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Health: or How to Live Number Three

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Health: or How to Live Number Three

Ellen G. White

Steam Press of the Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · 1865

HOW TO LIVE.

This Number.

The first article in this number is taken from the Home Book of Health, a work of 1046 pages, by John C. Gunn, M. D. The writer, no doubt, is regarded by the most able and zealous health reformers, as behind the times; yet as he is so far in advance of the popular practice, and the people generally, we let him speak.
The second, entitled, Cure Without Drugs, is from the Philosophy of Health, by L. B. Coles, M. D., Fellow of the Massachusetts Medical Society, and member of the Boston Medical Association.
The article in Number Two, headed, Particular Directions to Parents and Guardians, should have been credited to this excellent work, The Philosophy of Health.
The third, Drugs, is from Water-Cure for the Million, by R. T. Trall, M. D., an excellent work for the common people.
Other articles in this number are in harmony with these upon the drug question, all of which agree with the motto upon the first page of the cover relative to that poor woman who, more than eighteen centuries ago, was reduced to poverty, and came so near losing her life, by the doctors. — J. W.

Gunn’s Remarks.

“I HAVE been taught this valuable lesson, ‘that many men may be given to profound thought, and possess extensive knowledge, united with sterling honesty, being by nature endowed with the highest order of talents, and yet be wanting in good common sense,’ or in other words, ‘showing the importance of a sound judgment, with close observation of men and things, which constitute the chief corner stone or paramount foundation in the successful practice of medicine, or in fact any thing else.’ Men may theorize finely, but at the bed-side practice unsuccessfully; in preference to such persons, give me a good old woman, with her teas and simples, and I will trust the rest to nature. The skillful physician, and one who has had experience in his profession, although he uses medicine, can hardly be said to use it as a curative, but rather to remove obstructions, or to arrest the progress of diseased action. For cure, he looks to the strength of the constitution which remains; to the powers of nature to rally; to diet, drinks, sleep, exercise, change of air, hope, cheerfulness, ect.; but the reverse is the case with ignorance, or those who have had no experience. Medicine is entirely looked to as means to effect a cure, and in proportion to their ignorance will be their confidence in drugs, and an utter want of faith in the use of simples, good nursing, the influence of the mind, and above all, the restorative power of nature. This clearly explains why it is, that the most distinguished physicians feel the deepest conviction of the uncertainty of medicine. At every step they find it necessary to exercise great caution, as, notwithstanding the experience of three hundred years, the medical profession are still doubtful whether the remedies daily used act in unison and harmony with the laws of animal life. This, with many other mysteries not yet clearly explained, has been deplored by the best and wisest men that have adorned the profession of medicine, and as an evidence of this fact, however mortifying it may be to acknowledge it, allthe metallic preparations are uncertain, and it depends on the state of the stomach whether they have any action at all, they not unfrequently operating with dangerous violence. I will refer you to the work of Dr. Chapman, professor in the Medical School of Philadelphia, which says: ‘Taking drugs habitually conduces to destroy the stomach. Every ache or discomfort, real or imaginary, must be relieved by a recurrence to some supposed remedy, till finally the powers of the stomach are worn out, and derangements, functional or structural, take place. It would be salutary were such people constantly to bear in mind the epitaph of the Italian count, who fell a victim to his bad habits.
“I was well— Wished to be better, Took physic and died.”
“Nor can the profession escape the imputation of lending its contribution to this mischief. When called to a case of such obscurity, that no distinct idea can be formed of it, how often do we go on groping in the dark, pouring down drugs empirically, till the stomach gives way, and its derangements are added to the pre-existing affection, by which the case is made of greater complexity and enhanced difficulty of cure. ‘It is not easy,’ says the doctor, ‘always to avoid this course, from the ignorance or prejudice of mankind.’
