Polynesian. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu], Hawaii) 1844-1864, 1857-01-17

tsuOuS punch AT our colleges there may be
maximum of punch and suppers, Lut certainly only
minimum Of study and exercise.
Contrast the life of the American with that Of
the English student. Look at that pale-faced dir
ty-eomplexioned youth, fitting like the ghost of q
monk from his college cell to chapel or recitation
hail His very dress is shadowy and unsubstan-
tlal. His meagre frame is hung with limp calico
gown, and his feet drag after him IN souchy slip
pers. Follow him to his room, where he lives his
life almost unconscious of the air, earth or sky,
and you see him subsde suddenly into that Ameri-
can abomlnatlon, rocking g-chair, or fall upon his
bed, where, with ipe and book wearily e0nned,
he awaits the unwelcomc call Of the bell to lecture
10 move he Is indisposed; and vet, when at rest.
he seems exhausted. He does not sit, but sprGwls;
and he and his fellows, in their loose and fusty
Dress as they hstlesslY lounge or drawl out their
recitatons, might readily pass for SO many captiyes
OF wateh-house, half awakened into sobriety from
a nights debauch By sudden call to give an ac-
count OF themselves. Unlike the English, the
American student knows nothing of vigorous exer-
else, and to his consciousness ffteen-mile walk
IN three hours is as marvellous as the speed of IL
locomotive to squatting Turk. Unlike the Eng
lish student again, to him dyspepsia, bilious at
tacks and consumption are no mysteries. /: might
be well II this physical Incidence secured i''I I-c
tuaI activity, but we await patiently for '., uch
evidence in American scholarship. That collegiate
success is not followed by proportionate advance
ment IN life, which is true in this country but no.
where else, may be owing to the fact of the weak
tone of health, and consequent diminished powers
of intellectual and physical endurance, engendered
by academic hab bits. It is thus that the freer life
of the wilder student and his naturally increased
bodily vitality, are Oftener preludes to active use
tulness than the mOnkish habits Of the more regu-
lar.
/. is stated authoritatgely that families residing
constantly IN Paris coon become extinct that out
of the whole native population there are hardly a
thousand persons who can trace their ancestors as
inhabitants Of Paris, from father 10 son, 50 far
back as two hundred years \ Partisan youth Of
the second third generation has almost the form
and manners Of woman, and if lie marries, has
seldom any children that live. Such is the natu-
raj effect of town ife with its emasculating hab-
its. It is the tendency of modern civilization to
compress human beings into the density of large
cities and towns. Nowhere is this more evident
than In these United States, where the silent for
est and pathless swamp Of to-day become the busy
market and the wel-trod street of the morrow.
Association Is the law Of progress, and the
single no more settles the struggle with nature
than the hand-to-nand fight does the modern battle
With this requirement of civilization the Ameri-
cans with their usual eagerness to advance, hasten
to conform; and though migratory and ceaseless ID
their fight they never settle but in focks. Towns
rise and cities organized with the rapidity ofa
dream. All this is in accordance with destiny, and
the establishment Of communities is 4 law OF pro-
gress that must be Obeyed. This hiving of man
kind is doubtless favorable to industry, but it were
well, if men must swarm and work like bees, that
they should take their turn, like these exemplary
insects, among the honied flowers.
The nervous diseases which are So prevalent in
modern times, the nslnities, the spinal rritatiOns
and the hysterias and hypochondrias, are due un-
questiOnably TO the unmitigated town life, which
is the result Of modern civilization generally, and
more especially that Of the United States. So too,
it must inevitably be, as long our citizens hab-
its are so opposed to the laws Of health If he
persists in working his brain without alienation of
repose, and in keeping his nerves raw by constant
excitement, pain, disease and death must bo the
result. Our people liTe too much IN the city,
'Where wealth accumuiates and decay"
or at any rate are far too eager foI its exetemens
and dissipation. When, moreover, the citizen mi
CRATES for season to the country, he carries his
city habits with him, and his life there is no more
than his town life over again, with renewed vigor
from fresh excitement.
There are no people so little robust in their hlb-
its as the Americans. They never walk when they
can ride, and always prefer the coach TO the less
easy back of q horse. The rocking chair IL an.
American invention, and is au expressive of the
physical Inaction of the people. They are hardly
equal to the effort Of sitting, ana lie on two chairs
rather than take their seat on ore. They are SO
hostile to fresh air. that they take It almost as an
insult if a window is raised or door opened, and
have an unaccountable preference for the certain
lty of being smothered to death, to the remotest
chance Of catching i cold. They are emphatic
ally an indoor people, and only use their !egs
when forced to keep moving on the tread-mill OF
daily business. They ';now little Of pleasure, and
only Of that which IS asuous and stimulating 10
the nerves. Thev are unconscious of the delights
of the road, the field, and the river, sud Of that
Joyous flow Of animal spirits set IN noilon by the
spring of the muscles. They prefer those amuse-
ments which can be enjoyed without an eXpend-
ure Of physical force, and accordingly take kind
y to cards and other table games. The very
words sport" and "sporlsmen have been per-
yerted from their old English siGnlhcations 10
mean gaming and gamblers. The American
shows a consciousness Of physical weakness IN
dslrtis,ing his muscular power, and resortng n
quarrel to the cane or revolver, instead OF the old
fashioned appeal TO fstcuffs His speed surpass-,
es his strength, and if il were not for hls P!uck ne
would seldom reach the end Of great enterprises.
He accompiishes his purposes but his body IS fear
fully racked in the struggle. His course IS al
times rapid in movement, but brIet IN duration.
He may be kept ahead, by the whip and the spur,
of all competitors for short heat, bat, Ike many
promising young horse, he wins bis hrst race 10
the irreparable ruin OF his condition.
The costume of the American marks the eferninacy
of his habits 1t is fnical, and more adapted to sho"
than service It's glossy nap and fneness Of texture
are not suited to the hard muscular rubs OF an active
phvsical life While the robust Englshmau saIes ous
in all weathers in a shooting JACKET, le1thern
caiters and hob-naed shoes, and walks long and Wig
orously the delicate American never shows himself out
under a clear sky and saunters gently in the full dress
of the finest broadclOth, satin wastcoat ana Frehcn
boots The Americans lungs are never inflated with
full breath and his chest accordingly contracts, ana
his shoulders bend under their own weight MS mus
cles shrink and his legs become lank from disuse MS
face wakes pale from indoor life MS oralh grows l1
,,,Ib %
tabe from excitement. All the suceulency oi heatn
is burnt out of him. and he is paThed and shryeed oy