EDUCATION OF THE BODY.
The reader will perhaps laugh at the idea of _educating_ the body.
But a moment’s reflection will show that no part of man more needs
education than the body. The design of education, as I have already
said is, to form the character, and prepare us, in early life, for what
we are to do in future. For this purpose, the body needs discipline
as well as the mind. An ill body makes an ill mind and a sad heart.
The health of the body is necessary to the healthy operation of the
mind; and a healthy body is secured by activity. But the body not only
needs _health_, but discipline. The fingers must be taught all manner
of handiwork, and exercised upon it, in order to accustom them to the
use that is to be made of them; the feet must be taught to perform
their appropriate duties, in a graceful and proper manner; and all the
muscles of the body must be exercised, in due proportion, to give them
strength and solidity. The proper discipline of the several members of
the body is necessary, not only to prepare them for useful occupation,
but to give them a graceful, natural, and easy motion, and so promote
good manners and a genteel carriage.
I shall not be very particular in what I have to say on this subject,
but only give a few gentle hints.
1. DISCIPLINE THE BODY TO OBEY THE WILL.--You would not think, to see
some young folks, that the will had any thing to do with the movements
of the body; for it moves in all imaginable ways, with all sorts of
contortions. First flies out a foot, then a hand, then there’s a twirl
or a swing, then a drumming of the fingers, a trotting of the foot,
or some such odd figure. This arises from leaving the body to control
itself, by its own natural activity, the mind taking no supervision of
its motions. Now, if you early accustom yourself to exercise a strict
mental supervision over the body, so as never to make any movement
whatever, except what you mean to make, you will find this habit of
great consequence to you; for, besides saving you the mortification of
a thousand ungraceful movements which habit has rendered natural, it
will enable you to _control your nerves_, the necessity for which you
will understand better hereafter than you do now. Make the _will_ the
ruling power of your body, so as never to do any thing but what you
mean to do, and you will never get the reputation of _being nervous_.
2. AVOID LATE HOURS.--It would seem hardly necessary to give such a
direction to young persons still under the control of their parents.
But facts too plainly show that parents do not always sufficiently
consider the injurious effects of late hours upon the fair and healthy
development of the human frame. And the disposition of young people
to seek amusement overcomes, with them, the dictates of prudence. But
the practice of sitting up late, and especially of being abroad late
at night, is a war upon nature. It interrupts the regular course of
things. It turns night into day and day into night. If you would be
pale-faced, sickly, nervous, and good for nothing, sit up late at night.
3. RISE EARLY.--It is said that, to have a fair skin, rosy cheeks, and
a fine complexion, one must wash every morning in summer _in the dew_.
Whether there is any virtue in the dew or not, I cannot say; but I have
no doubt that such would be the effect of the practice proposed. To
rise early, before the atmosphere has become heated with the summer’s
sun, and walk abroad, snuffing the cool breeze, listening to the music
of the feathered tribe, and joining in the sweet harmony of nature,
hymning forth praise to the Creator, certainly tends to promote health
of body and cheerfulness and serenity of mind; and these will make a
blooming countenance, and clothe very plain features with an aspect of
beauty. The adding of the _dew-wash_ will do no harm. If you make a
rule of washing in the dew, it will stimulate you to sally forth before
the sun has driven it away; and you can find no softer water than the
dew.
4. USE PLENTY OF WATER.--The body cannot be kept in a healthy state,
without frequent bathing. It should be washed all over, with cold
water, at least once every day, to promote health and cleanliness. One
who has never tried it can have no idea of its invigorating effects;
and it seems hardly possible that the human system can keep long in
order, while this is neglected. The machinery of a watch, after a
while, gets dirty, so that it will not run till it is taken to pieces
and cleaned. But the machinery of the human body is vastly more
intricate than that of a watch. It is made up of an endless number of
parts, of various patterns, some of them of the most delicate texture
and exquisite workmanship, but all parts of a great machine that is
constantly in motion. And there is provision made for carrying off
all the dirt that accumulates on its wheels and bands, in little
tubes, which discharge it upon the surface of the skin. But unless
frequently washed off, it accumulates, and stops up the ends of these
little tubes, and prevents their discharging, so that the offensive
and poisonous matter which they would carry off is kept in the system.
Let this go on a little while, and it cannot fail to produce disease.
Therefore, I say, _use plenty of water_.