The predominant estimate of the profession, even among the most enlightened people, leads to the delusive supposition, that the Materia Medica has a remedy for every disease, and that the want of success under any given circumstances, is owing to the poverty of resource of the practitioner in attendance. Confidence is soon withdrawn should he intermit his exertions, which perceiving, he too often multiplies his administrations to avoid a dismissal, or the bringing in of some other doctor, who, it is expected will bring forth a fresh supply of physic. The consultation ended, the new doctor brings forth his new prescriptions of more drugs, ect. With this new armoryof deadly weapons, he enters the field; an exasperation of the case follows. Not satisfied, however, further trials of new physicians are still made, and these are a repetition of the same proceeding; the catastrophe is complete, for the patient dies. This, which might by some be suspected as a sketch of fancy, says Dr. Chapman, ‘I have frequently seen and deplored, convinced he was falling a victim to these very practices.’ The Emperor Hadrian deliberately prepared the following as an inscription for his tomb:
“It was the multitude of physicians that killed the emperor.”
“And let me say to you, from experience and a desire to inculcate lessons of truth, which you will find useful, avoid as much as you can, dosing and drugging, and depend upon what I say to you, that thousands are killed by physic, and the daily and constant use of things by which the stomach is worn out.
“Then let me, for the last time, implore you, in the language of soberness and truth, to depend more on diet, on exercise, on traveling, on change of climate, on amusements, on the presentation of new objects, by temporary abstraction from the cares of business; or, in other words, give the mind rest, for many persons are not aware that by confining themselves to counting-houses, stores, and offices, with scarcely any exercise being allowed the body during the day, and no rest of mind, by changing their thoughts by some agreeable and useful amusement, calculated to cheer and keep up the healthy action of the system, (for I before plainly and clearly explained to you the effects which the mind produces upon the body),—they are bringing upon themselves very severe forms of ill-health, and that perhaps for life. Hence the reason of so many sickly and pale faces, we see pass along our crowded cities, and so much dyspepsia, saying nothing of many other well-known diseases of mankind. Forgetting that exercise is the source of health, all seem to be imbued with the single idea of accumulating wealth, and not health. What is money worth to us,if we are thereby to lose our health? How many do we see who toil from day to day, like slaves, for the purpose of leaving a large sum of money to their children, and when they have succeeded in doing so, they die without having scarcely attained their fortieth year? How many thousands yearly are sent to their long account, by the constant use or abuse of medicines; for it seems to be the order of things, at the present day, that cures are to be effected, not by the recuperative powers of nature, but by the quantity of drugs or medicines swallowed, that every slight disease must be followed up by some active poison—‘for medicines are poisons’—instead of using such simple remedies as teas, cold bathing, together with a thousand simples, which, if properly used, assist nature to perform the cure handsomely and completely.
“Poor human nature! How fearfully does it deceive itself, when it flies to drugs to relieve every disease. Look into our large and commercial cities, where more work is done with the head than the hands: where every kind of food for the passions is not only superabundant in quantity, but of the most stimulating quality, and there thousands who never labor at all, are found, who, through the unnatural degree of excitement kept up in the brain and nervous system, by the full play of the passions, sustain very great injury to their health. An attentive examination of every class of society well convinces us, that in proportion as the intellect is highly cultivated, improved, and strongly excited, the body suffers, till a period at length arrives, when the corporeal deterioration begins to act on the mental powers, and the proud man finds that the elasticity of the mind may be impaired by pressure too long continued, and that like springs of baser metal, it requires occasional relaxation and rest, instead of dosing and drugging. I do not know, nor do I believe that this disease has ever been described before by any medical writer. I allude to that wear and tear, or state of body and mind, intermediate between that of sickness and health, but nearer the former than the latter, to which I am unable to give a satisfactory name, although it is hourlyfelt by tens of thousands in the world. It is not curable by physic, although it makes much work for the doctors, and in the end, by dosing and drugging, a profitable business for the grave-digger. It is that wear and tear of the living machine, mental and corporeal, which results from over-strenuous labor, or exertion of the intellectual faculties, or rather corporeal powers; for, rest assured that vivid excitement and tempestuous mental emotion, can not last long, without destroying the physical fabric. For the animal and the intellectual, or, in other words, the material and spiritual portions of our being, are distinct essences, and the former will survive the latter in another and better existence. But on the earth, they are linked in the strictest bonds of reciprocity, and are perpetually influenced one by the other. See that pale cheek, that eye that has lost its lustre, that care-worn countenance, that languid step, that flaccid muscle, with great weakness, and the indisposition to exertion, and you will behold the results of a mind worn down by the cares and disappointments of life, and a body exhibiting a faithful picture of its influence upon it. To discover truth in science, the most learned will admit is very often difficult; but in no science is it more difficult than in that of medicine. Independent of the common defects of medical evidence, our self-interest, our self-esteem, our prejudices, and not unfrequently our ignorance, will hide the truth from our view, and we ascribe all to art, and but little to the operations of Nature. The mass of testimony is always on the side of art, and although we believe we are right in our reasoning, we only pursue the old course that has been instilled into our minds through training and education.
