Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1871-11-04

health Is the condition upon which all
duties and enjoyments become posi-
BILE. The intentions and motives may
be excellent, but to give them any
efficiency the will must be strongly
developed, and this can only be the
case where the physical system Is In
thoroughly good working order. No
one without health can be said to be a
free agent ; he Is held back from car
| rying out his own v~olitions; he Is no
longer master Of his own purposes,
| and is by so much q slave. Every de-
rangement Of the health debilitates
| the intellect and the will, aud through
them palsies the moral energies. 1t
| clouds the mental vision that should
discern the right, and weakens the
power to pursue 1t. II all this be true,
can it be doubted for a moment that,
tho care of health is a primary moral
duty, and its neglect q derelictlon, de-
manding not sympathy but censure?
The man who strives for excellence in
any direction, and yet neglects the
plain lava Of ohs body, Is like the
architect who strives to construct q
noble cdifice without laying any foun-
dation. BY suicide, the guilt of which
mono will deny, n portion, we know
not how much, is cut off from the life
by neglect Of health the same prac-
tlcal result ensues. 1t has been calcu-
lated that from the ages OF twenty to
sixty-fivs, the interruption Of the daily
labor OF men from Ill health averages
from seven to fourteen days each per
annum. But this only estimates tho
pecuniary loss Of time, and Is as moth
Ing to tho loss Of energy, spirits and
vital power, which i'll health entails
and which defy all calculations. Many
who have not lost an hour Of actual
work from this cause, have yet had
their faculties impaired aud their use
fulness lessened to an uncomfortable
extent, and probably no nan has ever
attained the full effectiveness Of which
he would be capable, did no enjoy
perfect physical health. Much of the
discomfort and i'll temper, much Of the
gloom and WEAKNESS, much Of the de-
spair and bitterness Of life may be
traced to this cause. It Is true that
all the sad results Of Ill health are
not in every case attributable to imme-
date personal neglect. Much OF 1t is
hereditary. and some doubtless pro-
ceeds from sources SO remote that as
yet we have failed to discover them.
But by far the greater proportion OF
the evils which are thus Indicted on
the world proceed from causes directly
within our own control. The artificial
life so common In GU cities, the rush
of business, the tumult of parties, the
exhaustion consequent on over excite
ment, the irregular hours for sleep,
tho unwholesome food, the stlmulants
resorted to to counteract other abuses,
the sedentary life Of some, the violent
exertions Of others, the oyer-taxlng Of
the brain, the neglect OF pure air, OK
ercise and cleanliness-theSe and simi-
lar positive violations Of the known
laws Of health arc tho chief instru-
msnts by which evil Is wrought. No
medical science, however perfect, no
physician, however able, can prevent
or avert the terrible consequences that
must ever follow such misdoing. It Is
only as each individual becomes con-
WINGED of his own moral responsibility
In the matter, both for himself and
those placed under his care, and Of the
guilt of such delinquency that We q
aver hope to see any radical Improve
ment. The knowledge that Is requls-
tie Is not technical or difficult. 1t Is
within the reach of all, and should be
as ~sedulously pursued, and as uniVer-
sally diffused as tho first elements Of
education. The three great forces Of
the physical system are the blood, the
stomach, and the nervous system. The
first demands exercise tho second,
adaptation Of diet; the third, regular.
ity and sutticiency of sleep. These act
and react upon each other, and to-
gether with pure air and cleanliness
are necessary requisites for physical
health. The inherited knowledge that
We all receive on these points, added
TO our personal experience, Is quite
sufficient for our guidance. What We
chiefly need Is the resolution to exc
cute what We already know. 1t Is q
common mistake to suppose that, be-
Cause We do not see Immediate evil re-
suits Of errors in our physical life,
they will not appear. Cowper says
that all disorders Of a function, sooner
or later, II not corrected, cease to be
functional disorders and become or
ganic. Thus many diseases and weak
nssses, whose cause we fail to discover,
are the just results Of pas: irregularl-
ties, but so far removed that we do not
trace them. When we consider that
not only are we embedding II own
powers, entailing diseases upon our
own systems, and shortening N own
lives, by the neglect OF tho laws Of
health, but also perpetuating similar
sufferings upon a future generation,
there can DO no longer any disposition
to palliats or to ignore the moral guilt
of such a course. II health Is truly the
basis Of all FREQ action, and, therefore,
Of all moral life, its care becomes a
sacred and religious duty, from which
no pressure Of business, no strivlngs Of
ambition, no conyentionalities of social
life. can absolve IN.