J82 GOOD DONE BY APPREHENSION OF CHOLERA. 



Every thing which tends strongly to call atten- 

 tion to the conditions which influence public and 

 individual health is calculated to do great good to 

 the community. In this point of view I am dis- 

 posed to consider the visitation of cholera to the 

 British Isles rather as one of those remarkable in- 

 stances in which a beneficent Providence brings 

 good out of evil, and converts an apparent calamity 

 into a positive blessing, than as the public scourge 

 which it has been generally proclaimed. True it 

 is, that many individuals have perished, and others 

 suffered by it in their affections, and in their worldly 

 circumstances ; but I question if any thing short of 

 the dread which cholera produced, could have com- 

 bined all classes so efficiently and ardently in their 

 efforts to discover and remove every thing in the 

 condition of the poor and labouring portions of the 

 community, which could prove detrimental to health. 

 In the season of apparent danger, the importance of 

 cleanliness, ventilation, warmth, clothing, and nour- 

 ishment as preservatives of health, not only became 

 manifest to minds on which nothing else could have 

 made an impression, but their experienced efficacy 

 gave an impetus to the exertions of the lower orders 

 in their own behalf, which will continue to be pro- 

 ductive of good, long after the cause from which it 

 sprung shall be forgotten. 



The comparative exemption of the wealthier 

 classes from cholera is itself sufficient to show how 

 much it is in the power of man, by the proper exer- 

 cise of reason in the application of his knowledge, 

 to obviate the dangers to which his health is ex- 

 posed ; how closely his bodily welfare is dependent 

 on his own conduct and external situation ; and how 

 very little, comparatively, it is the result of circum- 

 stances which he cannot control or modify. In 

 fact, every one who has investigated the subject 

 with attention will readily testify, that, but for the 

 establishment of soup-kitchens, the supplies of warm 



