Daily Los Angeles herald., 1884-08-30
WEEKLY HERALD
TINE ART OF BEING HAPPY.
Some Born to Happiness. Others to
Dyspepsia-Effect Of the Stomach
on the Mental Constitution.
London STANDARD. |

The '.Art Of Being Happy" is q theme
so universally popular that the lecture
which DR.. Benjamin Richardson deliv-
cred before the sanitary congress is pref
! ty sure to attract its fair share Of atten-
ton. But when London physician in
Inmates that this felicity 10 an object Of
sanitary research, he Is apt to dissppoint
IN audience who would fain have hored
that they were to be put in possession Of
some shorter cut to the secret. DR..
Richards reminded them that happiness
is very much question Of eating and
drinking tea. tobacco and strong drink,
fresh air, bracing breezes, soap and
water, an active liver and sound diges.
tion, and OF course q hygienic house,
! built OH principles still unknown to ar
chitects, and on soil less mischievons
than the .melancholic foundation" which
the lecturer so justly bewailed. Be vir-
tuous, after the sanitary code, and you
will be happy, IL about all which the in
ventor of the city of bygeia had to be.
STOW on the Glasgow citizens who had
expected, perhaps, to hear discourse
framed on the model Of Mr.. Barnum's
"Art of Making Money" or Secret Of
Long Life" with which the world had
Lsen SO often tantalized.
An unhappy man IL more or less On
unhealthy man, even though the physi-
hn IL unable to take cognizance oil
I particular malady, or the pathologist
Is detect the particular lesion which has
caused the mischief. A little too much
or too little blood is pressing on par
ticular spot, his digestion 10 not acting
as it ought to act. and the liver, in
which, for all practical purposes. lies
the source Of happiness. is refusing to
perform its important function in the
economy Of the "hypochondriac's" sys-
tenn. Lord Campbell, it was remarked
/ BY Q sarcastic philosopher. rose to the
woolsack owing to the fact Of his ''pos.
&ssssing sound digestion and great in
lustry," snd il there was lack Of chari-
y in the criticism there was great deal
q sound physiology. The capacity for
ntellectual work, the patience with
shich crosses can be borne, good temper
lAnd bad temper, good work and indiffer-
Feat, arc greatly dependent on the action
tof that organ, which quite " much a.
/ the brain which it nourishes. is the seat
/. Of life.
Temperament, weather, food. excr-
else. worry and . hundred other exter-
difficult for one man than another to
ksep In absolute health. But whom we
strip the whole subject Of the verbiage
with which II has been surrounded, we
come back to the fact that sound body
10 essential to q sound mind, and mind
10 good working order usually results in
its owner being reasonably happy, TAX.
ing one day with another, and allowing
that he has no more than lis fair share
Of care to bear. Rest, sleep, strength
Of body all tend to the same end. Pleas-
NJ aud agreeable work are equally aids
70 seundness Of body, and though it may
be perfectly true that when the liver Is
aluggish it means physical exhaustion.
the TACT is nevertheless undeniable that
the organ of happiness Is ct fault. How
ever, thousands Of people are born with
liven naturally sluggish, aud Thousands
more who lead q sedsntary life are tenn
porarily afflicted in like fashion. Yet
these people are not exhausted, physic-
ally or mentally, though they suffer
from the depression which Is certain to
follow.
Happiness, DR.. Richardson tells US. Is
not in the brain; ''ths emoti n of felic-
ity" Il ''centered In the great gangli4.
lying, not In the cerebro-spinal cavities,
bat in the cavities Of the body itself,
near the stomach" Be it 90; this fact
only fortiiiss the familiar experience Of
the great unhappy. That countless le-
gion are as well aware a. DR.. Richardson
where the trouble lies; but II he can in
duce them 10 obey the laws Of health.
and combine with their observance o
little philosophy and much self control.
he will not have lectured in vain. Hap
pinsss to the diseased Is not always At
tainable. From the fretful it Is ever
far away. But after all has been said
and considered we come back to the
point frem whence we set out--that II
Il largely dependent on the way the
digestion Is carried on. No hsbitual
dyspeptic was ever happy.