1816.] General Rules for the Preservation of Health. them a gratuity of two hundred drachms, but they had in fact already obtained a more valuable reward in the preservation of their health. Exercise therefore may serve as an antidote both to poverty and leanness, two qualities which might with few exceptions almost constitute the definition of a man of letters. To be masters of our passions, or rather to have no passions, which is nearly the same thing, is a rule for promoting health, which very few have firmness and perseverance enough to follow. The most unfeeling and thoughtless persons enjoy cateris paribus, the longest life and the best health. But it is a disputed point among the learned, whether such people actually live; for some maintain that they only vegetate. This is certain that the passions are the springs of most human actions; I would say of all if there were not some moralists by whom it is denied. For this reason I shall not insist upon their extirpation, but shall say with Horace : Animum rege, qui nisi paret Imperat; hunc frenis, hunc tu compesce catena. Let us only be vigilant over ourselves: let it be deeply impressed upon our minds that the passions are a pleasing poison which insinuates itself to the heart; and their sweetness will not then allure us to cloy ourselves with them. Sleep is not less essential than food to repair the daily waste of the animal spirits. This temporary death prepares us for a new life, and we must submit to it, otherwise our machine would speedily become deranged and be rendered incapable of performing its proper motions. We have moreover to attend to the promoting of all those evacuations by which nature discharges such matters as are of no farther use to the system, and would but too soon become troublesome to us. If therefore we have any regard for our health we must pay the strictest attention to these evacuations, some of which, as the insensible perspiration of the skin, must be incessantly kept up; whilst others recur daily, and others again at longer intervals. As I shall probably avail myself of some future opportunity to treat this subject more explicitly, I shall here only subjoin a general sketch of the rules by which our way of living ought to be governed. The use of the understanding and of all the other mental faculties requires limits which are often over-stepped to the great injury of health. A man 3 may study till he makes either a sage or a fool of himself. There are many species of insanity which are to be ascribed solely to the abuse of the intellectual faculties; and if there be any persons who consider sound reason as hot essential to health, they can scarcely take it amiss of us if we in our turn regard them as unfortunately labouring under a species of disease. Society belongs also to the medicinal regulations of life. It serves to cheer the spirits, gives occasion to exercise, affords useful recreation, excites mild and wholesome passions, and is attended with many other advantages which I shall not here enumerate:-but then it must be of the right kind. There are societies in which none of these advantages is to be expected; company without conversation-conversation without ideas-visits without variety-assemblies which benefit nobody but the cardmaker and amusements which, while they last, almost force you to regret the prostituted employment of the intellectual faculties. The position and clothing of the body are important points. All positions are not equally adapted to the human frame; but as different occupations require very different attitudes, we must not suppose that every person can continually keep in the most suitable posture, which is when the body is straight, and all the muscles are allowed perfect freed m for their proper actions. Particular care must above all be taken not to compress the abdomen, as must be the case when a person sits in a bending position. Respiration and the free motion of the intestines are thus impeded, and hence arise evils of the utmost importance. As experience teaches that artisans, artists, and men of letters, sometimes become deformed, or contract diseases peculiar to themselves, in consequence of the unnatural positions which they are obliged to assume in their daily avocations; so we may assert that different kinds of dress interrupt health in various ways. How many females conceiving a small waist to be essential to a handsome shape, brace themselves so tight as to leave the lungs and the intestines no room to play! How often is the coxcomb who carries his hat under his ama lest he should derange his elegant locks, laid up with colds and the complaint which they bring in their train! Paffendorf would not have died from the effect of a corn, had it been customary for people to carry their shoes as well a 4 General Rules for the Preservation of Health. their hats under their arms; and thousands might have avoided the most dangerous and painful diseases and a premature grave, had they not dressed too lightly, too airily, or too fashionably. All these are subjects that fall within the province of the physician, and are too important to be passed over without discussion. Pure air, temperance, bodily exercise, government of the appetites, attention to the economy of nature, a judicious use of the understanding, social intercourse, dress, and a proper position of the body, are the chief points which I have here recommended. Each of these topics, however, embraces a multitude of others, all of which will hereafter require particular consideration. POSTSCRIPT. I have heard with considerable pleasure of the frequent inquiries that have been made concerning the GUARDIAN OF HEALTH during the temporary suspension of this series of papers, which I hope in future to be able to submit to the readers of this magazine with more regularity I am, nevertheless, far from regarding the interest with which the generality of mankind listen to every thing relative to their health as the effect of self-love or curiosity, but as the result of that anxiety which each individual feels to observe how another will perform a part of which he fancies himself to be a perfect master. If people read medical works out of self-love, they would endeavour to follow the precepts contained in them. How rare, on the contrary, are such examples! Who is there but knows that temperance, regularity, tranquillity of mind, and occupation, contribute more than any thing