288 LETTERS TO BROTHER JOHN. 



petty affair of a three-miles' walk : I mean what 

 I say, bodily exertion, to the extent of quickened 

 breathing and sensible perspiration, kept up for 

 three or four hours out of the twenty-four ; say, 

 four or five miles before breakfast, four or five 

 before dinner, four or five early in the evening ; 

 or, to save the evening for other purposes, a 

 healthy man may walk ten or a dozen miles before 

 breakfast, with an advantage to himself which will, 

 in a week or two, perfectly astonish him. Most 

 men, even the operative manufacturers and shop- 

 keepers, may do this, if they will take the trouble 

 to rise early enough ; and, fortunately, the exercise 

 taken before breakfast is worth all that can be 

 taken afterwards. 



It would be easy to shew, that the health and 

 strength of the mind is as much under the controul 

 of the circulation as is the health and strength of 

 the body. But I have already exceeded my limits. 



Rules of diet, therefore, are of little use; and 

 that little, only to those who cannot take the neces- 

 sary degree of bodily exercise. The stomach of a 

 healthy man will dissolve polished steel of the 

 finest temper. What difference can it make to such 

 an organ, whether it receive roast or boiled meat, 

 eggs, oysters, cheese, butter, bread, or potato ? and 



