164 LECTURES. 



constructed in different cities in this country, some of which he had 

 inspected with much interest. He did not know many questions con- 

 nected with the material well-being of man more important than that 

 of improving the condition of the dwellings of the people. It was 

 every day becoming more and more a moral, a religious, and a politi- 

 cal, as well as a physical question. Many were driven to the very ex- 

 tremes of socialism in its most repugnant forms as often from the want 

 of proper habitations as from any other cause. If the family system 

 and the home circle were essential to the foundation of a nation's pros- 

 perity and happiness, then too much importance could not be attached 

 to the improvement of the habitations of the people. Wherever the 

 laws, the institutions, the state of morals and religion, and the re- 

 sources of a country led to their being carefully made, the effects were 

 manifest in the external aspect of the people, to say nothing of the 

 many other blessings that flowed from this source. But let them look 

 to the other picture, and there it would be seen that if this object 

 were neglected^ whether from defective legislation, imperfect adapta- 

 tion, or careless and indifferent landlords and proprietors, vice and in- 

 temperance were certain to mark the results. It was by nomeans desired 

 to attach an exclusive importance to this question of the habitations of 

 the people. It was only one of many causes that contributed to their 

 elevation and comfort, or to their misery and degradation. But view- 

 ing this matter in a practical manner, it was obvious that the greater 

 the degree to which science perfected and economized the means of com- 

 bination and improvement, sustaining at the same time all the pecu- 

 liarities and associations of individual families, the greater would be 

 its success in promoting the best interests of the people. 



Dr. Keid then adverted to the general appearance of the population 

 in different European countries, and remarked that he had nowhere 

 seen such marked specimens of sturdy and robust health and comfort 

 as the Swedish guard^ at Stockholm, presented when he visited that 

 city. The soldiers were not tall, but they had a firmness, density, and 

 compactness of limb and muscle which he had never before witnessed 

 in any body of troops ; while their countenances evinced a composure, 

 along with an entire absence from care, dissipation, or fatigue, that 

 manifested at a glance the high condition of their health. It would 

 be important if in every city there was at least one trained band of 

 men who could be seen from time to time, and give an example of 

 the appearance that human nature ought to present amidst the mass 

 of interior constitutions that appear in cities, whether arising from 

 bad air or any other cause. 



FIFTH LECTURE. 



On this occasion. Dr. Reid commenced with a reference to his pre- 

 ceding lecture on individual rooms and habitations, and called the 

 attention of the audience to numerous cases that had come under his 

 notice, both in this country and in Europe, where a great amount of 



