The American Gentleman's Guide to Politeness and Fashion Part 16

In a proper sense of the word, Temperance is an all-inclusive term--it does not mean abstaining from strong drink, only, nor from over-eating, nor from any one form of self-indulgence or dissipation; but it requires _moderation in all things_, for its full ill.u.s.tration.

It was this apprehension of the term that was truthfully exhibited in the long, useful, consistent life of our distinguished countryman, John Quincy Adams. Habits formed in boyhood, in strict accordance with this principle, and adhered to in every varying phase of circ.u.mstance throughout his prolonged existence, were the proximate cause of his successful and admirable career. And what a career! How triumphantly successful, how worthy of admiration! More than half a century did he serve his country, at home and abroad, dying at last, with his armor on,--a watchman, faithful, even unto death, upon the ramparts of the Citadel, where Justice, Truth, and Freedom have found a last asylum.

Think you that the intellectual and moral purposes of his being could have been borne out by the most resolute exercise of will, but for the judicious training of the _physique_? Or could the higher attributes of his nature have been developed, indeed, in conjunction with a body 'cabined, cribbed and confined' by the enervating influence of youthful self-indulgence? Born on--

"Stern New-England's rocky sh.o.r.e,"

no misnamed luxury shrouded his frame from the discipline of that Teacher, "around whose steps the mountain breezes blow, and from whose countenance all the virtues gather strength." You are, doubtless, all familiar with Mr. Adams' habits of early rising, bathing, etc. The latter, even, he maintained until within two years of his death, bathing in an open stream each morning, if his locality permitted the enjoyment, at a very early hour. I have his own authority for the fact that he, during the different periods of his public sojourn abroad, laved his vigorous frame in almost every river of Europe! Franklin, too, ascribed his triumph over the obstacles that obstructed his early path to a strict adherence to the rules of Temperance. And so, indeed, with most of the truly great men whose names illumine the pages of our country's history:--I might multiply examples almost _ad infinitum_, but your own reading will enable you to endorse the correctness of my a.s.sertion.

Since we have, incidentally, alluded to the _Bath_, in connection with the example of Mr. Adams, let us commence the consideration of personal habits, with this agreeable and essential accessory of Health.

Though authorities may differ respecting some minor details with regard to bathing, I believe medical testimony all goes to sanction its adoption by all persons, in some one of its modifications.

Const.i.tutional peculiarities should always be consulted in the establishment of individual rules,--hence no general directions can be made applicable to all persons. The cold bath, though that most frequently adopted by persons in health, is, no doubt, injurious in some cases, and careful observation alone can enable each individual to establish the precise temperature at which his ablutions will be most beneficial.

But, while the most scrupulous and unvarying regard for cleanliness should be considered of primary importance, the indiscreet use of the bath should be avoided with equal care. Bishop Heber, one of the best and most useful of men, sacrificed himself in the midst of a career of eminent piety, to an imprudent use of this luxury, arising either from ignorance or inadvertency. After rising very early to baptize several native converts recently made in India, the field of his labors, he returned to his bungalow in a state of exhaustion from excitement and abstinence, and, without taking any nourishment, threw himself into a bath, and soon after expired!--No one can safely resort to the bath when the bodily powers are much weakened, by whatever cause; and though it is unwise to use it directly after taking a full meal, it should not immediately precede the chief meal of the day, if that be taken at a late hour, and after prolonged abstinence and exertion.

The _art of swimming_ early acquired, affords the most agreeable and beneficial mode of bathing, not to dwell upon its numerous recommendations in other respects; but when this enjoyment cannot be secured, nor even the luxury of an immersion bath, luckily for health, comfort, and propriety, the means of _sponge bathing_ may always be secured, at least in this country (wherever it has risen above barbarism), though I must say that frequently during my travels in England, and even through towns boasting good hotels, I found water and towels at a high premium, and very difficult of acquisition at that!

Sponging the whole person upon rising, either in cold or tepid water, as individual experience proves best, with the use of the Turkish towel, or some similar mode of friction, is one of the best preparations for a day of useful exertion.

This practice has collateral advantages, inasmuch as it naturally leads to attention to all the details of the toilet essentially connected with refinement and health--to proper care of the Hair, Teeth, Nails, etc.,--in short, to a neat and suitable arrangement of the dress before leaving one's apartment in the morning. To slippered age belongs the indulgence of a careless morning toilet; but with the morning of life we properly a.s.sociate readiness for action in some pursuit demanding steady and prolonged exertion, early begun, and with every faculty and attribute in full exercise.

