HEALTH AS A DUTY 



with oneself or with God is vastly more 

 difficult now than in Abraham's day. 



Health builds up and sets forward our 

 moral energies as much as it does our bodies 

 and minds. It breeds courage and will- 

 power, lack of which is often the sole rea- 

 son why men do wrong or fail to do right. 

 It furthers self-discipline and self-control, 

 repressing vices and physical excesses, 

 partly by giving rational vent to surplus 

 physical force. It is favorable to a sense of 

 fairness toward one's fellows, thus making 

 for co-operation between men and men. 



Nor is this at all refuted by the fact, if it 

 be such, that funny men sometimes live out 

 but half, or, say, six-tenths of their days. One 

 time when Grimaldi, the great comedian, 

 was making all people split their sides with 

 laughter over his witticisms, a patient pre- 

 sented himself to Dr. Abernethy, the cele- 

 brated practitioner. The man was dying of 

 ennui. "Go and hear Grimaldi," said Aber- 

 nethy. "He will make you laugh and that 

 will be better than drugs." "My God," 

 exclaimed the invalid, "I am Grimaldi!" 