“Observe the young physician of the present day, who goes forth from the medical college, with his diploma in his pocket, with rather more pride than common sense, having passed through his studies with the rapidity of a locomotive, believing if he does not cure every disease it is his own fault; but time and experience will show him differently, when his cheeks are wrinkled with the cares and troubles which a professionallife always confers, and when he will have learned by sad experience, that disease is controlled by Nature alone; that her laws must be consulted, if he expects to practice successfully. Thousands of persons would have no doubt been now living, had their cases been treated with more simple remedies; for a long experience has fully convinced me that the healing art depends on the preservation of the restorative power, and if this once be lost, the healing office is at an end. I have before told you, in my ‘Domestic Medicine,’ that health is to be restored by assisting Nature instead of retarding her operations. All the physician can do, is merely to regulate the vis medicatrix naturae—the self-preserving energy by being excited when languid, restrained when vehement, by changing morbid action, or obviating pain or irritation when they oppose its salutary courses, ‘in simplici salus,’ or in other words, there is safety in simples.
“I am not fond of introducing Latin phrases, but when I follow it with the translation, I trust my reader will pardon me. In my writings for the people, I wish to be plain and comprehensive, at the same time to expose all quackery and concealment, for we live in an age when every branch of human knowledge is reduced to principles of common sense, and when the more important sciences are no longer clothed in mystery, when all the sources of information are open to every one who may wish to read and think for himself. The present age is favorable to every species of improvement; darkness, superstition, and ignorance have passed away, and we live under the first general dawn of the human mind. Every day produces some new discoveries made in nearly all the sciences, which look more like magic than human agency. The healing art is likewise improving, and we are abandoning the active remedies which have been used to too great an extent by fanatics, and begin to turn our attention to the great volume of Nature, which, upon diligent research, will amply repay us with the blessings of health. The time has arrived when the people of this country begin to read and think for themselves, to learn things and not words. To exercise their judgmentsin matters which concern their welfare and that of their families, instead of paying other people to think for them.”
“All men and women who possess good common sense should exercise their judgments, in matters that concern their health, and that of their families. They do know, or if they do not know they should know, their own constitutions best, and study the economy of health, not depending on dosing and drugging to the exclusion of exercise, diet, change of air, restoring the mind by innocent amusements, which were intended by the Deity for our happiness, but by a due course of training, as we do our animals, for man is an animal only of a higher grade.
“Therefore, instead of using medicines daily, which destroy the constitution and leave the whole body worn out, a living thermometer to every change, be your own guide, only be guided by reason and common sense. From the abuse of medicines, thousands on thousands die annually, from a wild and infatuated course of swallowing medicines daily, without reflecting that they are taking poison.”
Unfortunately for mankind, yet most fortunately for physicians, the people can not ascertain how many valuable lives are yearly destroyed by the constant dosing and drugging system. I know many persons who have so habituated themselves to the use of medicines that they can not have an operation without taking some purgative.
“It is said of the celebrated Dr. Radcliffe, that he was not in the habit of paying his debts without much following and importunity, nor then, if any chance appeared of wearing out the patience of his creditors. A poor man who had been doing some paving for the doctor, after a long and tedious calling, at last caught him just getting out of his carriage near his own door, at Bloomsbury Square, London, and dunned him for his bill. ‘Why, you rascal,’ said the doctor, ‘do you intend to be paid for such a piece of work as this? Why, you have spoiled my pavement and then covered it with earth to hide the poor work.’ ‘Doctor,’ said the poor man, ‘mine is not the only piece of bad workthat the earth hides.’ ‘Well,’ said the doctor, ‘there is much truth in what you have said,’ and at once discharged the poor fellow’s bill.
