the Poor in Bavaria. 259 



Having taken my resolution of making the comfort 

 of the poor people who were to be provided for the 

 primary object of my intention, I considered what cir- 

 cumstance in life, after the necessaries, food and raiment, 

 contributes most to comfort; and I found it to be 

 cleanliness. And so very extensive is the influence of 

 cleanliness that it reaches even to the brute creation. 



With what care and attention do the feathered race 

 wash themselves and put their plumage in order ; and 

 how perfectly neat, clean, and elegant do they ever ap- 

 pear ! Among the beasts of the field, we find that those 

 which are the most cleanly are generally the most gay 

 and cheerful, or are distinguished by a certain air of 

 tranquillity and contentment ; and singing birds are al- 

 ways remarkable for the neatness of their plumage. 

 And so great is the effect of cleanliness upon man, that 

 it extends even to his moral character. Virtue never 

 dwelt long with filth and nastiness ; nor do I believe there 

 ever was a person scrupulously attentive to cleanliness 

 who was a consummate villain.* 



Order and disorder, peace and war, health and 

 sickness, cannot exist together ; but comfort and con- 

 tentment, the inseparable companions of happiness and 

 virtue, can only arise from order, peace, and health. 



Brute animals are evidently taught cleanliness by in- 

 stinct ; and can there be a stronger proof of its being 



* Almost all the great law-givers and founders of religions, from the remotest 

 antiquity, seem to have been aware of the influence of cleanliness upon the 

 moral character of man, and have strongly inculcated it. In many cases it has 

 been interwoven with the most solemn rites of public and private worship, and 

 is so still in many countries. The idea that the soul is defiled and depraved 

 by every thing unclean, or which defiles the body, has certainly prevailed in all 

 ages ; and has been particularly attended to by those great benefactors of 

 mankind, who, by the introduction of peace and order in society, have laboured 

 successfully to promote the happiness of their fellow-creatures. 



