
society, which derives its type from them, finds
its highest expression in wholeness, or the ad
justment of all its parts so as to secure activity,
without contentious opposition. All women
and men are created equal, and are endowed
with certain inalienable rights which pertain to
the whole being, politically, religiously, so
cially.
Can it be otherwise than that the same stand
ard and practice shall obtain in society ? Cer
tainly not. We may cry peace! peace! but
there is no peace until the Idea of Wholeness
is practically acknowledged and sought to be
attained by all.
Upon this we base our hopes and labors for
reform in the future, with the full consciousness
that, though there maybe differences of opinion,
and though different women and men are speciallv adapted to certain work and unfit for cer
tain other work, yet all together constitute the
measure of human uses and symbolize industrial
wholeness. The various legitimate means of
life and progress everywhere chime in their
perpetual harmony of purpose. And we rise in
the scale of being just in proportion as we, in our
consciousness and volition, accord with the great
eternal Ideas of Wholeness, and practically bal
ance the scales of justice. The difference in our
illustration of the child and society is nominal.
We assume the child’s equilibrium, and proceed
to perpetuate it. The different departments and
parts of society are not in equilibrium, but by
effort this condition is to be attained, until dif
ferences will not be a synonym for contention ;
then the waste of effort ceases, and the social
and industrial energies produce, where now they
irritate and re-act.
We are not expecting to attain peace and
vigor by merely writing or announcing the con
dition of their existence. The significant words
of Emerson, “ Choose which ye will, truth or
repose,” ring in our ears, and every day we
tighten our armor for continued effort, with the
simple provision that we stand in the breach
and strike for justice and equality. Time will
render an account of persistent’ effort, which
will be effectual in proportion as it is wise.
We have no particular desire that people
should agree. Wholeness is not sameness. It
would be well, however, if we could agree to
disagree, and not stoop to the obstruction of each
other’s way. No one class can far precede the
others ; each must help ; and egotism is a cursed
thing. May it not be that all political, social,
and religious reformers constitute, in three
divisions, the Grand Army of Progress ? It seems
so to us ; and while we sincerely admire indi
vidual Wholeness which, at least, implies vigor,
justice, and virtue, we can but plead for social
Wholeness, which implies unity of effort, to
the end that each may have his or her own.
THE KEY TO KNOWLEDGE.
There is a refreshing philosophy of theology
in the following extract from a sermon lately
delivered by Rev. O. B. Frothingham of this
city :
Once we waited on the theologians to give us
the magic word, at whose utterance the gates
which open from our cavern into the light-of
day would roll back. Now, to understand the
theologians’ word is one of the undertakings
that we are ready to abandon. The difficulty
is to reveal the revelation ; to unveil the veil.
We are getting tired of looking on as at some
grand spectacle that is to be disclosed before
our eyes, by a few workmen who are toiling
behind the scenes to lift a curtain which still
hangs stubbornly before certain majestic but.
dumb statues of antiquity, and are thinking it
is high time to find out some truth for our
selves. The revelations of men who look away
from human life into a far-off literary world—
who take the wings of their imagination and
dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, are illu
sive and unfruitful. They are productive of
conjecture, and guess, and surmise, and specu
lation, but of little else Their light is at the
best uncertain—it is commonly misleading.
Their teaching lacks authority, and it lacks
consistency—it bewilders more than it guides.
These great seers and prophets had life before
them just as we have. Their object was to get
a solution of life’s mystery—even such as we
desire—but their method was to look away
from life in order to get light upon it; to retire
to their closets in order to get at the secret
which was in the world; to burrow into the
recesses of their own minds in search of the key
which was to unlock the chambers of the ma
terial and human universe, to escape into the
regions of sentiment, that they might hear
the Btill small voice which counsellors and
kings must obey.
Such was not the method of Jesus. No meta
physician, or theologian, or closet-philosopher
�THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
85
was he, but a genuine child of nature. He lived into its parts, analyzing, pulverizing, blowing
in direct communication with the life of his substances into gas—its optics screwed into a
time, to the consideration of which he brought lens, and boring into a point, it is apt to miss
the keenest of observation, the finest of intelli those splendid combinations which reveal the
gences, the purest and sweetest of hearts. The spirit, movement, and genius of the whole. The
meaning of what he saw was revealed to him. specialists in science seldom throw light on the
The sunbeams were his teachers, and the show purposes and ends of things, The atoms are
ers, the grasses, the lilies, the birds, the pastur more than the eternities to them. The most
ing sheep, the mountain torrents, the harvest famous of them, lacking the sympathy that
fields, the sowers scattering their grain, the blends them with the whole, will deny all pur
fishermen hauling in their nets, the people.pray pose, all end, all design and significance. No
ing or trafficking in the temple, the children heap of information is equivalent to a truth.
playing in the square—in all these things he The physiologist may show us all there is in a
saw God. If he went away alone, it was for human "body, may explain how it is formed out
meditation and prayer—to the end that he of a tiny cell, how it is nourished by the assim
might keep clear and single the inward eye by ilation of food, how the secretions are made,
which he perceived the divine significance in how the condition of the brain affects intelli
gence ; but when he has set up his skeleton,
the common events of his day.
it
Two things of inestimable value Jesus has and clothed the with flesh, and covered it all
breathing garment
bequeathed to us. One is his method of seeking round with shown us a man. Thereof the skin,
he has
are worlds
revelations ; the other is the quality of vision by within not
worlds of meaning there that he has not
which revelations are made possible. This come upon, or guessed the existence of. All
method was the study of life—this vision was that we call affection, intelligence, heart, soul,
the loving intelligence.
spirit, whatever it be, is hidden trom him. That
The first point is obvious. The world is before sphere of fine sympathies and relations in which
us still; and life is before us—real as ever— he touches other beings like himself, higher,
richer than ever. Not a fact of the universe lower, wiser, simpler, better, worse, is to him
has been removed from its place ; cm the con as though it were not. In a word, he sees the
trary, many additional facts have been piled up carnal, lie does not see the divine. He sees the
under our observation. The world we live in, portion that belongs to the dust, not the portion
as compared with the world that Jesus lived in, that belongs to the deity. To see that, requires
is as the city of New York to a country village. an illuminated mind. The unilluminated man
We have new sufferings and new diseases—new sees no revelation of God’s truth or benignity
modes of living and dying; new interests and in the flowers—
new relations—new duties and new responsibili
“ The primrose on the river’s brim
ties. Married life is not the same—home life is
A yellow primrose is to him,
not the same—life of leisure and of business is
And it is nothing more.”
not the same. Men are not the same, nor women,
But the great poet says :
nor children. We have new doubts, beliefs,
<• Thanks to the human heart by which we live,
sentiments, fears, sorrows, aspirations. What
Thanks to its tenderness, its joys and fears,
shall reveal to us the meaning of this life of
To me the meanest flower that blows can give
ours? What can reveal it to us? Can any
Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears.”
thing but study of our life as it is, do it ? There
A mind thus illuminated and turned directly
it is before us, no doubt, full of order, and law,
and beautv, if we could but see it—full of wis upon our human life, not turned away to creeds
dom, too. Every thing in it appointed, arranged, and bibles and theologies, but turned directly
adjusted nicely to every other thing. No acci upon human life, has the revelation of God s
dents, no surprises, no untimely or disjointed will and purpose in human life. The meaning
events. All things well in their place, all things of God is wrought into the substances of things ;
tending upward toward perfection, all things into organic and inorganic matter ; into the hu
doing good service in their time, all things man frame; into the regulation of personal
provided for—every thing ministering to some habits; into private, domestic, social, civil, po
thing else—how are we to know it, to feel it ? litical life; into days and epochs; into events
and histories. If it is revealed to us at all. it
Clearly by looking at it, not away from it.
Let us come to the second condition. The must be revealed there. To the loving eye it
revealer is the Reason, the illuminated mind will be revealed.”
turned on life at any point. The illuminated
mind, I say again ; and by the illuminated mi nd
I mean the mind which is lighted by splendid
Among mere blunders we believe we have
ideas, and warmed by a deep and wide humani met with no richer specimen than this one, per
ty. God’s truth is wrought into the texture of petrated by a bell ringer in Cork :
our common life, and may be found there full
“ Oh, vis'! oh, yis1 Lost somewhere between
and glowing by him who has eyes to see it. But twelve o’clock and M’Kinney’s store in Market
the eyes that are to see it must have behind street, a large brass key. I’ll not be after tellin’
them, not speculation merely, but sentiment, yees what it is, but it’s the key of the bank,
heart, soul. They must be loving eyes, as well sure.”
as keen ones. And so I say that science, in the
A counsel being questioned by a judge to
ordinary sense of the word, is not the revealer.
Science uses the microscope, the spectrum, the know “ for whom he was concerned,” replied,
retort, the crucible—vea, the telescope, with “ I am concerned, my lord, for the plaintiff, but
wonderful skill; but while separating matter I am employed by the defendant.”
�86
THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
WAYSIDE JOTTINGS IN
BRITAIN.
GREAT
NO. I.
Said a friend to us j ust before we started on
our tour to Great Britain in August last, “ You
can’t practice vegetarianism in that country
where there are no fruits.” “ Are there no
fruits there?” said I. “ Scarcely any,” was the
reply. “ Peaches and grapes are only grown in
hot-houses, and even apples are a meagre and
indifferent crop. Small fruits are not much at
best ; and, as for dried fruits, they are not in
the market.” Such was the doleful prospect
presented to the frugivorous tourist.
Well, after traveling through the length and
breadth of the country, from almost the ex
treme north of Scotland to the south coast of
England, and visiting, meanwhile, most of the
large cities, I had some little opportunity to
take items on a subject in which I was practi
cally interested, at least two or three times
daily. In the first place, the humidity of the
climate is such that one needs, and therefore
desires, a drier diet there than here. Just as on
sea, one naturally prefers more of “hard bis
cuit” (alias Graham crackers), and less of fruits
and other moist and juicy substances.
But, aside from all climatic considerations,
the vegetarian will experience no difficulty
whatever, as he travels from city to city, in ob
taining the very best of fruits, vegetables, and
farinaceous food. Instead of taking the usual
hotel fare, etc., for some two hours, laboring
through six, eight, or ten courses of soup, fish,
fowl, mutton, beef, dessert, etc., etc., with length
ened pauses between each (for the good natives
are strangers to the dispatch of our American
hotels), and finally finishing off with several
rounds of porter, claret, champagne, etc., the
traveler can go to the “ coffee-room,” order just
what he wants, and haw and when it shall be
prepared. Or, if he doesn’t like the extrava
gant bills at hotels, he can obtain, for a few
shillings per week, excellent private lodgings
(say a parlor and bed-room), with attendance
included, and order his meals as before. This
is really the better way. One is more comfort
able, more retired, better waited upon, and at
less expense than he would be at a hotel. You
can have, if you like (in Scotland at least), su
perb oat-meal porridge—better than you ever
ate in this country—for the imported article
(and that is all we have here) is always injured
by damp and otherwise, together with good
brown bread, excellent vegetables, and the
choicest of fruits.
In no cities in our own country have I ever
seen in the markets a finer supply of fruits and
at so trifling expense. (Think of a great “ Scotch
pint” full of splendid strawberries or goose
berries for three pence, and a pound of good
eating apples for the same money!) Some of
the imported fruits are higher, but we should
think none of them extravagant. Apples, pears,
plums, grapes, gooseberries, strawberries, and
other fruits, are plentiful and cheap. Some of
the large fruit stores in the cities are beautiful
beyond description. The “ small fruits ” con
tinue much longer in summer there than here ;
the climate is peculiarly adapted to them. The
abundant moisture that permeates the soil and
fills the very air, making it at times almost op
pressive, is most favorable to the growth of all
fruits and vegetables native to the island. The
raspberry, gooseberry, and strawberry, grow
much larger than with us; and, instead of that
keen, sharp' acid which people with a “ sweet
tooth ” take such exceptions to, they have a
mild, sweet, and delicious flavor.
In Aberdeen market I sa.w raspberries, goose
berries, strawberries, and currants, as late as the
middle of September; (they were done in Glas
gow some two or three weeks before ;) and I
was informed that these fruits begin to ripen
there almost as early as they do with us. The
berries which I saw were the last of the season,
and the market women called them “ poor
but I thought them very fine indeed. I tried
the experiment of putting a single strawberry
(an extra big one, of course, and rather irregu
larly shaped) into a .common-sized tumbler, and
found that it would not go half way to the bot
tom ! The gooseberries are of several varieties
and of different colors—yellow, green, pink, and
dark red—the green-colored ones being gener
ally the best. They are about twice as large
as we usually grow them here in Ohio, and are
very delicious ; the same may be said of the
raspberry. There were currants and huckle
berries in the market, much the same as we
have them in this country ; and in some of the
cities I saw cranberries, said to be grown, I
think, in the north of Scotland. The blackberry
(or “ bramble-berry,” as they call it—the black
currant is their “ blackberry ”) is only grown in
the wild state, and is very similar to our wild
blackberry.
Grapes, although commonly grown in hot
houses, are very fine, especially those grown in
the southern parts of England. Some of the
white grapes are excellent. Apples are rather
�THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
plentiful, at least in the cities ; they ripen later
than with us, and are inferior in quality, par
ticularly those grown far north. The Scotch
apples are usually very sour and crisp and rather
small; some of them are very fine cooked. The
best eating apples that I saw in Scotland, that
is, the best native apples, were the Scotch “ pip
pins,” a very small apple, with a mild, sub-acid.
The apples commanding the highest price are
those imported from America. Apples do best
in that climate when the trees are trained up
to i wall or to the side of a house, where they
cai have all the sunlight and heat possible, for
Great Britain is not a land of sunshine. Indeed,
during the three months that we were there,
the island seemed almost constantly enveloped
in mist and clouds ; and I said to the good peo
ple—who think the Americans very dark-col
ored—that it was no wonder they were white,
since the sun never shown upon them.
It is too far north, and there is too little sun
shine for peaches. They can only be grown in
hot-houses; and though they often look very
well, they are rather insipid. I saw at Salis
bury, England, nice-looking tomatoes growing
in the hot-houses, but they are seldom in the
market, imported or otherwise ; and many of
the country people have never seen one. Beau
tiful plums and pears are in the markets and
fruit stores, most of them imported from France
and Germany. Of dried and canned fruits there
are not so many, nor is there so great variety
there as here, chiefly because there is not that
demand for them by the people, who seem
scarcely to have learned either the luxury or
the worth of them. Canned fruits are to be
found in some of the cities (sometimes imported
from New York), but the great masses of the
people have never heard of such a thing. Did
wholesome fruits take among poor people the
place of the pipe and snuff-box, and among the
rich people the place of John Barleycorn, or
some other John (of whom I shall have some
thing to say hereafter), all would be better off.
The vegetables of Great Britain are very fine
indeed. If there are not so many native fruits
as there are in the warmer climates, the lack
of them is greatly atoned for in the abundance
and excellence of the native vegetables. The
jxitato is very much better than ours ; not any
larger, but drier and finer flavored. The turnip
is so far superior to those in this country, both
in size and quality, and especially in the pecu
liar sweetness of its flavor, that there is really
no comparison between it and the article grown
here under the same name. Of parsnips, car
87
rots, cabbage, Scotch cale and the like, there is
no lack, and of the best quality.
The vegetarian will rest assured, therefore,
that Great Britain is the last country in which
he need be compelled in practice to abandon his
faith. (And yet, the people, there as here, ask,
“ Why, what do you live on ?” as if there were
no “ living ” exclusive of meat, tea, and, one
may add—tobacco.) The stranger can obtain,
even on the streets and from the shops, good
brown bread, choice fruits, and plainly-cooked
vegetables. In London, fine large baked pota
toes, hot in the oven, are common on the street
corners.
'
S. W. D.
Xenia, Ohio, January, 1867.
IMPORTANCE OF PROPER FOOD.
[A little girl just entering on her “teens,”
and who has lived in a Hygienic family for sev
eral years, being requested to write an article
for the Gospel of Health, complied without
a moment’s hesitation, and the following is the
result of her first effort in the literary line.
We are of the opinion that many thousands of
full-grown American girls might derive profita
ble instruction by its careful perusal.]
“ People generally eat milk, sugar, and but
ter, and many other things, which are really
not food at all. I have read in some books
about sugar being useful and necessary food ;
but I havesince learned it is not food at all, and
that all kinds of seasonings are injurious. In
deed, proper food never requires anything with
it, and this will nourish the body most perfectly
if nothing is taken with it. If you should take
a handful of salt, or a chunk of butter, and eat
it by itself, it would make you sick. And so, if
persons eat proper food five or six times a day
sickness will be the result. But if proper food,
with no seasonings nor additions of any kind, is
eaten, in proper quantities, twice a day, it will do
all that food cando to give strength and preserve
health. One who has never tried the experi
ment can scarcely imagine what a change for the
better there will be in adopting a Hygienic diet,
and eating only two meals a day. Since I have
lived strictly according to this system, I have
grown stronger, got more rosy cheeks>and am
in better health in all respects.
“ Some folks think that if you eat only twice
a day, you will get so very hungry that you can
not help over-eating. But this is not so : When
you eat too frequently the stomach is over
worked, for it has to labor to get rid of the ex
cessive quantity, and this causes fatigue and
�88
THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
weakness. If you wanted your house clean, and “ worst features ” removed. All whose grog
some one kept throwing dirt into it, you would geries are “reasonably respectable” will be
have to work too hard" to get it all out, and tolerated. And then we have the assurance that
might get sick. And this is the way you get the business of rumsellingis not to be diminished.
iick when you eat too much or too frequently. It is only to be placed in fewer hands. The
The stomach must have rest, like all other or same quantity is to be sold.
gans, or it will soon wear itself out. 1 know a
W ell, we fear this is too true, and we are of
little girl about my size who eats five or six the opinion that one “ respectable ” rumshop is
times a day, and she is hungry all the time, more mischievous in society than are ten low
and so long as her mother indulges her in this groggeries. Indeed, the more “respectable,"
way she will feel a continual craving. It is said the greater is their influence for evil. No drunk
to be very hard for mothers to deny their chil ard ever led a human being into habits of intem
dren food when they call for it; but it is better perance ; but moderate drinkers have influence
than to let them become sickly, and grow up fee in that direction. No low groggery ever caused
ble and useless. Some parents say that their a human being to take the first downward step
children eat all kinds of food and seasoning, i on the road to drunkenness; but every respecta
and between meals, and yet are well enough. ble drinking place in the country has turned the
But such children are never in good sound steps of many perditionward. We are of the
health. They are often sick of fevers, inflam j opinion that all the excise laws that ever were
mations, convulsions, &c., and many of them or ever can be enacted only make the matter
die of these or some other diseases. Many per worse. By “ regulating ” the traffic in intoxi
sons think they cannot work without eating cating drinks, and authorizing certain persons
flesh-meat, and drinking tea and coflee. But this to deal in them, they make the traffic, which
*s another mistake, for I know many vegetari in its very nature is infernal—an outrage on
ans who drink only water, and not that at God and man—“ respectable." If the whole
meals, who are always in good health, and work matter were left to common law, a remedy would
very hard. I advise all persons, and young per very soon be found in a “Vigilance Committee ”
sons especially, to adopt the Hygienic manner or something similar.
of living, and when they become old, not to de
part from it.”
Bread Thrown Upon the Waters.—The
President of the Franklin County (Pa.) FruitGrowers' Association writes us : “ Dr. R. T.
REASONABLY RESPECTABLE
CROC-SHOPS.
Trail & Co.—Dear Sirs : Inclosed find $5, for
which please send as many of the January Gos
The comments of our city papers on the Ex pels of Health, including a few copies of
cise law, passed at the last session of the Legis Hygeiana as you can afford for the money. I
lature, since its constitutionality has been am much pleased with the journal. It is not
affirmed by the Court of Appeals, are very too radical for some of us, although it is so far
various, as the papers are or are not in the in advance of public opinion generally, that
interest of the rumsellers, and some of them many will not see even the glimmer of its light.
quite amusing. The following is a specimen of Whatever quantity you send will be for gratui
logic as it is in rum :
tous distribution. I shall consider them as bread
“ It is not the object of the law to suppress the thrown upon the waters, or good seed sown
sale of liquor. It is only intended to prune the
evil of its worst features by closing up the low which may bring forth a rich harvest. I am
and disreputable groggeries where vice and very much pleased with your Hygeiana pros
crime are bred. Dealers who keep reasonably pect, and hope it will prove a success. Permit
respectable places, and who are willing to ob me here to offer a few suggestions, if they have
serve the restrictions imposed by the law, will
be allowed to continue their business. This not already been considered : that the best fea
class ought to be well satisfied, for the natural tures of the Vineland enterprise be laid down
effect of the new measure will be to increase the as a basis to keep out speculation ; and that it
patronage of the better places by the suppression be made obligatory on all property holders to
of others.
sow the road sides in grass lawn, and plant with
Of course it will never do to think of removtrees, etc.”
ini»1 the evil entirely ! That would be radical
and fanatical, and proscriptive, and in divers
“ I have not loved lightly,” as the man said
ways offensive to the knights of the toddy-stick. when he married a widow weighing three hun
The evil is only to be “ pruned ” a little, and its | dred pounds.
�THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
NEW YORK STATE TEMPERANCE
SOCIETY.
We are glad to record that one more Tem
perance organization has taken a step in ad
vance. At the recent annual session of the
New York State Temperance Society, held at
Auburn, the following platform of principles
was announced:
Resolved, That, in view of the facts : 1. That
domestic wine is intoxicating; 2. That nearly
two-thirds of it is manufactured into brandy ; 3.
That intemperance is on the increase in wine
growing districts, especially among the youth
of both sexes ; we deprecate the production of
grapes for the manufacture of wiue, believing it
has an immoral tendency.
Resolved, That we recommend the vigorous
enforcement of all the restrictive and prohibit
ing provisions of the Excise law, and that we
further recommend the friends of Temperance to
petition the Legislature to extend the Metro
politan Excise Law over the entire state.
Resolved, That the approaching convention to
'amend the Constitution of the state of New
York should be regarded in the good Providence
of God as a fitting opportunity for the people to
declare in the new Constitution, “ that hence
forth no license in any form or under any cir
cumstance shall be granted in this state for the
manufacture or sale of intoxicating liquors as a
beverage, and that such permission shall be
submitted by separate article to the voters of
the state for adoption or rejection concurrently
with the new Constitution which may be ap
proved by the convention.”
In view of the facts that the rum trade owes
all of its vitality, directly or indirectly, to the
abominable license system, and that nearly all
of our agricultural journals, and the great
majority of our political newspapers (conspicu
ous among which is the New York Evening
Post) are advocating and encouraging the busi
ness of wine-making, these are certainly import
ant resolutions. We hope they will be endorsed
by and echoed from every temperance meeting
which may be held from this day until the final
consummation of the Temperance Reformation.
True, they do not go quite far enough. But
they are steps in the right direction. The real
root of the evil is alcoholic medication. But
our temperance friends have not yet got their
eyes open wide enough to see this. Possibly,
however, they may in the good time coming.
Cato, being scurrilously treated by a low and
vicious fellow, quietly said to him: “A contest
between us is very unequal, for thou canst bear
ill language with ease, and return it with pleas
ure ; but to me it is unusual to hear and disa
greeable to speak it.”
89
How Paris Wives Get Rid of Their Hus
bands.—La Patrie relates the following start
ling incident : “ M. Sam relates that he was
standing at a ball given at the Tuileries, talking
to the great chemist. Dr. Lisfrank, when he
perceived him suddenly become pale, and move
from his position. M. Sam, fancying that his
friend had been taken ill, followed him out to
the Salle des Maréchaux. There, having re
covered his equanimity, he said,‘ I have just
seen a beautiful young bride waltzing with her
second husband. Now, lam perfectly convinced
she murdered her first husband. It had been a
love match ; but the young man discovered he
had made a fatal mistake, and his health visi
bly declined. One morning he was found dead
in his bedroom, which his wife had filled with
flowers, especially with hyacinths. Their poi
sonous emanations had evidently killed him.
On being summoned to inquire into the cause
of his death, I perfectly remember having re
lated in his wife’s hearing a case of poisoning
produced by these very flowers ; and, on learn
ing that a scandalous intrigue on her part had
been the cause of his misery, 1 have not the
slightest doubt that the wretched woman took
this mode of regaining her liberty. This tragic
anecdote recalls to me another, which one of
the first physicians in Paris related a few days
ago as having occurred to him during the course
of his practice. He had been for some time in
attendance on a wealthy merchant, whose ill
ness, though of a painful nature, was not dan
gerous. Much to Dr. N.’s surprise, the symptoms
became complicated, and M. X. got rapidly
worse. Dr. N. asked to see the mixture his
patient had been taking during the night, and
remarked to the servant that the glass from
which he had apparently drank was not clean.
‘ No one, Sir, touches it but Madame,’ replied
the servant. Pouring a little water into it, Dr.
N. put it to his lips. He then asked to see
Madame X. alone. She was young and lovely.
‘Is my husband worse?’ she inquired, with
great apparent anxiety* ‘Yes, Madame; but
he must improve rapidly.
Do you hear,
Madame ?—in a week he must be cured.’ The
lady’s cheek grew pale. ‘ But, Doctor—’ ‘ You
have understood me, Madame ; good morn’ng.’
The patient recovered within the given time,
and M. and Madame X. gave a ball last week
and looked as jolly a couple as you would wish
to see.”—[Paris Correspondent of the Morning
Star.
One of “ the sex” writes that “ though a few
American ladies live in idleness, the majority as
yet work themselves into early graves, giving
the men an opportunity to try two or three in
the course of their own vigorous lives.”
Two ears, and but a single tongue,
By Nature’s laws to man belong ;
The lesson she would teach is clear,
“ Repeat but half of what you hear.”
A singular innovation was made at a funeral
in Paris the other day. Instead of a laudatory
discourse in honor of the individual interred,
one of his friends read extracts from a newspa
per in his praise.
�90
THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
THE LIFE OF A RADICAL.
My father was independent. T do not think
he ever thought of the consequence of any spe
cific act. Was it right?’if so, it must be per
formed. This made him a host of enemies, and
none were more bitter than the clergy. I re
member that he was the member of a Baptist
Association, and not one but were bitterly op
posed to him.
It was at the period when the Liberator began
to be published in Boston, and we took the pa
per, its editor, Mr. Garrison, visited our village,
and of course stopped at our house. He was
regarded as an infidel, and the most trouble
some fellow in the country. He was announced
to deliver a lecture in our church. At the hour
appointed the building was crowded to its ut
most capacity with a throng of noisy town
loafers, who, hearing of the proposed advocacy
of the unwholesome doctrines of “ abolition ” by
the chief mover in it all, came for the express
purpose of breaking up the meeting. This was
easily done with the help of some worthless
boys, and through the connivance of respectable
men of wealth in the town. My father, my
mother, and one or two others, were the only
supporters he had. The roughs made short
work of it, put out the lights, and cleared the
house within ten minutes. We were compelled
to flee for our lives, and were scarcely in sight
of our hopse before we saw the light blazing up
ward against the dark nightsky. Our church
was on fire, and before we reached our house,
the conservatives had been there before us, for it,
too, burst into flames, and we were compelled
to pass the night as best we could, at the hum
ble farm-house of a neighbor. Every thing we
had in the world was consumed, except the
clothes we wore. It was in the dead of winter.
My father was penniless, houseless, and hated
of every man in the town. And yet there was
a certain sort of respect accorded to him, that
showed that the truth was working. My sisters
readily obtained employment at a farm-house.
My mother wrote a little, and got enough to take
care of herself. My brothers and myself sought
and obtained work in various pursuits, one as a
clerk, and I as a farm boy. Father began to ad
dress himself to the work of reform entirely.
Heretofore he had not devoted himself to this
exclusively. Now, however, God had taken
away all hinderances ; so he consecrated his
taients and time entirely to this work. He
went from town to town, and district to district,
teaching the sin of American Slavery. He was
a man of powerful frame, with great black eyes
looking out from under shaggy iron gray eye
brows. His look was as stern and forbidding as
that of Alpine ('rags in winter. There was no
grace or beauty in his style. He spoke plain
truths, and eschewed all ornament and all cir
cumlocution.