“Dr. Shipper, one of the most distinguished medical gentlemen of Philadelphia, and a teacher of medicine in the old medical college of that city for more than forty years, says, ‘If you find it necessary to have recourse to medicine, there are three kinds which you may make use of with safety: viz., a tranquil mind, exercise, and a temperate diet. ‘These,’ said the venerable and most experienced of physicians, ‘are the best remedies I have ever prescribed.’
“The celebrated French physician, Dumoulin, on his death bed, when surrounded by three of the most distinguished medical men of Paris, who were regretting the loss which the profession would sustain in his death, said: ‘My friends, I leave behind me three physicians much greater than myself.’ Being much pressed to name them (each of the doctors supposing himself to be one of them), he answered, ‘water, exercise, and diet.’ The practice of every experienced and judicious physician becomes more and more simple as long as he lives. An old physician who administers much medicine is the worst kind of a quack, for his experience ought to have taught him that there are thousands of prescriptions, yet but few remedies. The distinguished Dr. Radcliffe said, ‘that the whole mystery of physic might be written on half a sheet of paper.’
a sheet of paper.” “The opinions of some of the greatest medical men who have ever lived, are sufficient to convince us that one of Burns’ ‘Twa Dogs’ was right, when he said:
‘But human bodies are sic fools For all their colleges and schools.’
“The late professor of Materia Medica in Brown University, after half a century of professional labor, says, ‘What a farrago of drugs has been and is daily used by many physicians; I have really seen,’ said the professor, ‘in public, as well as in private practice, such a jumble of things thrown together, and somuch medicine administered unnecessarily, that it would have puzzled Apollo himself to know what it was designed for.’
“A certain practitioner said that the quantity, or rather the complexity, of the medicines which he gave his patients, was always increased in a ratio with the obscurity of the case. ‘If,’ said he, ‘I fire a great portion of shot, it will be very extraordinary if some do not hit the mark.”
“A patient in the hands of such a man is certainly no better situated than the Chinese Mandarin, who upon being attacked with any disorder, calls in twelve or more doctors; after which he swallows at one dose, their several prescriptions. Instead of such wild theories, it would be better to tread the path pointed out by a strict observance of Nature, simple prescriptions and simple remedies; for it seems that the human constitution or corporeal frame, was not thus intricately and wonderfully formed, to require, in repairing, what some physicians term the broad-ax, or in other words, the most active and powerful remedies. It is well known that some of our active remedies, when used to too great an extent, produce disease more difficult to cure than that which they were designed to obviate.
“So, always avoid as much as possible dosing and drugging. When I was a young man commencing the practice of medicine, I was sure of curing every disease by active remedies and administering a great deal of physic, but in a few years I found, by experience, that I was in a thousand instances mistaken. I lost half my confidence in many remedies, and this must be the conclusion of every rational and experienced practitioner of medicine, for as he grows old in his profession, he becomes the more convinced of the uncertainty of medicines; and although he has a thousand prescriptions, among them are but few remedies. A wealthy city merchant, who resided in London and lately retired from business, called upon Sir Astley Cooper, to consult with him upon the state of his health. The patient was not only fond of the good things of this world, but indulged in high living to agreat excess. This was soon perceived by this eminent man, who thus addressed him: ‘You are a merchant, sir, and possess an entire knowledge of trade, but did you ever know of an instance in which the imports exceeded the exports, that there was not a glut in the market? That is the way with you, sir. Take more exercise and eat less, drink no wines or spirituous liquors of any kind.’ The gentleman took the hint, and has since declared the doctor’s knowledge of the ‘first principles of commerce and his mode of giving advice, rendering it so clear to the most humble capacity, has not only enabled him to enjoy good health, but prolonged his life for many years.’ It was the opinion of Dr. Rush, ‘that if the same amount of care had been taken to instruct and improve the human species, that has been bestowed upon domestic animals during the last century, there would have been but little need or use for medicines.’ Man has not been sufficiently considered as an animal. If we paid as much attention to our children as we do to our horses, they would be more healthy, their intellectual powers be in a greater state of perservation, and cultivated at a later period in life. It is highly necessary that man should be attentive to the regulation of his animal appetites. Education commences in the cradle and terminates only in the grave. I am convinced that the mind of man might, like the sun, grow larger at its setting, and shed a more beautiful light at the period of its decline. A remarkable instance of this kind is evinced in the celebrated Jeremy Bentham and John Howard, whose lives were devoted to acts of charity and deeds of benevolence; and furnish examples of the efficacy of controlling the animal appetites in prolonging life.
