the tempting offer, not hesitating to prefer his plain and homely fare, with its usual concomitant, sound and vigorous health. Ignorance of wealth is, in most cases, the greatest riches. Health may be enjoyed without gold; but riches can afford no pleasure without health.

EARLY LIFE.

It is difficult to persuade a young man, full of strength and spirits, that he endangers himself by those excesses into which young men too frequently lead each other. The warnings of their elders are treated with contempt: experiencing no immediate evil, they fear none; nor, till some premonitory touches of disease come in aid of the voice of wisdom, will they be convinced that they have entered on a course, by continuing in which their nerves may be shattered, their limbs lose their natural activity, and their whole strength and spirits decline.

Youth, it is true, possesses an abundant revenue of health and vigour; but this should not encourage a prodigal expenditure. A natural old age depends entirely upon the residue of stock left;

and long life is mainly supported by the disposable energy such stock will afford.

With all its giddiness and waywardness, youth is the season of life most accessible to good counsel, as well as most exposed to corrupt influence. I would, therefore, earnestly and affectionately caution young men against listening to the suggestions, and following the example, of the sensualist; lest, when youth is gone, and, with it, the keen relish of enjoyment, and they begin to suffer the evil consequences of their previous excesses, *the force of habit should nevertheless prevent them from adopting a mode of living more in accordance with the dictates of bitter experience.

Let him, then, who has unhappily made choice of sensual pleasure, pause and consider, and deliberately determine, whether he will have length of days with the approval of a good conscience, or, for the sake of short-lived gratifications, encounter a blighted reputation, premature old age, with probably an early and a miserable death.

"The excessess of our youth are drafts upon our old age, payable with interest about thirty years after date."-LACON.

THE CONSTITUTION.

"While the vital fire

Burns feebly, heap not the green fuel on;
But prudently foment the wand'ring spark
With what the soonest feels its kindest touch.

Be frugal even of that: a little give

At first; that kindled, add a little more;
Till, by deliberate nourishing, the flame,
Revived, with all its wonted vigour glows."

THERE are men who, when expostulated with on account of their dissipated habits as destructive of health, reply, that they depend upon the re-action of a strong constitution for warding off all permanent bad effects. Some constitutions being stronger than others, will, no doubt, resist for a greater length of time; but I never met with one constitution capable of enduring a long series of irregularities and sensual indulgences, without being impaired; and I have no hesitation in saying that a man of a weakly constitution but temperate in his habits, has a better prospect of health and long life, than one of a stronger frame, but who,

presuming on his strength, puts no restraint upon his appetites and passions.

For the encouragement of the repentant sensualist, let me observe, that, so long as the vital principle has not been utterly wasted, the constitution, though somewhat enfeebled, may be restored to perfect soundness; but, even then, restoration can only be effected by immediately abandoning all injurious practices, and strictly obeying the rules of nature. In this reform the utmost promptitude is necessary, as every hour's delay will but augment the difficulty, and diminish the probability of success; but, even at the "eleventh hour," many bad habits may be corrected.

The Emperor Tiberius is reported to have said, that it was a disgrace to any man of adult age, to be seen even submitting his pulse to the fingers of a physician. The saying is somewhat hyperbolical; but it were only reasonable to expect rational beings to acquaint themselves with the peculiarities of their constitutions, and to form their habits accordingly. Were this obvious duty properly attended to, even the natural defects of feeble constitutions might frequently be remedied.

Education has hitherto been almost exclusively directed to the developement of the mental faculties,

to the entire neglect of the corporeal,—an omission arising from ignorance, or inadvertence to the intimate connection between mind and body. In addition to an acquaintance with ancient and modern literature, a knowledge of the constitutional laws of our country, with a view to the protection and preservation of property; of architecture and agriculture, as contributing to our necessities or convenience; of the physiology of the horse, on account of the importance of that animal to our pleasures and amusements,-are cultivated. Is it not, then, extraordinary, that the science which immediately concerns life and health, though so easy of attainment, should occupy no part of the attention of our studious youth? Would other pursuits be obstructed by the acquisition of such an acquaintance with the organization of the human frame as would enable them to distinguish with accuracy, between just rules for practical conduct, in cases of emergency, and the illusory expedients of conjectural hypothesis, resorted to by some of the medical profession; to comprehend the views taken by the faculty of the diseases which attack their friends and themselves, and of the principles which govern the plans of cure, and also to regulate their modes of living, so as to ward off disease? Without health, of what value are the most erudite and various acquirements? A knowledge of the laws of life and health ought to be numbered