Civilisation : Its Cause and Cure 



as we are — what health is, where it is to be found, 

 whence it flows ; and who having touched this 

 wonderful power within himself shall not rest 

 till he has proclaimed and imparted it to men. 



No, medical science does not, in the main, 

 contradict disease. The same cause (infidelity 

 and decay of the central life in men) which creates 

 disease and makes men liable to it, creates students 

 and a science of the subject. The Moon^ having 

 gone from over the waters, the good people rush 

 forth with their mops ; and the untimely inunda- 

 tions, and the mops and the mess and the pother, 

 are all due to the same cause. 



As to the lodgment of disease, it is clear that this 

 would take place easily in a disorganised system — 

 just as a seditious adventurer would easily effect 

 a landing, and would find insubordinate materials 

 ready at hand for his use, in a land where the central 

 government was weak. And as to the treatment 

 of a disease so introduced there are obviously two 

 methods : one is to reinforce the central power 

 till it is sufficiently strong of itself to eject the 

 insubordinate elements and restore order ; the 

 other is to attack the malady from outside and if 

 possible destroy it — (as by doses and decoctions) 

 — independently of the inner vitality, and leaving 

 that as it was before. The first method would 

 seem the best, most durable and effective ; but 

 it is difficult and slow. It consists in the adoption 



I It is curious that this word seems to have the same root as 

 the word Man, the original idea apparently being Order, or 

 Measure. 



39 



