christian nation, but has derived some benefit from his labors; and #certain it is, that the cause of prison discipline is in continual ad

vance, and has been so from his day to our own. Indeed the whole ! world is destined at length to feel the influence of his humane exertions. This, be it remembered, is all the work of one man, as the instrument of divine providence, and of a man, who, though possessing a clear and sound understanding, does not rank among the highest in intellectual power. It was in him less the force of talent, than of religious principle, by which these moral wonders were achieved. What a lesson is this to the christian who feels that he is bound, as an individual, to do something for God and his fellowmen-yea, all that is in his power! What encouragement is it also to the christian-leading him to look for results of great magnitude from labors of benevolence properly conceived and directed, though they should be prosecuted in solitary energy? And what a rebuke, morever, is such an example as Howard's, to the apathy and discouragement, in consequence of which so many attempt nothing for God or for human weal, from an apprehension of their own individual weakness! Well might the experience of this hero of philanthropy suggest the sententious wisdom of the following remark in his diary, dejection and despair are the consequence of pusillanimity."

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5. The most natural and prominent deduction, however, from the life of Howard, pertains doubtless, to the excellence of christian piety, particularly as that is developed in benevolent action.

Its claims in this respect, are powerfully addressed to every reader, from the example under review. Christian piety, expressed in self-denying labors in the cause of God and humanity, constitutes indeed the sum and substance of his history. The motive, and the measure, so far as the latter is attainable, of his active and efficient goodness, in one or more of the innumerable forms, in which it may be made to bear on the interests of the divine kingdom, are urged on the attention of all who have read the story of his pious and generous doings. The obligations to pursue a similar course of godliness aud beneficence, as so decisively suggested by his example, arise from its agreement with the divine will, from the good which is effected in regard to others, from the pleasures experienced in the pursuit itself, from its propitious influence on the church, and from the glory which it brings to God. But we will not dilate on these considerations. We leave the claims now suggested, and the other important lessons already enforced, to the candid reflection of our readers, in the hope that a more intimate acquaintance, on their part and on that of the christian public, with the life and principles of the subject of our comments, may tend to the increase both of piety and philanthropy.

ART. IV.-REVIEW OF DYSPEPSY FORESTALLED AND RESISTED.

Dyspepsy Forestalled and Resisted; or Lectures on Diet, Regimen, and Employment; delivered to the students of Amherst College, spring term, 1830. By EDWARD HITCHCOCK, Prof. etc. Second edition. Amherst, 1831.

JUDICIOUS treatises on the management of health, divested of the technicalities of medical science, and every way level to the comprehension of the non-professional public, are much needed at the present day. Notwithstanding the extraordinary efforts which have been made by the benevolent of this age to diffuse information on so important a subject—a subject which involves the mental and physical vigor, the individual and social happiness of the human race, we have to regret the extensive prevalence of ignorance and error. Line upon line, and precept upon precept, and treatise upon treatise, seem necessary to wake up the reluctant public to a consideration of that which so nearly concerns their dearest interests. Under existing circumstances, we believe the work of Prof. Hitchcock will be instrumental of much good. Though sometimes bearing the marks of haste in its composition, it is for the most part judiciously written, and manifests on the part of the writer, a full knowledge of the subject on which he treats. The zeal, plainness, and independence of the author, are particularly deserving of commendation.

There can be no question that those complaints which come under the appellation of nervous, dyspeptic, melancholic, hypondriacal, etc., or are known by the names of indigestion, liver complaints, stomach affections, low spirits, etc. have become of late more frequent than they were formerly. Sydenham, near the end of the seventeenth century, estimated fevers to constitute two thirds of the diseases of mankind. Cheyne, about 1773, made nervous disorders nearly one third of the complaints of persons of rank in England; while Trotter, at the beginning of the nineteenth century, supposed this class of ailments to constitute two thirds of all those which afflict civilized society. Probably the estimate of Trotter, when applied to the present age, is below the truth. It is not, however, likely that two thirds of the human race, at this day, actually die of those complaints; for fevers, even yet, in all probability, occasion the death of more than half of mankind. Nervous diseases destroy health and happiness, sap the constitution, bring a train of miseries, which none but those who have experienced them can estimate, and render the victim of their ravages, a dead weight to society; but, unless in some of their anomalous forms, or after long continuance, they seldom directly endanger life. Those who

are afflicted with them, may emphatically be said to be always dying, but never dead. There are few at the present day, among the better sort, who will not feel the truth of this remark; for there are few who have not been sufferers. We are not among those who take every opportunity to descant upon the degeneracy of the times, who can see nothing but moral and physical perfection in our fathers, and nothing but mental and corporal impotence and corruption in their children; but with regard to the increased prevalence of infirm health and sickly constitutions among the moderns, occasioned by the appearance of a set of maladies which were formerly little known, there can be no doubt; the evidence of that fact stares us continually in the face.

The causes of this revolution in the character of diseases, as well as of the increase of sickness and infirmity, are to be sought in our intellectual and social condition. The savage is rarely the subject of disease. His diet is simple, his necessities require vigorous and frequent exercise of the body, his sports are of the active and athletic kind, his passions are not excited by the stimulus of art, his mind is not the victim of care, anxiety or jealousy; as a consequence, he never suffers the torments of dyspepsia; his constitution is sound and healthy, and he endures with comparative ease, pain, hunger, thirst, and fatigue. Our pilgrim fathers were patterns of simplicity and temperance, and consequently knew little of the infirmities of their sons. They had nerve, and muscle, and spirit which enabled them to sustain mental and physical exertion, to undertake enterprises, to bear up under hardships, which would overcome the frail constitutions of their descendants. How would the sickly and effeminate population of one of our modern cities encounter the danger, the toil, and privation of the original emigrants to this country? We have deserted the simple habits, the salutary self-denial, the moderate indulgences, and the invigorating exercises, which steeled their frames against the inroads of debility and disease; and have substituted in their stead, luxury of every kind, sedentary employments and sports, mechanical trades, artificial and injurious customs, and all the arts which modern refinement in folly has invented to deprave the character of the species.