As I have said, not a minister sustained him.
There came at last to his net, three only out
of the whole region round about, who might be
called supporters. One vi as a teacher who read
the Liberator, and taught the village school;
another was a long-haired reformer, who lived
a lone, bachelor life, subsisting chiefly upon
vegetables, and talked reform constantly; and
a bloomer-costumed Amazon, who came no one
knew whence or how, and lived chiefly by prac
tice of certain medical arts, phrenological lec
tures, examination of heads, and operating in
the capacity of a medium in spiritual manifesta
tions. These formed the party outside our family,
who sustained my father, and I may say, be^
lieved in him.
The town had a population of one thousand
souls, and there were of course four churches.
Each of them about as prosperous as my father’s
church, save this, lhe Episcopal Rector took
the only persons of wealth ; the Presbyterians,
the timid and middle class ; and the Baptist and
Methodist strove, one with another, to get all
that remained.
The three ministers dragged out a miserable
life of servitude and obedience to public will,
and never dared so much as to notice my father*
lest their constituency should suffer thereby.
It took us all nearly a year to get enough
together to think of having a home. This we
did by combined effort. I putting in my little
earnings with the rest. We built a plain house
of humble pretensions, and all came back again
to the work of rdform.—[Church Union.
THE YOUNG MEN OF OUR CITIES.
Rev. Dr. Osgood, in a recent work entitled
“American Leaves,” gives the following painful
but truthful sketch:
“The number of youth in our cities who are
seeking some kind of employment that allows
them to have a delicate hand, and wear kid
gloves and polished boots, is enormous, and fur
nishes a fearful number of recruits to the army
of vice and crime. What the cause of the disin
clination to the manual arts is, it is not always
easy to say ; and certainly, in the nature of
things, there is far more demand for intellect
and far more exercise of manly power in tilling
the soil or building houses and ships, than in
selling silks and calicoes behind the counter.
It would be a great gain if ten thousand clerks
could at once go into the fields and workshops,
where they are wanted, and leave their places
to ten thousand young women, who have noth
ing to do but to make their poor fingers the
hopeless rivals of the sewing-machine, and
to anticipate the uncertain time when some
young man. not yet able to pay for his own
board and clothes, shall venture upon the enter
prise of taking a wife less thrifty than himself.
It is partly from the false feminine notions of
gentility that much of the rising aversion to
manual labor springs, and much harm comes
from the frequent preference of the dainty swain
of the counter over the far abler worker at the
plough or plane bv sentimental maidens, who
have studied out their ideas of the gentleman
from trashy novels, and not from the good old
Bible and its noble standard of the gentle
heart.”
Thirteen objections were once given by a
young lady for declining a match—the first
twelve being the suitor’s twelve children, and
the thirteenth the suitor himself.
�91
THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
Paris a Doomed City.—London Society, in an
article on “The Beaux Mondes of Paris and
London,” utters the following fearful, and we
fear, truthful prophecy concerning the most gay
and luxurious city in the world :
Paris has reached a climax in what is gener
ally called civilization that cannot be surpassed.
She lias adorned and beautified herself with a
rapidity and splendor that are without a paral
lel. She is the most beautiful capital in the
world—the queen of cities ; she has put out of
sight all that can offend the taste of the most
refined critics ; she has driven further and fur
ther back all the signs of poverty and labor
which might offend the eye or suggest a thought
inconsistent with the opulence and gayety with
which it is her desire to impress her visitors;
she is a very Sybarite of cities ; but with all her
magnificence of decoration, with all her lavish
outlay and ever-changing caprice, which consti
tute her the leader of fashion throughout
Europe, she carries within herself the elements
of her own ruin, which cannot be far distant.
No society can last long which is so rotten at
its core, where profligacy reigns, and all sense
of propriety is at a discount.
The history of the world supplies abundant
instances of cities which have reached a climax
of refined splendor, and, being lifted up in their
pride, have overlooked virtue, and have been
dashed to the ground, and have crumbled to
ruin ; nor need France go far to look for such an
example. In the period before the great French
revolution society had become corrupt. They
who ought to have been examples of virtue
made use of their high and exalted position for
the indulgence of their evil passions, and saw in
it only opportunities for a vicious life. Even
now men tremble at the recollection of the aw
ful judgment that fell upon them, which has
left that fair and beautiful country in a state of
ferment from which there seems to be no repose,
and which can only be kept under by the firm
hand of a great military power which is ever
ready to repress the first indication of the pop
ular mind daring to think for itself.
Pure Wines and Temperance.—Dr. Stone,
of San Francisco, says he is fully convinced that
the manufacture and introduction of pure wines
into general use will not diminish intemper
ance, as has been supposed. Full two-thirds of
all the wine manufactured is converted into
brandy, and in the wine districts intemperance
is on the increase, extending to the youth of
both sexes.—Exchange.
The exercise of a little common sense, will
enable any physician in any part of the world,
or any man, woman, or child, who has arrived
at a condition of reasoning, to see that all use
of the alcoholic element, as drink or medicine,
must conduce to intemperance.
Let us give them a very simple illustration.
Mercury is a poison. In all forms and prepara
tions it injures the vital organization, and in
large doses tends to induce the inflammatory
condition of the mouth and salivary glands,
technically termedptyalism or salivation; though
they may not occasion manifest local inflamma
tion, they do, nevertheless, produce some degree
of the same or a similar morbid condition. They
can never be taken without injury exactly pro
portioned to quantity.
Alcohol conduces to intoxication. Large doses
occasion drunkenness. Small quantities pro
duce a slight degree of intoxication, termed
stimulation. But, as the alcoholic element is
always a poison, its use in any form is injuri
ous exactly in ratio of the quantity taken, no
matter whether taken in the form of rum,
brandy, wine, cider, porter, lager, etc., etc.
A Fine Lady.—We clip the following para
graph from the New York Tribune :
“ For the Paris Exhibition.—At No. 544
Broadway is a cooking-stove which cost $1,000.
The boiler, tank, and pot closet, are of German
silver, and the whole is as splendid as a piano.
Of course, it embraces latest improvements. In
cooking, a current of air passes through the
oven, and bread is baked in a brick oven. With
such a stove, a fine lady might be induced to
make herself useful.”
The diabolical innuendo of the writer is that a
fine lady isn’t useful! Was there ever a more
preposterous absurdity ? Half the commerce
of the world depends on her finery for its ex
istence. All of the dry goods’ merchant princes
owe their fortunes to her disposition to display
fine things. Every milliner’s and mantua-maker’s shop in the land may bless her desire to
shine in frills and flounces for their meagre
bread and butter. The Tribune itself is in
debted to the fine ladies for one-half of its im
mense advertising patronage. Indeed, discon
tinue fine ladies, and the controversy between
the Tribune and Post on the subject of “Pro
tective Tariff and Free Trade,” which has raged
for twenty years, and bids fair to continue so
long as they both shall live, would be deprived
of three-quarters of its facts and illustrations.
We doubt if either of these papers could live if
there were no fine ladies.
Carnivora and Herbívora.—An exchange
says:
“ A dinner was given, near Paris, recently, of
which the principal dishes were shark, horse,
dog, and rat.”
A dinner was given, in this city recently, of
which the principal dishes were bread, apples,
potatoes, and beans. Which dinner indicates
the higher grade of civilization?
4
�92
THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
A Marvelous Medicine.—A writer in the
Religio-Philosophieal Journal gives a wondrous
statement of a medicine which is greatly relied
on for the cure of mortal or immortal maladies
in one of the “ spheres ” or “ grand divisions of
the spirit land.” We have much faith in the
remedy, and believe that more of it could be
used by people “ in the form ” with advantage :
“ The medicine most in vogue there is that
of Namm oc Esnes, sometimes used on earth.
When well applied and digested, it there, as
here, effects the most marvelous cures. I may
state, however, that the people on earth spell
the name of this great remedy backwards ; for
here the letters are reversed. Every one can
find and use it, and it is already being applied
to the cure of many ills.”
Canada.—Canada subscribers will send 12
cents extra for postage.
More or Less.—Send us whatever sum you
can afford the cause, from ten cents to ten dollars
or more, and we will return its value in the
Gospel of Health.
Clubs.—Is there one earnest Health Re
former in tliis country who cannot send us a
club of subscribers ?
To Editors.—Country papers and magazines
which give the Gospel of Heat.th a proper
notice, or publish its table of contents, will be
entitled to an exchange.
As we Expected.—Many agents who had
sent in clubs to the Herald before they saw the
Prospectus for the Gospel, write us that the
clubs for another year will be sent to the Gospel,
and not to the Herald. Of course.
Our Address.—Recollect that subscriptions
for the Gospel of Health, and all communica
tions relative to it, and all orders for books, or
goods of any kind, to insure prompt attention,
should be addressed, “ R. T. Trail & Co., No. 97
Sixth Avenue, New York.”
Advertising Rates.—Four lines, or less, $1;
each additional line, 25 cents. One column,
$25 ; one page, $40. When advertisements of
half a column, or more, are continued without
change for three or more months, a reduction of
twenty per cent, will be made.
Anonymous.—We can pay no attention to
anonymous communications. We do not desire
to publish names without permission, but, as
an evidence of good faith, and for many other
reasons which could be named, we must have
the name of the writer, or the article must go
into our waste basket.
Specimen Numbers.—Many persons write
Gqspel vs. Herald.—Many of the subscribers
us to send them specimen numbers, and forget
to enclose the requisite dimes. Please read our to the Herald of Health have requested us to
transfer their subscriptions to the Gospel of
Prospectus more carefully.
Health. This is impossible. We have nothing
Canvassers.—We offer special terms and further to do with the Herald, except to run
extraordinary inducements to persons who will “ opposition to imposition.” Those who wish
make it a business to canvass for subscribers. for the Gospel had better subscribe for it.
Send stamps for terms and circulars.
How to Canvass.—The best way to obtain
Our Illustrations.—These will largely in subscribers is, to leave specimen numbers of the
crease our expenses, but we shall confidently Gospel of Health at each of the dwelling
rely on the efforts of our friends to extend our houses, stores, and workshops, in your neighbor
circulation, so that we may continually improve hood for examination. In a few days thereafter
call for them and solicit subscriptions. In this
in this attractive feature.
manner a hundred numbers will enable an agent
Certificates of Agency.—We will send to to canvass a large territory.
any person, on receipt of request and satisfactory
Geometrical Proposition.—We have a plan
references, certificates of agency, authorizing
them to receive money on our account, for for annihilating the drug-medical system in less
than ten years. It is this : Let each subscriber
subscriptions to the Gospel of Health.
send us one new name in 1867 ; each subscriber
The Present Number.—Can our friends do in 1867 send us a new name for 1868, and so
themselves, their neighbors, us, and everybody on to the end of the chapter. A little arithme
else, a greater good, at a small expense, than tic will demonstrate not only its practicability,
by circulating a few copies of the present num but its infallibility. We will wager all Hygeiber among their neighbors, and asking them to ana on the result.
read carefully.
Non-Subscribers.—Pursuant to a request in
Pay Your Own Postage.—We receive our Prospectus, we have received several thou
several letters a day requesting information on sands of names, to many of whom we have sent
a variety of subjects which it is of no earthly ad onr first number. But we learn that, in a few
vantage to us to give, but which may be of instances, those who forwarded the names have
importance to the writer, min ms the stamp for neglected to subscribe for the Gospel, or to
return postage. A three-cent stamp is a small solicit subscriptions, on the supposition that all
matter per se, but several thousands of such names sent to us, as well as all persons sending
letters in a year would impose on us an un them, would receive the Gospel gratuitously.
reasonable tax for the privilege of working for This is a mistake. The only way to be sure of
nothing.
the Gospel is to subscribe for it.
�93
THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
WORKS BY DR. TRALL.
GRANITE STATE HEALTH INSTITUTION,
(Prepaid by Mail. )
HILL, N. H.
Hydropathic Encyclopaedia......................................... $4 50
Hydropathic Cook Book............................................. 1 50
Hygienic Hand Book...................... ,.......................... 2 00
Diptheria. .................................................................... 1 60
Sexual Physiology........................................................ 2 00
Sexual Pathology......................................................... 2 00
Home Treatment for Sex-Abuses............................... 50
Uterine Dis. and Displacements................................. 3 50
...................
“
Colored Plates . ... 6 00
Water-Cure for the Million .. ..................................
35
Diseases of the Throat and Lungs ............................ 25
>^rize Essay on Tobacco.............................................. 20
Prize Essay on Temperance.....................
20
The Alcoholic Controversy......................................... 50
The True Temperance Platform....... . .......................
60
Alcoholic Medication ................................................
30
Problems of Medical Science.................................... 20
Principles of Hygeio-Therapy....................................
20
The True Healing Art.................................................
35
Health and Diseases of Woman................................
20
Lecture on Drug Medication........ ..............................
20
Lecture on Nervous Debility.....................................
20
The Complete Gymnasium ....................................... 2 00
Anat. and Phys. Plates................................................. 20 00
Phys, and Path. Charts...............................
12 00
WORKS EDITED BY DR. TRALL.
Fruitsand Farinacea................................................... $2 00
Accidents and Emergencies........................................
30
Hydropathy for the People......................................... 1 50
Theory of Population.................................................. 40
Hydropathic Review ................................................... 3 00
Milk Trade in New York.............................................
50
Mysteries of Nature..................................................... 2 00
Dress Reform (Mrs. Harman)...................................... 20
WORKS IN PREPARATION BY DR. TRALL.
Principles of Hygienic Medication.......................... $12 00
Physiology and Hygiene for Schools......................... 2 00
Philosophy of Human Nature.................................... 3 00
VALUABLE WORKS FOR SALE.
Science of Human Life.................................................$3
Woman and her Era.............................................
4
The Empire of the Mother.........................................
The Unwelcome Child.................................................
Fowler’s Phrenology.. ...........................
1
50
00
80
75
75
COLLEGE TEXT-BOOKS.
(By Express.)
Gray’s Anatomy............................................................ 87 00
Dalton’s Physiology...................................................... 5 25
Youman’s Chemistry................................................... 2 00
Bedford’s Obstetrics..................................................... 5 50
Erichsen’s Surgery..................................................... 6 50
Dunglison’s Med. Dictionary. .................................. 6 75
Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary.................... --....12 00
This institution is located in one of the finest regions
of the “Old Granite State,” on the direct route from
Boston to the White Mountains. The cars bring patients
within a few rods of its door.
The establishment is one of the oldest in the country,
and its physician is one of the most experienced in the
treatment of all the varied forms of chronic disease,
whether of the male or female organization.
For further particulars, please inclose stamp for circu
lar, and address
W. T. VAIL, M. D.,
Hill, N. H.
G. H. SALISBURY,
Manufacturer of All Kinds of Crackers
of
A Superior Quality,
436 Greenwich Street, New York.
GRAHAM
CRACKERS
Prepared on strictly Hygienic principles, according to
directions of R. T Trall, M. D., constantly
on hand.
All orders filled at‘shortest notice.
PHILADELPHIA HYGIENIC INSTITUTE.
Dr. WILSON’S Establishment is now located at 1109
Girard Street, above Chestnut. This Institution is very
favorably located. The situation is central, pleasant, and
healthy. The rooms are spacious, well ventilated and
attractively furnished. Patients receive the personal at
tention of the doctor and wife, and may rely on skillful,
careful, and attentive treatment. We use no drug medi
cation. Our table is supplied with a variety of well cooked
food. Persons visiting the city can be accommodated with
rooms and board. Address
R. WILSON, M. D.,
1109 Girard Street,
PHIL A DELPHIA.
FAMILY PANGYMNASTIKON.
An improved and more convenient apparatus, which
answers all the indications, and costs but one-third as
much as that which has hitherto been sold under this
title, has just been invented. It is simple and durable,
and an admirable contrivance for enabling invalids to
exercise in their own rooms. Moreover, it can be carried
in one corner of a carpet-bag. Price, $5. Send orders
to R. T. Trail & Co.
Dr. N. R. ADAMS,
Physician, and Surgeon,
SYRINGES.
Bridgeport, Gloucester Co.,
(By Mail Prepaid.)
Mattson’s Improved....................................... • - ....... $3 00
NEW JERSEY.
HAND
MILLS.
(By Express.)
Large Size.................................................................
pm all Size........................................................................................
G. W. BACON & CO.,
American Booksellers and Publishers,
$8 00
0®
NO.
48 paternoster row,
LONDON, ENGLAND.
�THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
94
N. D. THOMPSON, M. D.,
Hygienic Physician.
Swedish Movements for Diseases of long standing.
No. 149 West Sixteenth Stbeet, New York.
A few invalids can find a pleasant home, with skillful
physicians, and favorable surroundings for restoring to
health. Hygienic boarding.
HIGHLAND WATER-CURE.
H. P. Burdick, M. D., and
Mrs. Mart Bryant Burdick, M. D.,
Physicians.
Send for circulars. Address
Alfred, Alleghany Co., N. Y.
J.
F. SANBORN, M. D.,
HYGIENIC PHYSICIAN AND DENTIST,
E. YODER, M. D„
HYGIENIC
PHYSICIAN.
Residence and Office,
Third Street, between Landis Avenue and Elmer Street,
Vinela/nd, N. J.
fi®* All diseases successfully treated without the use of
drugs.
Z. P. GLASS, M. D.,
HYGIENIST.
Address letters and telegrams to Box 1,094, Quincy, IU.
Patients at a distance visited promptly.
Mrs. M. E. COX, M. D.,
HYGIENIC
PHYSICIAN
AND LECTURER,
CHESTER, N. H.,
Desires to enter into communication with Health and
Dress Reformers who would like lectures in their lo
calities.
Mrs. Cox, with competent assistants,will open, for the
summer the “Old Homestead,” lor the reception of a
few patients who are willing to live on strictly Hygienic
diet. Invalids will not find magnificent accommodations,
but good conditions of health. We offer them careful
and judicious attention, and proper diet, with the purest
air in New England. Address
B. T. COX,
Chester, N. H.
ECONOMY IS WISE—HEALTH IS WEALTH.
THE HYGIENIC COOK-BOOK;
OR, HOW TO COOK
Without the use of salt, butter, lard, or condiments.
A book for those who eat to live. Eighty pages. Forty
kinds of bread, cakes, pies, puddings, etc., palatable,
nutritious, and healthful. How to prevent dyspepsia,
causes of summer complaints, etc.
“Just what is wanted in every family.”—E. Yoder,
M. D.
“Will save more than the cost in one day.”—Every
body.
Price by mail, 20 cents ; $1 75 per dozen.
Mbs. M. E. COX, M. D.,
Chester, N. H.
M. AUGUSTA FAIRCHILD, M. D„
HYGIENIC PHYSICIAN,
HANNIBAL, Mo.
PREMIUM DRESS PATTERNS.
Patterns of the Premium Dress for Women will be
sent by mail on receipt of one dollar. Address, Ellen
Beard Harman, M. D., care of R. T. Trail & Co., 97 Sixth
avenue, New York.
PREMIUM DRESS PHOTOGRAPHS.
Photographs of the author of the Premium Dress for
Women, in costume, will be sent by mail on receipt of
25 oents and postage stamps. Send orders to R. T.
Trail & Co.
TABOR, FREMONT CO., IOWA.
All diseases successfully treated with Electricity, Mag
netism, Bathing. Gymnastics, Movement-cure, and other
Hygienic agencies. Positively no drugs given.
WATERS’
SQUARE AND UPRIGHT PIANOS, MELODEONS
AND
CABINET ORGANS, .
The Best Manufactured.
TO LET, and rent allowed, if purchased. Monthly pay*
ments received for the same. Second hand Pianos
at bargains, from $60 to $225. Old Pianos taken
in exchange. liberal discount to teachers
and clergymen. Cash paid for sec ndhand Pianos. Pianos tuned and re
paired. New 7 octave Pianos for
$275 and upward.
Warerooms, 481 Broadway, New York.
HORACE WATERS.
HYGIENIC HOME,
GENEVA, KANE COUNTY, ILL.,
By John B. Gully, M. D.,
Thirty-five miles from Chicago, on the Chicago and
Fulton Air Line Railroad.
APPARATUS FOR LECTURERS.
For $100 we will furnish the following:
Dr. Trail’s Anatomical and Physiological Plates, six in
number; a painting of Powers’ Greek Slave; a painting,
taken from life, of the figure of a woman deformed by
tight lacing, to contrast with the preceding ; paintings of
the male and the female skeletons; paintings represent
ing the vital organs in their normal position, and as de
formed and displaced by fashionable dress; a painting
representing the different kinds of uterine displacements;
and a painting representing the fcetus in various stages
of development. The paintings are all on light canvas,
and with the plates, can be carried conveniently in a
small trunk.
B. T. TRALL & CO.
IMPROVED RUPTURE TRUSS.
We are prepared to supply persons afflicted with Rup
ture or Hernia with a new and improved article, which the
patient can adjust for himself. The Pad-spring is so
arranged as to make upward and inward pressure, thereby
avoiding all injury to the spermatic cord.
Price, only $5.
In ordering a Truss from a distance, send a mea
sure round the body—take two inches below the hip
bone.
R. T. TRALL & CO.
HOUSES TO RENT IN HYGEIANA.
Several persons have proposed to erect a score or two
of nice cottage houses in Hygeiana, early in the season,
and rent them to parties who will furnish good refer
ences as to ability and character for the term of five
years for $50 per year each, payable in advance. If
the parties renting will bind themselves to make cer
tain improvements in fruit trees, vines, etc , which will
be named from time to time, at their expense, they can
have all of the proceeds of the same, and their rent re
paid at the end of fitje years, and have an equal interest
in what the places will sell for ; and it shall be at their
option whether to buy or sell one half interest in the
same.
For further information, address
R. T. TRALL & CO.,
No. 97 Sixth Avenue, New Yqrki
�THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
95
NEW ILLUSTRA.TED
PHYSIOGNOMY; or, ‘SIGNS OF CHARACTER,”
As manifested in Temperament and External Forms,
AND ESPECIALLY IN THE
cc ZEi TT TvT -A- TSJ"
F
C E
DIVINE.”
Large 12mo, 768 pages. Price $5. With more than 1,000 Engravings.
Orders reoeived by R. T. TRALL & CO., No. 97 Sixth avenue, New York.
A SPECIAL REQUEST.
THE CHRISTIAN HERALD,
AU persons who see this advertisement, wiU greatly
oblige us, and probably benefit others, by sending us the
names and post office address of aU invalids in their
vicinity; also of aU friends of Hygeio-Therapy, or
Health Reform • and also of aH who are or have been
subscribers to the “Water-Cure Journal,” “Hygienic
Teacher,” “Herald of Health,” “Water-Cure World,”
“Western Water-Cure Journal,” “Health Journal for
the People,” “Laws of Life,” “HaU’s Journal of
Health,” or the “ Phrenological Journal.”
Devoted to the advocacy of Primitive Christianity, in
Theory’ and Practice, containing twenty-four double
column pages to each number. It acknowledges the
authority of no Creed but the Bible. TermB, $2 per
year ; one number, P2 cents. New vol. begins March,
’66. Address,
J. W. KARR, Publisher.
Eureka, Ill.
• s. H. HUNT, M.D., Hygienic Physician,
r*eoria, Illinois.
CaUs from a distance promptly attended to, either in
person or by letter.
A SEMI-MONTHLY PERIODICAL,
SPECIAL NOTICE.
All communications for R. T.Trall, as weU as for R. T.
Trail & Co., should be addressed to No. 97 Sixth avenue,
New York. Wherever Dr. Trail maybe, his letters will
be forwarded to him, if directed as above.
�96
THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
BLOOMINGTON
NURSERY.
HYGEIANA AGRICULTURAL SCHOOL.
Fifteenth year, Eight large Green-houses, 275 acres
To any person who will establish an Agricultural
Fruit, Ornamental, and Nursery stock—a very large and
School on our domain, we will donate fifty acres of land,
complete assortment, including
with the proviso that the grantee shall purchase as much
500,000 APPLE, 1 to 4 year, $50 to $140 per 1,000.
more, and devote the whole one hundred acres to the
150,000 PEAR, standard grafts, 1,000, $120.
purposes of an Agricultural College. All the emolu
20,000 HARDY CHERRY; also Plum and Peach.
C00,000 GRAPE, on over 25 acres of vines; best leading ments shall be the proprietors. We have no manner of
sorts, as Adirondae, Concord, Catawba, Clinton, Delaware, doubt that this enterprise can easily be made very profit
Diana, Hartford, Ives, Iona, Rogers’ Hybrids, 17 Nos., of able as well as very useful. It can be started with a
small capital. Address
which No. 4 by the 1,000.
R. T. TRALL, M. D.
30,000 each, CURRANT and DOOLITTLE RASP
BERRY.
100,000 STRAWBERRY, over 40 sorts.
500,000 APPLE STOCKS, 1 and 2 year.
GARDENER WANTED.
500,000 APPLE ROOT-GRAFTS, in winter, 10,000, $100.
1,000,000 OSAGE ORANGE, first class, 1,000, $3; 100,000.
A person who thoroughly understands “ Truck Gard
$250.
ening ’’ may find steady employment and fair wages at
2,000 ALTHEA, named double, two feet, 100, $12.
20,000 ROSES, aB classes.
“ Eastern Hygeian Home,” Florence, N. J., after the first
of April next. Address
5,000 PEONIES, etc.
Send two red stamps for wholesale and retail catalogues.
R. T. TRALL, M. D.
F. K. PHCENIX,
Bloomington, McLean Co., Hl.
PRINCIPLES OF HYGIENIC MEDICATION.
By R. T. TRALL, M. D.
Having at length finished all of the books on our desk
catalogue preceding the large work, we are now engaged,
as busily as half a dozen other avocations will permit, in
preparing this for the printer. The retail price cannot be
less than $12. But those who have sent us $6 will have
the work at that price, whatever may be the actual coBt
of publication. We cannot, however, accept any more
advance subscriptions at that rate. The price to the
trade will probably be $8, and all who send us this
amount between this time and the announcement of its
publication day. will receive the work. Many corres
pondents have written us to inquire when it will be pub
lished. But this question, for reasons which will be
obvious on a moment’s reflection, we cannot with pro
priety answer. We can only say that we shall do it as fast
as it can be well done, and no faster. It will be pub
lished in three volumes of 750 pages each, and will be a
complete library of Hygeio-Therapy. Send orders to R.
T. Trail A Co.
HOW TO GET GOOD BY DOING GOOD.
The friends of Health Reform generally, and the prac
titioners of our system especially, who desire to make
the Hygienic System or their business known in their
neighborhoods, cannot do better than distribute (gratui
tously if need be) a few specimen numbers of the pre
sent issue among the people. It will pay, For this pur
pose we will furnish them at something less than actual
cost, say $12 for one hundred copies, and $100 for one
thousand.
BACK NUMBERS OF THE GOSPEL.
We have a few hundred complete sets of the Gospel
of Health (from July to December, inclusive), and
several thousands of the July number, which we will sell
at one-half the cost of publication—that is, $3 50 per
hundred, and $25 per thousand. We will furnish them
in full sets, or such numbers as may be preferred.
Wherever they have been distributed, we have heard a
good account from them ; and if the friends of Health
Reform desire to bring the subject under the notice of
their neighbors, they can have an opportunity to do
much good at little expense.
B. T. TRALL A CO.
HYGIENIC FARMER WANTED.
We wish to employ a Farmer, who is a strict Vegeta
rian, and who understands fruit culture in all its branches.
He must be well acquainted with grape-culture, especially
of the Delaware and Concord varieties. Address
R. T. TRALL A CO.,
No. 97 Sixth avenue, New York.
HEALTH CONVENTION.
The Fourth Annual Session of the World’s Health Asso
ciation will be held in Chillicothe, Ohio, on the second
Wednesday in June, 1867. We hope to see the friends of
Health Reform present in large numbers,
R. T. TRALL, M. D., President.
ELLEN BEARD HARMAN, M. D., Secretary.
