The Massachusetts spy, and Worcester County advertiser. [volume] ([Worcester, Mass.]) 1825-1831, 1830-04-28
WHOLE NO. e97s.
From the Journal of Health.

sdtirlst, Whlcn maxim may be paraPhased In the
words Of another poet:
cts the great art of life TO manage well
The restless mind"
These maxims are most strictly true It is Of
the highest importance to health, to preserve
the tranquility of the mind, and not to sink
under the dlsappointments of life, or give way
to the turbulence of the passions; for nothing
| Injuries more the nervous system, and more ef-
fectually impairs the digestive powers of the
stomach, than the influence Of the various men,
tai affections, such as fear, grief, anxiety, dis
appointment, anger, despair, rage, or any other
violent passion, whether sudden, or attended by
protracted painful sensations. When they be-
the body in various ways-chiefy by their i'm
preston upon the nervous system, and by their
accelerating or retardng the circulation Of the
blood, and the various secretions.
| From the influence of the passions upon the
system, when they are allowed to escape from
under the control of reason, a large proportion
| of the most dreadful diseases to which human
| nature is subject, originate. They increase,
also, the malignity Of disease, change its ordi
| nary course, and aggravate it by q thousand in
cidental evils. During the prevalence of cpl
denies, they augment, in very considerable
/ degree, the susceptibility to an attack.
! But, while the indulgence of the passions in
J Jures, in various ways, the health both of the
body and the mind, calm, contented, cheerful
| disposition, is invariably fruitful source of
health. Looking at the favorable side of things,
as Father Paul hath it, causeth " our little to
prosper )" and, Independent of the other advan-
/ tage afforded by equanimity of temper, we are
assured, by Lord Bacon, that I" a cheerful tone
! of mind helps digestion more than is imagined"
and all are aware of the saying of the wise king,
A merry heart doeth good like medicine,
but broken spirit drieth the bones" The
stimulus of the joyous and gently exciting pas
( sions, in suspending the incpen: symptoms of
various diseases, is often almost miraculous
while, during the course Of severe and pro-
tracted complaint, favorable or unfavorable
| issue is often mainly determined by the nature
of the mental emotions INDUCED in by the pa
| tient.
For the due preservation and enjoyment of
health, " observe fair play between cares and
| pastmes-ncrease all your natural and healthy
enjoyments-cultivate your evening fireside, or
domestic circle-the society of your friends
| the company of agreeable children-music and
amusing beoks-an urbane and generous gal
lantry. He who thinks any innocent pastime
! foolish, (none but the innocent can be healthy
has yet either to grow wise, or is past it. In
the one case, his notion of being childish, is it
| self childish notion. In the other, his impor-
lance is of so feeble and hollow cast, that he
burst not move for fear of tumbling to pieces"
| This is doctrine agreeable to reason, and has
! received the sanction of the best and wisest
| men. Neither Scipio Lalius, nor the Grand
I Pontif SceVola, thought it beneath their dig.
! nifty to play at ducks and brakes by the water
| side, for their amusement
JAPAN. Extracts from Letters from Bos-
ton Merchant" who has visited Japan-pub.
lished in the Boston Courier.
| Japan is as populoHs as an old cheese, and il
| is cultivated like garden. Botanists complain
of the scarcity of all but the useful and cult.
waited plants; all others are considered weeds,
and eradcated as our farmers grub up shrub
oak. The inhabitants have various WAYS of re-
ducing the census, the most judicious of which
| is to strangle their infants, when earthquakes
1 have grown so untrequent that there are more
mouths than penny loaves. For there are no
| wars, as in Europe, wherein the surplus vaga-
bonds may be expended How would their
wise men marvel at our policy and power of
multiplying the population, especially in Ohio
| and States westward The learned of Japan
say that they have no accurate data for cor
rect census; and that they might as well try to
count the birds on the trees as a people with so
many thousands, without house or home, set
Element or parish. Jeddo, they say, has ten
millions, and l think it can have little less.
They say that the official returns give in the
main streets two hundred and eighty thousand
houses, with an average of more than thirty
| people to house. The very blind amount to
thirty-six thousand. This gives town about
one hundred and forty times as large as Boston.
Meaco, which is a small town in comparison,
has according to Kemfer two million six hum
dred thousand people.
| These people make no use of the flesh of an.
imas that are employed in labor, so that good
beef is not in repute and, in fact, little animal
food is eaten. The chief and favorite food is
rice and vegetables, though the priests indulge
in animal food As there are few cattle, there
is neither milk, nor butter, nor cheese and
sheep, goats, and hogs are seldom kept. But
the Japanese eat all the sea produces, which
are the more esteemed, if they have lain for a
week dead upon the shore. The dress of the
people is uniform, and has been SO for ages, SO
that good garment for state occasions may
serve great many generations. Ii is not 50
here, lBoston,l whore the fashion of coat
changes before the tailor is paid. A common
| soldier Is sort OF prince over all but his COM
rades The soldier is paid, as are all paid, by
those who cultivate the soil, and he is migrate
ful enough 10 Cypress his paymaster. The pay
ment is IN rice, which Is sort Of circulating
medium. The soldier is as much above the
proper grade as the husbandman is below it.
There are great many Monks and religious
refuses, who live in celibacy, perhaps in chas-
tlty, and endure penance from choice. They
seem TO dlstTust their own power Of resistance,
and therefore permit no females to approach
their dwellings,. ! saw female devotees, dress
ed like nuns, affecting an air Of modssty that
sat gracefully upon them,-if they were mod
est indeed, common fame owes them reparntion
for injustice. The religion ofFo is gaining fol-
lowers. 1t includes belief that all men and
beasts have souls that are mmortal-that there
is distinction between good and evil, and that
bad men after death will animate the bodies Of
some brute, whom living they most resemble,
be it dog, fox, wolf or hyena. In country
whose laws are :he will of one man, and whose
will IT mast be that his favorites live in splen-
dor, there are many poor; and the beggars are
body SO large that IL seems strange they do
not rob. The dogs too, as in some villages in
New England, are more numerous than the