The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1855-08-23

a. 3
and feeling sober after it as before it, and with
al very comfortable and jolly with friend, he
fancies another will make him more so, or do
him no harm. So another ne takes, and he
goes TO bed late, as sober as a Judge, and con-
graduating himself on his prudence in stopping
in good time. But what is the grog about?
1t is great hypocrite, that grog, or rather
merely follows the law of its own nature, which
deceives only the ignorant and the obdurate.
So long as the grog is merely in the stomach,
it does no harm ct all. 1t lies there Just as
water might lie. 1t must be taken up by the
absorbents of the system before it takes full
effect. 1t must 90 into the blood, and scald 1t,
and fire the brain and this process sometimes
occupies several hours. Hence, the man who
goes to bed sober with a couple Of glasses of
grog, often rises in the morning with al into
cradle headache, which continues all the day.
His whole system has been debilitated by the
subtle poison. His legs are weak, his arms are
weak, his brain is irritated. He has lost, per
haps, week in night, aud he viii never r.
cover it. II is ike spent noney-it never comes
back to the purge. A nan who is never guilty
Of such a folly, is q man who economies h;e.
The body always tells US when we have drunk
too much, or what Is not beneficial and We
should follow its advice. Surely no language
can be palmer than q headache. A man who
quires medical man, who is merely respect
able sort Of keeper to one who Is not in his
right mind. 1t is not 50 easy 70 discover what is
good or bad in solid food, nor is it easy to
change it when we make the discovery: but
whenever food rises in the stomach, the stOm-
ach is speaking TO us, and we ought to listen,
or we shall certainly suffer. In due time, head
aches will be the result; the liver is oppressed,
and cannot fulfill its functions. We have intro
duced more into our bodies than can be conve-
niently disposed Of Every part receives some
of the unwecome and ohtruSive matter. 1t is
forced into the absorbents, which would rather
be without it. The blood is unwillingly COM
PEELED to take a part of it; the brain feels the
effect of the gross and poisonous infusion; the
circulation is impeded; the heart feels it, and
labors harder to do its allotted work. The
whole system is enfaebled. We produce the
effect of old age by persisting in this habit, and
the consequence is, that we shorten life. In
stinct teaches the lower animals to abstain
from food in such circumstances. But instinct
Is weak in man, and he may live thirty or forty
years before he discovers by reason what cat
learns by instinct IN a month.
Excess has its opposite too little has It's
symptoms rs well rs too mach. The body flags
for want Of stimulus; it loses warmth, it loses
energy and if we find that more food restores
both, and brings comfort, then more food is
wanted. COrnaro, by dint of constant attention
to the condition of his body, and by subjecting
his appetite for food 10 his appetite FOR health,
discovered that twelve ounces Of solid food and
fourteen ounces Of wine we're better adapted
for Lis constitution than any other measure.
bis friends long urged him TO take more, ard
at last he Yielded, and increased the quantity
to fourteen ounces of food and sixteen ounces
of wine. But he says, "This augmentation OF
food was so injurious to me, that from being
very cheerful : became sad and dispirited
everything veAed me; got angry at TRIES,
and no one could live with me. AT the end of
twelve days had violent pain in my stomach,
which continued twenty-four hours. 1t is I'M
necessary 10 ask if they despaired of my life,
or if they repented the advice they had given
me- The solid food consisted of bread, soups,
yolks Of eggs, and meat. Bot COrnaro had no
heavy labor TO perform, and this portion for
him is not portion for all. Every man should
endeavor to discover his own maximum and
minimum allowance, and adhere to it. He will
find health IN so doing.
The younger a man is, the more he may eat
at time, and the less frequently. Cornaro ate
twice a day in youth; in old age, four times
This is wise; there is labor in digestion Old
age is exhausted with full meals; they are Elk
cessive labor and exercise. To eat as the birds
eat, little and often, is best for very young and
old people; they are both weak in digestion.
Bnt certain regularity is suitable for man;
he is constitutionally fitted for it. Even birds
take a rest, and children 20 to sleep in the
daytime Man makes compromise, and estab-
fishes a system Of routine which serves the
same purpose. The quantity is not alone to be
considered, but the mode and the time of ia
king it.
Cornaro always avoided extremes OF heat
and cold he never took violent exercise he
abstained from late hours he never lived in
places where the air was bad and he constant
y avoided being exposed 10 violent winds, and
to extreme heat Of the sun. he was prudent,
calculating man, who lived by rule. We can
not say that we admire him as a model, nor
DO we relish the idea of bondage to weights
and measures of food and beverage but good
lesson of temperance aud moderation mar ba
learned from his experience +; and if long life il
regarded Gs a blessing, it may be enjoyed ty
pursuing a course that approximates to his
Mere long life is less to be desired than the
health that contributes to it. Luther said he
would not live even fifty years longer for the
crown OF the German empire and there are
very few men whose relationships are such as
10 make life pleasant prospect; bat death is
always an abhorrent fact, and health is aiwaTs
pleasant, and death IS always easy in old age,
tiers it-death at last being merely the contn.
uation and fixture of the last dream. Longevi-
ty has always been regarded as blessing; and
were the health well preserved by prudence,
and the body well provided for in a comfortable
home it would always be a blessing. But in
modern competitive city life, it rarely is even
the rich are burdened, the poor are neglected:
and old people are in the way Of the Young,
who want their money if they have saved any,
and their room if they have saved none.
Rent-that modern word rent that an eastern
patriarch could acknowledgements an old
man his little bedroom ten or twelve feet
square; and the poor dependent feels, that
however much he breads the final wooden box,
it might be better for all parties if he were
transferred to 1t. 1t is time to 60 when we are
Of use to nobody. But Cornaro was a merry
Did fellow, and these alone are the fellows TO
whom old age is blessing. "What am 90
ng to say" exclaims the old man, "will an
pear impossible, or hard to believe nothing,
however, is more true; it is a fact known to
many persons, and worthy of the admiration Of
'osterity. L have attained my ninety-ffth year,
md Ind myself as healthy, merry, and happy, as
L were bat twenty five" This is as it should
De, and as it viii be when the world is young
lgain. In the rich prophetic descriptions Of
he regenerated earth, it is particularly stated
hat the old men will fiji up the measure Of
heir days, and even Join in the dance with the
'oung men and maids. They will be wise then;
hey will not have wasted themselves either
With excess of eating and drinking, or of mental
md bodily labor they viii have studied health
IS well as wealth. and discovered what the true
rt of living really is.-Blackloood.
SLAVERY VS.. MErHoDIsN-In many sections