HYGEIANA NO. 1.
A pamphlet, entitled as above, has been published, de
scribing the tract of land in Southern Ohio which we have
purchased for founding aVegetarian Colony, and explain
ing the plan of organization, etc. Price 15 cents; ten
copies for one dollar. Send orders to
R. T. TRALL A CO.,
No. 97 Sixth avenue, New York.
FRUIT FARMS FOR SALE.
We offer to sell ten thousand acres of land in Franklin,
Ross county, Ohio, in building lots, and in farms of ten
acres. The price is $200 for each farm of ten acres, with
out regard to location, and $200 for each building lot,
without regard to size. We will sell as many building
lots or farms as above, to one person, as he or she wishes
to purchase, subject, in all cases, to the conditions men
tioned in Hygeiana No. *1. To unmarried women we will
sell building lots or ten-acre farms at $100 each.
R. T. TRALL, M. D.
�
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Victorian Blogging
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A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
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Conway Hall Library & Archives
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2018
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Conway Hall Ethical Society
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The Gospel of Health and Journal of the True Healing Art. Vol. II. No. 8. February 1867
Description
An account of the resource
Place of publication: New York
Collation: [49]-96 p. ; 24 cm.
Notes: From the library of Dr Moncure Conway. Printed in double columns. Contents: What is temperance? -- Women's rights question --Vegetarian festival in England -- A 'strong-minded' woman -- Suffrage for women - Importance of proper food -- Reasonably respectable grog shops.
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[R.T. Trall]
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[1867]
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G5395
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Health
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<a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"><img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /></a><span> </span><br /><span>This work (The Gospel of Health and Journal of the True Healing Art. Vol. II. No. 8. February 1867), identified by </span><a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk"><span>Humanist Library and Archives</span></a><span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</span>
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English
Conway Tracts
Health
Temperance
Women's Rights
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SIXPENCE, NETT.
WRi,
�JUST PUBLISHED.
Crown Svo, cloth gilt, 2s. nett, post 2s. 3a.
An important new work by
EDWARD CARPENTER.
PRISONS, POLICE .
. an u rumoiiiWElM.
AND PUNISHMENT.
An Inquiry into the Causes and Treatment of Crime and Criminals
K
■•“J
never writes without a message
°* v e J)re,s®nt generation. He
of one at least prepared thus t'o’s’peaY feaXs^v^^1 for.*e presence
hysterical, filled with a fieru
JL
ssv’« ^?urnane without being
desire our readers to circulate as widely as^ossibl’e.”
™ earnestly
enforced he tT^XinteresTkg
’’“'Tol'll’0Ft*voluntary for the
suggestive.”
7 lncerestmS- • ■ 10 all alike this volume will prove
A New and
heaper Edition of
game of life. b7 bolton
Author of Even as Y
Hall's wise and pun;
parables of the great
24. nett. Postage 3a.
4 New and Cheaper Edition of
THE diary of an old soul9
tC
■
and other spiritual verse. By GEORGE MACDONAT n
THE WHITE SLAVES
OF ENGLAND.
By R. H. SHERARD.
With.80 page appendix,
inusternateed°f This^isTb'T^ "from bTuTSs.^F®
uustratea. This is a book no social reformer should be without fM
nett- B°staSe 3rf. Paper edition, without append*, £ost freii, S’
London : ARTHUR C. FIFIELD, 44, Fleet Street, E.C.
�OF WALKING
“ I beieve in the forest, and in
the meadow, and in the night in
which he corn grows” Thoreau.
“ One of the pleasantest things
in the world is going a wurney.”
Kazlitt.
“ J foot and in the open road,
one has a fair start in life at
last. There is no hindrance now.
Le; him put his best foot for
ward.”
Burroughs.
��IN PRAISE
OF WALKING
THOREAU, WHITMAN,
BURROUGHS, HAZLITT
*
LONDON:
ARTHUR C. FIFIELD
THE SIMPLE LIFE PRESS
44 FLEET STREET E.C
1905
�CONTENTS
PAGE
WALKING, AND THE WILD. Thoreau .
.
5
THE SONG OF THE OPEN ROAD. Whitman . 45
THE EXHILARATIONS OF THE ROAD.
Burroughs............................................................... 59
ON GOING A JOURNEY. Hazlitt
... 75
�WALKING, AND THE WILD
H. D. THOREAU
“ The West of which I speak is but another name
for the Wild, and what I have been preparing
to say is, that in wildness is the preservation o f
the world.”—Thoreau.
“ I believe in the forest, in the meadow, and in the
night in which the corn grows.”—Thoreau.
WISH to speak a word for Nature, for absolute
freedom and wildness, as contrasted with
a freedom and culture merely civil,—to regard
man as an inhabitant, or a part and parcel of
Nature, rather than a member of society. I
wish to make an extreme statement, if so I may
make an emphatic one, for there are enough cham
pions of civilization : the minister and the school
committee, and every one of you will take care
of that.
I
I
I have met with but one or two persons in the
* course of my life who understood the art of Walk! ing, that is, of taking walks,—who had a genius,
so to speak, for sauntering : which word is beauti
fully derived “ from idle people who roved about
the country, in the Middle Ages, and asked charity,
under pretence of going a la Sainte Terre,” to the
Holy Land, till the children exclaimed, “ There goes
5
�6
IN PRAISE OF WALKING
a Sainte-Terrer,” a Saunterer—a Holy-Lander.
They who never go to the Holy Land in their walks,
as they pretend, are indeed mere idlers and vaga
bonds ; but they who do go there are saunterers
n the good sense, such as I mean. Some, how
ever, would derive the word from sans terre, without
land or a home, which therefore, in the good sense,
will mean, having no particular home, but equally
at home everywhere. For this is the secret of
successful sauntering. He who sits still in a house
all the time may be the greatest vagrant of all;
but the saunterer, in the good sense, is no more
vagrant than the meandering river, which is all
the while sedulously seeking the shortest course to
the sea. But I prefer the first, which indeed is the
most probable derivation. For every walk is a
sort of crusade, preached by some Peter the Hermit
in us, to go forth and reconquer this Holy Land
from the hands of the Infidels.
It is true we are but faint-hearted crusaders,
even the walkers, nowadays, who undertake no
persevering, never-ending enterprises. Our ex
peditions are but tours, and come round again at
evening to the old hearth-side from which we set
out. Half the walk is but retracing our steps.
We should go forth on the shortest walk, per
chance, in the spirit of undying adventure, never
to return—prepared to send back our embalmed
hearts only as relics to our desolate kingdoms.
If you are ready to leave father and mother, and
brother and sister, and wife and child and friends,
and never see them again—if you have paid your
debts, and made your will, and settled all your
affairs, and are a free man, then you are ready for
a walk
To come down to my own experience, my com-
�WALKING, AND THE WILD
7
panion and I, for I sometimes have a companion,
take pleasure in fancying ourselves knights of a
new, or rather an old, order—not Equestrians
or Chevaliers, not Ritters or riders, but Walkers,
a still more ancient and honourable class, I trust
The chivalric and heroic spirit which once belonged
to the Rider seems now to reside in, or perchance
to have subsided into, the Walker,—not the
Knight, , but Walker Errant. He is a sort of fourth
estate, outside of Church and State and People.
We have felt that we almost alone hereabouts
practised this noble art; though, to tell the truth,
at least if their own assertions are to be received,
most of my townsmen would fain walk sometimes,
as I do, but they cannot. No wealth can buy
■ the requisite leisure, freedom, and independence,
r which are the capital in this profession. It comes
• only by the grace of God. It requires a direct
' dispensation from Heaven to become a walker.
You must be born into the family of the Walkers.
Ambulator nascitur, non fit. Some of my towns
men, it is true, can remember and have described
to me some walks which they took ten years ago,
in which they were so blessed as to lose themselves
for half-an-hour in the woods ; but I know very
well that they have confined themselves to the
highway ever since, whatever pretensions they may
make to belong to this select class. No doubt
they were elevated for a moment as by the re
miniscence of a previous state of existence, when
even they were foresters and outlaws.
“ When he came to grene mode,
In a mery mornynge,
There he herde the notes small
Of byrdes mery svngynge.
�8
IN PRAISE OF WALKING
“ It is ferre gone, sayd Robyn,
That I was last here ;
Me lyste a lytell for to shote
At the donne dere.”
I think that I cannot preserve my health and
spirits unless I spend four hours a day at least—
and it is commonly more than that—sauntering
through the woods and over the hills and fields,
absolutely free from all worldly engagements.
You may safely say, A penny for your thoughts,
or a thousand pounds. When sometimes I am
reminded that the mechanics and shopkeepers
stay in their shops not only all the forenoon, but
all the afternoon too, sitting with crossed legs, so
many of them—as if the legs were made to sit
upon, and not to stand or walk upon—I think
that they deserve some credit for not having all
committed suicide long ago.
I, who cannot stay in my chamber for a single
day without acquiring some rust, and when some
times I have stolen forth for a walk at the eleventh
hour of four o’clock in the afternoon, too late to
redeem the day, when the shades of night were
already beginning to be mingled with the daylight,
have felt as if I had committed some sin to be
atoned for,—I confess that I am astonished at the
power of endurance, to say nothing of the moral
insensibility, of my neighbours who confine them
selves to shops and offices the whole day for weeks
and months, ay, and years almost together. I
know not what manner of stuff they are of—sitting
there now at three o’clock in the afternoon, as if
it were three o’clock in the morning. Bonaparte
may talk of the three-o’clock-in-the-morning
courage, but it is nothing to the courage which
�WALKING, AND THE WILD
9
can sit down cheerfully at this hour in the after
noon over against one’s self whom you have known
all the morning, to starve out a garrison to whom
you are bound by such strong ties of sympathy.
I wonder that about this time, or say between four
and five o’clock in the afternoon, too late for the
morning papers and too early for the evening
ones, there is not a general explosion heard up
and down the street, scattering a legion of anti
quated and house-bred notions and whims to the
four winds for an airing—and so the evil cure
itself.
How womankind, who are confined to the house
still more than men, stand it I do not know ;
but I have ground to suspect that most of them
do not stand it at all. When, early in a summer
afternoon, we have been shaking the dust of the
village from the skirts of our garments, making
haste past those houses with purely Doric or
Gothic fronts, which have such an air of repose
about them, my companion whispers that pro
bably about these times their occupants are all
gone to bed. Then it is that I appreciate the
beauty and the glory of architecture, which itself
never turns in, but for ever stands out and erect,
keeping watch over the slumberers.
No doubt temperament, and, above all, age,
have a good deal to do with it. As a man grows
older, his ability to sit still and follow indoor
occupations increases. He grows vespertinal in
his habits as the evening of life approaches, till
at last he comes forth only just before sundown,
and gets all the walk that he requires in half-anhour.
But the walking of which I speak has nothing
in it akin to taking exercise, as it is called, as the
�IO
IN PRAISE OF WALKING
sick take medicine at stated hours—as the swing
ing of dumb-bells or chairs; but is itself the
enterprise and adventure of the day. If you
would get exercise, go in search of the springs of
life. Think of a man’s swinging dumb-bells for
his health, when those springs are bubbling up in
far-off pastures unsought by him !
Moreover, you must walk like a camel, which
is said to be the only beast which ruminates when
walking. When a traveller asked Wordsworth’s
servant to show him her master’s study, she
answered, “ Here is his library, but his study is
out of doors.”
Living much out of doors, in the sun and wind,
will no doubt produce a certain roughness of
character—will cause a thicker cuticle to grow
over some of the finer qualities of our nature, as
on the face and hands, or as severe manual labour
robs the hands of some of their delicacy of touch.
So staying in the house, on the other hand, may
produce a softness and smoothness, not to say
thinness of skin, accompanied by an increased
sensibility to certain impressions. Perhaps we
should be more susceptible to some influences
important to our intellectual and moral growth
if the sun had shone and the wind blown on us
a little less ; and no doubt it is a nice matter to
proportion rightly the thick and thin skin. But
methinks that is a scurf that will fall off fast
enough—that the natural remedy is to be found
in the proportion which the night bears to the
day, the winter to the summer, thought to experi
ence. There will be so much the more air and
sunshine in our thoughts. The callous palms of
the labourer are conversant with finer tissues of
self-respect and heroism, whose touch thrills the
�WALKING, AND THE WILD
II
heart, than the languid fingers of idleness. That
is mere sentimentality that lies abed by day and
thinks itself white, far from the tan and callus of
experience.
When we walk, we naturally go to the fields
and woods : what would become of us if we walked
only in a garden or a mall ? Even some sects of
philosophers have felt the necessity of importing
the woods to themselves, since they did not go to
the woods. “ They planted groves and walks of
Platanes,” where they took subdiales ambulationes in porticos open to the air. Of course it
is of no use to direct our steps to the woods if
they do not carry us thither. I am alarmed when
it happens that I have walked a mile into the
woods bodily without getting there in spirit. In
my afternoon walk I would fain forget all my morn
ing occupations and my obligations to society.
But it sometimes happens that I cannot easily
shake off the village. The thought of some work
will run in my head, and I am not where my body
is—I am out of my senses. In my walks I would
fain return to my senses. What business have I
in the woods, if I am thinking of something out
of the woods ? I suspect myself, and cannot help
a shudder, when I find myself so implicated even
in what are called good works—for this may
sometimes happen.
My vicinity affords many good walks; and
though for so many years I have walked almost
every day, and sometimes for several days to
gether, I have not yet exhausted them. An
absolutely new prospect is a great happiness,
| and I can still get this any afternoon. Two or
I three hours’ walking will carry me to as strange a
I country as I expect ever to see. A single farm-
�12
IN PRAISE OF WALKING
house which I had not seen before is sometimes
as good as the dominions of the King of Dahomey.
There is in fact a sort of harmony discoverable
between the capabilties of the landscape within
a circle of ten miles’ radius, or the limits of an
afternoon walk, and the threescore years and
ten of human life. It will never become quite
familiar to you.
Nowadays almost all man’s improvements, so
called, as the building of houses, and the cutting
down of the forest and of all large trees, simply
deform the landscape, and make it more and more
tame and cheap. A people who would begin by
burning the fences and let the forest stand ! I
saw the fences half consumed, their ends lost in
the middle of the prairie, and some worldly miser
with a surveyor looking after his bounds, while
heaven had taken place around him, and he did not
see the angels going to and fro, but was looking
for an old posthole in the midst of paradise. I
looked again, and saw him standing in the middle
of a boggy, stygian fen, surrounded by devils^
and he had found his bounds without a doubt,
three little stones, where a stake had been driven,’
and looking nearer, I saw that the Prince of Dark
ness was his surveyor.
I can easily walk ten, fifteen, twenty, any
number of miles, commencing at my own door,
without going by any house, without crossing a
road except where the fox and the mink do : first
along by the river, and then the brook, and then
the meadow and the wood-side. There are square
miles in my vicinity which have no inhabitant.
From many a hill I can see civilization and the
abodes of man afar. The farmers and their works
are scarcely more obvious than woodchucks and
�WALKING, AND THE WILD
13
their burrows. Man and his affairs, church and
state and school, trade and commerce, and manu
factures and agriculture, even politics, the most
alarming of them all,—I am pleased to see how little
space they occupy in the landscape. Politics is
but a narrow field, and that still narrower highway
yonder leads to it. I sometimes direct the traveller
thither. If you would go to the political world,
follow the great road—follow that market-man,
keep his dust in your eyes, and it will lead you
straight to it; for it, too, has its place merely,
and does not occupy all space. I pass from it
as from a bean-field into the forest, and it
is forgotten. In one half-hour I can walk off
to some portion of the earth’s surface where a
man does not stand from one year’s end to another
and there, consequently, politics are not, for they
are but as the cigar-smoke of a man.
The village is the place to which the roads tend,
a sort of expansion of the highway, as a lake of
a river. It is the body of which roads are the
arms and legs—a trivial or quadrivial place, the
thoroughfare and ordinary of travellers. The
word is from the Latin villa, which, together with
via, a way, or more anciently ved and vella, Varro
derives from veho, to carry, because the villa
is the place to and from which things are carried.
They who get their living by teaming were said
vellaturam facere. Hence, too, apparently, the
Latin word vilis and our vile ; also villain. This
suggests what kind of degeneracy villagers are
liable to. They are wayworn by the travel that
goes by and over them, without travelling them
selves.
Some do not walk at all; others walk in the
highways; a few walk across lots. Roads are
�14
IN PRAISE OF WALKING
made for horses and men of business. I do not
travel in them much, comparatively, because
I am not in a hurry to get to any tavern or grocery
or livery-stable or depot to which they lead. I
am a good horse to travel, but not from choice
a roadster. The landscape-painter uses the figures
of men to mark a road. He would not make that
use of my figure. I walk out into a Nature such
as the old prophets and poets, Menu, Moses, Homer,
Chaucer, walked in. You may name it America,
but it is not America : neither Americus Vespucius,
nor Columbus, nor the rest were the discoverers
of it. There is a truer account of it in mythology
than in any history of America, so called, that I
have seen.
At present, in this vicinity, the best part of
the land is not private property; the landscape
is not owned, and the walker enjoys comparative
freedom. But possibly the day will come when
it will be partitioned oft into so-called pleasure
grounds, in which a few will take a narrow and
exclusive pleasure only,—when fences shall be
multiplied, and man-traps and other engines
invented to confine men to the 'public road, and
walking over the surface of God’s earth shall be
construed to mean trespassing on some gentle
man’s grounds. To enjoy a thing exclusively
is commonly to exclude yourself from the true
enjoyment of it. Let us improve our opportunities
then, before the evil days come.
What is it that makes it so hard sometimes to
determine whither we will walk ? I believe that
there is a subtile magnetism in Nature which, if
we unconsciously yield to it, will direct us aright.
It is not indifferent to us which way we walk.
�WALKING, AND THE WILD
15
There is a right way ; but we are very liable from
heedlessness and stupidity to take the wrong one.
We would fain take that walk, never yet taken by
us through this actual world, which is perfectly
symbolical of the path which we love to travel
in the interior and ideal world; and sometimes,
no doubt, we find it difficult to choose our direction,
because it does not yet exist distinctly in our idea
When I go out of the house for a walk, uncertain
as yet whither I will bend my steps, and submit
myself to my instinct to decide for me, I find,
strange and whimsical as it may seem, that I
finally and inevitably settle south-west, toward
some particular wood or meadow or deserted
pasture or hill in that direction. My needle is
slow to settle,—varies a few degrees, and does not
always point due south-west, it is true, and it has
good authority for this variation, but it always
settles between west and south-south-west. The
future lies that way to me, and the earth seems
more unexhausted and richer on that side. The
outline which would bound my walks would be,
not a circle, but a parabola, or rather like one of
those cometary orbits which have been thought to
be non-returning curves, in this case opening
westward, in which my house occupies the place
of the sun. I turn round and round irresolute,
sometimes for a quarter of an hour, until I decide,
for a thousandth time, that I will walk into the
south-west or west. Eastward I go only by force ;
but westward I go free. Thither no business leads
me. It is hard for me to believe that I shall find
fair landscapes or sufficient wildness and freedom
behind the eastern horizon. I am not excited by
the prospect of a walk thither ; but I believe that
the forest which I see in the western horizon stretches
�i6
IN PRAISE OF WALKING
uninterruptedly toward the setting sun, and there
are no towns nor cities in it of enough consequence
to disturb me. Let me live where I will, on this
side is the city, on that the wilderness, and ever
I am leaving the city more and more, and with
drawing into the wilderness. I should not lay so
much stress on this fact, if I did not believe that
something like this is the prevailing tendency of
my countrymen. I must walk toward Oregon,
and not toward Europe. And that way the nation
is moving, and I may say that mankind progress
from east to west. Within a few years we have
witnessed the phenomenon of a south-eastward
migration in the settlement of Australia ; but this
affects us as a retrograde movement, and, judging
from the moral and physical character of the first
generation of Australians, has not yet proved a
successful experiment. The eastern Tartars think
that there is nothing west beyond Thibet. “ The
world ends there,” say they; “ beyond there is
nothing but a shoreless sea.” It is unmitigated
East where they live.
We go eastward to realize history and study
the works of art and literature, retracing the steps
of the race ; we go westward as into the future,
with a spirit of enterprise and adventure. The
Atlantic is a Lethean stream, in our passage over
which we have had an opportunity to forget the
Old World and its institutions. If we do not
succeed this time, there is perhaps one more chance
for the race left before it arrives on the banks
of the Styx ; and that is in the Lethe of the Pacific,
which is three times as wide.
I know not how significant it is, or how far it
is an evidence of singularity, that an individual
should thus consent in his pettiest walk with the
�WALKING, AND THE WILD
17
general movement of the race ; but I know that
something akin to the migratory instinct in birds
and quadrupeds,—which, in some instances, is
known to have affected the squirrel tribe, impelling
them to a general and mysterious movement,
in which they were seen, say some, crossing the
broadest rivers, each on its particular chip, with
its tail raised for a sail, and bridging narrower
streams with their dead,—that something like the
furor which affects the domestic cattle in the spring,
and which is referred to a worm in their tails,—
affects both nations and individuals, either perenni
ally or from time to time. Not a flock of wild
geese cackles over our town, but it to some extent
unsettles the value of real estate here, and, if I were
a broker, I should probably take that disturbance
into account.
“ Than longen folk to gon on 'pilgrimages,
And palmeres for to seken strange strondes.”
Every sunset which I witness inspires me with
the desire to go to a West as distant and as fair
as that into which the sun goes down. He appears
to migrate westward daily, and tempts us to follow
him. He is the Great Western Pioneer whom
the nations follow. We dream all night of those
mountain-ridges in the horizon, though they may
be of vapour only, which were last gilded by his
rays. The island of Atlantis, and the islands and
gardens of the Hesperides, a sort of terrestrial
paradise, appear to have been the Great West of
the ancients, enveloped in mystery and poetry.
Who has not seen in imagination, when looking into
the sunset sky, the gardens of the Hesperides, and
the foundation of all those fables ?
B
�i8
IN PRAISE OF WALKING
Columbus felt the westward tendency more
strongly than any before. He obeyed it, and found
a New World for Castile and Leon. The herd of
men in those days scented fresh pastures from
afar.
“ And now the sun had stretched out all the hills,
And now was dropped into the western bay;
At last he rose, and twitched his mantle blue;
To-morrow to fresh woods and pastures new.”
Where on the globe can there be found an area
of equal extent with that occupied by the bulk
of our States, so fertile and so rich and varied in
its productions, and at the same time so habitable
by the European, as this is ? Michaux, who knew
but part of them, says that “ the species of large
trees are much more numerous in North America
than in Europe; in the United States there are
more than one hundred and forty species that
exceed thirty feet in height; in France there are
but thirty that attain this size.” Later botanists
more than confirm his observations. Humboldt
came to America to realize his youthful dreams of
a tropical vegetation, and he beheld it in its greatest
perfection in the primitive forests of the Amazon,
the most gigantic wilderness on the earth, which
he has so eloquently described. The geographer
Guyot, himself a European, goes farther—farther
than I am ready to follow him; yet not when he
says : “As the plant is made for the animal, as
the vegetable world is made for the animal world,
America is made for the man of the Old World. . . .
The man of the Old World sets out upon his way.
Leaving the highlands of Asia, he descends from
station to station towards Europe. Each of his
�WALKING, AND THE WILD
steps is marked by a new civilization superior to
the preceding, by a greater power of development.
Arrived at the Atlantic, he pauses on the shore of
this unknown ocean, the bounds of which he knows
not, and turns upon his footprints for an instant.”
When he has exhausted the rich soil of Europe, and
reinvigorated himself, “ then recommences his
adventurous career westward as in the earliest
ages.” So far Guyot.
From this western impulse coming in contact
with the barrier of the Atlantic sprang the com
merce and enterprise of modern times. The
younger Michaux, in his Travels West of the Alleghanies in 1802, says that the common inquiry in
the newly settled West was, “ ‘ From what part
of the world have you come ? ’ As if these vast
and fertile regions would naturally be the place of
meeting and common country of all the inhabit
ants of the globe.”
To use an obselete Latin word, I might say,
Ex Oriente lux; ex Occidente frux. From the
East light; from the West fruit.
Sir Francis Head, an English traveller and a
Governor-General of Canada, tells us that “ in
both the northern and southern hemispheres of
the New World, Nature has not only outlined her
words on a larger scale, but has painted the whole
picture with brighter and more costly colours than
she used in delineating and in beautifying the Old
I World. . . . The heavens of America appear
infinitely higher, the sky is bluer, the air is fresher,
the cold is in tenser, the moon looks larger, the stars
are brighter, the thunder is louder, the lightning
is vivider, the wind is stronger, the rain is heavier,
the mountains are higher, the rivers longer, the
forests bigger, the plains broader.” This statement
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IN PRAISE OF WALKING
will do at least to set against Buffon’s account of
this part of the world and its productions.
Linnaeus said long ago, “ Nescio quae facies
lata, glabra plantis Americanis : I know not what
there is of joyous and smooth in the aspect of
American plants ; ” and I think that in this country
there are no, or at most very few, African# bestice,
African beasts, as the Romans called them, and
that in this respect also it is peculiarly fitted for
the habitation of man. We are told that within
three miles of the centre of the East Indian city
of Singapore, some of the inhabitants are annually
carried off by tigers; but the traveller can lie
down in the woods at night almost anywhere
in North America without fear of wild beasts.
These are encouraging testimonies. If the
moon looks larger here than in Europe, probably
the sun looks larger also. If the heavens of America
appear infinitely higher, and the stars brighter, I
trust that these facts are symbolical of the height
to which the philosophy and poetry and religion of
her inhabitants may one day soar. At length,
perchance, the immaterial heaven will appear as
much higher to the American mind, and the
intimations that star it as much brighter. For
I believe that climate does thus react on man—as
there is something in the mountain air that feeds
the spirit and inspires. Will not man grow to
greater perfection intellectually as well as physically
under these influences ? Or is it unimportant how
many foggy days there are in his life? I trust
that we shall be more imaginative, that our thoughts
will be clearer, fresher, and more ethereal, as our
sky—our understanding more comprehensive and
broader, like our plains—our intellect generally
on a grander scale, like our thunder and lightning,
�WALKING, AND THE WILD
21
our rivers and mountains and forests—and our
hearts shall even correspond in breadth and depth
and grandeur to our inland seas. Perchance there
will appear to the traveller something, he knows
not what, of lata and glabra, of joyous and serene,
in our very faces. Else to what end does the world
go on, and why was America discovered ?
To Americans I hardly need to say—
“ Westward the star of empire takes its way.”
As a true patriot, I should be ashamed to think
that Adam in paradise was more favourably
situated on the whole than the backwoodsman in
this country.
Our sympathies in Massachusetts are not con
fined to New England; though we may be estranged
from the South, we sympathize with the West.
There is the home of the younger sons, as among
the Scandinavians they took to the sea for their
inheritance. It is too late to be studying Hebrew ;
it is more important to understand even the slang
of to-day.
Some months ago I went to see a panorama of
the Rhine. It was like a dream of the Middle
Ages. I floated down its historic stream in some
thing more than imagination, under bridges built
by the Romans, and repaired by later heroes, past
cities and castles whose very names were music
to my ears, and each of which was the subject of
a legend. There were Ehrenbreitstein and Rolandseck and Coblentz, which I knew only in history.
They were ruins that interested me chiefly. There
seemed to come up from its waters and its vine-clad
hills and valleys a hushed music as of Crusaders
departing for the Holy Land. I floated along
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IN PRAISE OF WALKING
under the spell of enchantment, as if I had been
transported to an heroic age, and breathed an
atmosphere of chivalry.
Soon after I went to see a panorama of the Missis
sippi, and as I worked my way up the river in the
light of to-day, and saw the steamboats wooding up,
counted the rising cities, gazed on the fresh ruins
of Nauvoo, beheld the Indians moving west across
the stream, and, as before I had looked up the
Moselle, now looked up the Ohio and the Missouri
and heard the legends of Dubuque and of Wenona’s
Cliff,—still thinking more of the future than of
the past or present,—I saw that this was a Rhine
stream of a different kind; that the foundations
of castles were yet to be laid, and the famous
bridges were yet to be thrown over the river;
and I felt that this was the heroic age itself, though
we know it not, for the hero is commonly the
simplest and obscurest of men.