“The possession of a sound mind in a sound and symmetrical body, was esteemed by the ancients to be the greatest blessing which man could enjoy. This truth being proclaimed so long ago, renders it very strange that mankind have not profited by it and endeavored by every means in their power, to secure a healthy body; for the powers of mind, the evenness ofthe temper, the kindness of the disposition, all depend upon the state of our physical frames.
“Providence puts into our hands the means of preserving health, and this gift involves a solemn responsibility. Health will be counted among those talents for the use of which we are to answer to our Creator; and it is our duty to become acquainted with those laws which regulate and govern it. This is properly termed physical education, and it should be so instilled into our minds, as to render the subject perfectly familiar to us all; for there is but little doubt that we bring most of our diseases upon ourselves by imprudence, and the want of a proper knowledge how to ward them off; and if not the effect of our own neglect, they are traceable to ignorance or a want of proper management by our parents or the guardians of our youth, and not unfrequently entailed upon us by them. Then be assured that Nature will, sooner or later, call us to an account for a violation of her laws. It is true, for a time we may escape, but the debt and its interest are both accumulating, and which must at last be paid. How many charge Nature with that which has accumulated through neglect of the economy of health, by which many evils might be obviated, life prolonged to a good old age, and a large amount of physical suffering diminished. Young persons should be taught the value of health and the means of preserving it, by the subjugation of every immoderate desire, appetite, or passion, by which they may prolong life, and with proper precaution, live almost uninterruptedly in a perfect state of health.
“A knowledge of the circumstances upon which health depends, is one of the most important parts of the moral and intellectual education of youth. We should open the fountains of knowledge to the young on these subjects, so they may have in store useful information, and start them, well equipped, on the voyage of life, prepared to ward off disease, and prepared to strengthen, if necessary, a weakly constitution, so well understanding this part of their education that they may be useful, in cases of sudden emergency, to the afflicted. The four ordinary secrets of health are,temperance in avoiding all intoxicating liquors, exercise, personal cleanliness, regular hours, and rising from the table with the stomach unoppressed.
“There may be slight indisposition in spite of the observance of these rules, but you will find all diseases much milder. By observing them, you have an assurance, almost, that you will escape disease altogether. Most of the ancient philosophers may be named as patterns of health, temperance, and long life. Pythagoras restricted himself to vegetable diet altogether; his dinner being bread, honey, and water. He lived upward of eighty years. His followers adopted the same diet, and with results equally striking.