Excess in eating and drinking, is the grand cause of the delicacy and imbecility of this age. Other causes have a visible, and sometimes a destructive agency; but they are either less extensive in their operation, or less deleterious in their effects. Our country is notorious above every other, for the number of its gluttons and its tipplers. The profusion of blessings which a beneficent God has bestowed upon us, has served, by the perverting influence of vicious appetites, to spread physical and moral depravity throughout

the land. So prone are we to abuse the mercies of Providence, and by their illegitimate use, to convert them into the sorest curses! The great abundance of all the necessaries of life, places it within the ability of every man to procure a superfluity of all his wants; and if by constitution, or by cultivation, he possesses inordinate appetites, he has no difficulty in gratifying them. By moderate application to business, he finds the means of indulgence in the luxuries of the table throughout the day, and of spending his evenings in voluptuousness and riot. Many who are decent and respectable, who are even valued for their morality and religion, who would shudder at the bare mention of the word intemperance, are daily guilty of such excess in the pleasures of the palate, as would stamp the votary of other species of indulgence with eternal infamy. Intemperance is not confined to the haunts of debauchery. It is found amid the ranks of those who would startle at the sight of a grogshop. It presides at the daily board of the sober and the industrious, the virtuous, the professor of religion, and the minister of the gospel. Every man who eats more than his nature requires, even though distilled spirits have not a place at his table; who injures his health, or abridges his usefulness, or brings penury upon his family, by the sinful indulgence of a pampered appetite, is not only intemperate, but is guilty of a heinous offence against his Maker. The unnecessary consumption of property, in whatever manner, either in food, or drink, or clothing, or equipage, which might be applied to purposes of christian philanthropy or benevolent enterprise, is highly culpable, and implies a guilty disregard to the sins and miseries of the world. Wealth is given us for the promotion of the happiness of ourselves and our fellow beings; and he who sacrifices it to the cravings of a voracious stomach, stands charged with a perversion of God's mercies, and a blame-worthy apathy to the sufferings of mankind. He neglects his duty, denies his obligations, and forgets his accountability. He not only does less good than he might, but he acts the suicidal part of shortening his own life. We have estimates of the amount of ardent spirits consumed in this country; of the influence of its consumption in a moral, religious, and political point of view; of its expense to individuals and to the nation, and of the vast good which might be accomplished by converting the cost of it to other purposes; and we have all been shocked by the result; but who has considered the excesses of the table, in all their extent and in all their infinite bearings? We look upon the late temperance revolution, both in its object and its results, as one of the most momentous which the world has ever witnessed. May the reformation go on; but we wish to see the principles avowed by its abettors, carried out into all the practical business of life. We cannot see how he who has embarked in

the cause of temperance, and manifests a becoming zeal in the promotion of its interests, can, with self-consistency and peace of conscience, allow himself in immoderate eating. We have a right to suspect the sincerity of the man, who, every day of his life, violates principles which he has pledged himself practically to support. Intemperance in diet, and intemperance in drink, are alike, and almost in an equal degree, characterized by disastrous effects on the body and the mind, on the morals and the religion of a nation; and the same rule which would lead us to renounce the one, would compel us to abjure the other.

Our appetites were given us for the wisest and best of purposes, and their moderate indulgence is forbidden by no law. They act an important part in the animal economy, and when duly regulated, and under proper restraint, contribute largely to our social comfort and happiness. But when they cease to be exercised in innocence, and have been rendered vicious and corrupt by indulgence, they become fountains of misery and incentives to ruin. It is the rational, and not the artificial, the healthy, and not the morbid appetite, which can be safely trusted to its own direction. The latter should be guarded with the most studious care, and mortified by the most rigid discpline; for it leads directly to guilt and self-destruction. It is not the gift of God, but is the creature of sin. It is astonishing with what force a created appetite binds down the reason of man. The most powerful motives lose their influence, persuasion and entreaty their power, and the noblest intellects their energy.

The use of tobacco may be here adverted to, as a productive cause of the irritable, nervous, and dyspeptic constitution of many at the present day. The quantity consumed of this offensive and poisonous drug is indeed enormous; and the expense incurred in its purchase, as well as the amount of health destroyed by its use, is truly alarming. It is one of those virulent narcotics which, in very small quantities, destroy life. On every principle, its consumption ought to be discouraged by the good citizen and the christian. It is a superfluity; it is expensive; it is ruinous to the consumer, and disagreeable to his friends; it is the fruitful parent of pauperism, immorality and irreligion.

Another cause of stomach and nervous affections, may be found in the greater proportion than in former times, of those who are engaged in sedentary employments. An agricultural life has been too often exchanged for secluded, confined, and indolent pursuits; and of course, health and hardihood for sickness and infirmity. A motionless situation behind a desk or counter, or the idle occupation of selling lace or ribbon, may be more consonant to the taste, or more flattering to the pride of a degenerate race, but surely,