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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.— SUPPLEMENT. 



naturally rapid heart-beats with which rash spec- 

 ulators in shares in highly-varnished but extreme- 

 ly doubtful undertakings receive telegraphic mes- 

 sages of bad or good fortune must use up their 

 life's force? Hearts beating themselves to 

 death! Rushing to trains, jumping up-stairs, 

 eating too fast, going to work before digestion 

 has been completed — these are habits acquired 

 naturally in days when it is the fashion to live at 

 high-pressure ; but such habits are surely not 

 unavoidable, and would be avoided if we thor- 

 oughly valued our vital force. 



There are persons of a nervous temperament 

 who seem to be always upon wires. Nature has 

 given them energy ; but their physique is in many 

 cases inadequate to supply the demands made 

 upon it. The steam is there, but the boiler is too 

 weak. Duke d'Alva, according to Fuller, must 

 have been of this nature. " He was one of a lean 

 body and visage, as if his eager soul, biting for 

 anger at the clog of his body, desired to fret a 

 passage through it." The same thought was 

 wittily expressed by Sydney Smith, when be ex- 

 claimed : " Why, look there, at Jeffrey ; and there 



is my little friend , who has not body enough 



to cover his mind decently with ; his intellect is 

 improperly oxposed." Now, these are just the 

 sort of people who should not kill themselves, for, 

 though wrapped in small parcels, they are good 

 goods. They owe it as a duty to themselves and 

 others not to allow their fiery souls " to fret their 

 pygmy bodies to decay " — not to throw too much 

 zeal into trifles, in order that they may have a 

 supply of life-force for things important. He 

 who desires to wear well must take for his motto 

 " Nothing in excess." Such a one, as we have 

 had occasion more than once to urge, avoids din- 

 ners of many courses, goes to bed before twelve 

 o'clock, and does not devote his energy to the 

 endurance of overheated assemblies. When young 

 men around him have got athletics on the brain, 

 he keeps his head and health by exercising only 

 moderately. He is not ambitious of being in an- 

 other's place, but tries quietly to adorn his own. 

 " Give me innocence ; make others great ! " 



When others are killing themselves to get money, 

 and to get it quickly, that with it they may make 

 a show, he prays the prayer of Agur, " Give me 

 neither poverty nor riches," for he thinks more 

 of the substance than of the shadow. This is the 

 truly wise and successful man, and to him shall 

 be given, by the divine laws of Nature, riches 

 (that is, contentment) and honor (that is, self-re- 

 spect), and a long life, because he did not waste 

 the steam by which the machine was worked. In 

 homely proverb, " he kept his breath to cool his 

 porridge," and most probably was a disciple of 

 Izaak WaltOD. 



At this point, perhaps, the secret thoughts of 

 some who have not yet learned how " it is alto- 

 gether a serious matter to be alive," may take 

 this shape : " What, after all," they may ask, 

 "is the good of economizing life's force? Often 

 I hardly know what to do with myself, nor have 

 I much purpose in life beyond eating, drinking, 

 and sleeping." To such thoughts we should give 

 somewhat of the following answer : There is a 

 work for every single person in the world, and his 

 happiness as well us his duty lies in doing that 

 work well. This is a consideration which should 

 communicate a zest to our feelings about life. 

 We should rejoice, as experience teaches us that 

 each of us has the means of being useful, and 

 thus of being happy. None is left out, however 

 humble may be our position and limited our fac- 

 ulties, for we all can do our best ; and though 

 success may not be ours, it is enough if we have 

 deserved it. Certainly, if there be any purpose 

 in the universe, a day will come when we shall 

 have to answer such questions as these : " You 

 were given a certain amount of life-force ; what 

 have you done with it ? Where are your works ? 

 Did you try to make the little corner in which 

 you were placed happier and better than it was 

 before you came into it ? " It is said that Queen 

 Elizabeth, when dying, exclaimed, " My kingdom 

 for a moment ! " and one day we shall all think 

 nothing so valuable as the smallest amount of 

 that force without which we cannot live. — Chanv- 

 ters's Journal. 