The West of which I speak is but another name
for the Wild; and what I have been preparing
to say is, that in Wildness is the preservation of
the World. Every tree sends its fibres forth in
search of the Wild. The cities import it at any
price. Men plough and sail for it. From the
forest and wilderness come the tonics and barks
which brace mankind. Our ancestors were sav
ages. The story of Romulus and Remus being
suckled by a wolf is not a meaningless fable. The
founders of every State which has risen to eminence
have drawn their nourishment and vigour from a
similar wild source. It was because" the children
of the Empire were not suckled by the wolf that
they were conquered and displaced by the children
of the Northern forests who were.
�WALKING, AND THE WILD
23
I believe in the forest, and in the meadow, and
in the night in which the corn grows. We require
an infusion of hemlock-spruce or arbor-vitae m
our tea. There is a difference between eating
and drinking for strength and from mere gluttony
The Hottentots eagerly devour the marrow of
the koodoo and other antelopes raw, as a matter
of course. Some of our Northern Indians eat raw
the marrow of the Arctic reindeer, as well as
various other parts, including the summits of the
antlers, as long as they are soft. And herein,
perchance, they have stolen a march on the cooks
of Paris. They get what usually goes to feed the
fire. This is probably better than stall-fed beef
and slaughter-house pork to make a man of.
Give me a wildness whose glance no civilization
can endure,—as if we lived on the marrow of
koodoos devoured raw.
There are some intervals which border the strain
‘of the wood-thrush, to which I would migrate,
i wild lands where no settler has squatted; to
I which, methinks, I am already acclimated.
;
The African hunter Cummings tells us that the
skin of the eland, as well as that of most other
antelopes just killed, emits the most delicious
perfume of trees and grass. I would have every
man so much like a wild antelope, so much a part
and parcel of Nature, that his very person should
thus sweetly advertise our senses of his presence,
and remind us of those parts of Nature which he
most haunts. I feel no disposition to be satirical,
when the trapper’s coat emits the odour of mus
quash even ; it is a sweeter scent to me than that
which commonly exhales from the merchant’s
or the scholar’s garments. When I go into their
wardrobes and handle their vestments, I am
�24
IN PRAISE OF WALKING
reminded of no grassy plains and flowery meads
which they have frequented, but of dusty mer
chants’ exchanges and libraries rather.
A tanned skin is something more than respect
able, and perhaps olive is a fitter colour than white
for a man—a denizen of the woods. “ The pale
white man! ” I do not wonder that the African
pitied him. Darwin the naturalist says, “ A
white man bathing by the side of a Tahitian was
like a plant bleached by the gardener’s art, com
pared with a fine, dark green one, growing vigor
ously in the open fields.”
Ben Jonson exclaims—
“ How near to good is what is fair 1 ”
So I would say—
How near to good is what is wild !
Life consists with wildness. The most alive is
the wildest. Not yet subdued to man, its presence
refreshes him. One who pressed forward inces
santly and never rested from his labours, who
grew fast and made infinite demands on life,
would always find himself in a new country or
wilderness, and surrounded by the raw material
of life. He would be climbing over the prostrate
stems of primitive forest trees.
Hope and the future for me are not in lawns
and cultivated fields, not in towns and cities, but
in the impervious and quaking swamps. When,
formerly, I have analysed my partiality for some
farm which I had contemplated purchasing, I
have frequently found that I was attracted solely
by a few square rods of impermeable and unfath-
�WALKING, AND THE WILD
25
omable bog—a natural sink in one corner of it.
That was the jewel which dazzled me. I derive
more of my subsistence from the swamps which
surround my native town than from the cultivated
gardens in the village. There are no richer
parterres to my eyes than the dense beds of dwarf
andromeda {Cassandra calyculata) which cover
these tender places on the earth’s surface. Botany
cannot go further than tell me the names of the
shrubs which grow there—the high-blueberry,
panicled andromeda, lambkill, azalea, and rhodora
—all standing in the quaking sphagnum. I often
think that I should like to have my house front on
this mass of dull red bushes, omitting other flower
plots and borders, transplanted spruce and trim
box, even gravelled walks—to have this fertile
spot under my windows, not a few imported barrowfulls of soil only to cover the sand which was
thrown out in digging the cellar. Why not put
my house, my parlour, behind this plot, instead
of behind that meagre assemblage of curiosities,
that poor apology for a Nature and Art which I
call my front-yard ? It is an effect to clear up and
make a decent appearance when the carpenter
and mason have departed, though done as much
for the passer-by as the dweller within. The most
tasteful front-yard fence was never an agreeable
object of study to me ; the most elaborate orna
ments, acorn-tops, or what not, soon wearied and
disgusted me. Bring your sills up to the very
edge of the swamp, then (though it may not be
the best place for a dry cellar), so that there be
no access on that side to citizens. Front-yards
are not made to walk in, but, at most, through,
and you could go in the back way.
Yes, though you may think me perverse, if it
�26
IN PRAISE OF WALKING
were proposed to me to dwell in the neighbourhood
of the most beautiful garden that ever human art
contrived, or else of a dismal swamp, I should
certainly decide for the swamp. How vain, then,
have been all your labours, citizens, for me !
My spirits infallibly rise in proportion to the
outward dreariness. Give me the ocean, the
desert or the wilderness ! In the desert, pure air
and solitude compensate for want of moisture and
fertility. The traveller Burton says of it—“ Your
morale improves ; you become frank and cordial,
hospitable and single-minded. ... In the desert,
spirituous liquors excite only disgust. There is
a keen enjoyment in a mere animal existence.”
They who have been travelling long on the steppes
of Tartary say—“ On re-entering cultivated lands,
the agitation, perplexity, and turmoil of civilization
oppressed and suffocated us; the air seemed to
fail us, and we felt every moment as if about to die
of asphyxia.” When I would recreate myself, I
seek the darkest wood, the thickest and most inter
minable, and, to the citizen, most dismal swamp.
I enter a swamp as a sacred place,—a sanctum
sanctorum. There is the strength, the marrow of
Nature. The wild-wood covers the virgin mould,
—and the same soil is good for men and for trees.
A man’s health requires as many acres of meadow
to his prospect as his farm does loads of muck.
There are the strong meats on which he feeds. A
town is saved, not more by the righteous men in it
than by the woods and swamps that surround it.
A township where one primitive forest waves above
while another primitive forest rots below,—such
a town is fitted to raise not only corn and potatoes,
but poets and philosophers for the coming ages.
In such a soil grew Homer and Confucius and the
�WALKING, AND THE WILD
27
rest, and out of such a wilderness comes the Re
former eating locusts and wild honey.
To preserve wild animals implies generally the
creation of a forest for them to dwell m or resort
to. So it is with man. A hundred years ago they
sold bark in our streets peeled from our own woods.
In the very aspect of those primitive^ and rugged
trees there was, methinks, a , tanning principle
which hardened and consolidated the fibres 0
men’s thoughts. Ah! already I shudder for
these comparatively degenerate days of my native
village, when you cannot collect a load of bark ot
good thickness ; and we no longer produce tar
and turpentine.
The civilized nations—Greece, Rome, England,
have been sustained by the primitive forests which
anciently rotted where they stand. They survive
as long as the soil is not exhausted. Alas for
human culture ! little is to be expected of a nation
when the vegetable mould is exhausted, and it is
compelled to make manure of the . bones of its
fathers. There the poet sustains himself merely
by his own superfluous fat, and the philosopher
comes down on his marrow-bones.
.
(
It is said to be the task of the American to
work the virgin soil,” and that “ agriculture here
already assumes proportions unknown everywhere
else.” I think that the farmer displaces the Indian
even because he redeems the meadow, and so
makes himself stronger and in some respects more
natural. I was surveying for a man the other day
a single straight line one hundred and thirty-two
rods long, through a swamp, at whose entrance
might have been written the words which Dante
read over the entrance to the infernal regions
“ Leave all hope, ye that enter,”—that is, of ever
�28
IN PRAISE OF WALKING
getting out again; where at one time I saw my
employer actually up to his neck and swimming
for his life in his property,, though it was still
winter. He had another similar swamp which
I could not survey at all, because it was completely
under water; and nevertheless, with regard to a
third swamp, which I did survey from a distance,
he remarked to me, true to his instincts, that he
would not part with it for any consideration, on
account of the mud which it contained. And that
man intends to put a girdling ditch round the
whole in the course of forty months, and so redeem
it by the magic of his spade. I refer to him only as
the type of a class.
The weapons with which we have gained our
most important victories, which should be handed
down as heirlooms from father to son, are not the
sword and the lance, but the bush-whack, the turf
cutter, the spade, and the bog-hoe, rusted with the
blood of many a meadow, and begrimed with the
dust of many a hard-fought field. The very winds
blew the Indian s corn-field into the meadow, and
pointed out the way which he had not the skill
to follow. He had no better implement with
which to intrench himself in the land than a clam
shell. But the farmer is armed with plough and
spade.
In Literature it is only the wild that attracts
us. . Dullness is but another name for tameness.
It is the uncivilized free and wild thinking in
Hamlet and the Iliad, in all the Scriptures and
Mythologies, not learned in the schools, that
delights us. As the wild duck is more swift and
beautiful than the tame, so is the wild—the
mallard—thought, which ’mid falling dews wings
its way above the fens. A truly good book is
�WALKING, AND THE WILD
29
something as natural, and as unexpectedly and
unaccountably fair and perfect, as a wild flower
discovered on the prairies of the-West or in the
jungles of the East. Genius is a light which makes
the darkness visible, like the lightning’s flash,
which perchance shatters the temple of knowledge
itself,—and not a taper lighted at the hearth-stone
of the race, which pales before the light of common
day.
English literature, from the days of the minstrels
to the Lake Poets—Chaucer and Spenser and
Milton, and even Shakespeare, included—breathes
no quite fresh and in this sense wild strain. It is
an essentially tame and civilized literature, reject
ing Greece and Rome. Her wilderness is a green
wood,—her wild man a Robin Hood. There is
plenty of genial love of Nature, but not so much
of Nature herself. Her chronicles inform us when
her wild animals, but not when the wild man in
her, became extinct.
The science of Humboldt is one thing, poetry
is another thing. The poet to-day, notwithstand
ing all the discoveries of science, and the accumu
lated learning of mankind, enjoys no advantage
over Homer.
«•
Where is the literature which gives expression
to Nature ? He would be a poet who could impress
the winds and streams into his service, to speak
for him ; who nailed words to their primitive
senses, as farmers drive down stakes in the spring,
which the frost has heaved ; who derived his words
as often as he used them—transplanted them to his
page with earth adhering to their roots ; whose
words were so true and fresh and natural that they
would appear to expand like the buds at the
approach of spring, though they lay half-smothered
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IN PRAISE OF WALKING
between two musty leaves in a library,—ay, to
bloom and bear fruit there, after their kind,
annually, for the faithful reader, in sympathy with
surrounding Nature.
I do not know of any poetry to quote which
adequately expresses this yearning for the Wild.
Approached from this side, the best poetry is
tame. I do not know where to find in any litera
ture, ancient or modern, any account which con
tents me of that Nature with which even I am
acquainted. You will perceive that I demand
something which no Augustan nor Elizabethan
age, which no culture, in short, can give. Mytho
logy comes nearer to it than anything. How
much more fertile a Nature, at least, has Grecian
mythology its root in than English literature.
Mythology is the crop which the Old World bore
before its soil was exhausted, before the fancy
and imagination were affected with blight; and,
which it still bears, wherever its pristine vigour
is unabated. All other literatures endure only
as the elms which overshadow our houses ; but
this is like the great dragon-tree of the Western
Isles, as old as mankind, and, whether that does
or not, will endure as long ; for the decay of other
literatures makes the soil in which it thrives.
The West is preparing to add its fables to those
of the East. The valleys of the Ganges, the Nile,
and the Rhine, having yielded their crop, it remains
to be seen what the valleys of the Amazon, the
Plate, the Orinoco, the St. Lawrence, and the
Mississippi will produce. Perchance, when, in the
course of ages, American liberty has become a fic
tion of the past—as it is to some extent a fiction
of the present—the poets of the world will be
inspired by American mythology.
�WALKING, AND THE WILD
31
The wildest dreams of wild men, even, are not
the less true, though they may not recommend
themselves to the sense which is most common
among Englishmen and Americans to-day. It is
not every truth that recommends itself to the
common sense. Nature has a place for the wild
clematis as well as for the cabbage. Some expres
sions of truth are reminiscent,—others merely
sensible, as the phrase is,—others prophetic. Some
forms of disease, even, may prophesy forms of
health. The geologist has discovered that the
figures of serpents, griffins, flying dragons, and
other fanciful embellishments of heraldry, have
their prototypes in the forms of fossil species which
were extinct before man was created, and hence
“ indicate a faint and shadowy knowledge of a
previous state of organic existence.” The Hindoos
dreamed that the earth rested on an elephant, and
the elephant on a tortoise, and the tortoise on a
serpent; and though it may be an unimportant
coincidence, it will not be out of place here to
state that a fossil tortoise has lately been discovered
in Asia large enough to support an elephant. I
confess that I am partial to these wild fancies,
which transcend the order of time and develop
ment. They are the sublimest recreation of the
intellect. The partridge loves peas, but not those
that go with her into the pot.
In short, all good things are wild and free. There
is something in a strain of music, whether produced
by an instrument or by the human voice,—take
the sound of a bugle in a summer night, for in
stance,—which by its wildness, to speak without
satire, reminds me of the cries emitted by wild
beasts in their native forests. It is so much of
their wildness ' as I can understand. Give me
�32
S ”'
IN PRAISE OF WALKING
for my friends and neighbours wild men, not
tame ones. The wilderness of the savage is but
a faint symbol of the awful ferity with which good
men and lovers meet.
I love even to see the domestic animals reassert
their native rights,—any evidence that they have
not wholly lost their original wild habits and
vigour; as when my neighbour’s cow breaks out
of her pasture early in the spring and boldly swims
the river, a cold, grey tide, twenty-five or thirty
rods wide, swollen by the melted snow. It is
the buffalo crossing the Mississippi. This exploit
confers some dignity on the herd in my eyes—
already dignified. The seeds of instinct are pre
served under the thick hides of cattle and horses,
like seeds in the bowels of the earth, an indefinite
period.
Any sportiveness in cattle is unexpected. I
saw one day a herd of a dozen bullocks and cows
running about and frisking in unwieldy sport, like
huge rats, even like kittens. They shook their
heads, raised their tails, and rushed up and down
a hill, and I perceived by their horns, as well as
by their activity, their relation to the deer tribe.
But, alas ! a sudden loud Whoa! would have
damped their ardour at once, reduced them from
venison to beef, and stiffened their sides and sinews
like the locomotive. Who but the Evil One has
cried, “ Whoa ! ” to mankind ? Indeed, the life
of cattle, like that of many men, is but a sort of
locomotiveness ; they move a side at a time, and
man, by his machinery, is meeting the horse and
the ox half-way. Whatever part the whip has
touched is thenceforth palsied. Who would ever
think of a side of any of the supple cat tribe, as we
speak of a side of beef ?
�WALKING, AND THE WILD
33
I rejoice that horses and steers have to be broken
before they can be made the slaves of men, and
that men themselves have some wild oats still
left to sow before they become submissive members
of society. Undoubtedly, all men are not equally
fit subjects for civilization; and because the
majority, like dogs and sheep, are tame by inher
ited disposition, this is no reason why the others
should have their natures broken that they may
be reduced to the same level. Men are in the main
alike, but they were made several in order that
they might be various. If a low use is to be served,
one man will do nearly or quite as well as another ;
if a high one, individual excellence is to be regarded.
Any man can stop a hole to keep the wind away,
but no other man could serve so rare a use as the
author of this illustration did. Confucius says—
“ The skins of the tiger and the leopard, when
they are tanned, are as the skins of the dog and
the sheep tanned.” But it is not the part of a
true culture to tame tigers, any more than it is to
make sheep ferocious ; and tanning their skins for
shoes is not the best use to which they can be put.
When looking over a list of men’s names in a
foreign language, as of military officers, or of
authors who have written on a particular subject,
I am reminded once more that there is nothing
in a name. The name Menschikoff, for instance,
has nothing in it to my ears more human than a
whisker, and it may belong to a rat. As the names
of the Poles and Russans are to us, so are ours to
them. It is as if they had been named by the
child’s rigmarole—levy wiery ichery van, tittletol-tan. I see in my mind a herd of wild creatures
swarming over the earth, and to each the herds-
�34
IN PRAISE OF WALKING
man has affixed some barbarous sound in his own
dialect. The names of men are of course as cheap
and meaningless as Bose and Tray, the names of
dogs.
Methinks it would be some advantage to philo
sophy if men were named merely in the gross, as
they are known.
It would be necessary only to
know the genus, and perhaps the race or variety,
to know the individual.
We are not prepared to
believe that every private soldier in a Roman army
had a name of his own, because we have not sup
posed that he had a character of his own. At
present, our only true names are nicknames. I
knew a boy who, from his peculiar energy, was
called “Buster ” by his playmates, and this rightly
supplanted his Christian name. Some travellers
tell us that an Indian had no name given him at
first, but earned it, and his name was his fame ;
and among some tribes he acquired a new name
with every new exploit. It is pitiful when a man
bears a name for convenience merely, who has
earned neither name nor fame.
I will not allow mere names to make distinctions
for me, but still see men in herds for all them.
A familiar name cannot make a man less strange
to me. It may be given to a savage who retains
in secret his own wild title earned in the woods.
We have a wild savage in us, and a savage name
is perchance somewhere recorded as ours. I see
that my neighbour, who bears the familiar epithet
William, or Edwin, takes it off with his jacket. It
does not adhere to him when asleep or in anger, or
aroused by any passion or inspiration. I seem to
hear pronounced by some of his kin at such a time
his original wild name in some jaw-breaking or
else melodious tongue.
�WALKING, AND THE WILD
I
i
5
35
Here is this vast, savage, howling mother of
ours, Nature, lying all around, with such beauty,
and such affection for her children, as the leopard ;
and yet we are so early weaned from her breast to
society, to that culture which is exclusively an
interaction of man on man—a sort of breeding in
and in, which produces at most a merely English
nobility, a civilization destined to have a speedy
limit.
In society, in the best institutions of men, it is
easy to detect a certain precocity. When we
should still be growing children, we are already
little men. Give me a culture which imports
much muck from the meadows, and deepens the
soil—not that which trusts to heating manures and
improved implements and modes of culture only.
Many a poor sore-eyed student that I have
heard of would grow faster, both intellectually
and physically, if, instead of sitting up so very late,
he honestly slumbered a fool’s allowance.
There may be an excess even of informing light.
Niepce, a Frenchman, discovered “ actinism,”
that power in the sun’s rays which produces a
chemical effect,—that granite rocks, and stone
structures, and statues of metal, “ are all alike
destructively acted upon during the hours of sun
shine, and, but for provisions of Nature no less
wonderful, would soon perish under the delicate
touch of the most subtile of the agencies of the
universe.” But he observed that “ those bodies
which underwent this, change during the daylight
possessed the power of restoring themselves, to
their original conditions during the hours of night,
when this excitement was no longer influencing
them.” Hence it has been inferred that “ the
hours of darkness are as necessary to the
�36
IN PRAISE OF WALKING
creation as we know night and sleep are to the
organic kingdom.” Not even does the moon shine
every night, but gives place to 1 darkness.
I would not have every man nor every part of
man cultivated, any more than I would have every
acre of earth cultivated : part will be tillage,
but the greater part will be meadow and forest,
not only serving an immediate use, but preparing
a mould against a distant future, by the annual
decay of the vegetation which it supports.
There are other letters for the child to learn
than those which Cadmus invented. The Span
iards have a good term to express this wild and
dusky knowledge,—Gramatica parda, tawny gram
mar,—a kind of mother-wit derived from that
same leopard to which I have referred.
We have heard of a Society for the Diffusion of
Useful Knowledge. It is said that knowledge
is power ; and the like. Methinks there is equal
need of a Society for the Diffusion of Useful Ignor
ance, what we will call Beautiful Knowledge, a
knowledge useful in a higher sense : for what is
most of our boasted so-called knowledge but a
conceit that we know something, which robs us
of the advantage of our actual ignorance ? What
we call knowledge is often our positive ignorance ;
ignorance our negative knowledge. By long years
of patient industry and reading of the newspapers
—for what are the libraries of science but files
of newspapers ?—a man accumulates a myriad
facts, lays them up in his memory, and then
when in some spring of his life he saunters abroad
into the Great Fields of thought, he, as it were,
goes to grass like a horse and leaves all his harness
behind in the stable. I would say to the Society
for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, sometimes,
�WALKING, AND THE WILD
37
—Go to grass. You have eaten hay long enough.
The spring has come with its green crop. The
very cows are driven to their country pastures
before the end of May; though I have heard
of one unnatural farmer who kept his cow in the
barn and fed her on hay all the year round. So,
frequently, the Society for the Diffusion of Useful
Knowledge treats its cattle.
A man’s ignorance sometimes is not only useful,
but beautiful,—while his knowledge, so called, is
oftentimes worse than useless, besides being ugly.
Which is the best man to deal with—he who knows
nothing about a subject, and, what is extremely
rare, knows that he knows nothing, or he who
really knows something about it, but thinks that
he knows all ?
My desire for knowledge is intermittent; but
my desire to bathe my head in atmospheres un
known to my feet is perennial and constant. The
highest that we can attain to is not Knowledge,
but Sympathy with Intelligence. I do not know
that this higher knowledge amounts to anything
more definite than a novel and grand surprise on
a sudden revelation of the insufficiency of all that
we called Knowledge before—a discovery that
there are more things in heaven and earth than
are dreamed of in our philosophy. It is the light
ing up of the mist by the sun. Man cannot know
in any higher sense than this, any more than he
can look serenely and with impunity in the face
of the sun : '0$ t! votin' vv kcivov vo?/crei$,—“ You
will not perceive that, as perceiving a particu
lar thing,” say the Chaldean Oracles.
There is something servile in the habit of seek
ing after a law which we may obey. We may
study the laws of matter at and for our convenience,
�38
IN PRAISE OF WALKING
but a successful life knows no law. It is an un
fortunate discovery certainly, that of a law which
binds us where we did not know before that we
were bound. Live free, child of the mist,—and
with respect to knowledge we are all children of
the mist. The man who takes the liberty to live
is superior to all the laws, by virtue of his rela
tion to the law-maker. “ That is active duty,”
says the Vishnu Purana, “ which is not for our
bondage ; that is knowledge which is for our libera
tion : all other duty is good only unto weariness ;
all other knowledge is only the cleverness of an
artist.”
It is remarkable how few events or crises there are
in our histories; how little exercised we have
been in our minds ; how few experiences we have
had. I would fain be assured that I am growing
apace and rankly, though my very growth dis
turb this dull equanimity,—though it be with
struggle through long, dark, muggy nights or sea
sons of gloom. It would be well if all our lives
were a divine tragedy even, instead of this trivial
comedy or farce. Dante, Bunyan, and others,
appear to have been exercised in their minds
more than we : they were subjected to a kind of
culture such as our district schools and colleges
do not contemplate. Even Mahomet, though
many may scream at his name, had a good deal
more to live for, ay, and to die for, than they have
commonly.
When, at rare intervals, some thought visits one,
as perchance he is walking on a railroad, then
indeed the cars go by without his hearing them.
But soon, by some inexorable law, our life goes
by and the cars return.
�WALKING, AND THE WILD
39
“ Gentle breeze, that wanderest unseen,
And bendest the thistles round Loira of storms,
Traveller of the windy glens,
Why hast thou left my ear so soon ? ”
While almost all men feel an attraction drawing
them to society, few are attracted strongly to
Nature. In their relation to Nature men appear
to me for the most part, notwithstanding their
arts, lower than the animals. It is not often a
beautiful relation, as in the case of the animals.
How little appreciation of the beauty of the land
scape there is among us ! We shall have to be
told that the Greeks called the world Kocr/xos,
Beauty, or Order, but we do not see clearly why,
they did so, and we esteem it at best only a curious
philological fact.
For my part, I feel that with regard to Nature
I live a sort of border life, on the confines of a
world into which I make occasional and transitional
and transient forays only, and my patriotism and
allegiance to the State into whose territories I
seem to retreat are those of a moss-trooper. Unto
a life which I call natural I would gladly follow
even a will-o’-the-wisp through bogs and sloughs
unimaginable, but no moon [nor fire-fly has
shown me the causeway to it.
Nature is a
personality so vast and universal that we have never
seen one of her features. The walker in the familiar
fields which stretch around my native town
sometimes finds himself in another land than is de
scribed in their owners’ deeds, as it were in some far
away field on the confines of the actual Concord,
where her jurisdiction ceases, and the idea which
the word Concord suggests ceases to be suggested.
These farms which I have myself surveyed, these
�ijl&Jgaai
40
IN PRAISE OF WALKING
bounds which I have set up, appear dimly still as
through a mist; but they have no chemistry to fix
them ; they fade from the surface of the glass ;
and the picture which the painter painted stands
out dimly from beneath. The world with which
we are commonly acquainted leaves no trace,
and it will have no anniversary.
I took a walk on Spaulding’s Farm the other
afternoon. I saw the setting sun lighting up the
opposite side of a stately pine wood. Its golden
rays straggled into the aisles of the wood as into
some noble hall. I was impressed as if some an
cient and altogether admirable and shining family
had settled there in that part of the land called
Concord, unknown to me,—to whom the sun
was servant,—who had not gone into society in
the village,—who had not been called on. I saw
their park, their pleasure-ground, beyond through
the wood, in Spaulding’s cranberry-meadow. The
pines furnished them with gables as they grew.
Their house was not obvious to vision; the trees
grew through it. I do not know whether I heard
the sounds of a suppressed hilarity or not. They
seemed to recline on the sunbeams. They have
sons and daughters. They are quite well. The
farmer’s cart-path, which leads directly through
their hall, does not in the least put them out,—
as the muddy bottom of a pool is sometimes seen
through the reflected skies. They never heard of
Spaulding, and do not know that he is their neigh
bour,—notwithstanding I heard him whistle as he
drove his team through the house. Nothing can
equal the serenity of their lives. Their coat of
arms is simply a lichen. I saw it painted on the
pines and oaks. Their attics were in the tops of
the trees. They are of no politics. There was
�WALKING, AND THE WILD
41
no noise of labour. I did not perceive that they
were weaving or spinning. Yet I did detect, when
the wind lulled and hearing was done away, the fin
est imaginable sweet musical hum,—as of a dis
tant hive in May, which perchance was the sound
of their thinking. They had no idle thoughts,
and no one without could see their work, for their
industry was not as in knots and excrescences
embayed.
But I find it difficult to remember them. They
fade irrevocably out of my mind even now while
I speak and endeavour to recall them, and recol
lect myself. It is only after a long and serious
effort to recollect my best thoughts that I become
again aware of their cohabitancy. If it were not
for such families as this, I think I should move
out of Concord.
We are accustomed to say m New England that
few and fewer pigeons visit us every year. Our
forests furnish no mast for them. So, it would
seem, few and fewer thoughts visit each growing
man from year to year, for the grove in our minds
is laid waste,—sold to feed unnecessary fires of
ambition, or sent to mill, and there is scarcely
a twig left for them to perch on. They no longer
build nor breed with us. In some more genial
season, perchance, a faint shadow flits across the
landscape of the mind, cast by the wings of some
thought in its vernal or autumnal migration, but,
looking up, we are unable to detect the substance
of the thought itself. Our winged thoughts are
turned to poultry. They no longer soar, and
they attain only to a Shanghai and Cochin-China
grandeur. Those gra-a-ate thoughts, those gra-a-ate
men you hear of!
