Saint Paul weekly Minnesotian., 1858-12-18
From the Boston Trs snscript.

From the Boston Transcript. ss-S--s-'- --''
Rev. Theodore Parker's sermon on
Health..-s' Tho ideal Man of the
Church,,.-.The Causes of sickness
aud Death Enumerated In the Pull
pit.
Rev. Theodore Parker discoursed yester-
day forenoon, from the text, "DO thySelf no
harm" The discourse animadverted severe
" upon those systems of theology which
consider the condition of the body as matter
of little moment, and inculcated the duty as
a moral obligation, of maintaining the physical
functions of the human frame i'll sound and
healthy state.
correspondent furnishes the following eX-
cellent extract of the discourse
The Rev. Theodore Parker seems to have
draw a useful lesson from his recent illness.
His sermon yesterday was based upon Paurs
eXhortation to the jailor, DO thyself no
harm" Though it would have been thought
a strange production if delivered from most
Of the pupits of the city, on Sunday, yet it
was we'll calculated to call the attention of his
numerous audience to very important sub
ect 1.-The causes of sickness and early death. y
These were everywhere subject, Of universal
complaint. Most of the sickness and pain of
the human race were useless. Old age is the
only legitimate cause of death. The farmer
would be astonished to find his orchard
grounds covered with green, halfgrown ap-
pies in June and July, but welcomes the
"handsome" sight of the ripe, mellow fruit in
October and November
The principal, abstract cause Of this sick
ness and premature death, the speaker belev-
ed to be in the saying of the Great Apostle,
{" For | know that in me (that is my flesh)
dwelleth no good thing" For this confession,
he severely criticised the great, brave, though
mistaken" Paul, saying that he was an un-
safe guide, and stoutly asserting that, from
the apex of the head to the last phalanX CT
the foot. the Good God" had made every
bone, muscle and nerve, good.
The ideal man of the church, instead of a
great, strong, bmiy, six-footcd, full-chest-
ed, red-facrti, handsome man, with beard
upon his chin. and an appetite for his dinner
wasa sleek, lean, weak creature, living upon
water creescs, and eating only because he
must, not because he wishes.
Intemperancc, gluttOny and licentiousness
were enum rated as among the concrete
c.uscs Of sickness and early death. These
are male vices, though often Involving inno-
cent wives and children in the fire that con-
sumes the licentious and guilty husband faith
er.
Idness, another of the concrete causes of
these evils, was characterized as female vice
Woman is naturally more industrious than
man. vet from the false construction of socie
ty, and the force of public opinion she is
made idle, and then is often "sick because
she has nothing else to do" But the worst
=, fhot t,e3n
shame. The idle woman often boasts that
She is unable to lift her baby, while, to the
true woman, there is no higher pride than
to bear end care fr her offspring.
Amcric, m slavery is another prolific cause
of the evils in question. The negro race is
one of the longest-lived among savage tribes :;
but in Georgia and Alabama five slaves live 10
longer than three white men, though the con-
stitution of the black man is better adapted
to the climate of these States than that Of the
white man. Thus slavery is chargeable for
large share of these evils.
War is another cause of shortening life
Forty thousand British subjects were consum-
ed by the Crimean war, and one hundred
thousand more will doubtless be left upon the
plains of India before peace will be conquer
el yv:... .:,,.at country. But in the present
state of society this can hardly be AVOIDED
Should our fathers at Bunker Hill, though
they knew they exposed themselves to the
enemy's bullets, have lodged behind the
green haystacks ?
Formerly, wild beasts, cold and hunger were
the great enemies of man. The highest races
have no,S nearly overcome these opposing for
ces still the food, clothlLg aud oheltor ri
the most enlighten,,s ID nations are far from per-
feet.
OF upward of 5000 children born yearly in
Edinburgh, more than, 1000 diett before 10
days old-a slaughter of the innotents al
which even IIerod would have stood asha.St
Two years after, the doctors ventilated the
houses and the mortality was reduced to few
hundred.
Even in Boston in 1855, l in G, died in
Ward s, while in Ward 6 only in SO died.
The south Covclands, from their flatncss, in
perfect drainage, narrow streets, and the want
of LIGHT and air must for centuries remain un-
healthy, while by a little care and cost thirty
years ago, this evil could have averted. The
san is the physician of the Great Father, and
the air his universal medicine.
The present style of female attire, support
ed by the waist instead oftrom the shoulders
shoulders as our mothers held up the gar
ments, came in for share Of these great
evils.
The food is another prolific cause Of sick
ness and shortness of life. The speaker
exhorted his audience to look at the breaG
found in public houses, and almost all private
houses, handle it, but not taste it, as it is unt
for animals above the swine. Divines has
puzzled themselves to find out the meaning
of ''sin against the Holy Ghost" He ha'
sometimes thought that, in man it consisted
in making bad liquor from good grain ant
in women, from good meal, making bad bread
fu the universal complaint Of sickness anC
pain, in the wailing Of humanity for her early
dead, the speaker heard Natures prophecy
that in the future it shall not be so.