Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1831-10-04
From, The Boston Courier.

CouroRr.-It is said th1t no other language
furnishes a word capable of expressing what an
Engi;shman means by Comfort" Peculiar
hless,nps are coupled with equally singular disad-
yantaues, and it may be doubted. as a counter
poise, whether any other countryis SO well pro-
yided with the means of becoming uncomfortable.
We shall not-undertake to decide whether we
should be most thankful tor the opulence oi our
language or that Of our climate; or 10 weis" inc
barometrlcal table against DIR. Weostets quarS
dictionary. for il ight lead to discussion, which
.,o,,IJ evonorate in words, and words are wind
of which commodity we may be thankful that
we have enough. and also that we have no more,
unless Eolus will try another pipe IN his bag IL
beseems wise men to look after the best manner
Of $. becoming what is in that word comfort. as
FaIstaff would say. These are various. 1t IS
comfortable to sit all day by Leh'sh grate' out
then the gas is though deleterious 1t IS cues.
ton whether it is judicious to toast the heels al
the sacrifice of more delicate organs. 1t IS COM
Portable to lounge all the evening before Frank
lin stove, or a fire place of ancient dimensions,
but then wood fwould it were nOt) is eight dol
lars per cord, an uncomfortable price, to say no
thing of the dealers commission ut two feet. II
10 comfortable to have i furnace in your cellar.
and every room aud passage filled with hot AR;
but then one is obliged to learn the stops anu
mines with as much care as he does those OF an or
gan. and if he is on the hOuse-top he must 60
down 10 keep the stea m up; besides these intense
heats - down below" sometimes excite unpiea'
SAINT associations, and it is lar more com'ortaDie
to kick off pettishness, Or poke away laZ'ness'
without travelling out Ut the room. It's com!or'
table also to exercise in the morning Or evening;
but then while the body only ''sanss the gait
Of walker, the nose apt to run. and thus even
e Il. 10 riya cd
by the uncomfortable differences between these
extremities. 1t would also be comfortable to
walk on horseback, as the polite gauls say, were
| it not that the power is applied directly 70 the
BODY, and the body only derives the beneht,
which leaves room for considerable GOODNESS be-
tween 8. the belly and the members"
la short, there are innumerable methods OF
! beng comfortable, but, to the unntlated, they
are So bound up IN disadvantages that few know
what it is, or whether they have obtained the
desderatum; and many have actually gone out OF
this breathing world under the mistaken supPo-
sitlon that they had enjoyed 1t all their lives,
when, in reality, they have expired through Isnor-
ance, actually died by mistake, and before their
I time. for want of little comfort. Now, comfort
does not consist in walking. or riding, or running;
sitting standing, or lying; IN eating or drinking;
nor in any exercise, mental Or manual; nor IN
heats, external or internal; fires bitummous, or
anthracite. or liquid. All these are nothing, when
taken by themselves; man may have each OIL
these, and all of them, and vet be as unc0mforta,
BILE as yirginity of fifty winters growth. They
cannot make men comfortable, for they, alone,
are not the true elixir; sit is not of ourselves
that we are thus or thus" or any other way,there
is still something wanting; 9 there's divinity
that shapes our ends,'' without which We are no
thing and nobody, and with which we are every
thing. for we are-comfortable. Enivened BY
ITS cheering influences, Alexander the Great
would never have died drunkard, the heart oil
Brutus would have relented, the face OF Casslus
shortened, and perhaps even the body OF Cesar
resisted the blow :" the enyious Casca made. y
Had he possessed this simple remedy, Ilmon,
although deserted by all his friends, would not
have departed from Athens IN nakedness; Falls
taft would not have been 80 gross. nor Hamlet 50
crazy, nor Othello so jealous. To descend to
later times, where this blessing is now bestowed
and all may have it-mcn defy cramps and
agues, and all the ills denounced by Caliban,
| can the infections that the air sucks up
From boys, fens, fats"
and even gust fresh from the banks of New
foundand Supported by this, although without
a siypeuce in his pocket, man can never want a
garment for his back; nay, men can smile though
banks never discount; men can grow portly, and
obesity stop at proper aldermanic size; health
abides with all, even in their own despite; men
devour, and fear no dyspepsy; dilute. and fear ne
dropsv live to laugh at the doctor, and finally &C
off, like the guest Of Hostess Quickley, playing
with flowers, smiling upon their fingers ends
and babbling Of green fields. Is not this the
9. friend in need" Pythas was not such to Da
mon. And when to this catalogue Of virtues, WI
add that it is as smooth as the tongues Of fatter
ers, as soft as lovers whispers, tender as tl,,
palm of beauty, can any "man Of woman born
deny his obligations to- if he has it, or resist thu
desire to obtain, if he has It not,-a FLANNEL
SHIRT!
This IS the true secret; this is what all mer
hunt after: this is the only lawful, legitimate
true synonyme for comfort. Men may exist with
out it for time like towards that die many times
they never live to the end of their days; but WITT
il they live while they live, and last as long as {
tanner afterwards. Enjoyed in its perfection
the
soul hath her content so absolute,
| That not another comfort like 10 this
aJs ,tou fate