�42
IN PRAISE OF WALKING
We hug the earth—how rarely we mount!
Methinks we might elevate ourselves a little more.
We might climb a tree, at least. I found my
account in climbing a tree once. It was a tall
white pine, on the top of a hill; and though I got
well pitched, I was well paid for it, for I discovered
new mountains in the horizon which I had never
seen before,—so much more of the earth and the
heavens. I might have walked about the foot
of the tree for threescore years and ten, and yet
I certainly should never have seen them. But,
above all, I discovered around me,—it was near the
end of June,—on the ends of the topmost branches
only, a few minute and delicate red cone-like
blossoms, the fertile flower of the white pine look
ing heavenward. I carried straightway to the
village the topmost spire, and showed it to stranger
jurymen who walked the streets,—for it was court week,—and to farmers and lumber-dealers and
wood-choppers and hunters, and not one had ever
seen the like before, but they wondered as at a
star dropped down. Tell of ancient architects
finishing their works on the tops of columns as
perfectly as on the lower and more visible parts !
Nature has from the first expanded the minute
blossoms of the forest only toward the heavens,
above men’s heads and unobserved by them.
We see only the flowers that are under our feet
in the meadows. The pines have developed their
delicate blossoms on the highest twigs of the wood
every summer for ages, as well over the heads of
Nature’s red children as of her white ones yet
scarcely a farmer or hunter in the land has ever
seen them
Above all, we cannot afford not to live in the
�WALKING, AND THE WILD
43
present. He is blessed over all mortals who loses
no moment of the passing life in remembering
the past. Unless our philosophy hears the cock
crow in every barn-yard within our horizon, it
is belated. That sound commonly reminds us
that we are growing rusty and antique in our
employments and habits of thought. His philoso
phy comes down to a more recent time than ours.
There is something suggested by it that is a newer
testament—the gospel according to this moment.
He has not fallen astern ; he has got up early and
kept up early, and to be where he is to be in season,
in the foremost rank of time. It is an expression
of the health and soundness of Nature, a brag for
all the world,—healthiness as of a spring burst
forth, a new fountain of the Muses, to celebrate
this last instant of time. Where he lives no fugi
tive slave laws are passed. Who has not betrayed
his master many times since last he heard that note?
The merit of this bird’s strain is in its freedom
from all plaintiveness. The singer can easily
move us to tears or to laughter, but where is he
who can excite in us a pure morning joy ? When,
in doleful dumps, breaking the awful stillness of
our wooden sidewalk on a Sunday, or, perchance, a
watcher in the house of mourning, I hear a cockerel
crow far or near, I think to myself, “ There is one
of us well, at any rate,”—and with a sudden gush
return to my senses.
We had a'remarkable sunset one day last Novem
ber. I was walking in a meadow, the source
of a small brook, when the sun at last, just before
setting, after a cold grey day, reached a clear stra
tum in the horizon, and the softest, brightest
morning sunlight fell on the dry grass and on the
�44
IN PRAISE OF WALKING
stems of the trees in the opposite horizon, and on
the leaves of the shrub-oaks on the hill-side,
while our shadows stretched long over the meadow
eastward, as if we were the only motes in its beams.
It was such a light as we could not have imagined
a moment before, and the air also was so warm
and serene that nothing was wanting to make a
paradise of that meadow. When we reflected
that this was not a solitary phenomenon, never to
happen again, but that it would happen for ever and
ever an infinite number of evenings, and cheer
and reassure the latest child that walked there,
it was more glorious still.
The sun sets on some retired meadow, where no
house is visible, with all the glory and splen
dour that it lavishes on cities, and, perchance, as
it has never set before,—where there is but a soli
tary marsh-hawk to have his wings gilded by it,
or only a musquash looks out from his cabin, and
there is some little black-veined brook in the midst
of the marsh, just beginning to meander, winding
slowly round a decaying stump. We walked
in so pure and bright a light, gilding the withered
grass and leaves, so softly and serenely bright,
I thought I had never bathed in such a golden
flood, without a ripple or a murmur to it. The
west side of every wood and rising ground gleamed
like the boundary of Elysium, and the sun on our
backs seemed like a gentle herdsman driving us
home at evening.
So we saunter toward the Holy Land, till one
day the sun shall shine more brightly than ever
he has done, shall perchance shine into our minds
and hearts, and light up our whole lives with a great
awakening light, as warm and serene and golden
as on a bank-side in autumn.
�Song of the Open Road
WALT WHITMAN
FOOT and light-hearted I take to the open
road,
Healthy, free, the world before me,
The long brown path before me leading whereever I choose.
A
Henceforth I ask not good-fortune, I myself am
good fortune,
Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no more,
need nothing.
Done with indoor complaints, libraries, querulous
criticisms,
Strong and content I travel the open road.
The earth, that is sufficient.
I do not want the constellations any nearer,
I know they are very well where they are,
1 know they suffice for those who belong to them.
(Still here I carry my old delicious burdens,
I carry them, men and women, I carry them with
me wherever I go,
I swear it is impossible for me to get rid of them,
I am fill’d with them, and I will fill them in return.)
46
�46
IN PRAISE OF WALKING
2
You road I enter upon and look around, I believe
you are not all that is here,
I believe that much unseen is also here.
Here the profound lesson of reception, nor pre
ference nor denial,
The black with his woolly head, the felon, the
diseas’d, the illiterate person, are not denied ;
The birth, the hasting after the physician, the
beggar’s tramp, the drunkard’s stagger, the
laughing party of mechanics,
The escaped youth, the rich person’s carriage,
the fop, the eloping couple,
The early market man, the hearse, the moving
of furniture into the town, the return back
from the town,
They pass, I also pass, anything passes, none can
be interdicted,
None but are accepted, none but shall be dear to
me.
3
You air that serves me with breath to speak !
You objects that call from diffusion my meanings
and give them shape !
You light that wraps me and all things in delicate
equable showers !
You paths worn in the irregular hollows by the road
sides !
I believe you are latent with unseen existences,
you are so dear to me.
�THE SONG OF THE OPEN ROAD
47
You flagg’d walks of the cities ! you strong curbs
at the edges !
You ferries ! you planks and posts of wharves !
you timber-lined sides ! you distant ships !
You rows of houses ! you window-pierc’d facades !
you roofs !
You porches and entrances ! you copings and iron
guards !
You windows whose transparent shells might
expose so much !
You doors and ascending steps! you arches!
You grey stones of interminable pavements!
you trodden crossings !
From all that has touch’d you I believe you have
imparted to yourselves, and now would impart
the same secretly to me,
From the living and the dead you have peopled
your impassive surfaces, and the spirits thereof
would be evident and amicable with me.
4
The earth expanding right hand and left hand,
The picture alive, every part in its best light,
The music falling in where it is wanted, and
stopping where it is not wanted,
The cheerful voice of the public road, the gay
fresh sentiment of the road.
0 highway I travel, do you say to me Do not
leave me ?
Do you say Venture not—if you leave me you are
lost ?
Do you say I am already prepared, I am well beaten
and undenied, adhere to me ?
�48
IN PRAISE OF WALKING
O public road, I say back I am not afraid to leave
you, yet I love you,
You express me better than I can express myself,
You shall be more to me than my poem.
I think heroic deeds were all conceiv’d in the open
air, and all free poems also,
I think I could stop here myself and do miracles,
I think whatever I meet on the road I shall like,
and whoever beholds me shall like me,
I think whoever I see must be happy.
5
From this hour I ordain myself loos’d of limits
and imaginary lines,
Going where I list, my own master total and ab
solute,
Listening to others, considering well what they say,
Pausing, searching, receiving, contemplating.
Gently, but with undeniable will, divesting myself
of the holds that would hold me.
I inhale great draughts of space.
The east and the west are mine, and the north and
the south are mine.
I am larger, better than I thought,
I did not know I held so much goodness.
All seems beautiful to me,
I can repeat over to men and women" You have
done such good to me I would do the same to
you,
�THE SONG OF THE OPEN ROAD
49
I will recruit for myself and you as I go,
I will scatter myself among men and women as
I go,
I will toss a new gladness and roughness among
them,
Whoever denies me it shall not trouble me,
Whoever accepts me he or she shall be blessed
and shall bless me.
6
Now if a thousand perfect men were to appear
it would not amaze me,
Now if a thousand beautiful forms of women
appear’d it would not astonish me.
Now I see the secret of the making of the best
persons,
It is to grow in the open air and eat and sleep
with the earth.
Here a great personal deed has room,
(Such a deed seizes upon the hearts of the whole
race of men,
Its effusion of strength and will overwhelm laws
and mocks all authority and all argument
against it.)
Here is the test of wisdom,
Wisdom is not finally tested in schools,
Wisdom cannot be pass’d from one having it to
another not having it,
Wisdom is of the soul, is not susceptible of proof,
is its own proof,
Applies to all stages and objects and qualities
and is content,
�50
IN PRAISE OF WALKING
Is the certainty of the reality and immortality
of things, and the excellence of things ;
Something there is in the float of the sight of things
that provokes it out of the soul.
Now I re-examine philosophies and religions,
They may prove well in lecture-rooms, yet not
prove at all under the spacious clouds and
along the landscape and flowing currents.
Here is realization,
Here is a man tallied—he realizes here what he
has in him,
The past, the future, majesty, love—if they are
vacant of you, you are vacant of them.
Only the kernel of every object nourishes ;
Where is he who tears off the husks for you and
me ?
Where is he that undoes stratagems and envelopes
for you and me ?
Here is adhesiveness, it is not previously fashion’d,
it is apropos;
Do you know what it is as you pass to be loved
by strangers ?
Do you know the talk of those turning eye-balls ?
7
Here is the efflux of the soul,
The efflux of the soul comes from within through
embower’d gates, ever provoking questions.
These yearnings why are they ? these thoughts in
the darkness why are they ?
Why are there men and women that while they are
nigh me the sunlight expands my blood ?
�THE SONG OF THE OPEN ROAD
51
Why when they leave me do my pennants of joy
sink flat and lank ?
Why are there trees I never walk under but large
and melodious thoughts descend upon me ?
(I think they hang there winter and summer on
those trees and almost drop fruit as I pass ;)
What is it I interchange so suddenly with strangers?
What with some driver as I ride on the seat by
his side ?
What with some fisherman drawing his seine by
" the shore as I walk by and pause ?
What gives me to be free to a woman’s and man’s
good-will ? what gives them to be free to
mine ?
8
The efflux of the soul is happiness, here is happi
ness.
I think it pervades the open air, waiting at all
times,
Now it flows unto us, we are rightly charged.
Here rises the fluid and attaching character,
The fluid and attaching character is the freshness
and sweetness of man and woman,
(The herbs of the morning sprout no fresher and
sweeter every day out of the roots of them
selves, than it sprouts fresh and sweet continu
ally out of itself.)
Toward the fluid and attaching character exudes
the sweat of the love of young and old,
From it falls distill’d the charm that mocks beauty
and attainments,
Toward it heaves the shuddering longing ache of
contact.
�52
IN PRAISE OF WALKING
9
Allons ! whoever you are come travel with me !
Travelling with me you find what never tires.
The earth never tires,
The earth is rude, silent, incomprehensible at
first, Nature is rude and incomprehensible
at first,
Be not discouraged, keep on, there are divine
things well envelop’d,
I swear to you there are divine things more beauti
ful than words can tell.
Allons ! we must not stop here,
However sweet these laid-up stores, however
convenient this dwelling we cannot remain
here,
However shelter’d this port and however calm
these waters we must not anchor here,
However welcome the hospitality that surrounds
us we are permitted to receive it but a little
while.
io
Allons ! the inducements shall be greater,
We will sail pathless and wild seas,
We will go where winds blow, waves dash, and the
Yankee clipper speeds by under full sail.
Allons ! with power, liberty, the earth, the ele
ments,
Health, defiance, gaiety, self-esteem, curiosity;
Allons ! from all formulas !
From your formulas, O bat-eyed and materialis
tic priests.
�THE SONG OF THE OPEN ROAD
53
The stale cadaver blocks up the passage—the
burial waits no longer.
Allons I yet take warning !
He travelling with me needs the best blood, thews,
endurance,
None may come to the trial till he or she bring
courage and health,
Come not here if you have already spent the best
of yourself,
Only those may come who come in sweet and
determined bodies,
No diseas’d person, no rum drinker or venereal
taint is permitted here.
(I and mine do not convince by arguments, similes,
rhymes,
We convince by our presence.)
ii
’
Listen ! I will be honest with you,
I do not offer the old smooth prizes, but offer rough
new prizes,
These are the days that must happen to you :
You shall not heap up what is call’d riches :
You shall scatter with lavish hand all that you
earn or achieve,
You but arrive at the city to which you were des
tin’d, you hardly settle yourself to satisfac
tion before you are call’d by an irresistible
call to depart,
You shall be treated to the ironical smiles and
mockings of those who remain behind you,
What beckonings of love you receive you shall only
answer with passionate kisses of parting,
You shall not allow the hold of those who spread
their reach’d hands toward you.
�54
IN PRAISE OF WALKING
12
Allons ! after the great Companions, and to belong
to them !
They too are on the road—they are the swift and
majestic men—they are the greatest women,
Enjoyers of calms of seas and storms of seas,
Sailors of many a ship, walkers of many a mile of
land,
Habitues of many distant countries, habitues
of far distant dwellings,
Trusters of men and women, observers of cities,
solitary toilers,
Pausers and contemplators of tufts, blossoms,
shells of the shore,
Dancers at wedding-dances, kissers of brides,
tender helpers of children, bearers of children,
Soldiers of revolts, standers by gaping graves,
lowerers-down of coffins,
Journeyers over consecutive seasons, over the years,
the curious years each emerging from that
which preceded it,
Journeyers as with companions, namely their own
diverse phases,
Forth-steppers from the latent unrealized babydays,
Journeyers gaily with their own youth, journeyers
with their bearded and well-grain’d manhood,
Journeyers with their womanhood, ample, unsur
pass’d, content,
Journeyers with their own sublime old age, of man
hood or womanhood,
Old age, calm, expanded, broad with the haughty
breadth of the universe,
Old age, flowing free with the delicious near-by free
dom of death.
�THE SONG OF THE OPEN ROAD
55
13
Allons ! to that which is endless as it was begin
ningless,
To undergo much, tramps of days, rests of nights,
To merge all in the travel they tend to, and the
days and nights they tend to,
Again to merge them in the start of superior
journeys,
To see nothing anywhere but what you may reach
it and pass it,
To conceive no time, however distant, but what you
may reach it and pass it,
To look up or down the road but it stretches and
waits for you, however long but it stretches
and waits for you,
To see no being, not God’s or any, but you also go
thither,
To see no possession but may possess it, enjoying
all without labour or purchase, abstracting
the feast yet not abstracting one particle of it,
To take the best of the farmer’s farm and the rich
man’s elegant villa, and the chaste blessings
of the well-married couple, and the fruits
of orchards and flowers of gardens,
To take to your use out of the compact cities as
x
you pass through,
To carry buildings and streets with you afterward
where-ever you go,
To gather the minds of men out of their brains as
you encounter them, to gather the love out
of their hearts.
To take your lovers on the road with you, for all
that you leave them behind you,
To know the universe itself as a road, as many
roads, as roads for travelling souls.
�56
IN PRAISE OF WALKING
All parts away for the progress of souls,
All religion, all solid things, arts, governments—
all that was or is apparent upon this globe
or any globe, falls into niches and corners
before the procession of souls along the grand
roads of the universe.
Of the progress of the souls of men and women
along the grand roads of the universe, all
other progress is the needed emblem and
sustenance.
Forever alive, forever forward,
Stately, solemn, sad, withdrawn, baffled, mad,
turbulent, feeble, dissatisfied,
Desperate, p oud, fond, sick, accepted by men,
rejected by men,
They go ! they go ! I know that they go, but I know
know not where they go,
But I know that they go toward the best—toward
something great.
Whoever you are, come forth ! or man or woman
come forth !
You must not stay sleeping and dallying there in
the house, though you built it, or though it
has been built for you.
Out of the dark confinement! out from behind the
screen !
It is useless to protest, I know all and expose it.
Behold through you as bad as the rest,
Through the laughter, dancing, dining, supping,
of people,
Inside of dresses and ornaments, inside of those
wash’d and trimm’d faces,
Behold a secret silent loathing and despair.
�THE SONG OF THE OPEN ROAD
57
No husband, no wife, no friend, trusted to hear
the confession,
Another self, a duplicate of every one, skulking
and hiding it goes,
Formless and wordless through the streets of the
cities, polite and bland in the parlours,
In the cars of railroads, in steamboats, in the public
assembly,
Home to the houses of men and women, at the
table, in the bed-room, everywhere,
Smartly attired, countenance smiling, form up
right, death under the breast-bones, hell under
the skull-bones,
Under the broadcloth and gloves, under the ribbons
and artificial flowers,
Keeping fair with the customs, speaking not a
syllable of itself.
Speaking of anything else, but never of itself.
14
Allons ! through struggles and wars !
The goal that was named cannot be counter
manded.
Have the past struggles succeeded ?
What has succeeded ? yourself ? your nation ?
Nature ?
Now understand me well—it is provided in the
essence of things that from any fruition of
success, no matter what, shall come forth some
thing to make a greater struggle necessary.
My call is the call of the battle, I nourish active
rebellion,
He going with me must go well arm’d,
He going with me goes often with spare diet,
poverty, angry enemies, desertions.
�58
IN PRAISE OF WALKING
15
Allons ! the road is before us !
It is safe—I have tried it—my own feet have
tried it well—be not detain’d !
Let the paper remain on the desk unwritten, and
the book on the shelf unopen’d !
Let the tools remain in the workshop ! let the
money remain unearn’d!
Let the school stand ! mind not the cry of the
teacher !
Let the preacher preach in his pulpit! let the lawyer
plead in the court, and the judge expound the
law.
Camerado, I will give you my hand!
I give you my love more precious than money,
I give you myself before preaching or law ;
Will you give me yourself ? will you come travel
with me ?
Shall we stick by each other as long as we live ?
�The Exhilarations of the Road
JOHN BURROUGHS
Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road.
—Whitman.
CCASIONALLY on the sidewalk, amid the
dapper, swiftly-moving, high-heeled boots
and gaiters, I catch a glimpse of the naked human
foot. Nimbly it scuds along, the toes spread,
the sides flatten, the heel protrudes ; it grasps
the curbing, or bends to the form of the uneven
surfaces,—a thing sensuous and alive, that seems
to take cognizance of whatever it touches or
passes. How primitive and uncivil it looks in
such company,—a real barbarian in the parlour.
We are so unused to the human anatomy, to
simple, unadorned nature, that it looks a little
repulsive ; but it is beautiful for all that. Though
it be a black foot and an unwashed foot, it shall
be exalted. It is a thing of life amid leather,
a free spirit amid cramped, a wild bird amid
caged, an athlete amid consumptives. It is the
symbol of my order, the Order of Walkers. That
unhampered, vitally playing piece of anatomy
is the type of the pedestrian, manTreturned to
first principles, in direct contact and intercourse
with the earth and the elements, his faculties
unsheathed, his mind plastic, his body toughened,
O
�6o
IN PRAISE OF WALKING
his heart light, his soul dilated : while those
cramped and distorted members in the calf and
kid are the unfortunate wretches doomed to car
riages and cushions.
I am not going to advocate the disuse of boots
and shoes, or the abandoning of the improved
modes of travel; but I am going to brag as
lustily as I can on behalf of the pedestrian, and
show how all the shining angels second and
accompany the man who goes afoot, while all
the dark spirits are ever looking out for a chance
to ride.
When I see the discomforts that able-bodied
American men will put up with rather than go
a mile or half a mile on foot, the abuses they
will tolerate and encourage, crowding the street
car on a little fall in the temperature or the
appearance of an inch or two of snow, packing
up to overflowing, dangling to the straps, tread
ing on each other’s toes, breathing each other’s
breaths, crushing the women and children, hang
ing by tooth and nail to a square inch of the
platform, imperilling their limbs and killing the
horses,—I think the commonest tramp in the
street has good reason to felicitate himself on
his rare privilege of going afoot. Indeed, a race
that neglects or despises this primitive gift,
| that fears the touch of the soil, that has no foot
paths, no community of ownership in the land
which they imply, that warns off the walker as
a trespasser, that knows no way but the highway,
the carriage-way, that forgets the stile, the foot
bridge, that even ignores the rights of the pedesi train in the public road, providing no escape
I for him but in the ditch or up the bank, is in a
j fair way to far more serious degeneracy.
�THE EXHILARATIONS OF THE ROAD
6i
Shakespeare makes the chief qualification of
the walker a merry heart :—
“Jog on, jog on, the foot-'path way,
And merrily hent the stile-a ;
A merry heart goes all the day,
Your sad tires in a mile-a.”
The human body is a steed that goes freest
and longest under a light rider, and the lightest
of all riders is a cheerful heart. Your sad, or
morose, or embittered, or preoccupied heart
settles heavily into +he saddle, and the poor
beast, the body, breaks down the first mile. In
deed, the heaviest thing in the world is a heavy
heart. Next to that the most burdensome to
the walker is a heart not in perfect sympathy and
accord with the body—a reluctant or unwilling
heart. The horse and rider must not only both
be willing to go the same way, but the rider
must lead the way and infuse his own lightness
and eagerness into the steed. Herein is no doubt
our trouble and one reason of the decay of the
noble art in this country. We are unwilling
walkers. We are not innocent and simple' hearted enough to enjoy a walk. We have fallen
from that state of grace which capacity to enjoy
a walk implies. It cannot be said that as a
people we are so positively sad, or morose, or
melancholic as that we are vacant of that sport
iveness and surplusage of animal spirits that
characterized our ancestors, and that springs
from full and harmonious life,—a sound heart
in accord with a sound body. A man must in
vest himself near at hand and in common things,
and be content with a steady and moderate
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IN PRAISE OF WALKING
return, if he would know the blessedness of a
cheerful heart and the sweetness of a walk over
the round earth. This is a lesson the American
has yet to learn—capability of amusement on a
low key. He expects rapid and extraordinary
returns. He would make the very elemental
laws pay usury. He has nothing to invest in a
walk ; it is too slow, too cheap. We crave the
astonishing, the exciting, the far away, and do
not know the highways of the gods when we see
them,—always a sign of the decay of the faith
and simplicity of man.
If I say to my neighbour, “ Come with me, I
have great wonders to show you,” he pricks up
his ears and comes forthwith ; but when I take
him on the hills under the full blaze of the sun,
or along the country road, our footsteps lighted
by the moon and stars, and say to him, “ Behold,
these are the wonders, these are the circuits of
the gods, this we now tread is a morning star,”
he feels defrauded, and as if I had played him a
trick. And yet nothing less than dilatation and
enthusiasm like this is the badge of the master
walker.
If we are not sad we are careworn, hurried,
discontented, mortgaging the present for the
promise of the future. If we take a walk, it is
as we take a prescription, with about the same
relish and with about the same purpose ; and the
more the fatigue the greater our faith in the
virtue of the medicine.
Of those gleesome saunters over the hills in
spring, or those sallies of the body in winter,
those excursions into space when the foot strikes
fire at every step, when the air tastes like a new
and finer mixture, when we accumulate force
�THE EXHILARATIONS OF THE ROAD
63
and gladness as we go along, when the sight of
objects by the roadside and of the fields and
woods pleases more than pictures or than all
the art in the world,—those ten or twelve mile
dashes that are but the wit and effluence of the
corporeal powers,—of such diversion and open
road entertainment, I say, most of us know very
little.
I notice with astonishment that at our fashion
able watering-places nobody walks ; that of all
those vast crowds of health-seekers and lovers
of country air, you can never catch one in the
fields or woods, or guilty of trudging along the
country road with dust on his shoes and sun-tan
on his hands and face. The sole amusement
seems to be to eat and dress and sit about the
hotels and glare at each other. The men look
bored, the women look tired, and all seem to
sigh, “ O Lord ! what shall we do to be happy
and not be vulgar ? ” Quite different from our
British cousins across the water, who have
plenty of amusement and hilarity, spending
most of the time at their watering-places in the
open air, strolling, picnicking, boating, climbing,
briskly walking, apparently with little fear of
sun-tan or of compromising their “ gentility.”
It is indeed astonishing with what ease and
hilarity the English walk. To an American it
seems a kind of infatuation. When Dickens
was in this country I imagine the aspirants to
the honour of a walk with him were not numerous.
In a pedestrian tour of England by an American,
I read that “ after breakfast with the Inde
pendent minister, he walked with us for six
miles out of town upon our road. Three little
boys and girls, the youngest six years old, also
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IN PRAISE OF WALKING
accompanied us. They were romping and ramb
ling about all the while, and their morning walk
must have been as much as fifteen miles ; but
they thought nothing of it, and when we parted
were apparently as fresh as when they started,
and very loath to return.”
I fear, also, the American is becoming dis
qualified for the manly art of walking, by a
falling off in the size of his foot. He cherishes
and cultivates this part of his anatomy, and
apparently thinks his taste and good breeding
are to be inferred from its diminutive size. A
small, trim foot, well booted or gaitered, is the
national vanity. How we stare at the big feet
of foreigners, and wonder what may be the price
of leather in those countries, and where all the
aristocratic blood is, that these plebeian ex
tremities so predominate. If we were admitted
to the confidences of the shoemaker to Her
Majesty or to His Royal Highness, no doubt
we would modify our views upon this latter
point, for a truly large and royal nature is never
stunted in the extremities ; a little foot never
yet supported a great character.
It is said that Englishmen when they first
come to this country are for some time under
the impression that American women all have
deformed feet, they are so coy of them and so
studiously careful to keep them hid. That
there is an astonishing difference between the
women of the two countries in this respect,
every traveller can testify ; and that there is a
difference equally astonishing between the pedes
trian habits and capabilities of the rival sisters
is also certain.
The English pedestrian, no doubt, has the
�THE EXHILARATIONS OF THE ROAD
65
advantage of us in the matter of climate ; for
notwithstanding the traditional gloom and mo
roseness of English skies, they have in that country
none of those relaxing, sinking, enervating days,
of which we have so many here, and which seem
especially trying to the female constitution—
days which withdraw all support from the back
and loins, and render walking of all things burden
some. Theirs is a climate of which it has been said
that “ it invites men abroad more days in the year
and more hours in the day than that of any other
country.”
Then their land is threaded with paths which
invite the walker, and which are scarcely less
important than the highways. I heard of a surly
nobleman near London who took it into his head
to close a foot-path that passed through his estate
near his house, and open another one a little
farther off. The pedestrians objected ; the matter
got into the courts, and after protracted litigation
the aristocrat was beaten. The path could not
be closed or moved. The memory of man ran
not to the time when there was not a foot-path
there, and every pedestrian should have the right
of way there still.
I remember the pleasure I had in the path that
connects Stratford-on-Avon with Shottery, Shake
speare’s path when he went courting Anne Hath
away. By the king’s highway the distance is
some further, so there is a well-worn path along
the hedgerows and through the meadows and
turnip patches. The traveller in it has the privilege
of crossing the railroad track, an unusual privilege
in England, and one denied to the lord in his
carriage, who must either go over or under it.
(It is a privilege, is it not, to be allowed the forE
�66
IN PRAISE OF WALKING
bidden, even if it be the privilege of being run
over by the engine ?) In strolling over the South
Downs, too, I was delighted to find that where
the hill was steepest some benefactor of the order
of walkers had made notches in the sward, so that
the foot could bite the better and firmer; the
path became a kind of stairway, which I have no
doubt the plough-man respected.
When you see an English country church with
drawn, secluded, out of the reach of wheels, stand
ing amid grassy graves and surrounded by noble
trees, approached by paths and shaded lanes,
you appreciate more than ever this beautiful
habit of the people. Only a race that knows how
to use its feet, and holds foot-paths sacred, could
put such a charm of privacy and humility into
such a structure. I think I should be tempted
to go to church myself if I saw all my neighbours
starting off across the fields or along paths that
led to such charmed spots, and was sure I would
not be jostled or run over by the rival chariots
of the worshippers at the temple doors. I think
this is what ails our religion; humility and de
voutness of heart leave one when he lays by his
walking shoes and walking clothes, and sets out
for church drawn by something.
