fOS Means of promoting LongtvUi/. 



To the Editor of the Monthly Magnzine. 



SIK, 



HAPPINESS bcins the great mo- 

 tive of human activity, cue would 



naturuUy exjiect tliat those spe(;ula<ioiis, 



•which have lor their object the preven- 

 tion of discuse, and the prulongMtion of 



life, would chiefly occupy atfenlion. 



Hut, iimid the iuimeiisc variety of hnoks, 



I hardiy know any thai lias been profesi- 



sedly written on these deeply interest in? 



subjects. 7>l!a)yvoUimc!;, indeed, have 



appeared on the lucrative art of curing 



diseases, and on the means of proIonp,ing 



life: the work [niblished some years ago 



by Sir John Sinclair is, I allow, one con- 

 spicuous exception; a work, it ought to 



be remarked, like this gentleman's other 



valualdc publications on finance, statis- 

 tics, and agrieuUurc, so various and 



comprehensive, that none will consult it 



without instruction. 



That life may. in some degree, be 



lengthened, is by no means a vain or un- 



reasonalde speculation. It is w«'ll known 

 that all subjects in nature, whether mo- 

 ral or physical, arc, by artificial atten- 

 tions in their several (pialifies, suscep- 

 tible of amelioration and improvement; 

 and that the same general jirinciple may 

 also be extended to their duration need 



not he doubted. As human life is often 

 accelerated by injurious practices, it 

 must follow that, by a contrary course, it 

 ■will be protracted ; and experience puts 

 it beyond a doubt, that not only indi- 

 viduals, but whole classes of men, are, 

 in certain circumstances, more long-lived 

 than others. 



As this diversity is certainly too great 

 and too general to be thought merely ac- 

 cidental, it would prove an useful and 

 instructive study to trace its caiiscn. 

 Were our numert)us tourists, instead of 

 perpetually indulging in the barren 

 theme of (lescribing the external appear- 

 ances of nature ami art, to give some at- 

 tention to the habits and domestic prac- 

 tices of the people, they might not only 

 illustrate this subject, but also all'ord in- 

 structive views, both of human nature 

 and political economy. One of tliein, 

 however, whose remarks on a late visit 

 to France are inserted in your Magazine, 

 communicates a piece of uiforniation 

 which here deserves to be noted, — that an 

 intoxicated person is rarely to be seen in 

 that country. The case being so noto- 

 riously diflerciit in England, there is 

 good reason to suppose that our extreme 

 addiction to tavern pleasures, with their 

 consequent jrr*gnlarities, is a piincipal 

 eau»e «f piemature deutli. The greater 



[Oct. I, 



humidity and inconstancy ofourclimate 

 miglit also be mentioned, being, (as your 

 medical correspondent Dr. Huxton has 

 shewn.) the great cause of Asthma and 

 other fatal disorders. The French ara 

 more plain and simple in their diet that* 

 the English, and, consequently, enjoy it 

 more plentifully and regularly. Th» 

 working classes in England, indulging 

 more in the luxuries of eating than any 

 other nation in the world, often suffer 

 severely from want of food, whence pro- 

 ceeds such frequency of consumptive 

 <Usorders ; a truth, as Scrutator has ob- 

 served in one of your late numbers, well 

 known at dispensaries; the physicians re- 

 marking that the diseases of those who 

 resort there generally proceed from hun- 

 ger, and that their patients commonly 

 stand more in need of victuals than of 

 nic«liciues. The nncomniou carnivo- 

 rousncss of the English does not appear 

 to be quite consonant to the ordination 

 of Nature, as those animals who most re- 

 semble man in the structure of their body 

 prefer vegetable food, and is, wc may in- 

 fer, not favourable to longevity. Earlj 

 mortality, however, is, without doubt, 

 chiefly caused by general habits of riot 

 aiu! intemperance, a truth which is strik- 

 ingly illustrated in the Ibllowhig passagft 

 of a work published about ciglit years 

 ago in Faris, intitled, "■' Reliscioiis and 

 SttiliiiKulal Kiinrsimis to the ChnrcJi^ 

 ynrth ; by A uthonij Caillot." 



In describing the cemetery of Mont 

 Limis, these remarks occur: — "AVhat 

 was my astonishment to find that the 

 grcaier number of these sad inscriptions 

 inform uie that they mark the graves of 

 fathers of families, dead at an advanced 

 age, or after having passed the prime of 

 lite! How striking the contrast from 

 the graves in the churchyard of Mont- 

 martre, a greater part of which contain 

 husbands and wives, and young girls, 

 cut oft' in the vigour of youth. How ift 

 this i)!!enomenon to be accounted for ; 

 and why does the enemy of mankind 

 strike more young people than old in on« 

 place, and more old than j oung in an- 

 other?" 



In explaining these difierent phe- 

 nomena, M. Caillot sees no reason to 

 ascribe them to the dificrence of the air, 

 but entirely to the industrions habits, 

 regular hours, and more moderate and 

 simple pleasures of the inhabitants of th« 

 one district ; nrul to the mad passion for 

 nocturnal festivities, exhibitions, and all 

 Kinds of debauchery, which prevail in 

 the other. I suppose wc may search ia 

 \aiu among the most healthy parishes of 

 Loudoa 



