1 844.] THE SANITARY MOVEMENT. 71 



reformation of drunkards," and on " Drinking customs 

 opposed to the Gospel of Christ." He notes, " The first time 

 I had been engaged to preach teetotal sermons • lectured the 

 night before on the 6 Physiological Effects of Alcohol ; ' . . . 

 was about sixty minutes in the morning, and fifty in the after- 

 noon : followed the scheme pretty much, and felt that I had 

 delivered my soul in preaching as I did. God preserve me." 



The next Sunday (preaching from " Stand by thyself, I am 

 holier than thou ") he referred to the great sanitary movement, 

 to which he subsequently devoted so much of his best powers : 

 " I was very much impressed with the subject, in consequence 

 of reading the Report of the Commissioners on Health of 

 Towns, which I hope you will all get, and Dr. Howard's 

 report of the causes of disease in Manchester. It seems 

 almost impossible 'that anything but pollution should come 

 from such physical and moral sinks ; and yet Christian people 

 punish the offenders and denounce the sins, without taking any 

 steps to remedy the evil. It seems to me as if hardly any are 

 free from the fault. I catch myself in it, especially with regard 

 to disagreeable beggars. I finished extempore, and was very 

 warm about it, and longer than usual. The oppressive close- 

 ness (commonly called comfortable warmth) of the chapel in 

 the afternoons, together with a head not the clearest from 

 previous work, forces me into unusual warmth, to avoid 

 excessive dulness — so dependent are we on physical causes 

 for spiritual elevation. ... S. is now writing on beside me ; she 

 writes and does everything so fast, I cannot keep pace with 

 her at all. I do less work than she, and am more tired with 

 what I do. I have been in a general state of requiring more 

 rest than I used to, for some time past, and quietly resign 

 myself to my fate. I am thankful to say, however, that I am 

 not conscious of having gone back in spiritual things, but 

 rather, I hope, the contrary ; though I seem to be doing very 

 little for my people, or for the salvation of souls, and am not 

 working earnestly at any particular case. Is this because the 

 cases at which I have laboured most have turned out ill ? I 

 fear this has something to do with it. I think God does not 