Indeed, I think it would be tantamount to an
astonishing revival of religion if the people would
all walk to church on Sunday and walk home again.
Think how the stones would preach to them by
the wayside; how their benumbed minds would
warm up beneath the friction of the gravel; how
their vain and foolish thoughts, their desponding
thoughts, their besetting demons of one kind and
another, would drop behind them, unable to keep
up or to endure the fresh air. They would walk
�THE EXHILARATIONS OF THE ROAD
67
away from their ennui, their worldly cares, their
uncharitableness, their pride of dress; for these
devils always want to ride, while the simple vir
tues are never so happy as when on foot. Let us
walk by all means ; but if we will ride, get an ass.
Then the English claim that they are a more
hearty and robust people than we are. It is
certain they are a plainer people, have plainer
tastes, dress plainer, build plainer, speak plainer,
keep closer to facts, wear broader shoes and
coarser clothes, place a lower estimate on them
selves, etc.—all of which traits favour pedestrian
habits. The English grandee is not confined to
his carriage; but if the American aristocrat
leaves his, he is ruined. Oh, the weariness, the
emptiness, the plotting, the seeking rest and
finding none, that goes by in the carriages ! while
your pedestrian is always cheerful, alert, refreshed,
with his heart in his hand and his hand free to all.
He looks down upon nobody; he is on the common
level. His pores are all open, his circulation is
active, his digestion good. His heart is not cold,
nor his faculties asleep. He is the only real
traveller ; he alone tastes the “ gay, fresh sentiment
of the road.” He is not isolated, but one with
things, with the farms and industries on either hand.
The vital, universal currents play through him.
He knows the ground is alive ; he feels the pulses
of the wind, and reads the mute language of things.
His sympathies are all aroused; his senses are
continually reporting messages to his mind. Wind,
frost, rain, heat, cold, are something to him. He
is not merely a spectator of the panorama of
nature, but a participator in it. He experiences
the country he passes through—tastes it, feels
it, absorbs it; the traveller in his fine carriage sees
�68
IN PRAISE OF WALKING
it merely. This gives the fresh charm to that
class of books that may be called “ Views Afoot,”
and to the narratives of hunters, naturalists,
exploring parties, etc. The walker does not
need a large territory. When you get into a
railway car you want a continent, the man in
his carriage requires a township; but a walker
like Thoreau finds as much and more along the
shores of Walden Pond. The former, as it were,
has merely time to glance at the headings of the
chapters, while the latter need not miss a line,
and Thoreau reads between the lines. Then the
walker has the privilege of the fields, the woods,
the hills, the by-ways. The apples by the road
side are for him, and the berries, and the spring
of water, and the friendly shelter; and if the
weather is cold, he eats the frost grapes and the
persimmons, or even the white meated turnip,
snatched from the field he passed through, with
incredible relish.
Afoot and in the open road, one has a fair start
in life at last. There is no hindrance now. Let
him put his best foot forward. He is on the
broadest human plane. This is on the level of
all the great laws and heroic deeds. From this
platform he is eligible to any good fortune. He
was sighing for the golden age ; let him walk to
it. Every step brings him nearer. The youth
of the world is but a few days’ journey distant.
Indeed, I know persons who think they have
walked back to that fresh aforetime of a single
bright Sunday in autumn or early spring. Before
noon they felt its airs upon their cheeks, and by
nightfall, on the banks of some quiet stream, or
along some path in the wood, or on some hill-top,
aver they have heard the voices and felt the
�THE EXHILARATIONS OF THE ROAD
69
wonder and the mystery that so enchanted the
early races of men.
I think if I could walk through a country I
should not only see many things and have ad
ventures that I should otherwise miss, but that
I should come into relations with that country
at first hand, and with the men and women in
it, in a way that would afford the deepest satis
faction. Hence I envy the good fortune of all
walkers, and feel like joining myself to every
tramp that comes along. I am jealous of the
clergyman I read about the other day who footed
it from Edinburgh to London, as poor Effie Deans
did, carrying her shoes in her hand most of the
way, and over the ground that rugged Ben Jonson
strode, larking it to Scotland, so long ago. I
read with longing of the pedestrian feats of college
youths, so gay and light-hearted, with their coarse
shoes on their feet and their knapsacks on their
backs. It would have been a good draught of
the rugged cup to have walked with Wilson the
ornithologist, deserted by his companions, from
Niagara to Philadelphia through the snows of
winter. I almost wish that I had been born to
the career of a German mechanic, that I might
have had that delicious adventurous year of
wandering over my country before I settled down
to work. I think how much richer and firmergrained fife would be to me if I could journey afoot
through Florida and Texas, or follow the windings
of the Platte or the Yellowstone, or stroll through
Oregon, or browse for a season about Canada.
In the bright inspiring days of autumn I only
want the time and the companion to walk back
to the natal spot, the family nest, across two
States and into the mountains of a third. What
�7°
IN PRAISE OF WALKING
adventures we would have by the way, what
hard pulls, what prospects from hills, what spec
tacles we would behold of night and day, what
passages with dogs, what glances, what peeps
into windows, what characters we should fall in
with, and how seasoned and hardy we should
arrive at our destination !
For companion I should want a veteran of the
war ! Those marches put something into him I
like. Even at this distance his mettle is but little
softened. As soon as he gets warmed up it all
comes back to him. He catches your step and
away you go, a gay, adventurous, half predatory
couple. How quickly he falls into the old ways
of jest and anecdote and song ! You may have
known him for years without having heard him
hum an air, or more than casually revert to the
subject of his experience during the war. You
have even questioned and cross-questioned him
without firing the train you wished. But get
him out on a vacation tramp, and you can walk
it all out of him. By the camp-fire at night or
swinging along the streams by day, song, anecdote,
adventure, come to the surface, and you wonder
how your companion has kept silent so long.
It is another proof of how walking brings out
the true character of a man. The devil never
yet asked his victims to take a walk with him.
You will not be long in finding your companion
out. All disguises will fall away from him. As
his pores open his character is laid bare. His
deepest and most private self will come to the
top. It matters little whom you ride with, so
he be not a pickpocket; for both of you will,
very likely, settle down closer and firmer in your
reserve, shaken down like a measure of corn by
�THE EXHILARATIONS OF THE ROAD
& i
t
.
‘
I
i
71
the jolting as the journey proceeds. But walk
ing is a more vital copartnership ; the relation
is a closer and more sympathetic one, and you
do not feel like walking ten paces with a stranger
without speaking to him.
.
1
Hence the fastidiousness of the professional
walker in choosing or admitting a companion,
and hence the truth of a remark of Emerson that
you will generally fare better to take your dog
than to invite your neighbour. Your cur-dog is
a true pedestrian, and your neighbour is very
likely a small politician. The dog enters thoroughly into the spirit of the enterprise; he is
not indifferent or preoccupied; he is constantly
sniffing adventure, laps at every spring, looks
upon every field and wood as a new world to be
explored, is ever on some fresh trail, knows some
thing important will happen a little further on,
gazes with the true wonder-seeing eyes, whatever the spot or whatever the road finds it good
to be there—in short, is just that happy, deli
cious, excursive vagabond that touches one at so
many points, and whose human prototype in a
companion robs miles and leagues of half their
power to fatigue.
.
Persons who find themselves spent in a short
walk to the market or the post-office, or to do a
little shopping, wonder how it is that their pedes
trian friends can compass so many weary miles
and not fall down from sheer exhaustion; ignorant of the fact that the walker is a kind of
projectile that drops far or near according to
the expansive force of the motive that set it in
motion, and that it is easy enough to regulate
the charge according to the distance to be tra
versed. If I am loaded to carry only one mile
�72
IN PRAISE OF WALKING
and am compelled to walk three, I generally
feel more fatigue than if I had walked six under
the proper impetus of preadjusted resolution.
In other words, the will or corporeal mainspring,
whatever it be, is capable of being wound up
to different degrees of tension, so that one may
walk all day nearly as easy as half that time if
he is prepared beforehand. He knows his task,
and he measures and distributes his powers ac
cordingly. It is for this reason that an unknown
road is always a long road. We cannot cast the
mental eye along it and see the end from the
beginning. We are fighting in the dark, and
cannot take the measure of our foe. Every step
must be preordained and provided for in the mind.
Hence also the fact that to vanquish one mile in
the woods seems equal to compassing three in the
open country. The furlongs are ambushed, and
we magnify them.
Then, again, how annoying to be told it is
only five miles to the next place when it is really
eight or ten ! We fall short nearly half the dis
tance, and are compelled to urge and roll the spent
ball the rest of the way.
In such a case walking degenerates from a fine
art to a mechanic art; we walk merely; to get
over the ground becomes the one serious and.
engrossing thought; whereas success in walking
is not to let your right foot know what your left
foot doeth. Your heart must furnish such music
that in keeping time to it your feet will carry you
around the globe without knowing it. The walker
I would describe takes no note of distance; his
walk is a sally, a bon-mot, an unspoken jeu d’esprit;
the ground is his butt, his provocation ; it fur
nishes him the resistance his body craves ; he
�THE EXHILARATIONS OF THE ROAD
73
rebounds upon it, he glances off and returns again,
and uses it gaily as his tool.
I do not think I exaggerate the importance
or the charms of pedestrianism, or our need as
a people to cultivate the art. I think it would
tend to soften the national manners, to teach us
the meaning of leisure, to acquaint us with the
charms of the open air, to strengthen and foster
the tie between the race and the land. No one
else looks out upon the world so kindly and charit
ably as the pedestrian ; no one else gives and
takes so much from the country he passes through.
Next to the labourer in the fields, the walker
holds the closest relation to the soil; and he
holds a closer and more vital relation to Nature
because he is freer and his mind more at leisure.
Man takes root at his feet, and at best he is
no more than a potted plant in his house or carriage
till he has established communication with the
soil by the loving and magnetic touch of his soles
to it. Then the tie of association is born ; then
spring those invisible fibres and rootlets through
which character comes to smack of the soil, and
which make a man kindred to the spot of earth he
inhabits.
The roads and paths you have walked along
j^in summer and winter weather, the fields and
hills which you have looked upon in lightness
and gladness of heart, where fresh thoughts have
come into your mind, or some noble prospect
has opened before you, and especially the quiet
ways where you have walked in sweet converse
with your friend, pausing under the trees, drinking
at the spring—henceforth they are not the same ;
a new charm is added; those thoughts spring
there perennial, your friend walks there for ever.
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IN PRAISE OF WALKING
We have produced some good walkers and
saunterers, and some noted climbers; but as a
staple recreation, as a daily practice, the mass
of the people dislike and despise walking. Thoreau
said he was a good horse, but a poor roadster.
I chant the virtues of the roadster as well. I
sing of the sweetness of gravel, good sharp quartz
grit. It is the proper condiment for the sterner
seasons, and many a human gizzard would be
cured of half its ills by a suitable daily allowance
of it. I think Thoreau himself would have profited
immensely by it. His diet was too exclusively
vegetable. A man cannot live on grass alone.
If one has been a lotus-eater all summer, he must
turn gravel-eater in the fall and winter. Those
who have tried it know that gravel possesses an
equal though an opposite charm. It spurs to action.
The foot tastes it and henceforth rests not. The
joy of moving and surmounting, of attrition
and progression, the thirst for space, for miles
and leagues of distance, for sights and prospects,
to cross mountains and thread rivers, and defy
frost, heat, snow, danger, difficulties, seizes it;
and from that day forth its possessor is enrolled
in the noble army of walkers.
�ON GOING A JOURNEY
WILLIAM HAZLITT
NE of the pleasantest things in the world is
going a journey ; but I like to go by myself.
I can enjoy society in a room ; but out of doors
nature is company enough for me. I am then
never less alone than when alone.
O
“ The fields his study, nature was his book.”
I cannot see the wit of walking and talking at
the same time. When I am in the country, I wish
to vegetate like the country. I am not for criticis
ing hedgerows and black cattle. I go out of the
town in order to forget the town and all that is in
it. There are those who for this purpose go to
watering places, and carry the metropolis with
them. I like more elbow-room, and fewer encum
brances. I like solitv. :e, when I give myself up
to it, for the sake of solitude ; nor do I ask for
“ A friend in my retreat,
Whom I may whisper solitude is sweet.”
The soul of a journey is liberty, perfect liberty,
to think, feel, do, just as one pleases. _ We go a
journey chiefly to be free of all impediments and
of all inconveniences ; to leave ourselves behind
much more to get rid of others. It is because I
75
�IN PRAISE OF WALKING
want a little breathing-space to muse on indifferent
matters, where contemplation
May plume her feathers, and let grow her wings
That in the various bustle of resort
Were all too ruffled, and sometimes impair’d.”
that I absent myself from the town for a while
without feeling at a loss the moment I am left
by myself. Instead of a friend in a post-chaise
or in a Tilbury, to exchange good things with and
vary the same stale topics over again, for once
(let me have a truce with impertinence. Give
me the clear blue sky over my head and the green
turf beneath my feet, a winding road before me,
and a three hours march to dinner—and then to
thinking ! It is hard if I cannot start some game
on these lone heaths. I laugh, I run, I leap, I
sing for joy. From the point of yonder rolling
cloud, I plunge into my past being, and revel there,
as the sunburnt Indian plunges headlong into
the wave that wafts him to his native shore. Then
long-forgotten things, like “ sunken wrack and
sunless treasuries,” burst upon my eager sight, and
I begin to feel, think, and be myself again. Instead
of an awkward silence, broken by attempts at
wit or dull commonplaces, mine is that undisturbed
silence of the heart which alone is perfect eloquence.
No one likes puns, alliterations, antitheses,
argument, and analysis better than I do; but I
sometimes had rather be without them. “ Leave,
oh, leave me to my repose ! ” I have just now
other business in hand, which would seem idle to
you; but is with me “ very stuff o’ the con
science.” Is not this wild rose sweet without a
comment ? Does not this daisy leap to my heart
�ON GOING A JOURNEY
77
set in its coat of emerald ? Yet if I were to explain
to you the circumstance that has so endeared it to
me, you would only smile. Had I not better, then,
keep it to myself, and let it serve me to brood over,
from here to yonder craggy point, and from thence
onward to the far-distant horizon ? I should be
but bad company all that way, and therefore
prefer being alone.
I have heard it said that you may, when the
moody fit comes on, walk or ride on by yourself,
and indulge your reveries. But this looks like a
breach of manners, a neglect of others, and
you are thinking all the time that you ought to
rejoin your party. "Out upon such half-faced
fellowship ! ” say I. I like to be either entirely
to myself, or entirely at the disposal of others ;
to talk or be silent, to walk or sit still, to be sociable
or solitary. I was pleased with an observation of
Mr. Cobbett’s, that " he thought it a bad French
custom to drink our wine with our meals, and
that an Englishman ought to do only one thing
at a time.” So I cannot talk and think, or indulge
in melancholy musing and lively conversation,
by fits and starts. " Let me have a companion of
my way,” says Sterne, " were it but to remark
how the shadows lengthen as the sun declines.”
It is beautifully said ; but, in my opinion, this
continual comparing of note interferes with the
involuntary impression of things upon the mind,
and hurts the sentiment.
If you only hint what you feel in a kind of dumb
show, it is insipid; if you have to explain it, it is
making a toil of a pleasure. You cannot read
the book of nature without being perpetually
put to the trouble of translating it for the benefit
of others. I am for this synthetical method on a
�78
IN PRAISE OF WALKING
journey in preference to the analytical. I am
content to lay in a stock of ideas then, and to
examine and anatomize them afterwards. I want
to see my vague notions float like the down of the
thistle before the breeze, and not to have them
entangled in the briars and thorns of controversy.
For once, I like to have it all my own way ; and
this is impossible unless you are alone, or in such
company as I do not covet. I have no objection
to twenty miles of measured road, but not for
pleasure. If you remark the scent of a beanfield
crossing the road, perhaps your fellow-traveller
has no smell. If you point to a distant object,
perhaps he is short-sighted, and has to take out
his glass to look at it. There is a feeling in the
air, a tone in the colour of a cloud, which hits
your fancy, but the effect of which you are unable
to account for. There is then no sympathy,
but an uneasy craving after it, and a dissatisfaction
which pursues you on the way, and in the end
probably produces ill-humour.
Now, I never quarrel with myself, and take
all my own conclusions for granted till I find it
necessary to defend them against objections.
It is not merely that you may not be of accord on
the objects and circumstances that present them
selves before you—these may recall a number of
objects, and lead to associations too delicate and
refined to be possibly communicated to others.
Yet these I love to cherish, and sometimes still
fondly clutch them, when I can escape from the
throng to do so. To give way to our feelings
before company seems extravagance or affecta
tion ; and, on the other hand, to have to unravel
this mystery of our being at every turn, and to
make others take an equal interest in it (otherwise
�ON GOING A JOURNEY
79
the end is not answered), is a task to which few
are competent. We must “ give it an under
standing, but no tongue.” My old friend Cole
ridge, however, could do both. He could go on
in the most delightful explanatory way over hill
and dale a summer’s day, and convert a landscape
into a didactic poem or a Pindaric ode. “ He
talked far above singing.” If I could so clothe
my ideas in sounding and flowing words, I might
perhaps wish to have some one with me to admire
the swelling theme ; or I could be more content,
were it possible for me still to hear his echoing
voice in the woods of All-Forden. They had
“ that fine madness in them which our first poets
had ” ; and if they could have been caught by
some rare instrument, would have breathed such
strains as the following:
“ Here the woods as green
As any, air likewise as fresh and sweet
As when smooth Zephyrus plays on the fleet
Face of the curled streams, with flow’rs as many
As the young spring gives, and as choice as any ;
Here be all new delights, cool streams and wells,
Arbours o’ergrown with woodbines, caves and dells ;
Choose where thou wilt, whilst I sit by and sing,
Or gather rushes to make many a ring
For thy long fingers ; tell thee tales of love,
How the pale Phoebe, hunting in a grove,
First saw the boy Endymion, from whose eyes
She took eternal fire that never dies ;
How she conveyed him softly in a sleep,
His temples bound with poppy, to the steep
Head of old Laimos, where she stoops each night,
Gilding the mountain with her brother's light,
To kiss her sweetest.”
—(Fletcher’s “ Faithful Shepherdess.”
�8o
IN PRAISE OF WALKING
Had I words and images at command like these,
I would attempt to wake the thoughts that he
slumbering on golden ridges in the evening clouds;
but at the sight of nature my fancy, poor as it is,
droops and closes up its leaves, like flowers at
sunset. I can make nothing out on the spot : I
must have time to collect myself.
In general, a good thing spoils out-of-door
prospects ; it should be reserved for Table-Talk.
Lamb is, for this reason, I take it, the worst com
pany in the world out-of-doors ; because he is the
best within. I grant there is one subject on which
it is pleasant to talk on a journey, and that is,
what we shall have for supper when we get to our
inn at night. The open air improves this sort
of conversation or friendly altercation, by setting
a keener edge on appetite.
Every mile of the
road heightens the flavour of the viands we expect
at the end of it. How fine it is to enter some old
town, walled and turreted, just at the approach
of nightfall; or to come to some straggling
village, with the lights streaming through the sur
rounding gloom ; and then after inquiring for the
best entertainment that the place affords, to
“ take one’s ease at one’s inn ! ”
These eventful moments in our lives’ history
are too precious, too full of solid, heartfelt happi
ness, to be frittered and dribbled away in imperfect
sympathy. I would have them all to myself,
and drain them to the last drop ; they will do to
talk of or to write about afterwards. What a
delicate speculation it is, after drinking whole
goblets of tea,
“ The cups that cheer, but not inebriate.”
and letting the fumes ascend into the brain, to sit
�8l
ON GOING A JOURNEY
considering what we shall have for supper—eggs
and a rasher, a rabbit smothered in onions, or an
excellent veal-cutlet! Sancho in such a situation
once fixed on cow-heel; and his choice, though
he could not help it, is not to be disparaged. Then,
in the intervals of pictured scenery and shaudean
contemplation, to catch the preparation and
the stir in the kitchen (getting ready for the
gentleman in the parlour), Procul, o procul esti
profani / These hours are sacred to silence and
to musing, to be treasured up in the memory, and
to feel the source of smiling thoughts hereafter.
I would not waste them in idle talk ; or if I must
have the integrity of fancy broken in upon, I
would rather it were by a stranger than a friend.
A stranger takes his hue and character from
the time and place; he is a part of the furniture
and costume of an inn. If he is a Quaker, or
from the West Riding of Yorkshire, so much
the better. I do not even try to sympathize with
him, and he breaks no squares. How I love to
see the camps of the gypsies, and to sigh my soul
into that sort of life ! If I express this feeling
to another, he may qualify and spoil it with some
objection. I associate nothing with my travelling
companion but present objects and passing events.
In his ignorance of me and my affairs, I in a
manner forget myself. But a friend reminds
me of other things, rips up old grievances, and
destroys the abstraction of the scene. He comes
in ungraciously between us and our imaginary
character. Something is dropped in the course
of conversation that gives a hint of your profession
" and pursuits ; or from having some one with you
that knows the less sublime portions of your his
tory, it seems that other people do. You are
F
�82
IN PRAISE OF WALKING
no longer a citizen of the world; but your “ un
housed free condition is put into circumspection
and confine.”
The incognito of an inn is one of its striking
privileges—“lord of one’s self, uncumbered with a
name.” Oh, it is great to shake off the trammels
of the world and of public opinion; to lose our
importunate, tormenting, everlasting personal
identity in the elements of nature, and become
the creature of the moment, clear of all ties; to
hold to the universe only by a dish of sweet
breads, and to owe nothing but the score of the
evening; and no longer seeking for applause and
meeting with contempt, to be known by no other
title than the gentleman in the parlour !
One may take one’s choice of all characters in
this romantic state of uncertainty as to one’s real
pretensions, and become indefinitely respectable
and negatively right-worshipful. We baffle pre
judice and disappoint conjecture ; and from being
so to others, begin to be objects of curiosity and
wonder even to ourselves. We are no more those
hackneyed commonplaces that we appear in the
world; an inn restores us to the level of nature,
and quits scores with society ! I have certainly
spent some enviable hours at inns—sometimes
when I have been left entirely to myself, and
have tried to solve some metaphysical problem,
as once at Witham Common, where I found out
the proof that likeness is not a case of the associa
tion of ideas—at other times, when there have been
pictures in the room, as at St. Neot’s (I think it
was), where I first met with Gribelins’ engravings
of the Cartoons, into which I entered at once,
and at a bttle inn on the borders of Wales, where
there happened to be hanging some of Westall’s
�ON GOING A JOURNEY
83
drawings, which I compared triumphantly (for a
theory that I had, not for the admired artist)
with the figure of a girl who had ferried me over
the Severn standing up in a boat between me and
the twilight. At other times I might mention
luxuriating in books, with a peculiar interest in
this way, as I remember sitting up half the night
to read Paul and Virginia, which I picked up at an
inn at Bridgewater, after being drenched in the
rain all day ; and at the same place I got through
two volumes of Madam D’Arblay’s Camilla.
It was on the 10th of April 1798 that I sat down
to a volume of the New Eloise, at the inn at Llan
gollen, over a bottle of sherry and a cold chicken.
The letter I chose was that in which St. Preux
describes his feelings as he first caught a glimpse
from the heights of the Jura of the Pays de baud,
which I had brought with me as a bon bouche to
crown the evening with. It was my birthday,
and I had for the first time come from a place in
the neighbourhood to visit this delightful spot.
The road to Llangollen turns off between Chirk
and Wrexham ; and on passing a certain point
you come all at once upon the valley, which
opens like an amphitheatre, broad, barren hills
rising in majestic state on either side, with “ green
upland swells that echo to the bleat of the flocks ”
below, and the river Dee babbling, over its stony
bed in the midst of them. The valley at this
time “ glittered green with sunny showers,” and
a budding ash-tree dipped its tender branches in
the chiding stream.
How proud, how glad I was to walk along the
highroad that overlooks the delicious prospect,
repeating the lines which I have just quoted from
Mr. Coleridge’s poems ! But besides the prospect
�84
IN PRAISE OF WALKING
which opened beneath my feet, another also opened
to my inward sight, a heavenly vision on which
were written in letters large as Hope could
make them, these four words, Liberty, Genius,
Love, Virtue, which have since faded into the
light of the common day, or mock my idle gaze.
“ The beautiful is vanished, and returns not.”
Still, I would return some time or other to this
enchanted spot; but I would return to it alone.
What other self could I find to share that influx
of thoughts, of regret, and delight, the fragments
of which I could hardly conjure up to myself, so
much have they been broken and defaced ? I
could stand on some tall rock, and overlook the
precipice of years that separates me from what I
then was. I was at that time going shortly to
visit the poet whom I have above named. Where
is he now ? Not only I myself have changed;
the world, which was then new to me, has become
old and incorrigible. Yet will I turn to thee in
thought, O sylvan Dee, in joy, in youth and gladness,
as thou then wert; and thou shall always be to
me the river of Paradise, where I will drink of the
waters of life freely !
There is hardly anything that shows the short
sightedness or capriciousness of the imagination
more than travelling does. With change of place
we change our ideas; nay, our opinions and feel
ings. We can by an effort, indeed, transport
ourselves to old and long forgotten scenes, and
then the picture of the mind revives again; but
we forget those that we have just left. It seems
that we can think but of one place at a time. The
canvas of the fancy is but of a certain extent, and
�ON GOING A JOURNEY
85
if we paint one set of objects upon it, they imme
diately efface every other. We cannot enlarge
our conceptions, we only shift our point of view.
The landscape bares its bosom to the enraptured
eye; we take our fill of it, and seem as if we
could form no other image of beauty or grandeur.
We pass on, and think no more of it: the horizon
that shuts it from our sight also blots it from our
memory like a dream. In travelling through a
wild, barren country, I can form no idea of a
woody and cultivated one. It appears to me
that all the world must be barren, like what I see
of it. In the country we forget the town, and in
town we despise the country. “ Beyond Hyde
Park,” says Sir Topling Flutter, “ all is desert.”
All that part of the map that we do not see before
us is blank. The world in our conceit of it is not
much bigger than a nutshell. It is not one prospect
expanded into another, county joined to county,
kingdom to kingdom, land to seas, making an
image voluminous and vast; the mind can form
no larger idea of space than the eye can take in at
a single glance. The rest is a name written in a
map, a calculation of arithmetic.
For instance, what is the true signification of
that immense mass of territory and population
known by the name of China to us ? An inch of
pasteboard on a wooden globe, of no more account
than a china orange ! Things near us are seen
of the size of life ; things at a distance are dimin ished to the size of the understanding. We measure
the universe by ourselves, and even comprehend
the texture of our beings only piecemeal. In
this way, however, we remember an infinity of
things and places. The mind is like a mechanical
instrument that plays a great variety of tunes,
�86
IN PRAISE OF WALKING
but it must play them in succession. One idea
recalls another, but it at the same time excludes all
others. In trying to renew old recollections, we
cannot as it were unfold the web of our existence;
we must pick out the single threads. So in coming
to a place where we have formerly lived, and
with which we have intimate associations, every
one must have found that the feeling grows more
vivid the nearer we approach the spot, from the
mere anticipation of the actual impression : we
remember circumstances, feelings, persons, faces,
names that we had not thought of for years ; but
for the time all the rest of the world is forgotten !
To return to the question I have quitted above—
I have no objection to go to see ruins, aqueducts,
pictures, in company with a friend or a party, but
rather the contrary, for the former reason reversed.
They are intelligible matters, and will bear talking
about. The sentiment here is not tacit, but com
municable and overt. Salisbury Plain is barren
of criticism, but Stonehenge will bear a discussion
antiquarian, picturesque, and philosophical. In
setting out on a party of pleasure, the first con
sideration always is where we shall go to; in
taking a solitary ramble, the question is what we
shall meet with by the way. “ The mind is its
own place ” ; nor are we anxious to arrive at the
end of our journey. I can myself do the honours
indifferently well to works of art and curiosity.
