Indiana American. [volume] (Brookville, Ind.) 1833-1861, 1855-05-18
G0ufation.
"Three Hours School a Day

That there is something wrong in
our mode Of living is certain, for we
have at length become nation Of in
lids.
1t is the climate, say many; the
race is not acclimated yet on this new
continent. But no. our horses enjoy
excellent health. though hey are. not
more aboriginal here than we, their
rational masters. Our Alderney cows
do not degenerate; they lind our grass
digestible. our air salubrious. our wa
ters wholesome; and, il we would let
them. they would placidly live out all
their days. bearing many calves. and
not minding it. and those calves wo'd
gros up to be as good cattle as their
parents. We have not heard that
Durham bulls tear up American sods
with less abounding force Of vitality.
or range following over the plains
with less power oflung and limb. than
their forefathers did in the pasture Of
Durham. The cock, a bird Of Orien-
tial origin, crows Justify and with Joy
ful heart on these, our western zigzag
fences; as good a cock. we venture
TO say. as he before whose thrice re-
pested crow the conscience stricken
Peter quailed. Our dogs. cats and
canary birds, whose ancestors. like
our own, were immigrants, bark.
bite. leap. sing. ivs as perfectly as
their brethren IN Newfoundland, Kill.
kenny and the Canary Islands.
II is not the climate. Only man de-
teriorates here. and man is the most
adaptable ofall human creatures
We have as good a climate. as any
people have. or need to have; better
climate than that of Italy. or Eng
land. or Denmark. 1t is n kind Of
Of blasphemyto say. it is Gods elm
ate that makes US sick and not our
own folly. What one entire continent
Of Gods creation unfit for human resi-
dence!
Yet here before us isa book. the
author of which can safely use such
language as this:-"Does any one say
] am extravagsnt in my positions and
premises? Let that one bring me
person over twenty-one. born in the
State Of New York, who is heolthy.-
When he does that. / will talk with
him." The Individual can not be pro-
duc.d.
Towering aloft toward the stars.
the palaces of our pill-makers and
sarsparilla-venders. stand. proofs and
Of nur imbecility.. Pale
people are allowed to enter and gaze
At their gorgeous fittings and elegant
upon paying the price
of one box Of pills. We are reduced
to the cruel necessity Of earning our
dinners twice over, once to get them.
and again, tog get them digestcd. Some
thing like fifteen hundred thousand ar
tiicisl teeth are annually inserted IN
American mouths. though the natural
teeth are the hardest Of animal SUBJ
stance. and seldom decay until the
very core Of our beingis diseased
Why should American citizens begin
to rot before they get into their graves
out Of sight? We walked down
yesterday afternoon from
Union Square to Canal street-a mile
and a half Of human beings crowding
from church-and we saw but one
man who even had the took Of perfect
health, and he was black. and but one
woman. and she was Dutch. and wore
NO bonnet.
In the country. too. the blessed coun-
try, where the trees are and the hills.
q healthy man Is rare. q healthy young
man rarer. a healthy woman Iarest Of
all. And the children -. II is
with us as with the apples Of an un.
skillfully kept orrhard; half Of the'blos.
SONS never come TO fruit: half Of
the apples fall of before We can cay
they are apples; hale the survivors rot
before taey ripen; and In the heart OF
those that cling longest to the tree.
there is an embittering and blackening
worm.
Something wrongl There is indeed
something wrong-something very
wrong-s6mething unspeakably wrong
something more wrong than there
ever was before! For We announce to
our countrymen and our countrywo-
men. u they do not know II already.
that this general decay Of the physical
system is thing unparalleled on the
globe, and unexsmpled 10 the history
Of mankind. II 10 AN absolute novel
ty under the sun. Nowhere else Is
there. never before was there. a nation
Of human beings incapable Of propaga.
ting the species In It's completeness
But for emigration. we should be in
the way Of becoming extinct. Three
centuries or 30 would finish us; and tic
Last Man. agaunt. dyspeptic wretch.
would be- suffering alone the agonies OF
indigestion. pininy for sarsaparilla.
and no Townsend extant TO sell it to
him.
The little book entitled "Three
Hou's School a Day." from which we
have already quoted. and intend
again and again TO qac'e. is an hon.
est. valiant. earnest apt 10 account
for the general ill-hesllh Of the Amer.
icsn people. and to a, out the rem.
edy for Il. Since We have read the
work-indced while writing this notice
Of 1.-THE news arrived that the au.
thor. Mr.. VIM. L. Crandal. Of Alba
ny. had fallen victim to his patriotic
and too arduous labors. lie died ol
consumption at the early age OF thir-
ty-,hree; and thus the book before us
acquires the pathetic force Of dying
message. But it did not need that
added power, purchased for IL at so
high price. Ii is Of itself one Of
those books from whinh there is no es-
Gaping. which must have attention.
which must effect revolution. Poor
Crandal' His ;passionately pitiful
heart Is stilled ut last. He has done
his Work-it il for us IN nro6t hv n