“It is well known that early Christians also, were remarkable for temperance and longevity, too, when not removed by persecution. Matthew, for example, according to Clement, lived upon vegetable diet. The eastern Christians, that retired from persecution into the deserts of Egypt and Arabia, allowed themselves but twelve ounces of bread per day as their only solid food, with water alone for drink, yet they lived long and happy. St. Anthony lived one hundred and five years; Simon Stylites, one hundred and nine; James the Hermit, one hundred and four; Saint Jerome, one hundred; Epaphanus, one hundred and fifteen; Romauldus and Arsenius, each, one hundred and twenty years. And I now conscientiously give you my opinion, founded on long observation and reflection, that if there was not a single physician, surgeon, apothecary, chemist, druggist or drug, on the face of the earth, there would be less sickness and less mortality than now takes place, we would depend more on the simples of nature than on the dosing and drugging system, which has occasioned, more than any one thing, so much degeneracy of the human body of the present race; and thousands daily die victims to medicine who might have lived to a good old age, had they but trusted to Nature and simple remedies. By a proper course of temperance in all things no matter under what circumstances or climate we may be placed, our health will be secure, our longevity will be increased, and our happiness established; for wherethere is no temperance there is no moral virtue, nor any security against crime; for where spirituous liquors are used, the mind is under a state of animal excitement, the judgment is marred by false and imperfect reasoning, and the consequences thereof are habits which morally and physically, destroy health. Then taste not, handle not, the unclean thing. When it is used, the passions become wild as the winds, and raging as the waves. Without it, the mind is calm and tranquil, seeing all things in their proper light. In a word, happiness cannot exist where temperance is not, and let me assure you that most of our diseases and interruptions to health are the effects of intemperance—and I have no doubt, that by proper caution in avoiding stimulating drinks, we may live in a great measure uninterruptedly free from disease, notwithstanding the constitution may be reduced in strength and vigor, from being born of unhealthy or intemperate parents, which inherited misfortunes may be entirely overcome by diet, exercise, change of climate, and a perfect system of temperance in avoiding all spirituous liquors. These laws should be strictly observed through life, for there are very few individuals totally exempt from some predisposition to a particular disease which may trouble them while life lasts.
Civilization and its attending consequences, not only bring with them many pleasures, but they also produce corresponding evils. As society is restrained, and complicated, as the luxuries of life increase, and as indolence and a want of proper muscular action prevail, the constitution becomes enfeebled, and bodily and mental development retarded. Many, and indeed most of our diseases were unknown to our aboriginal inhabitants. The stately Indian roamed the forest, ascended the mountain hight, and leaped over the precipice in pursuit of game, or lay upon the earth, during heat and cold, summer and winter, almost destitute of clothing; still consumption, dyspepsia, and gout, with many of the common diseases of civilized life, were unknown to him. The shepherd too, in his pastoral life, guarded his flock and sung his wild notes, withoutstricture of the breast, or pain in the lungs. It is therefore a matter of the utmost importance, in the education of a youth, to teach him how far the luxuries and habits of civilized life, and its dissipations tend to shorten, or render it miserable, in order that he may correct his ways, and thus avoid premature suffering, or early death. No nation can be powerful, whose inhabitants are either mentally, morally, or physically enfeebled. It is true that the habits of the people of the United States have made but few inroads upon their bodily developments, but still we have no evidence that this state of things will continue. Already they are beginning to depart from the simplicity of their forefathers, and as the population becomes more dense—which is the case every day, from the immense immigration to this country, and as wealth accumulates in the hands of the few, and the many are shut up in manufactories, and the opportunities of intemperance of thousands, worn to death by the toils necessary to procure subsistence—the frame must continue to lose tone and elasticity through succeeding generations. It is already a common observation in our country, that men of talents and persevering industry, in the professions, or among statesmen, or among merchants, spring from amidst those who are accustomed to a country life, where the various luxuries and dissipations of cities are comparatively unknown.
“In order to guard with any degree of certainty, against those diseases, we should have a knowledge of the laws which govern the animal economy. Without it we would be groping our way in the dark, anxious no doubt to discover the right passage, but afraid that we were departing further from it.
That is the case with men and women who do not possess that most important of all commodities, common sense. Now every man who has ever reflected upon this subject, for one moment, must know that there are certain kinds of constitutions, or forms, in which certain maladies are extremely liable to be implanted, or, in other words, entailed upon the offspring by the parent. Now, if this constitution, or make, be kept from the influence of causes such as may excite the diseasesto which it is predisposed into action, it may pass on through a long life, without exhibiting any of the marks of the disorder which destroyed those that immediately preceded it; and the truth is, it may even become so changed by proper exercise and habits, and even a union with a healthy person, that no common exciting cause can produce the disease to which it was previously exposed.
“To illustrate my meaning on this subject more clearly, many of our most talented youth of both sexes die, at an early period, of consumption.