I once took a party to Oxford,| with no mean eclat—
showed them that seat of the Muses at a distance,
“ With glistering spires and pinnacles adorn’d,”
descanted on the learned air that breathes from
the grassy quadrangles and stone walls of halls
�ON GOING A JOURNEY
87
and colleges ; was at home in the Bodleian ; and at
Blenheim quite superseded the powdered cicerone
that attended us, and that pointed in vain with
his wand to commonplace beauties in matchless
pictures.
As another exception to the above reasoning,
I should not feel confident in venturing on a
journey in a foreign country without a companion.
I should want at intervals to hea the sound of my
own language. There is an invol ntary antipathy
in the mind of an Englishman to foreign manners
and notions that requires the assistance of social
sympathy to carry it off. As the distance from
home increases, this relief, which was at first a
luxury, becomes a passion and an appetite. A
person would almost feel stifled to find himself in
the deserts of Arabia without friends and country
men : there must be allowed to be something in
the view of Athens or old Rome that claims the
utterance of speech ; and I own that the Pyramids
are too mighty for any single contemplation. In
such situations, so opposite to all one’s ordinary
train of ideas, one seems a species by one’s self, a
limb torn off from society, unless one can meet
with instant fellowship and support.
Yet I did not feel this want or craving very
pressing once, when I first set my foot on the
laughing shores of France. Calais was peopled
with novelty and delight. The confused, busy
murmur of the place was like oil and wine poured
into my ears ; nor did the mariners’ hymn, which
was sung from the top of an old crazy vessel in
the harbour, as the sun went down, send an alien
sound into my soul. I only breathed the air of
general humanity. I walked over “ the vinecovered hills and gay regions of France,” erect and
�88
’
IN PRAISE OF WALKING
satisfied ; for the image of man was not cast down
and chained to the foot of arbitrary thrones : I
was at no loss for language, for that of all the great
schools of painting was open to me. The whole
is vanished like a shade. Pictures, heroes, glory,
freedom, all are fled; nothing remains but the
Bourbons and the French people !
There is undoubtedly a sensation in travelling
into foreign parts that is to be had nowhere else ;
but it is more pleasing at the time than lasting.
It is too remote from our habitual associations to
be a common topic of discourse or reference, and,
like a dream or another state of existence, does not
piece into our daily modes of life. It is an animated
but a momentary hallucination. It demands an
effort to exchange our actual for our ideal identity ;
and to feel the pulse of our old transports revive
very keenly, we must “ jump ” all our present
comforts and connections. Our romantic and
itinerant character is not to be domesticated.
Dr. Johnson remarked how little foreign travel
added to the facilities of conversation in those who
had been abroad. In fact, the time we have
spent there is both delightful and, in one sense,
instructive ; but it appears to be cut out of our
substantial downright existence, and never to
join kindly unto it. We are not the same, but
another, and perhaps more enviable, individual
all the time we are out of our own country. We
are lost to ourselves as well as to our friend. So
the poet somewhat quaintly sings :
“ Out of my country and myself I go.”
Those who wish to forget painful thoughts do
well to absent themselves for a while from the ties
�ON GOING A JOURNEY
o<
and objects that recall them : but we can be said
only to fulfil our destiny in the place that gave us
birth. I should on this account like well enough
to spend the whole of my life in travelling abroad,
if I could anywhere borrow another life to spend
afterwards at home
I
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�
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Victorian Blogging
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A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
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2018
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Conway Hall Ethical Society
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In praise of walking : Thoreau, Whitman, Burroughs, Hazlitt
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Thoreau, Henry David [1817-1862]
Whitman, Walt [1819-1892]
Burroughs, John [1837-1921]
Hazlitt, William [1778-1830]
Description
An account of the resource
Place of publication: London
Collation: 89, [7] p. ; 17 cm.
Series title: Simple life series
Series number: No. 20
Notes: Part of the NSS pamphlet collection. Signature on half-title page: 'E.J. Taylor'. Publisher's list on unnumbered pages at the end. Annotations in pencil. Printed by Butler & Tanner, Selwood Printing Works, Frome and London.
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Arthur C. Fifield
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1905
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N640
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Walking
Nature
Health
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Text
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NSS
Walking
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PDF Text
Text
THE
NEW SYSTEM
or
MUSICAL GYMNASTICS
INSTRUMENT IN EDUCATION.
jA
lecture
DELIVERED BEFORE
THE COLLEGE OF PRECEPTORS,
BY
MOSES
COIT
TYLER, M.A.,
M.C.P.,
^xiiuipnl of tlje bonbon Stljool of ^sitnl fibutalion, Bnnbrr of i^e
gjnericHn gssotiniion for tljr gbbtinrmrni of ^rirnre, Hr.
*' Intellect in a weak body is like gold in a spent swimmer’s pocket tho richer
he would be under other circumstances, by so much the greater his danger now. ’
D. A. Wasson.
LONDON;
WILLIAM
TWEEDIE,
1864;
337,
STRAND.
�A short life is not given us, but we ourselves make it so.”—Seneca,
“ We are weak, because it never enters into our thoughts that we might
be strong if we would.”—Salzmann.
“The first wealth is health. Sickness is poor-spirited, and cannot serve
any one : it must husband its resources to live. But health or fulness
answers its own ends and has to spare, runs over and inundates the neigh
bourhood and creeks of other men’s necessities.”—Ralph Waldo Emerson.
“ I am convinced that he who devotes two hours each day to vigorous
exercises, will eventually gain those two hours, and a couple more into the
bargain.”—Washington Irving.
“ The man who invented cricket as surely deserves a statue to his memory
as he who won Waterloo.”—Archibald Maclaren.
“ The excess of bodily exercises may render us wild and unmanageable;
but the excess of arts, sciences, and music makes us faddled and effeminate :
only the right combination of both makes the soul circumspect and manly.”
—Plato.
“ Surely none the worse Christians and citizens are ye for your involun
tary failing of muscularity.”—Thomas Hughes.
�NOTE.
The following Address was delivered before the College
of Preceptors, at their rooms, in Queen Square, on the
evening of Wednesday, March 7th, 1864, the Rev. Richard
Wilson, D.D., F.C.P., being in the chair.
It was published
in The Educational Times for the succeeding month, precisely
as it appears in these pages.
By the multitude of letters
I have since received from educators in all parts of the
kingdom, I am tempted to hope that its publication in the
present form may be not without good results to the cause
of a wise and generous method of education.
29, Delam ere Terrace, Bayswater,
May 1st, 1864.
a
2
��MUSICAL GYMNASTICS
AS
AN INSTRUMENT IN EDUCATION.
Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen,
The mind of Lord Bacon, brooding over and methodizing all
knowledge within the reach of man, has indicated the boundaries
and the relations of physical culture, in the following sentences which
I extract from 11 The Advancement of Learning:”—“The good
of a man’s body is of four kinds—health, beauty, strength, and
pleasure.” Hence the knowledge that “ concerneth his body is
medicine, or art of cure ; art of decoration, which is called cosmetique; art of activity, which is called athletique; and art
voluptuary, which Tacitus truly calls ‘ eruditus luxus.' ” And after
several paragraphs in exposition of the first two branches of bodily
knowledge, he continues :—“ For athletique, I take the subject of
it largely, for any point of ability whereunto the body of man may
be brought, whether it be of activity or of patience ; whereof activity
hath two parts, strength and swiftness : and patience likewise hath
two parts, hardness against want and extremities, and endurance of
pain or torment. ... Of these things the practices are
known, but the philosophy that concerneth them is not much
inquired into.”
I am quite sure that I do not need to consume the time of my
auditors on this occasion with any laboured arguments to convince
them of the importance of physical culture. Certainly I may be
allowed to take this for granted, that all intelligent educators in
this age are thoroughly persuaded that the body needs education as
truly as does the mind ; that this process of bodily education
should commence and continue with that of the mind ; and perhaps
I may be indulged in the expression of the opinion, that if the
�6
THE NEW SYSTEM OF
general practice does not yet equal the general belief upon this
subject, it is owing to certain inevitable obstructions presented by
the current methods of carrying this belief into effect, rather than
to any lack of sincerity in the belief. If those methods were more
practicable they would be more practised.
At the same time, it has seemed to me that there might be a real
advantage gained if I were to make, as the basis of my address this
evening, a very brief sketch of the historical and literary antecedents
of this important department of education, thereby indicating both
the opinions and the proceedings of other ages and other nations
upon the subject. I shall paint this sketch as a sort of consecrating
background to my picture of 11 The New System of Musical Gym
nastics as an Instrument in Education.”
In searching for the first developments of the art of gymnastics,
we must be content to go to that small but sacred spot of earth,
whither we are obliged to look for the germs of all our science, art,
and song. For, although traces of a crude athletic practice are to
be found among the Hebrews and many of the early Asiatic tribes,
it was in Greece that gymnastic cultivation first received that
systematic attention which raised it to its true rank among the
liberal arts.
The Greek education was divided into two branches, which com
prehended their entire disciplinary method either in youth or
maturity; and these two branches were, gymnastics for the body,
and music (by which they meant the topics presided over by all the
nine Muses, such as history, poetry, mathematics, painting, logic,
rhetoric, &c.) for the mind. They placed the subject of gymnastics
first, and they always kept it first. In their view the education of
the body was in the front, both logically and chronologically. Any
one familiar with the facts descriptive of Greek education related by
Grote, or Thirlwall, or Mitford, will be quite prepared to accept the
statement of the ‘1 Encyclopedia Britannica, ’ ’ which asserts that ‘ ‘ the
Greeks bestowed more time upon the gymnastic training of their
youth than upon all the other departments put together.” The
following sentence from the profound and elaborate work of Mr.
Grote describes the supreme devotion paid to gymnastics in Sparta,
and reflects to a certain extent the prevailing practice of all the
other Hellenic States:—•“ From the early age of seven years,
�MUSICAL GYMNASTICS.
7
throughout his whole life, as youth and man no less than as boy,
the Spartan citizen lived habitually in public, always either himself
under drill, gymnastic and military, or a critic and spectator of
others.” And, in another part of his history, the same distinguished
scholar assures us, that “the sympathy and admiration felt in
Greece towards a victorious athlete, was not merely an intense
sentiment in the Grecian mind, but was, perhaps, of all others the
most widespread and Panhellenic.” And Bishop Potter, in the first
volume of his “ Antiquities,” confirms this by the declaration, that
<£ such as obtained victories in any of their games, especially the
Olympic, were universally honoured, almost adored.” Without
entering farther into details, it may be sufficient to say, that we
have abundant evidence to assure us that the art of gymnastics was
held in the highest honour throughout Greece. It was recognised
and sustained by the State. Solon introduced into his code a special
series of laws for its protection. The art was consecrated by every
sentiment, religious, literary, and domestic. Certain of the gods were
regarded as the peculiar patrons of the gymnasium. The teachers
of morals discoursed of attention to physical exercise as a distinct
virtue, calling it apenj yvpraffriK)], the gymnastic virtue. The
great historic sects in Grecian philosophy took their titles from the
gymnasia, where they were first expounded. Moreover, he who
should excel in gymnastics thereby won high personal distinction
and the most honourable rewards of the State. Thus in the mind
and life of a Grecian in the ancient time, gymnastics entwined
themselves with all his ideas of individual culture and personal
dignity, piety, beauty, health, prowess, literary power, philosophy,
and political renown.
We have not the same temptation to linger over the story of
Roman gymnastics. With regard to the position of bodily culture
in the Roman plan of education, there is the testimony of Eschenberg, who affirms that corporal exercises were viewed by them,
especially in the earlier times, as a more essential object in education
than the study of literature and science. This is a sentence which
glances both ways. It may mean that their devotion to gymnastics
was very great; it may hint that their appreciation of literature
and science, at the period referred to, was very small. However, it
seems evident that, prior to the time of the emperors, the gymnas
�8
THE NEW SYSTEM OF
tics in vogue were of a rude character, having chief reference to the
discipline of military recruits, and to the exigencies of certain
athletic games, like the Consualia. Scientific gymnastics came in
with the importation of other Greek ideas by the conquerors. The
first gymnasium at Rome is said to have been built by Nero. Still
the Greek gymnastics never became thoroughly naturalized and
assimilated among the Roman people. The art seemed a fair but
unprosperous exotic; and after serving a temporary purpose in the
hands of scholars and gentlemen, it subsided into the brutality of
pugilism and gladiatorship, and finally expired in the general wreck
of the Imperial State.
The lost art rose again, after its slumber of centuries, with the
dawn of Chivalry, but in an altered garb and tone. The medieval
gymnastics very naturally took their methods from the chivalric
spirit. Fencing, wrestling, vaulting, boxing, the sword exercise,
horsemanship, and the dance, now held the place in men’s regard
once occupied by the old Greek Pentathlon; and these forms of
gymnastics revived the ancient credit of physical culture, and were
accorded the universal devotion of princes, and noblemen, and poets,
and artists. Tasso, Da Vinci, and Albert Diirer were among the
renowned gymnasts of the period.
From the decline of Chivalry, onward through the sixteenth,
seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries, the practice of gymnastics
fell more and more into disuse; many forms of exercise became
quite obsolete—only the limited methods of sparring1 and fencing
seemed to remain in the memory of educators. The allusions to
gymnastics, scattered through our English literature of the period,
abundantly prove to how slight and contracted a scheme the once
elaborate Art of Gymnastics had become reduced.
But although the practical details of gymnastics may have relaxed
their hold upon human attention, the theoretical standing of physical
culture, in any comprehensive plan of education, was on all hands,
by all respectable writers in the principal languages of Europe, most
abundantly and emphatically asserted. The renowned scholar, J. F.
Scaliger, published at Lyons, in 1561, a work entitled “ The Art of
Gymnastics.’’ Four years later, Leonard Fuchs put forth at Tubingen
a treatise on “ Movement and Repose and, in ten years from that
date, Ambrose Pare issued at Paris a work with the same title. In the
�• y"
9
MUSICAL GYMNASTICS.
same year, at Cologne, Jules Alessandrini published a work in
twenty-three books, called “ The Art of Preserving Health.” And,
tracing the literature of the subject onward through the succeeding
one hundred and fifty years, we find similar productions by Borelli,
Brisseau, Paulline, Stahl, Hoffmann, and Burette. It is pleasant
to find a distinct and very earnest statement of the claims of
physical education in a continental writer who lived before Shakspeare, and whom we happen to know Shakspeare read and loved.
For in a very brilliant essay by Montaigne on the education of
youth, occurs this passage :—“ I would have a boy’s outward
behaviour and the' disposition of his limbs formed at the same time
with his mind. It is not a soul, it is not a body, that we are
training up ; it is a man, and we ought not to divide him into two
parts.”
Turning from the continental languages to our own, we are proud
and grateful to discover that English literature, so rich in philosophy
and poetry, and in the gems of perfect speech, is by no means
behind other literatures in the department of Physical Education.
Let it never be forgotten by us, that the first book ever written in
our English tongue on education was on Physical Education ; and
so long ago as 1540, in the reign of Henry VIII., and by no less
a man than Sir Nicolas Bacon, who is said to have trained
Elizabeth to empire. I have already shown that his illustrious son,
Lord Bacon, did not neglect this alcove of human thought and
knowledge ; and no one at all acquainted with his pages can have
failed to observe how thoughtfully and reverently he considered the
body’s welfare, speaking of “the human organization as so delicate
and so varied, like a musical instrument of complicated and exqui
site workmanship, and easily losing its harmony.”
The next important work in English literature upon this subject,
is Milton’s Tract on Education. In this most eloquent essay, the
great bard defines education as “ that which fits a man justly, skil
fully, and magnanimously to perform all the offices, both private
and public, of peace and war; ” and after recommending a plan
“ likest to those ancient and famous schools of Pythagoras, Plato,
Isocrates, and Aristotle, and such others, out of which were bred
such a number of renowned philosophers, orators, historians, poets,
and princes, all over Greece, Italy, and Asia,” he claims that his
P
�10
THE NEW SYSTEM OF
own method should exceed them, and “ supply a defect as great as
that which Plato noted in the commonwealth of Sparta; whereas
that city trained up their youth most for war, and these in their
Academies and Lyceums all for the gown, this institution of breed
ing shall be equally good both for peace and war. Therefore, about
an hour and a half ere they cat at noon should be allowed them for
exercise, and due rest afterwards. . . . The exercise which I com
mend first, is the exact use of their weapon, to guard and to strike
safely with the edge or point; this will keep them healthy, nimble,
strong, and well in breath; is also the likeliest means to make
them grow large and tall, and to inspire them with a gallant and
fearless courage, which, being tempered with seasonable lectures
and precepts to them of true fortitude and patience, will turn into a
native and heroic valour, and make them hate the cowardice of
doing wrong. They must be also practised in all the locks and
gripes of wrestling, wherein Englishmen were wont to excel, as
need may often be in fight to tug, to grapple, and to close. And
this will perhaps be enough wherein to prove and heat their strength.”
Advancing to the next prominent English writer upon education,
we come to the calm and judicious works of John Locke ; and no
one will be surprised to hear that Locke’s scheme of education
recognized the value of full attention to the development of the
bodily health and vigour.
“ A sound mind in a sound body,” remarks this great philoso
pher in his treatise entitled “ Some Thoughts concerning Educa
tion,” “ is a short description of a happy state in this world. He
that has these two has little more to wish for ; and he that wants
either of them will be but little the better for anything else. Men’s
happiness or misery is most part of their own making. He whose
mind directs not wisely will never take the right way ; and he
whose body is crazy and feeble will never be able to advance in it.”
The foregoing authorities from our earlier English literature are
enough to indicate what I desired to represent—namely, that the
department of Physical Education has an honourable and unquestion
able basis in the recognition of the most illustrious writers of the
English language ; and it will be sufficient for me to add, that every
important, writer on education, from John Locke to Horace Mann
aud Herbert Spencer, has reiterated, in a great variety of forms,
�MUSICAL GYMMASTICS.
1
and with the use of erudition and logical appeal, these earlier claims
on behalf of Physical Education.
I think no one can have accompanied me to the present point in
my address, without having forced upon his mind this thought—
the extraordinary contrast between theory and practice with re
ference to physical culture in our modern systems of education,
especially in England and America. I have just made reference to
our greatest and most influential writers on education, all enforcing
the claims of physical culture ; and yet, when we look at the facts as
they stand before our eyes on every hand, we must acknowledge
that these claims are strangely disregarded. It may seem a very
bold statement, but it has been made by wise and cautious tongues,
that our modern education practically ignores the body, practically
forgets that boys and girls who are its subjects are endowed with
corporeal natures, for the healthful, vigorous, and symmetrical
development of which it is strictly responsible.
I do not doubt the existence of many beautiful and cheering
exceptions to this rule. I know also that these exceptions are
happily increasing. But up to latest dates, the vast majority of
educational institutions, both in Great Britain and America, have
failed to recognize the true position of physical culture in the work
of education. Take London alone. Bringing schools of every grade
into the account, the general rule is, that bodily culture is either
wholly unprovided for, or at best is left to the option of each pupil;
and even when, in exceptional cases, bodily exercise is made impera
tive, the amount required bears no proportion to the efforts made
for intellectual exercise. Now, I most strenuously affirm that this is
not recognizing the true position of physical culture. And I venture
to lay down the proposition, that physical culture will not receive
its true recognition until every school is founded on the creed that
the body is as essentially the subject of its educational care as the
mind, requiring for its development scientific preparation and
earnest conscientious practice ; that physical exercise should not be
left as an optional thing, but should be made an integral part of
every day’s hearty work ; moreover, that this branch of education
should in every instance be conducted by wise, well-educated, and
competent masters, and should be no more committed to the
undirected efforts, to the whims and haphazard experiments of the
n 2
�12
THE NEW SYSTEM OF
pupils, than should geometry or grammar; and consequently, ano
finally, that it is as absurd to establish a school omitting to make
provision for adequate gymnastic education, as it would be to invite
pupils to a school in which no arrangements were made for desks,
forms, chairs, books, pens, maps, or paper. In short, the word educa
tion should be understood to embrace in its operation our entire
nature, mental and physical; both departments advancing together
hand in hand, mutually respectful, helpful, and tolerant. Bodily
culture should be received as an equal and an honoured occupant in
the great Temple of Education, not kept standing upon the door
steps like a shivering beggar, nor thrust down into the scullery as if
it were some servant of dirty work.
But having spoken of the vast and startling discrepancy between
theory and practice in our modern education with reference to phy
sical culture, I hasten to express the opinion that this is a phe
nomenon for which the conductors of schools cannot generally be
censured. I am convinced that it has been chiefly owing to the
low tone of public appreciation upon this subject, whereby school
masters have lacked the encouragement and support of parents in
any efforts to bring this department up to its proper level; and
second, to certain radical faults in the common methods of bodily
culture, which have rendered their general adoption either incon
venient, undesirable, or impossible. I claim the right to bear this
testimony. It is an honest one—not given with any purpose of
empty compliment. It is my constant duty and privilege to be
thrown into conversation with teachers ; and I can truly say that I
generally find them anxious to realize a higher standard of practice
in the department than they have yet attained, but trammelled and
thwarted by these practical difficulties to which I have made
allusion.
Perhaps the fundamental remedy for this is direct and energetic
action upon the general mind of the nation, to inform it more
thoroughly of the reasons for bodily education, and to imbue it
with more earnest convictions as to the duty of parents in sustaining
schoolmasters in their efforts to attend properly to the subject.
We must create a public sentiment for educational gymnastics.
From pulpit and platform and lecture desk and printed column,
there must stream a current of knowledge and influence for physical
�MUSICAL GYMNASTICS.
13
regeneration, which shall place the cause upon its proper basis in
the intelligence and moral sense of the Anglo-Saxon race.
But, as I have already intimated, even when other difficulties are
removed, obstacles frequently occur, arising from the methods of
gymnastic practice commonly used. The old system of heavy
gymnastics, with its fixed beams, bars, ladders, swings, and wooden
horses, requires a considerable outlay for its construction ; but more
than all requires a large room for its occupation. Ours is a civiliza
tion of large cities ; space is precious ; and any system which is to
meet the wants of the time must be so very simple in its machinery
as to be capable of introduction wherever there is standing room.
The civilization of precious space will not be apt to give up room
for bulky systems, no matter how good. The gymnastics must be
adapted to the civilization; the civilization will not adapt itself to
the gymnastics. When, therefore, from want of room or other
cause, teachers have been obliged to forego this heavy system, and
have resorted to the method technically called “ drilling,” as
administered by a “ drill-serjeant,” they have frequently been aware
of a difficulty of the very opposite character, viz., that the method
was too light and apparently superficial, besides soon becoming
monotonous and uninteresting—so obviously inadequate as a means
of physical culture, that they not seldom begrudged the time which
they gave to it.
Accordingly, in very many cases, masters, dissatisfied with both
experiments, have been obliged to content themselves by encouraging
the usual games of the play-ground, if they are so fortunate as to
have a play-ground; although conscious that these sports are by
no means a realization of physical education, and especially that
they do not counteract the worst tendencies of the school-room,
viz., the tendencies to stooping shoulders and narrow chests.
It is at just this angle of thought that I desire to bring to your
notice a new system of gymnastics, which has been devised by an
eminent medical man, and a practical educator of our time, for the
very purpose of filling up this lamentable chasm in our modern
educational practice ; a system which has now undergone the test
of several years’ rigorous experiment, and has come forth from the
trial with success.
This system is at the present time attracting attention in England
�14
THE NEW SYSTEM OE
under the name of 11 Musical Gymnastics.” It was constructed by
Dio Lewis, M.D., of Boston, Massachusetts, a physician and
medical writer of great renown in his native land.
I shall now endeavour to describe to you this very original and
novel system; and to point out several particulars in which it
seems to me beautifully adapted to meet our modern wants.
I shall first attempt a verbal description ; but, as words can but
poorly portray movements so unique as those which constitute this
system, I have brought with me several of my juvenile pupils, who
will present to you, after my lecture, some characteristic specimens
of the method. Let it be said, then, in brief, that the new gym
nastics differ from all preceding systems as regards the apparatus
employed, the mode of the employment, and the results attending
employment. The system discards, at once and totally, the heavy,
complicated machinery of the old gymnasium, and adopts instead
light wooden rings, wooden rods, wooden dumb-bells, and wooden
clubs. None of these implements are attached to post, or wall, or
ceiling ; but each is merely held in the hand when used, and laid
aside when the exercises connected with it are performed. Further
more, the exercises which this simple apparatus involves are
elaborated, with a view to their physiological value, in distinct
sets; each exercise has its own invariable place in the series to
which it belongs; all are adapted to quick and stirring music ;
they combine almost infinite variety with consummate simplicity
and precision; and, finally, they admit of being performed in
drawing-room, school-room, or hall, wherever there is space suf
ficient for outspread arms, in a manner the most graceful, pleasing,
and appropriate.
With your permission, I shall now go over these statements, and
develop them somewhat more in detail.
And, first, concerning the machinery of the new system. There
have been two difficulties in constructing a system of gymnastics
which should be capable of universal diffusion. On the one hand,
if the method was thorough, the apparatus was too elaborate, too
costly, and absorbed too much space; on the other hand, if the
apparatus was simple, the exercises failed in thoroughness, variety,
and prolonged interest. It seems to me that Dr. Lewis’s system
happily and ingeniously reconciles both extremes of difficulty. It
�MUSICAL GYMNASTICS.
15
will not be laborious to prove to you that the apparatus is simple.
One of my boys has brought here to-night, in his hands, four
gymnasiums. The apparatus is so slight and inexpensive, that
the humblest primary school can afford to get them, and can find
room to use them. And with these simple and uncostly implements
are connected a vast multitude of the most varied, powerful, and
graceful movements, bringing into play, under healthful conditions,
every muscle, joint, and member of the human body. Perhaps the
greatest encomium to be pronounced on Dr. Lewis is, that he has
struck a vein which every teacher can go on working without end :
he has indicated a path which leads to perpetual additions of exercise
conceived in his spirit, but presenting constant variety to the pupil.
So much for the apparatus.
Second, concerning the mode of its employment. Under this
head there are several particulars to which I wish to direct your
attention. And the first has reference to a gymnastic principle,
interpreted by a law in mechanics. Momentum is made up of two
factors, weight and velocity. Allowing momentum to remain the
permanent quantity, the greater the weight, the less the velocity ;
and, conversely, the greater the velocity, the less must be the weight.
Passing over to the realm of gymnastics, that term which corres
ponds to momentum is the amount of exertion each one is capable
of putting forth with safety ; and it is plain that if you have heavy
weights, you must have slow movements ; and, on the contrary, if
you would have rapid movements, you must have light weights. It
costs as much effort to pass a light body through the air swiftly,
as it does to pass a heavy one slowly. Now, the more common idea
in our modern gymnastics has been to give prominence to weight.
How many pounds can you put up ? what vast Herculean burden
can you carry ? have been the test questions, and have indicated
the direction of the average gymnastic ambition. But the new
system inverts this order, and seeks to give prominence to the idea
of velocity in gymnastics rather than of weight. It claims that a
better muscular result is obtained by this method. It claims that,
while huge lifting power is quite desirable for those who design
following the profession of a porter, or a hod-carrier, or a coalheaver, it is not so important, for ladies and gentlemen in the more
usual avocations of life, as flexibility, grace, ease, fineness rather
�16
THE NEW SYSTEM OF
than massiveness, poise, perfect accuracy and rapidity of muscular
action, and a general diffusion of muscular vigour. Dr. Lewis is
fond of illustrating the differentia in the systems—on the one hand
of weight, on the other hand of velocity'—by pointing to the van
horse, with his vast though stiff muscles, with his slow, ponderous
elephantine movements, just fit to draw burdens for the world ; and
then to the carriage-horse, with his graceful, airy, elastic step, his
rapid movement, his vivacity, his fineness of nerve and muscle.