else to longevity and the preservation of health? A man so fond of himself as most people are said to be, would with pleasure conform to all these, and even still more difficult duties, to promote his own well-being. He would regard another as his enemy, who should strive by savoury dishes and palatable beve rages to seduce him beyond the bounds of temperance. But what is the course pursued at every table? The host makes a thousand apologies because he cannot set double the number of dishes before bis guests, and the guests seize their glasses and drink bumpers to the health of the founder of the feast. A man taken up with his own dear self would look with composure at his enemy or his servants who should endeavour by their ill treatment to rouse his rage, and take [Feb. 1, good care not to injure his health by re signing the reins to his passion. But where shall we look for the stoic who is not absolutely beside himself, and does not snatch up a pistol or a horse-whip at every affront from a poltroon or a domestic? Self-love would impel the most effeminate of loungers to sacrifice his luxurious repose, to quit his soft couch with cheerfulness and ramble over hill and dale, that he may share with the rustic the inconveniences of the most healthy of lives. But no! we deem ourselves the more fortunate the less we have occasion to employ the muscles which Nature has given us for labour and exercise. We desire not to be instructed in the rules of health, that we may benefit by them, because our persons, our lives, our health, our welfare are dear to us; but it is from a very dif ferent reason that we are anxious to become acquainted with all the salutary rules which we have no intention of observing. Curiosity to learn what is for our benefit cannot be the motive of this desire any more than self-love. We are not curious respecting things which do not interest us; and what seemingly interests a man less than his health? For a very trifle the pearl-fisher dives to the bottom of the sea, regardless alike of the consequent spitting of blood, and the fero cious shark by which he is every moment liable to be devoured. How willingly would many a fair lady plunge to the depth of many fathoms for the sake of a pearl necklace! For a paltry pittance the squalid miner descends into the bowels of the earth, braving the suffocating choak-damp and the most deleterious vapours. He sees his fellow-labourers mangled and swept away; he regards it not, and defies for a mere nothing the most hideous of dangers. What is the reward that tempts the seaman to tra verse the ocean in a frail vessel? and what is the pay for which he ventures his life, and, like Horace, represents to his messmates the perils he undergoes as unworthy of notice? O fortes pejoraque passi Mecum sæpe viri; nunc vino pellite curas ; Cras ingens iterabimus æquor. How many hundreds of thousands are ready to cut one another's throats for a few pence a day? Who would not rather expire on the bed of honour than grow grey in the bosom of tranquil pleasure? What merchant would spare his health, if by risking it he stood a chance of making an extra profit of a few pounds 1816.] Query suggested by the Mosaic History of Cain. per cent.? What literary man would not rather stick to his writing-table till he grew as crooked as a ram's horn, than relinquish the hope of having it said after his death that he had written some thing? Who would not willingly sacrifice happiness, health, and the fairest prospects of life, to gain possession of a beauty, though he may perhaps know beforehand that ere a year has elapsed, he will wish that he had rather drowned himself? Who refuses any desire, any appetite, any passion, access to his heart, though well aware that after the gratification of a few moments it will render him miserable? I need not appeal to the consciences of my readers. They have seen in this paper a sketch of the duties which are subservient to the preservation of health. I insist not that health be made the sole and primary object of all human actions. I am even ready to admit that we ought to sacrifice part to the welfare of the whole; but let the benefit of the community at large be left entirely out of the question. We will take only a paltry gain, a transient gratification, an empty honour, an agreeable folly, a favourite notion. Who would have the courage to sacrifice any one of these trifles to his life and health? I have a right to ask the question, and I read the answer in the conduct of the world. What is it then that can render people disposed to read with pleasure and avidity a work which treats of a subject so uninteresting as health? I fancy I have discovered the secret in this, that the majority imagine the mode of life which best suits their convenience, and which is most flattering to their passions, to be good enough, and merely read the works of physicians to confirm themselves in this notion. When they see how "doctors disagree," how one declares that to be a deadly poison which another pronounces a panacea; when they see some guilty of those excesses which are forbidden by physicians living notwithstanding to a healthy old age, while others with the most rigid observance of dietetic precepts are continually ailing; when they see physicians imposing duties which it is impossible to perform, and themselves violating the rules which they enjoin the rest of mankind as they value their lives to follow; they find in these contradictions quite sufficient to satisfy the scruples that may have arisen in their minds, and to confirm them in their irregularities and excesses. They read medical directions as they do the works 5. of the moralists, or as they go to hear an eloquent preacher, not for the sake of improvement, but to see how a man acquits himself-to make him their authority for following such of his precepts as they approve, and to laugh at the rest. Such is the idea I have formed of the office which I have undertaken, and it would totally discourage me, were I not sensible that it is wrong to fret if we cannot make the world better than it chooses to be. As long as my papers continue to be read, let the motive for reading them be what it will, I shall be satisfied, adopting the maxim of the honest monk :- Semper bene parlare de Domino Priore; MR. EDITOR, BY the insertion of the underwritten in your widely circulated miscellany you will greatly oblige your's, &c. C.E. B. We read in the 4th chapter of Genesis, that the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest and he went out from the presence of the any finding him should kill him; Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden, and there had a wife, and a son, named Enoch, who builded a whole city, &c. &c. Query.