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Show ] ~0 PURPOSE AND GENERAL CONDITION of a more hardy character· but we always see hardines~ and insensibility go together, and it may be ?f .course presumed that we only could have purchased thls 1!llmuf nity from sufferino- at the expense of a large portwn o that delicacy" in ,~hich lie ~orne. of our most a~ree~ble sensations. Or rnan's faculties might have been Iestn~ted to definiteness of action, as is greatly the case with those of the lower animals, and th~s we s~1ould have been equally safe from the aberratwns whic~ lead to disease. but in that event we should have been Incapable of acti~g to so many different.purposes ~s we a~·e, at&d of the many high enjoyments wlnch the vaned acb?n of 0~1 faculties places in our power: we sho.uld not, 111. sho1t, hav~ b~&en human beings, but merely on a level with the Inferior animals. Thus it appears ~hat the ver~ fin~ness of man's constitution, that which places him Ill ~uch a hio·h relation to the mundane economy, and makes hi~ the 0vehicle of so many exquisitely delightful sensations- it is this which makes him liable to the sufferings of disease. It might be said., on the o.ther ~and, that the noxiousness of the acrenclCs producing disease might have been diminished 0 or extinguished; b~t th: probability is, that this could not have been done w1thou such a derangement of the ~'hole econo~y of ~ature ,a~ V\·ould have been attended with more senous evils. For example-a large class of diseases are t.he I:esult of efflu: via from decaying organic matter. This .lnnd ?f nta~ter is known to be extremely useful, V\-·hen mixed vnt~ earth, in favoring the process of vegeta~ion. Supposing .the noxiousness to the human constt tut10n done a~ay WI.th, might we not also lose that important guahty whiCh tends so largely to increase the foocl raised from. the ground? Perhaps (as has be~n suggested) ~he noxwusness is even a matter of special design, t? Induce ur:; to put away decaying organic substances 1nto the f-!arth, \Vhere they are calculated to be so useful. Now man has reaQon to enable him to see that such substances are benefici; l under one arrangen1ent, and noxious. in the othe_r He is as it were comrnanded to take the nght method m deali~g with it.' In point of fad, men do not al~ays take t'ais method but allow accUinulations of noxwus ma1.ter to gather ~lose about their d w.dli nr;;~,, where they generate fevers and agnes. But thC;lr doing so may .be regarded. as: only a temporary exccptwn frorn the opeia.· OF THE ANIMATED CREATION. 191 tion of m~ntallaws, the general tendency of which i~ to mal<~ men adopt the proper measures. And these raeas~ res will prob~bly be in ti:ne univ~rsally adopted, so ~hat one extenstve class of diseases will be altogether or :r.early aboLished. Anothe1· large class of diseases spring fron1 mismanagement o! 01~r persona~ econ?my. ~ating to excess, eating and dnn]nng. what Is noxwus, d1sregard to that cleanliness which is necessary for the right action of the functions of the skin, ,,~ant of fresh air for the supply of the lungs, undue, excessivf', and irregular indulgence of the mental affections, are all of them rer.ognize.J modes of creating that derangement of the system in which disease consists. Here also it may be said that a limitation of the " mental faculties to definite manifestation~ , vulgo, instincts) might have enabled us to avoid many of these ert ors; but here, again, we are met by the consideration that, if we had been so endowed, we should have been only as the lower animals are, wanting that transcendently higher character- of sensation and power by which our enjoyments are made so much greater. In making the desire of food, for example, with us an indefinite mental n1anifestation, instead of the definite one which it is amongst the lower animals, the Creator has given us a· means of deriving far greater gratifications from food (consistently with health) than the lower animals appear to be capable of. He has also given us Reason to act as a guiding and controlling power over this and other pro pensities, so that they may be prevented from becoming causes of malady. We can see that excess is injurious, and are thus prompted to moderation. We can see that all the things which we feel inclined . to take are not healthful, and are thus exhorted to avoid what are pernicious. We can also see that a cleanly skin and a constant supply of pure air are necessary to the proper performance of some of the most important of the organic functions, and thus are stimulated to frequent ablution, • ancd to a right ventilation of our parlors and sleeping llpartments. And so on with the other causes of disease. Reason may not operate very powerfully to these purposes in an early state of society, and prodigious evils. may therefore have been endured from disease in past ages ; but these are not necessarily to be endured always. As civilization advances, reason requires a greater as- |