What I have just said will serve to indicate the mechanical
principle of the new gymnastics. I must now direct your attention
to its fundamental physiological principle. It adopts the plan of
lively moderate exercises, in opposition to the plan of laborious,
violent, exhausting movements. I believe the idea is becoming
very generally accepted by physiologists, that the muscular system
may be cultivated at the expense of the vital; that a man may
develop a magnificent shell of muscle, and draw away to the surface
the life and power of the interior; that a man may become very
weak by becoming very strong. I need only remind you of the
recent discussion upon this subject in The Lancet, suggested by the
defeat of Heenan.
*
I think a wrong direction has been given to
* “ Those who know what severe training means will, perhaps, agree with us
that Heenan was probably in better condition five weeks before meeting his
antagonist than on the morning of his defeat; although, when he stripped for
fighting, the lookers-on agreed that he seemed to promise himself an easy
victory, while exulting in his fine proportions and splendid muscular develop
ment. It is now clearly proved that Heenan went into the contest with much
more muscular than vital power. Long before he had met with any severe
punishment, indeed, as he states, at the close of the third round, he felt faint,
breathed with difficulty, and as he described it, his respiration was ‘ roaring.’
He declares that he received more severe treatment at the hands of Sayers than
he did from King; yet, at the termination of the former fight, which lasted
upwards of two hours, he was so fresh as to leap over two or three hurdles, and
distance many of his friends in the race. It was noticed on the present occa
sion that he looked much older than at his last appearance in the ring.
“ Without offering any opinion as to the merits of the combatants, it is certain
that Heenan was in a state of very deteriorated health when he faced his
opponent, and it is fair to conclude that deterioration was due in a great
measure to the severity of the training which he had undergone. As with the
mind, so with the body, undue and prolonged exertion must end in depression
of power. In the process of the physical education of the young, in the train-
�MUSICAL GYMNASTICS.
17
the ambition of boys. A vulgar desire has been created to rival
draught-horses, and porters, and the muscular monstrosities of the
circus. The idea has been cherished, that one must do much—
must make vast, straining, depleting exertions. Has not this ten
dency been carried too far ? Especially injurious is this process to
the young. Many a fine fellow at Cambridge and Oxford trains
for the boat-race, and wins heart-disease. Many a fine fellow
carries off the oarsman’s laurels, and expends in that attempt the
vitality which might help him to get any other kind. But hasten
ing from this point, I add, that the new system discards the
acrobatic principle. It makes no provision for ground and lofty
tumbling. It does not invite its disciples to practise locomotion
by rolling over and over; it does not ask them to stand on their
heads, or walk on their hands, or practise any form of personal
inversion or revolution in the air. Those who are fond of acrobatic
gymnastics will of course pursue them. I believe many people who
need artificial exercise have been deterred from gymnastics by their
repugnance to this sort of performance. I need not remind you,
also, that any gymnastic method which makes much of acrobatics,
so far forth excludes the whole female sex from the advantages of
gymnastics. There is but one other point of which I desire to
speak, while attempting to describe the modus of the new gym
nastics ; and that point has reference to the introduction of music,
for the purpose of stimulating and regulating bodily movements.
When I consider the value of music as recognized in dancing and in
military life, I wonder that the importance of making it an essential
and an inseparable element in gymnastics has not sooner attracted
the deliberate attention of educators. In Dr. Lewis’s system music
is made so central a member, that without it we can do nothing.
When the music leaves off, we adjourn.
Having spoken of the machinery and the method of the new
gymnastics, I must say a few words as to the results. One of the
ing of our recruits, or in the sports of the athlete, the case of Heenan suggested
a striking commentary of great interest in a physiological point of view. While
exercise, properly so called, tends to development and health, excessive exertion
produces debility and decay. In these times of over-excitement and over
competition in the race of life, the case we now put on record may be studied
with advantage.”—The Lancet.
�18
THE NEW SYSTEM OF
most precious and honourable of these results is, that the new
system is essentially fitted for both sexes; or, to bring out more
pointedly the idea which I aim to convey, 'while it provides an
elaborate scheme of exercise for man, there is not, within all its
ritual, one exercise which cannot be performed with equal safety,
propriety, and success, by woman. I do not need to insist upon
the immense desirableness of such a result. Surely, if either sex is
to be excluded from gymnastics, let it be ours. Boys and young
men have at least something, in the athletic sports of the playground
and the field, to atone for the loss of scientific bodily culture. If
they lose gymnastics, the loss is not without a species of remedy.
But if young ladies are denied gymnastics, there seems to be abso
lutely no indemnification. Herbert Spencer tells us that near his
own residence is a school for boys and one for young ladies. In
the uproar, the vociferation, the gleeful shouts of the playground,
he was instantly informed of the existence of the former ; but many
months had elapsed, after taking that residence, before he was made
aware that an establishment for young ladies was in full operation in
the very next house, enjoying, too, a large garden overlooked by his
own windows.
*
Among the physiological results of the new
system, I can truly say, also, that a very marked feature is the
symmetry of the muscular development produced. For every
muscle of the body Dr. Lewis has devised movements. No class of
muscles receives attention to the neglect of the rest. The result is
a beautiful, harmonious, complete cultivation of the entire body.
Moreover, a large series of movements are constructed with the
view of counterbalancing the tendencies of our modern life, and
especially of our modern school life, to a depression and narrowing
of the chest, and to the formation of an uncomely roundness upon
the shoulders. One of my pupils, a student in a well-known college
of London, informed me last evening, that, although he has been
under my care but one quarter, his tailor was startled to find the
size of his chest enlarged by two or three .inches. The great peril
of our Anglo-Saxon race is from pulmonary weakness.
Our
* “ Look at the number, still too great, o£ schools,—I beg pardon,—of
Academies, where young ladies are educated within an inch of their lives, per*
fected into paleness, and accomplished into spinal distortion and pulmonary
phthisis.”—'W. B. Hodgson, Esq., LL.D.
�MUSICAL GYMNASTICS.
19
gymnastics should direct their remedial enginery to that quarter.
I can only hint at the peculiar benefit resulting from the habit of
performing all these bodily movements in strict musical time.
Whatever muscular development’ ensues becomes far more closely
associated with the intelligence and will. The whole frame at last
seems embued with the musical principle, vitalized and permeated
by some breath of harmony, grace, and accurate ease. Although
I have by no means brought forward all the important results which
in experience have attracted my notice, I dare not trespass upon
your patience longer than to mention this other one'; namely, the
attractiveness of the new gymnastics to those who practise it. The
new system insists upon being enjoyed, if pursued at all. It seeks
to stir the sources of exhilaration, mirth, enthusiasm. It seeks
to achieve this by the vivacious character of the movements, by the
contagion of perfectly concerted action, and by the delightful stimulus
of music. Of course much depends, also, upon the magnetic
power, the cheerfulness and playfulness of the teacher. I can
honestly testify that when these conditions are complied with, the
new gymnastics rise far above the dreary level of task-work and
monotonous drudgery, and are literally and permanently a pleasure,
they recognize the artistic necessity of touching the play-impulse.
They attempt to inaugurate, during the hour devoted to gymnastics,
a sort of physical jubilee, a carnival of the emotional and vital
powers.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I have thus endeavoured to give you a
verbal account of the new system of Musical Gymnastics; and in
one moment you will have an opportunity of witnessing an ocular
demonstration of it.
I cannot take my seat, however, without expressing the earnest
hope, that the claims of physical education are destined to receive
still more largely the recognition of the public, and especially of
those engaged in the high, sacred, and most responsible vocation of
teaching the young. In his brilliant and deeply suggestive work on
Education, Rousseau has said,—“ Do you wish to cultivate the
intelligence of your pupils, cultivate the power that controls it.
Exercise the body continually ; made it robust and healthy, to
make a. wise and rational individual.” Jean Paul puts a profound
�20
the new system of musical gymnastics.
truth into exquisite imagery, when he says in Titan, that Don
Gaspard, in revising a scheme of education for his son, “had
chosen that more attention should be paid to bodily health than to
mental superfoetation ; he thought the tree of knowledge should be
grafted with the tree of life. Alas, whoever sacrifices health to
wisdom has generally sacrificed wisdom too.”
�APPENDIX.
i.
Remarks
on
Mr. Tyler’s Lecture by Members of
of Preceptors.
the
College
At the conclusion of the foregoing Lecture, Mr. Tyler introduced
a class of his pupils who executed, to the accompaniment of music
on the piano, a variety of movements with dumb-bells, rings, and
wands. The subject was then open for discussion by the meeting,
and the following are some of the remarks elicited as reported in
the Educational Times.
Very excellent speeches also were made by Dr. Hessel and Mr.
Oppier, which are here omitted. In my heart I honoured them
for the patriotic enthusiasm with which, under the mistaken suppo
sition of an attack by me, they came to the defence of “ German
Gymnastics ” as practised by their countrymen at the present day ;
but, as their remarks were based on a misapprehension of my own
meaning, doubtless bunglingly conveyed, I do not think it neces
sary to publish them. So far am I from disparaging what these
gentlemen purposed to defend, that in all my public lectures on
gymnastics I have endeavoured to pronounce an affectionate eulogy
upon the Germans as the foremost of modern nations in devotion to
physical culture, they having lifted it more than sixty years ago
out of the sad limbo of Lost Arts, and having worthily and success
fully cherished it down to the present day.
The Rev. A. Conder said, that he fully concurred with the
Lecturer in the opinion that violent gymnastics, like violent mus
cular exertion of every kind, are most injurious. As a Cambridge
man, he had had many opportunities of observing this ; and it was
well known that those who in early manhood were distinguished for
their skill in athletic sports, too frequently paid the penalty for
their disregard of the laws of health, by premature loss of vigour.
He was acquainted with a large public school in Ireland, in which
�22
APPENDIX.
violent games were at one time very much in vogue; but it was
observed that diseases of the heart became prevalent among the
boys ; and the result was, that the authorities had to prohibit the
objectionable sports. . Mr. Conder thought, therefore, that the
system explained by Mr. Tyler deserved the serious consideration
of all teachers, as it appeared to afford ample scope for the due
exercise of the muscles, without the risk of producing any of the
evils to which other plans often gave rise.
W. B. Hodgson, Esq., LL.D., F.C.P., said, that he had never
listened to a lecture with which he was more pleased than he had
been with Mr. Tyler’s. He had not been impressed so much with
the novelty of the views maintained in it, as with the clearness
with which their soundness had been demonstrated, and with the
constant reference to physiological principles. It was of great
importance to remember that gymnastics deserved' to be carefully
studied, not merely, or even chiefly, for the sake of the body, but
above all in order that the mind may acquire full development and
strength. Some people might decry this doctrine as savouring of
materialism; but it is now universally admitted that it is neces
sary to attend to the health of the brain as a condition of intel
lectual soundness and vigour ; and it scarcely required to be proved
that this admission virtually included the larger proposition, that
the health of the whole body affects the condition of the mind.
Every one must have had opportunities of convincing himself that
this is the fact, and of the truth of Rousseau’s assertion,—“ The
stronger the body, the more it obeys : the weaker the body, the
more it commands.” Dr. Hodgson expressed his concurrence in
the principle laid down by Mr. Tyler, that the object of gymnastics
should be to develop not mere strength, but rather rapidity and
flexibility of movement, of which the exercises that they had seen
performed were admirable examples. The reason for the pre
ference had been clearly stated by the Lecturer, and it depended
on the distinction between muscular force and vital force. These
forces were by no means identical, or even convertible; and the
latter might, and too often was, sacrificed to the other: a serious
mistake, which amounted in fact to the sacrifice of the end to the
means—of life to the instruments of life. For this folly there was
now less excuse than at any former period, since the circumstances
�APPENDIX.
23
of civilized life rarely, if ever, required the exertion of great
physical strength. The speaker said that he had always been a
great pedestrian; and experience had satisfied him that the power
of endurance exerted in walking twenty or thirty miles a day,
depended much more on general good health, and especially on
sound digestion, than on muscular development. With respect to
the exercises which Mr. Tyler’s pupils had gone through, every
one must have been struck with their great diversity, their ele
gance, and their perfect adaptation to the requirements of females
as well as of boys. He trusted that the Lecturer’s system would
be extensively adopted in this country, where there was a great
need for well-devised and regulated physical education. Dr.
Hodgson said he had no wish to discuss the question of originality,
which had been raised, but which was comparatively unimportant.
There could be no doubt, however, that the application of music to
gymnastics was not new; it had been made years ago in the system
known as the Kinder Garten; and the speaker had, six years ago,
seen the girls at the London Orphan Asylum, Upper Clapton, go
through a series of exercises accompanied with music.
F. J. Weigiitman, Esq., of Hollywood School, Brompton, said
that as he had the honour and satisfaction of being the first school
master in this country who had made use of Mr. Tyler’s services
for the instruction of his pupils, and had thus had good opportunities
for observing the results of his system, he wished to make a few
remarks on the subject. And first he would observe, that admir
able as were the exercises which they had seen that evening, they
must not be considered as anything more than fragmentary speci
mens of a complete and carefully progressive system, of which,
consequently, they were altogether incapable of conveying an
adequate idea. As the exercises required close attention and
prompt action, they had considerable value as a means of mental
training, and as aiding in the formation of habits of self-control
and command. The memory especially was brought into a state of
great activity, so that boys were able, with little or no external
suggestion, to go through the whole or a long series of complex
movements in their proper order. Another point was, that the
pupils took very great pleasure and interest in the musical gymnas
tics, which they regarded not as a part of their school work—in
which light drilling was too often viewed by boys—but as a real
�24
APPENDIX.
amusement and relaxation, from which therefore they derived the
greatest possible benefit. The last observation he had to make was
that Mr. Tyler’s system was an excellent introduction to music, by
developing and cultivating the perception of musical time. The
speaker said he had often been much amused by the awkward
attempts of beginners to keep time in their movements. At
first many of them appeared to be quite uninfluenced by the music,
but tried to do what was required by watching and imitating the
movements of the other pupils. This necessarily prevented simul
taneousness of motion, and led to highly laughable consequences.
After a few lessons, however, even those who were the worst in this
respect showed manifest signs of improvement; a new sense seemed
to be awakened in them; and at length their perception of musical
time became fully developed, and they were then able to perform
the whole of the exercises, guided by the music alone. He con
sidered that this, though a merely collateral advantage of the
system, was one of considerable value.
Dr. Brewer, in moving a vote of thanks to the Lecturer, said
that he was sure Mr. Tyler had no intention of giving offence to the
admirers of. German gymnastics, or of attributing to the systems
now pursued in Germany the evils which he had so ably pointed out.
He believed that the Lecturer employed the term “ German gym
nastics ” to designate the system which he condemned merely as a
brief mode of expression, which was justified to a certain extent by
what had at one time prevalent in Germany, without at all intending
to convey the impression that that state of things still existed.
J. P. Bidlake, Esq., B.A., seconded the motion for a vote of
thanks to the Lecturer; and said that although he knew from ex
perience that gymnastics, with the ordinary kind of apparatus,
might be employed without injury, provided due care in superin
tending the exercises were taken, yet he believed Mr. Tyler’s system
was in many respects far preferable, and he intended there fft-e to
endeavour to introduce it into his school.
Mr. Tyler, in acknowledging the vote of thanks, expressed his
obligation to the meeting for the great kindness and attention with
which he had been listened to, and disclaimed any intention to give
offence by the use of the term 11 German gymnastics,” his reason
for employing which had been correctly interpreted by Dr. Brewer.
�£5
APPENDIX.
II.
Notices by
the
Press.
In pursuing my labours as a public lecturer, I have had the satis
faction of presenting the subject of Gymnastics to assemblages of
every class; to the aristocratic visitors on Saturday mornings at
the Royal Polytechnic, to the gentlemen of science and of critical
acumen gathered at the meetings of the Metropolitan Board of
Health Offices, to the learned scholars and the practical educators
composing the College of Preceptors, and finally, to the more
general and popular audiences who sustain the Literary Institutes
of town and country. In chapels, in school-rooms, in lecture halls,
in theatres, and even in the open air, during the last twelve months
have I been trying to preach the ethics of physical regeneration,
and to inaugurate a crusade against the embattled infidelities of
bodily weakness and neglect. These manifold efforts have awakened
in some quarters considerable discussion, among the newspapers
and otherwise.
To those who shall, in this treatise, learn of the new system of
Musical Gymnastics for the first time, it may be interesting to
know somewhat of the voice of public opinion upon the subject, as
echoed in the public journals. I therefore place together, in this
article, a few of these newspaper accounts.
Fi'om The Albion, Liverpool, December 21, 1863.
“ Among the many inventions and devices by which, of late
years, new interest has been given to the pursuit of physical
health by means of exercise, none is more beautiful or useful than
Dr. Lewis’s system of Musical Gymnastics, lately introduced in an
improved form, and with marked success, by Mr. Hulley, at the
Rotunda Gymnasium.
“ The system is peculiarly adapted for ladies, because, while
fully exerting, it does not overtask the strength of the participants,
�26
APPENDIX..
and it has a great charm for all who use it in the variety and live
liness of the exercises of which it consists. The appliances used
are equally simple and ingenious. Amongst them are rings, balls,
bags for throwing, sceptres, and other simple implements. By the
varied use of these, a most complete education of the whole muscular
system is secured ; and by the adaptation of music to the exercises,
a grace and fascination is thrown over them, which every one can
appreciate, but which will be especially valued by those who are
practically versed in the comparative merits of the different methods
of gymnastic education. For its effects on the frame, the new
system has such warm testimonies from principal members of the
faculty as establish it to be fully as beneficial in its results as it is
attractive in operation.
u We hope to hear of the extension of the system to many schools
and institutions. The portability of the apparatus prevents the
existence of any obstacle to its general introduction, and its popu
larity where tried is universal. It is most gratifying to find that,
especially in the higher circles, the importance of gymnastics to both
sexes is now generally recognized. It is not too sanguine to expect
from this reform an absolute renovation of the race in process of
time; and the great encouragement given to Mr. Tyler in London,
is one remarkable symptom of its spread. All who aid in it may
pride themselves that they have done something to banish from
generations yet unborn many of the misshapen forms and languid
constitutions which are a sad testimony to the physical declension
that ensues when morbid habits of inaction are generally indulged.”
F 'orn The Weekly Record, London, July 15th, 1863.
li MUSICAL GYMNASTICS.
11 A large and fashionable audience assembled in the Vestry-hall,
Chelsea, last Monday evening, to listen to an address by Mr.
Moses C. Tyler, M.A., and to witness the exercises of a class of
Mr. Tyler’s pupils in the new system of musical gymnastics. These
gymnastics are entirely novel in their apparatus and methods ; can
be performed with equal success and benefit by ladies, gentlemen,
�APPENDIX.
27
and children; are executed to the accompaniment of music; and are
not only very beautiful and conducive to health, but are also very
attractive to those who engage in them.
“ The chair was taken by George Wallis, Esq., of the Kensington
School of Art, who presented Mr. Tyler to the audience in a very
felicitous speech. Mr. Tyler’s address was devoted to the impor
tance of scientific physical culture, and to an explanation of the
peculiar features of the new system of which he is the introducer in
London. At its conclusion the platform was cleared, and a fine
class of boys from Hollywood School, Brompton, took their places
on the stage, and presented a succession of exercises which they had
been taught. Their execution of these movements was in concert,
and with musical accompaniment, and produced the greatest delight
and enthusiasm in the spectators, who expressed their approbation
by rounds of hearty applause. The exercises were, indeed, very
exciting and picturesque, and must have a fine effect on the health
and forms of all who practise them. They realized the description
applied to them by the New York Times :—‘ They are poetry in
motion, and motion set to music.’
“ After these exercises had been given, brief speeches were made
by Mr. Weightman, Master of Hollywood School, bearing testimony
to the success of these gymnastics among his pupils ; by B. Water
house Hawkins, Esq., the distinguished anatomist, whose eloquent
approbation of the new system, from the stand-point of scientific
observation, electrified the audience ; by Dr. Woolmer, of Warwick
square, who expressed his views as to the importance of bodily
culture, and his endorsement of the method which had been pre
sented ; by Mrs. Bessie Inglis, the accomplished lecturer, whose
address was admirable in thought and diction; and finally by Mr.
William Tweedie, who gave an account of his interest in physical
education, and of his acquaintance with the gymnastic system which
had been presented that evening, and who concluded by moving a
vote of thanks to Mr. Tyler for his address, and to the members of
Hollywood School for their brilliant part in the doings of the
meeting.
“ A vote of thanks to the Chairman, Mr. Wallis, was also heartily
carried.
“ The audience separated at a late hour, apparently highly
�28
APPENDIX.
delighted. Among the distinguished persons present we observed
the intellectual face of Elihu Burritt, ‘the learned blacksmith,’ who
seemed intensely interested, but whose delicate condition of health
prevented his taking any active part in the meeting. As a whole,
the meeting was a rare and striking success.”
From the Marylebone Mercury, January 1864.
11 METROPOLITAN ASSOCIATION
OF
MEDICAL
OFFICERS
OF HEALTH.
<{ The usual monthly meeting of the above association was held
at the Scottish Corporation Hall, Crane Court, Fleet Street, on
Saturday, the 16th inst., Dr. Thomson, F.R.S., president, in the
chair.
11 Physical Training.—Mr. Moses C. Tyler, M.A., who was
present for the purpose of exhibiting by means of some of his
pupils his system of physical training for schools, said that his
mode of training claimed to be a compact and simple method of
physical culture. He could only give a few samples, and those of
the simplest nature, although whole schools could go through a
similar course, and the usual accompaniment was a piano. A half
dozen youths were then introduced, and to the chiming of a bell
and the beating of a drum passed through a number of very grace
ful exercises with dumb bells, rings, and wands. Mr. Tyler at the
conclusion said that the object of his system was, by exercise, to
develop the whole of the muscles of the body, and that it was
adapted equally for the strongest men or the most delicate ladies ;
and he would take the liberty of mentioning one result that his
system had accomplished. He had been told by masters of schools
where it was introduced, that that which before had been looked on
as a mere mechanical effort was now viewed as a pleasing recreation.
Another of the advantages would, he believed, be that it would do
away with the tendency to round shoulders, which prevailed among
bitli girls and boys, by the bending over the desks to their lessons.
Mr, Liddle said he thought he might express the thanks of the
association to Mr. Tyler. So far as he (Mr. Liddle) had seen of
the system, it appeared to recommend itself for general adoption.
�APPENDIX.
29
There was nothing- violent in it, or likely to strain the muscles ;
and it would give health and physical development to both boys
and girls. He would move that a vote of thanks be given. Dr.
Druitt seconded. The Chairman said that he thought the system
highly deserving of encouragement. Dr. Lankester had no doubt
that it would be beneficial. The vote was carried unanimously.”
From the City Press, March, 1864.
il London Mechanics’ Institution.—On Wednesday, M. C.
Tyler, Esq., M.A., gave a lecture on the 1 Art of Gymnastics,’
which was received with the approbation that it well deserved.
Mr. Tyler pointed out the anomaly that, of those ancient
nations whose intellectual works remain as models in literature,
the Greeks, Romans, &c., actually devoted more time and space to
the due training of the body than to mental culture, whilst most
modern nations, until a very recent period, had neglected the mus
cular arts, or had caused them to become matters of reproachful
tendency. The energy and effective address of the lecturer placed
the cause in a favourable point of view, and having successfully
pleaded the necessity for muscular exercise and recreation, he
showed how, by musical accompaniment, the graceful motions im
parting muscular power could be made most acceptable to childhood
and to classes. Mr. Tyler received and deserved the thanks of the
audience for his manly and patriotic influence in favour of judicious
exercises and games.”
From the Standard, February 8th, 1864.
11 Royal Polytechnic Institution.—The third fashionable
morning entertainment was given on Saturday, February 6th.
Among the novelties presented, was a lecture on ‘The Art of
Gymnastics,’, by Moses Coit Tyler, Esq., M.A., illustrated by
twelve of his pupils.
This is a very interesting exhibition,
abounding in graceful evolutions by the pupils. Mr. Tyler’s system
�30
APPENDIX.
repudiates the course of gymnastics which prevailed some years
ago, by which many boys were seriously injured. By his plan, the
exercises are so regulated that females may adopt the system with
out any fear of injury from violent contortions of the body. Mr.
Tyler’s accompanying address on the importance of gymnastic
training as promoting physical health was very striking.”
The Morning Advertiser (Feb. 2) describes the exercises as
11 exceedingly graceful, manly, and beautiful;” the Morning Star
(Feb. 2) as “at once attractive and useful as a means of physical
development;” the Daily News (Feb. 2) as “something won
derful.”
From the Whetstone Circular, March 12, 1864.
“Working Men’s Institute.—Mr. Tyler’s lecture on 1 Gym
nastics, Ancient and Modern,” on Thursday evening last, was
deservedly well attended. We went to get an idea worth carrying
out, and we got it. The development of the intellectual to the
neglect, and to a certain extent at the expense, of the physical
energies of youth, has hitherto been sadly the rule in all our
systems of education ; but in Musical Gymnastics we find a remedy
which cannot be gainsayed. How shall we enumerate the advan
tages of the system ? The expense of its accessories is trifling,
and the space for earning it out can be found in any school-room
of moderate dimensions. Moreover, parents cannot object to the
system, seeing that their boys and girls can all engage in it, for its
movements do not require turning over on heads and heels, or
vaulting on each other’s shoulders. Active motion without severe
bodily exertion; muscular, as an aid to vital action; endless
change of position; and the calling into play every joint and muscle
of the limbs by turn, are its principal features.”
�APPENDIX.
31
From the Bethnal Green Times, March 26tli, 1864.
PEEL GROVE INSTITUTE.
11 Mr. Moses Coit Tyler, M.A., the celebrated Professor of Gym
nastics, gave a highly interesting lecture at the above institute on
Monday evening, March 21st.
“ The lecturer gave a historical sketch of the gymnastic art, and
quoted the opinions of eminent men concerning it, and concluded
by exhibiting his new system, which is evidently far in advance of
any other, with a class of boys who have been under his training.
The audience was no more spell-bound by the graceful evolutions of
these lads, all of which were performed t,o music, than they were by
the lecturer’s eloquence and forcible rhetoric. Their fixed eye, their
riveted attention, and oft-repeated bursts of applause, were sufficient
to show their appreciation of the speaker’s delineation. •
“ Mr. Tyler’s genius is well directed towards awakening an in
terest in the neglected subject of physical culture. In his hands it
is sure to revive. We wish the gifted lecturer and his good work
abundant success.”
III.
The Gymnastic Club at Regent’s Park College.
The following expression, as the latest one received from the
different institutions with which I am connected, I append for the
value it may have to those who are interested in the practical
working of the new gymnastics as an educational process :—
“ Regent's Parle College,
11 April 19th, 1864.
11 Dear Sir,* —I have been requested by the Members of the
Gymnastic Club at Regent’s Park College, to express to you
their satisfaction and pleasure in receiving1 the course of exercises,
through which you have led them, this last quarter. They would
specially notice the interesting character given to the practice by
the introduction of music.
�32
APPENDIX.
“ They already feel the benefit of these exercises, and are
persuaded that, if persevered in, they cannot fail to accomplish
their object in training all the muscles to a prompt and vigorous
action, and so in promoting a sound physical culture.
11 With warm assurances of regard, and with grateful acknow
ledgments of your kind attention,
“ I remain,
“ Yours very truly,
“ James Sully,
“Hon. Sec.
£i Moses Coit Tyler, Esq.”
�
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Victorian Blogging
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A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
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2018
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Conway Hall Ethical Society
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The new system of musical gymnastics as an instrument in education: a lecture delivered before the College of Preceptors
Creator
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Tyler, Moses Coit
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Place of publication: London
Collation: 32 p. ; 21 cm.
Notes: From the library of Dr Moncure Conway. Appendix includes remarks made on Tyler's lecture by members of the College of Preceptors. The Address was delivered before the College of Preceptors, at their rooms in Queen Square, on the evening of Wednesday, March 7th,1864, the Rev. Richard Wilson was in the chair. It was published in the Educational Times in April 1864.
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William Tweedie
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1864
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G5198
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Education
Health
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Text
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English
Gymnastics
Physical Education