-What need had Cain to fear, there being only his aged parents existing? And how came he by his wife? We find in the sacred volume no mention of any female but Eve, of the human species then living? MR. EDITOR, FROM the attention which you have uniformly given to every thing connected with the fine arts, I am induced to hope that you will indulge me with a portion of your truly useful and entertaining magazine, for the purpose of requesting from some of your intelligent correspondents an answer to the following questions:- On what principle are engravers prohibited from exhibiting their works at the Royal Academy? and on what account are they disqualified from becoming Royal Academicians? On looking over the names of the members of the Royal Academy I was surprised to find professors in almost every branch of art except that of engraving. A satisfactory reason for a circumstance apparently so extraordinary, and so opposite to the laws of all foreign academies, would be to me 6 On the Exclusion of Engravers from the Royal Academy. [Feb. 1, very acceptable; for I confess myself ignorant of the scale by which merit is measured, or the qualifications that are necessary to entitle a candidate to the honours of a seat in our academy. It is true engravers are admitted to novitiates, but by their not being allowed to advance beyond that rank, I presume that they are not considered worthy of higher honours. If that is the case, I am naturally induced to ask, whether the art of engraving is less meritorious or less worthy of encouragement than either miniature-painting, enamelpainting, or even portrait-painting. Is the painter of still life, or even the landscape-painter, a more meritorious artist than the historical engraver? If the value of any thing is estimated in proportion to its utility, or in proportion to the pleasure which it produces, or to the talent required to produce it, then I think engraving will rank much higher than the legislators of our academy have thought proper to admit. When I see a fine print executed with the most careful attention from a most interesting picture, I feel a pleasure that few works of art can produce The gratification is heightened from nowing that what I am enjoying with so much satisfaction can be multiplied to thousands, and that more than thousands can share the pleasure at the same moment. To enumerate the advantages of engraving either to the man of science, the scholar, or the artist, is I presume quite unnecessary; though I cannot avoid saying that the fame of the greatest painters would have been but very imperfectly known, and the works of the most eminent architects would have remained comparatively unthought of and unseen but for the engraver. To draw a comparison between the works of living artists would be invidious and improper; but to compare the productions of those who are beyond the teach of praise or censure, cannot disturb their fame. The works of Woollett, Strange*, Vivares, and Rooker, will remain imperishable monuments of legitimate art, and will be regarded as treasures when many of the pictures that were coeval with their productions will be forgotten. In an institution avowedly established for the promotion of the arts, and in a country where genius and liberality are proverbial, it is remarkable that they were not admitted as members of our academy, and that engraving is not allowed the reward which it receives * Strange was a member of several foreign academies. abroad. In Italy, in France, in Germany, the professors of engraving are decorated with the highest honours of the academy. They are there classed amongst the most intelligent and the most favoured of the members; and the reward they receive is in some degree commensurate with their merits. As knowledge and science advance, prejudice and illiberality recede: and as the laws of our academy are not so inflexible as not to bend occasionally, I am inclined to hope that those who have the power will not be behind our neighbours in liberality, in policy or in justice, but that as we have on some occasions been benefited by their example, so I trust that our academy will see the necessity of protecting and encouraging every department of art, and that the avenues which lead to honours, wealth, and fame, will not here alone be closed against the historical engraver.* T. F. Paddington, Dec. 27, 1815. MR. EDITOR, AT the time I received the following letter I little thought it was the last I should ever have from one who was so dear to me. It was just a year and two months after that I got the account of his decease, and the impression it fixed on my mind is at this moment as fresh as when I first received it. I remain, W. BURDON. Welbeck-street, Dec. 12, 1815. Worlowka in the Ukraine, jun. 1798. MY DEAR BURDON, I have now been here a month at the house of the Duke of Polignac, and propose to pass here at least a month more. By that time the Black Sea will be again navigable, and I shall thus have avoided a tedious, expensive, and dangerous journey by land. The countries between the Ukraine and Constantinople are infested with the plague, robbers and rebels, so that many arguments are not wanting to induce me to protract a visit of a few days to one of as many months. The society of this family is highly interesting in many points of view, and I have now been intimately connected with it for so long a time that I live in it as one of its natural and constant members. As for you my good friend, you have no hibiting engravings at their exhibitions, acThe French academy, so far from protually received the works of the British artists, and on a very recent occasion voted their gold medal to an eminent English engraver. 1816.] Mr. Burdon on his Correspondence with Mr. Tweddell, right to any intelligence from this quar- MR. EDITOR, J. T. I HAVE perused, with much satisfaction, your report of the committee of the House of Commons on the subject of mendicity in the metropolis, together to with extracts and the evidence given be- : This is a plan so simple that it may be adopted without any difficulty: a more important object in the attainment of |