and convey them to the West-Indies. The crew mutinied on the passage, and forced the captain, and those who adhered to him, into the boat, with a very small stock of provisions, and abandoned them: an ounce of bread a day was all they subsisted on for some time. On the fortieth day they arrived at New Holland, where some of the men got on shore, and ate a few berries, which so intoxicated them that the captain believed they were poisoned; but was soon convinced of the innocent nature of the fruit, by seeing some birds eat of the same, and in a little time the men awoke from their stupor.

Opposed to this irritable condition, is the state of the man who can drink a bottle of strong wine without sensible effect. The one is too soon moved, the other with too much difficulty. Health, enjoyment, and usefulness are lessened in both: he, whom an onion intoxicates, has neither the strength of body or the vigour and firmness of mind, proper to man; on the other hand, when a bottle of wine does not exhilarate, a stimulus has become familiar which is already injurious, and soon will be destructive. There is a proper mean to be observed; health is an object of the first consideration, and nature points out the method of its preservation; rest

and food are both necessary to the recovery of lost strength; consequently, one should be in proportion to the other, and it is impossible to lay down rules on this head.

In England, animal food once a day, with a pint of beer, is in general sufficient for all the wants of nature: by being thus limited, work does not soon fatigue; health and vigour are long preserved; a cumbersome load of flesh is guarded against; and the mind is not oppressed by itself. A much stronger diet induces feebleness; those who indulge in it, find it necessary to walk slowly, because their breath is short, their strength is soon overcome, and they seek the shade because heat oppresses them. Thus life is first rendered unpleasant, and then destroyed, and population receives a slight check.

The diet suited to this climate, is improper elsewhere in the East-Indies, vegetables are sufficiently nutritious, and a large proportion of the people confine themselves to their use; the religion of Bramah forbids its votaries animal food, and both inclination and duty enforce the injunction: but Brainah legislated only for a, particular country, and his injunctions can only be observed by the people among whom he lived; had he any followers at Kamschatka, they would

perish for want, though fully supplied with the greatest variety of the most nutritious vegetables.

Russians, going on fishing or hunting expeditions, are sometimes detained, through the winter, in the northern provinces of that empire, and find it necessary to abandon all vegetable substances, and to betake themselves to the strongest animal food; hence the custom of drinking fish oil, so common in that country; the great nourishment it imparts, overcomes its loathsomeness. The expenditure of animal heat and life being great, the supply must also be great; hence, in the country we are speaking of, during the winter, flesh meat and wine are advantageously used, at every meal.

In infancy and childhood, in every region of the globe, the powers of nature are weak, and life needs to be solicited to remain in a tenement in which it can exert itself so little; and, consequently, an invigorating diet is proper: in youth, the powers of life are strong, and the plainest food is the most useful: in the decline of life, nature requires a prop, but if it has been previously used, the weight of years soon breaks it. The practice of this country is not conformed to this view of the wants of nature in infancy,

the least nutritious food is given; in youth, when the passions require to be moderated, they are fanned by animal food and fermented liquors : many a mother, who is afraid of giving meat to a child, will give brandy to a youth. The present custom of the country may render the observance of any particular rule somewhat difficult; but the parents, as the moral guardians of their children, may, and ought to exert their authority.

Youth is the season of happiness; it requires no addition from the pleasures of the table. Water is the proper beverage of youth; with the sole use of it, health, cheerfulness, and character are best preserved. The judgment is weak; and is it not madness to make it weaker by inflaming the passions with fermented liquors and strong animal food? Our treatment of the brute creation is directed with more wisdom, and the object in view is better obtained. A good farmer feeds his young colts with his best fodder, and in the first winter, adds a little corn to it; in the second, he is more sparing; and in the third, the meanest and cheapest food is sufficiently nutritious. The practice of the farmer, is an example which parents ought well to consider.

Again, when a person, fatigued by a hard

day's work, eats an ordinary meal, he is refreshed; if he drinks a little wine, he is still more vigorous and animated; but if he repeats his draught, his vigour is destroyed; like a bow bent too far, the string receives an injury.

The animation occasioned by eating, is the first stage of intoxication; could the stomach contain more food, the mind might, by this means alone, be pushed on to delirium: but a sympathy between the mouth and stomach is called into exercise in mastication, and occasions loathing as soon as the wants of nature are satisfied; but which is not excited by swallowing fluids: hence wine and ardent spirits are drank when food cannot be eaten, and form the after part to all our feasts.

In the first exhilarating glow of vigour, in that sensation of health and energy which a proper repast occasions, reason has the command of the actions; but, by a repetition of stimuli, the animal spirits are pushed beyond reason, and overpower it. To preserve a proper equilibrium should be the study of every one, because the dignity of man can only be preserved in that state; by neglecting this study, life is robbed of much of its comfort, lessened of its usefulness, and shortened in its duration.