EXTERNAL COMFORT CONNECTED WIIH SCIENCE. 



tnd the hum of human voices and of ceaseless 

 activity, now diversity the scene where nothing 

 was formerly heard but the purling stream or the 

 howlings of the tempest. In certain parts of the 

 country where the passing of a chariot was a 

 kind of phenomenon, mails and stage-coaches 

 crowded with travellers of all descriptions, within 

 and without, now follow each other in rapid suc 

 cession, conveying their passengers with unin 

 terrupted rapidity, and at one-half the expense 

 formerly incurred. Even on the inland lake, 

 where scarcely a small skiff was formerly seen, 

 steam-vessels are now beheld sweeping along in 

 majestic style, and landing fashionable parties, 

 heroes, divines, and philosophers, to enliven the 

 rural hamlet, the heath-clad mountain, and the 

 romantic glen. 



Much, however, is still wanting to complete 

 the enjoyments of the lower ranks of society. 

 In the country, many of them live in the most 

 wretched hovels, open to the wind and rain, with 

 out a separate apartment to which an individual 

 may retire for any mental exercise ; in towns, a 

 whole family is frequently crowded into a single 

 apartment in a narrow lane, surrounded with 

 filth and noxious exhalations, and where the light 

 of day is scarcely visible. In such habitations, 

 where the kitchen, parlour, and bed-closet are 

 all comprised in one narrow apartment, it is 

 next to impossible for a man to improve his mind 

 by reading or reflection, amidst the gloom of 

 twilight, the noise of children, and the prepara 

 tion of victuals, even although he felt an ardent 

 desire for intellectual enjoyment. Hence the 

 temptation to which such persons are exposed to 

 seek enjoyment in wandering through the streets, 

 in frequenting the ale-house, or in lounging at 

 the fire-side in mental inactivity. In order that 

 the labourer may be stimulated to the cultivation 

 of his mental powers, he must be furnished with 

 those domestic conveniencies requisite for at 

 taining this object. He must be paid such wages 

 as will enable him to procure such conveni 

 encies, and the means of instruction, otherwise 

 it is next thing to an insult to exhort him to pro 

 secute the path of science. The long hours of 

 labour, and the paltry remuneration which the la 

 bourer receives in many of our spinning-mills and 

 other manufactories, so long as such domestic 

 tlavery and avaricious practices continue, form 

 an insurmountable barrier to the general diffusion 

 of knowledge. 



But were the minds of the lower orders im 

 bued with a certain portion of useful science, and 

 did they possess such a competency as every 

 numan being ought to enjoy, their knowledge 

 would lead them to habits of diligence and eco 

 nomy. In most instances it will be found, that 

 .gnorance is the fruitful source of indolence, 

 waste, and extravagance, and that abject poverty 

 to the result of a want of discrimination and pro 

 per arrangement in the management of domestic 



affairs. Now, the habits of application which 

 the acquisition of knowledge necessarily pro 

 duces, would naturally be carried into the va 

 rious departments of labour peculiar to their sta 

 tions, and prevent that laziness and inattention 

 which is too common among the working classes, 

 and which not unfrequently lead to poverty and 

 disgrace. Their knowledge of the nature of 

 heat, combustion, atmospheric air, and combus 

 tible substances, would lead them to a proper 

 economy in the use of fuel ; and their acquaint 

 ance with the truths of chymistry, on which the 

 art of a rational cookery is founded, would lead 

 them to an economical practice in the preparation 

 of victuals, and teach them to extract from every 

 substance all its nutritious qualities, and to im 

 part a proper relish to every dish they prepare ; 

 for want of which knowledge and attention, the 

 natural substances intended for the sustenance 

 of man will not go half their length in the hands 

 of some as they do under the judicious manage 

 ment of others. Their knowledge of the struc 

 ture and functions of the animal system, of the 

 regimen which ought to be attended to in order 

 to health and vigour, of the causes which produce 

 obstructed perspiration, of the means by which 

 pestilential effluvia and infectious diseases are 

 propagated, and of the disasters to which the hu 

 man frame is liable in certain situations, would 

 tend to prevent many of those diseases and fatal 

 accidents to which ignorance and inattention have 

 exposed so many of our fellow-men. For want 

 of attending to such precautions in these re 

 spects, as knowledge would have suggested, 

 thousands of families have been plunged into 

 wretchedness and ruin, which all their future 

 exertions were inadequate to remove. As the 

 son of Sirach has well observed, &quot; Better is the 

 poor being sound and strong in constitution, than 

 a rich man that is afflicted in his body. Health 

 and good estate of body are above all gold; there 

 are no riches above a sound body, and no joy 

 above the joy of the heart.&quot; 



As slovenliness and filth are generally the 

 characteristics of ignorance and vulgarity, so an 

 attention to cleanliness is one of the distinguishing 

 features of cultivated minds. Cleanliness is 

 conducive to health and virtuous activity, but un- 

 cleanliness is prejudicial to both. Keeping the 

 body clean is of great importance, since more 

 than the one half of what we eat and drink is 

 evacuated by perspiration, and if the skin is not 

 kept clean the pores are stopped, and perspira 

 tion consequently prevented, to the great injury 

 of health. It is highly necessary to the health 

 and cheerfulness of children; for where it is 

 neglected, they grow pale, meagre, and squalid, 

 and subject to several loathsome and trouble 

 some diseases. Washing the hands, face, 

 mouth, and feet, and occasionally the whole 

 body, conduces to health, strength, and ease, 

 and tends to prevent colds, rheumatism, cramps, 



