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Singularities Of Mr. Howard, The Philanthropist.
I entreated him to go on till I either shewed by words or actions that I was weary . He proceeded thus : — " My next business was to eat and drink sparingly of that adopted dish and bottle . My ease , vivacity , and spirits , augmented . My clothing , & c . underwent a similar reform ; the effect of all which isand has been for many that I am
, years , neither affected by seeing my carriage dragged up a mountain , or driven down a valley . If an accident happens , I am prepared for it ; I mean so far as respects unnecessary terrors : and I am proof against all changes in the atmosphere , wet clothes , wet feet , night air , damp beds , damp houses , transitions from heat to cold , and the long train of hypochondriac affections .
" Believe me , we are too apt to invert the remedies which we ought to prescribe to ourselves—for instance , we are for ever givinghot things , when we should administer cold . On my going down to my house last week in Bedfordshire , the overseer of my grounds met me with a pail full of comfortable things , as he called them , which he was carrying to one of my cowswhich was afflicted sorelwith
, y , as he called it , a racket ty complaint in her bowels . I ordered him" to throw away his pail of comforts , and take to the poor beast a pail of cold water . " Cold water , your honour 1 " exclaimed the man , with every mark of consternation . " Would you kill the poor dumb creature ? Why , she is in such desperatiousnain , that 1 don ' t think a bucket
of sheer brandy would have any more effect upon her , than if I were to pour it against a dead wall . " " No matter- for that , " said I , " take her a pail of water ! Suppose , honest friend , she had all her life run wild in a'forest , and fell into , the sickness under which she now labours , dost thou think that Nature would ever carry her the hot comforts you have got in that pail ? " " Nature , your honour ! but with submission
, Nature must , when either man or beast is sick , be clapped on the back a little : if not , Nature will let them die . " " Not she , truly : if they are recoverable , she will , on the contrary , make them well . Depend upon it , she is the best physician in the world , though she has not taken her degrees in the college ; and so make haste to throw away what is . now in your pail , and fill it as I directed ; forwhether die
, my cow or live , she shall have nothing but grass and cold water . " Though the poor fellow dared not any longer resist , I could see plainly that he put me down as having lost , not onl y my senses , but my humanity . However , the cure did veiy well ; and I am satisfied , that if we were to trust more to Nature , and suffer her to supply her own remedies to cure her own diseasesthe formidable
, catalogue of human maladies would be reduced to a third of their present number . Dr . Sydenham , I think , reckons sixty different kinds of fevers , for example ; of these 1 cannot suppose less than fifty are either brought about ,, or rendered worse , by misapplication of improper remedies , or by our . own violation of the laws of nature . And . the same , 1 take it , mav be said of other disorders . "
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Singularities Of Mr. Howard, The Philanthropist.
I entreated him to go on till I either shewed by words or actions that I was weary . He proceeded thus : — " My next business was to eat and drink sparingly of that adopted dish and bottle . My ease , vivacity , and spirits , augmented . My clothing , & c . underwent a similar reform ; the effect of all which isand has been for many that I am
, years , neither affected by seeing my carriage dragged up a mountain , or driven down a valley . If an accident happens , I am prepared for it ; I mean so far as respects unnecessary terrors : and I am proof against all changes in the atmosphere , wet clothes , wet feet , night air , damp beds , damp houses , transitions from heat to cold , and the long train of hypochondriac affections .
" Believe me , we are too apt to invert the remedies which we ought to prescribe to ourselves—for instance , we are for ever givinghot things , when we should administer cold . On my going down to my house last week in Bedfordshire , the overseer of my grounds met me with a pail full of comfortable things , as he called them , which he was carrying to one of my cowswhich was afflicted sorelwith
, y , as he called it , a racket ty complaint in her bowels . I ordered him" to throw away his pail of comforts , and take to the poor beast a pail of cold water . " Cold water , your honour 1 " exclaimed the man , with every mark of consternation . " Would you kill the poor dumb creature ? Why , she is in such desperatiousnain , that 1 don ' t think a bucket
of sheer brandy would have any more effect upon her , than if I were to pour it against a dead wall . " " No matter- for that , " said I , " take her a pail of water ! Suppose , honest friend , she had all her life run wild in a'forest , and fell into , the sickness under which she now labours , dost thou think that Nature would ever carry her the hot comforts you have got in that pail ? " " Nature , your honour ! but with submission
, Nature must , when either man or beast is sick , be clapped on the back a little : if not , Nature will let them die . " " Not she , truly : if they are recoverable , she will , on the contrary , make them well . Depend upon it , she is the best physician in the world , though she has not taken her degrees in the college ; and so make haste to throw away what is . now in your pail , and fill it as I directed ; forwhether die
, my cow or live , she shall have nothing but grass and cold water . " Though the poor fellow dared not any longer resist , I could see plainly that he put me down as having lost , not onl y my senses , but my humanity . However , the cure did veiy well ; and I am satisfied , that if we were to trust more to Nature , and suffer her to supply her own remedies to cure her own diseasesthe formidable
, catalogue of human maladies would be reduced to a third of their present number . Dr . Sydenham , I think , reckons sixty different kinds of fevers , for example ; of these 1 cannot suppose less than fifty are either brought about ,, or rendered worse , by misapplication of improper remedies , or by our . own violation of the laws of nature . And . the same , 1 take it , mav be said of other disorders . "