5. TAKE CARE OF YOUR TEETH.--The teeth have a very important office
to perform in the animal economy--that of preparing the food for the
stomach. What is not done by the teeth must be done by the digestive
organs. Therefore, your health is deeply concerned in the preservation
of a good set of teeth. The voice and the countenance, also, plead with
you to take care of your teeth. In almost all cases, teeth may be saved
from decay, if attended to in time. The best directions I can give for
preserving the teeth are, to clean them every day with a brush, and
pick them after every meal with a pointed quill, so as to remove all
the particles of food from between them, and the tartar that adheres to
the surface;--cleanliness, as well as the safety of the teeth, requires
this. You ought to have your teeth examined and attended to, by a
dentist, once or twice a year. Keeping them clean preserves them from
decay; and if decay commences, a dentist can stop it, if he can take
them in season.
6. BE ACTIVE.--The body was made _for use_. Every part of it is formed
for activity. But any thing made for use will suffer injury to lie
still. The human body, especially, if suffered to remain inactive,
becomes useless. Activity strengthens the parts. If you would have more
strength, you must use what you have, and it will increase. The right
use of your members, also, must be learned by _practice_. Much practice
is necessary, for instance, to train the fingers to the various uses
in which they are to be employed, so as, (to use a homely phrase,) to
make them _handy_. The body, likewise, needs exercise, to keep it in
a healthy state. The various parts of its machinery have a great work
to do, every day, in turning your food into blood, and sending it a
great many thousand times, in a vast number of little streams, to every
part of the body. But this machinery will not work, if the body is all
the time inactive. It requires _motion_, to give it power. There is
nothing, therefore, so bad for it as _laziness_. It is like a dead calm
to a windmill, which stops all its machinery.
7. LEARN, AT PROPER TIMES, TO BE STILL.--All nature needs repose. If
the human system were always kept in the utmost activity, it would
soon wear out. For this reason, God has given us periodical seasons of
rest--a part of every day, and one whole day in seven. There are times,
also, when it is not proper to be active; as, when you are at your
devotions, or at family worship, or in the house of God. So, likewise,
at school, or in company, or when you sit down with the family at
home, as well as in many other cases, activity is out of place. Your
body, therefore, will never be _educated_, till you have obtained such
control over it, as to be able, at proper times, to _be still_. And I
may say, it is a great accomplishment in a young person, to know just
when to be still, and to have self-control enough to be still just at
the proper time.
8. BE CAREFUL TO KEEP THE BODY IN ITS NATURAL POSITION.--This is
necessary, not only to preserve its beauty, but to prevent deformity.
Sitting at school, or at any sedentary employment, is liable to
produce some unnatural twist or bend of the body. The human form, in
its natural position, is a model of beauty. But, when bad habits turn
it out of shape, it offends the eye. Avoid a stooping posture, or an
inclination to either side. But sit and stand erect, with the small
of the back curved in, the chest thrown forward, the shoulders back,
and the head upright. A little attention to these things every day,
while the body is growing, and the bones and muscles are in a flexible
state, will give your form a beauty and symmetry, which you can never
acquire afterwards, if you neglect it at this time of life. And it will
do more, a thousand times, to keep you in health, than all the doctor’s
pill-boxes.
9. AVOID TIGHT-DRESSING, AS YOU WOULD A BLACK SNAKE.--You will,
perhaps, smile at this. But if you know any thing of the black snake,
you will recollect that it assaults not with deadly venom, but winds
itself around its victim, stops the circulation of the blood, and, if
it reaches high enough, makes a rope of itself, to strangle him. I need
not tell you that the effects of tight-dressing are similar. Whatever
part of the body,--whether neck, chest, arms, limbs or feet,--is
_pinched_ with tight covering, is subject to the same strangling
process produced by the black snake. It obstructs the free circulation
of the blood, and produces a tendency to disease in the part so
compressed. If you feel an unpleasant tightness in any part of your
dress, _remember the black snake_.
10. DISCIPLINE THE MUSCLES OF THE FACE.--You may think this a queer
direction; but I assure you it is given with all gravity. If you allow
every temper of the heart to find a corresponding expression in the
muscles of the face, you will be sure to spoil the fairest countenance.
How would you feel, if you were to see an accomplished young person,
with fine features, and a beautiful countenance; but on coming near,
should discover little holes in the face, from which, every now and
then, vipers and venomous serpents were thrusting out their heads and
hissing at you? Well, the evil tempers of the heart, such as pride,
vanity, envy, jealousy, &c., are a nest of vipers; and, when indulged,
they will spit out their venom through the countenance. How often
do we see a proud, scornful, sour, morose, or jealous expression,
that has fairly been worn into the features of the countenance! And
what is this but the hissing of vipers that dwell within? Strive to
acquire such self-control, as to keep a calm, serene expression upon
your countenance; and you cannot tell how much it will add to your
appearance.
11. BE TEMPERATE.--To be strictly temperate is, to _avoid all excess_.
Not only abstain from eating and drinking what is hurtful, but use
moderation in all things--in eating and drinking, in running and
walking, in play, in amusement.