Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1890-07-12
suF.coNTRoL AND HEALTH.
Physical Laws Which Can Not BE Set
Aside at Will.

Physical Laws Which Can Not BE Set
Aside at Will.
The French have a proverb that "ev-
ery man is either a physician or a fool
at forty." This means that a the
years pass every man should become so
! hahitually obSeryant Of himself as to
| know how best 10 minister 10 his
needs and sptitudes in order to secure
the most perfect health possible for his
peculiar constitution and the longest
| continuance Of life No one, in other
words, should have lived than
| half Of a mans allotted time on this
| earth without having found out how
| much and what kind OF food, how many
| hours Of sleep, what changes of cloth
ing. what forms Of exercise, what inter-
actions Of play and work, what proper
| ton Of sunlight and outside air TO in
door occupation. etc., are essential TO
the attainment both Of plentiful bodily
yigor and Of the most cheerful mental
activity.
Self-knowledge and se~lf-control are
all important factors in human useful
ness and happiness. Socrates could not
conceive it possible that's person should
know what was right and not do it;
what was wrong and not abstain from
it Now, granted that the dear old Gre
clan sage relied too much on mere
knowledge and overlooked the innate
depravity of our fallen nature, granted
that Ovid was far more correct when he
confessed:
Il see the right, and l approycit, too,
Condemn the wrong and yet the wrong pursue
Nevertheless, it is true hat to know
is necessary to prepare US TO do. 1t Is a
law of our being and action that We
must first see before we can feel, and
will. and embody will into conduct and
character. Hence he is wise who makes
a study of the conditions Of health, to
the end that through health he may be
able to do the most good unto others
while at the same time furthering his
own fortunes and enjoyment
There are thousands OF worn-out,
broken-down and used-up men and
women in this country to-day who, had
they possessed self-knowledge and self
restraint, would now be hale and hearty;
or. if not robust in health and strength,
capable at least of carrying forward
life's burdens with a good degree OF
hope, cheerfulness and success. Merry
Gus prostration, the great American
disease, is not so much the result Of
overwork as OF working under improper
conditions, and against physiological
laws. 1t springs often from some one
of the many forms of nervous dyspepsia;
and the dyspepsia may have been in
duced by giving a free reign to appetite
in certain forbidden directions.
Too many individuals are like Charles
V, who had the ~magnanimity and the
greatness to abdicate a throne, but not
enough of self-command to surrender
certain known unwholesome and in
furious dishes. He first would weakly
| order the interdicted dishes to be placed
before him just to look at; and then
would more weakly give way to partak-
ing of them with the purpose of swal-
| lowing soon afterwards some nauseous
antidote by way of %penance! Of course
he paid heavily for his transgressions.
His ex-imperial majesty found out that
the everlasting laws Of health and
happiness could not be set aside for his
benefit. They are never set aside for
any persons benefit. 1t is our duty to
| ascertain what these laws are and rigid
ly to conform to them. In these two
points OF self-knowledge and self-con-
troll lies the better part OF our powers
and of our oy.-Christian at Work