“This disease is hereditary in many families, that is, the same kind of structure descends from the parent to the child; who not only resembles the father or mother, in shape and countenance, but the structure of the lungs is almost precisely the same. If exposed to sudden vicissitudes of temperature, or kept for six or eight hours, in a hot ill-ventilated room, breathing the impure air, which has already passed several times through the lungs of others, he will probably fall a victim to the same disease of his parent. The structure of the lungs was like his or hers, the most delicate portion of the system, and hence these organs were the most liable to disease. Now we often see that exercise in the open air, change of climate, nutritious diet, proper raiment, and avoiding all causes which predispose to these diseases, produce good health; we know, or ought to know, that proper exercise expands the chest, promotes the easy circulation of the blood, and develops the muscular growth, without exhausting the system.
“You will perceive by my remarks, my desire to point out to you the importance of a strict attention to the peculiarities of the constitution, for I honestly believe that two-thirds of the diseases to which the human family are subject, can be removed by simple remedies, proper training, in other words, a correct course of exercise, diet, temperance, and change of climate, before it is too late; particularly a sea voyage, which generally gives a freshness and transparency to the skin, resembling the freshness of youth. The great misfortune is, that thousands of persons whoare diseased, put off these remedies until it is too late, or after medicine has done its fatal work, and the doctor, by way of getting rid of his responsibility, advises a sea voyage, or change of climate.
“I shall now conclude my remarks with these solemn admonitions, that health and happiness can never exist where temperance is not, and where piety is not a frequent visitor. There is no solace or balm against the cares, disappointments, and vicissitudes of life. All that is bright in the hope of youth, all that is calm and blissful in the meridian of life, all that is soothing in the vale of years, are derived from temperance and religion. The first wards off disease, the second calms and tranquilizes the mind under every affliction. This friendly visitor of the cross soothes the mind, and throws around the bed of sickness the arms of divine mercy. Solitary indeed is that couch where the emaciated, strengthless form is stretched, unaccompanied by these dawnings of eternal day. No starlight brightness, no cherub wings are hovering around his dying pillow. In vain are the arms of friendship extended, or the bosom of love opened; the rays of hope may gleam for a brief moment in the horizon of his mind, but alas! they are cold and cheerless; no vivifying influence passes over his feverish brain; no holy gust of ecstatic joy sublimates the mind, and in quick succession, the past, the present, and the future is before him, and, at a glance, he views the false colorings of the world. The trembling soul dreads the future. No uplifted arm makes strong the soul, nor points with unerring truth the bright way to the mansions of eternal bliss, and he cries, “How hard it is to die! All is lost!”—Home Book of Health, pp. 26–40.

Cure Without Drugs.

Among the common people, the wide distinction between Prevention and Cure has not been generally recognized. They are apt to think that all books relating to the laws of life and health, must of course be treatises on diseases and cures by drugs. Theyare, at least, often more eager to obtain reading matter in some contemptible quack-doctor book, which professes to teach them how to doctor themselves, than they are to get books to show how they destroy health and life, and how to prevent diseases, broken constitutions, and premature death. They regard CURE infinitely more important than PREVENTION. As a general rule, they more highly value a physician, who, instead of warning them against the evils of violated law, will let them go on unmolested till they have ruined themselves, and then will be on hand to drug them thoroughly, even unto death, than they will that man who has the moral courage, in the cause of humanity, to peril his reputation to prevent them from encountering needless suffering, and an early grave.
encountering needless suffering, and an early grave. They want their false appetites and ruinous indulgences to be let alone; and when health is gone, as a consequence, they want a doctor, or doctor book, to prescribe drugs which promise to restore health, in spite of their continuing the indulgence which caused it. Or, if they set aside the cause for a short space, they want to be so thoroughly drugged that Nature may never dare to make such another outcry, so that they may turn to their sins with hopeful impunity. At all events, they consider health a secondary matter—a matter comparatively of small importance until it is ruined, and then mourn over their pains and sufferings, when it is too late to make amends. They practically consider the old proverb to be obsolete, “An ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure.” They go on with their unnatural indulgences, undermining their physical vitality, until Nature, unable to bear abuse any longer, gives signs of woe; then they resort, perhaps, to cures which only cure by death. The first step toward the cure of diseases is effected
Continue reading: BY REMOVING CAUSES.