The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1867-10-19

The Health and Longevity Of Brain
Workers." BY DR.. George NJ Beard, an
article IN UarPsT's HoHttiy, presents some
curious statistics with regard to the physi-
cal Ell cts Of intellectual labor, showing that
constant activity OF mind forms he most
favorable condition for The attainment of
I'D age. IL 10 true that many whose names
shine brightest in the galaxy Of the worlds
thinkers, walked all their lives 10 sorrow
and PAIN, and sunk into premature graves
But on the other had II il Just az true that
he logical cause Of the suffering and early
d-cease % these men u 10 be found, il most
instances, MT I'D their intellectual activity a.
authors 10 much a. IN their native feeble
ness Of constitution, in their dissiplte1
labits or ia their exteraa circumstances.
Many delicate, finely strung natures are ir-
resIstlbiy impelled to authorship by the free
Of their genius, and ii such are doomed 70
a lifelong battle with disease, surely their
caing should not be hell responsible f1r
nisiortnnes. Some worry themselves 10
| leath, others hasten it by oger-inlugence :
If the passions, ana others dc simply be-
cause nature does not allow them sufficient
capital TO sustain life; but very few die sim
| ply from over-eA rslon Of the MUD.
Contemplate wat wonders of toll as well
as Of suffering have been endured by many
authors who have vet attained good Oh
age. Sir Walter Scott, overwhelmed with
debt, lonely through bereavement, persist
emily writing and planning until he was past
sixty; Dante fighting with poverty and hls
own weaknesses, plunging into all mystic
rles and sciences, for three score years and
ten Edwards establishing reputation a.
I "A ~. q, - ftok hru
forever, while he was obliged to measure
out the plain fool according to the caprices
af hrs delicate stomach Irving working at
ais desk for ten and even fifteen hours a
lay, rising often at midnight 70 resume his
ask, AMI ye. not compelled 70 lay aside his
zen until he was seventy-six. Besides these,
sores Of names are at once suggest-l w
men Of genius and letters who have strlE-
lie with poverty AMI various forms q .,
and yet have thought on and written u1ti
past the allotted term Of human life.
| Clllege students are referred 70 a. aflri-
Jog examples Of vigorous and bjuui "
health, not inferior to that Of any other h.I
q young men in the country. lnteh-sn-
farmers form an important class " beA..-
workers, and il i generally known that WV w
reach high av rage N longevity. Ba
! this green oil age u not due to their mu.en-
ar exercises alone, for mechanics and labor
err, who work even harder than ftrnsr-. dC
not live a. long by many years; it i ugt dIg
80 the pure air they breathe, IN ma0g rlt
of-door laborers are much lower " TIVE -l,l
: u longevity than they; nor, lastly 4. W Iu.
y the calnneSs Of rural LIE, iur ths farm .r
4 freebooter, is buriened wrth grAy4 res
possibilities and oppressed By weig6aer
cares than the butcher in the market, trn
teansier on the highway, or the work nln
! he employs By the day, all Of Shon A.
much youngrr than be.
; Farmers are long-lived, not only becAn
n pure air, moderate exercise and cllnI -f
quiet, but more especially effects 0f mercy
ply steal labor by vsriel acuvity Of miua
Of nearly twenty thousand Of this class whr
died in Massachusetts,, the average age vas
over sixty.
In our large cities also the best phys Al
developments is found in the most highly
favored classes as regard, material prosper
ity, and whose habtull pursuits demand
constant activity of mind. Merchants a Nj
1asaeeaftHrefsiiv longer than artisans and
saborers, but not 50 long az professlnl
men. Reasoning from Analogy ana from
the facts Of biography, il would seem that
hose who are endowed with unusual intel
lectual powers can work harder aud logger,
: AL things being equal, than the rank and title
"a humanity.