Fashion sanctions so many varying modes of wearing or not wearing the _hair_, that no directions can be given in relation to it, except such as enjoin the avoidance of all fantastic dressing, and the observance of entire neatness with relation to it. Careful brushing, together with occasional ablutions, will best preserve this natural ornament; and I would, also, suggest the use of such _pomades_ only as are most delicately scented. No gentleman should go about like a walking perfumer's shop, redolent, not of--

"Sabean odors from the spicy sh.o.r.es Of Araby the Blest,"

but of spirits of turpentine, musk, etc., 'commixed and commingled' in 'confusion worse confounded' to all persons possessed of a nicety of nervous organization. All perfumes for the handkerchiefs, or worn about the person, should be, not only of the most unexceptionable kind, but used in very moderate quant.i.ties. Their profuse use will ill supply the neglect of the bath, or of the proper care of the teeth and general toilet.

The _Teeth_ cannot be too carefully attended to by those who value good looks, as well as health. And nothing tends more towards their preservation than the habitual use of the brush, before retiring, as well as in the morning. The use of some simple uninjurious adjunct to the brush may be well; but pure water and the brush, faithfully applied, will secure cleanliness--the great preservative of these essential concomitants of manly beauty. If you use tobacco--(and I fervently hope none of you who have not the habit will ever allow yourselves to acquire it!)--but if you are, unfortunately, enslaved by the habit, never omit to rinse the mouth thoroughly after smoking (I will not admit the possibility, that any _young man_, in this age of progressive refinement, is addicted to habitual _chewing_), and never subst.i.tute the use of a strong odor for this proper observance, especially when going into the society of ladies. Smoke dispellers must yield the palm to the purifying effects of the unadulterated element, after all.

The utmost nicety in the care of the _Nails_, is an indispensable part of a gentleman's toilet. They should be kept of a moderate length, as well as clean and smooth. Avoid all absurd forms, and inconvenient length, in cutting them, which you will find it easiest to do neatly while they are softened by washing, and the use of the nail-brush.

Properly fitted boots and shoes, together with frequent bathing, will best secure _the feet_ from the torturing excrescences by which poor mortals are so often afflicted. The addition of _salt_ to the foot-bath, if persevered in, will greatly protect them from the painful effects of over-walking, etc.

I think that under the head of Dress, in one of my earliest letters, I expressed my opinion regarding the essentials of refinement and comfort as connected with this branch of the toilet. I will only say, in this connection, that a liberal supply of linen, hosiery, etc., should be regarded as of more importance than outside display, and that the most enlightened economy suggests the employment of the best materials, the most skillful manufacturers, and the unrestrained use of these "aids and appliances" of gentleman-like propriety, comfort, and health.

The best and surest mode of securing ample and certain leisure for needful attention to the minutiae of the toilet is _Early Rising_, a habit that, in addition to the healthful influence it exerts upon the physique, collaterally, promotes the minor moralities of life in a wonderful degree, and really is one of the fundamentals of success in whatever pursuit you may be engaged. Here, again, permit me to refer you to the examples of the truly great men of history--those of our own land will suffice--Washington, Franklin, Adams, and, though inconsistent with his habits in some other respects, Webster. Of the latter, it is well known, that he did not trim the midnight lamp for purposes of professional investigation or mental labor of any kind, but rose early to such tasks, with body and mind invigorated for ready and successful exertion. I have seen few things from his powerful pen, more pleasingly written than his _Eulogy upon Morning_, as it may properly be called, though I don't know that to be the t.i.tle of an article written by him in favor of our present theme, in which erudition and pure taste contend for supremacy with convincing argument.

But to secure the full benefit of _early rising_, my young friends, you must also, establish the habit of _retiring early_ and regularly. No one dogma of medical science, perhaps, is more fully borne out by universal experience than this, that "two hours' sleep before midnight is worth all obtained afterwards." To seek repose before the system is too far over-taxed for quiet, refreshing rest, and before the brain has been aroused from the quiescence natural to the evening hours, into renewed and unhealthy action, is most consistent with the laws of health. And, depend upon it, though the elasticity of youthful const.i.tutions may, for a time, resist the pernicious effects of a violation of these laws, the hour will a.s.suredly come, sooner or later, to all, when the _lex talionis_ will be felt in resistless power. Fashion and Nature are sadly at war on this point, as I am fully aware; but the edicts of the one are immutable, those of the other are proverbially fickle.

Students, especially, should regard obedience to the wiser of the two as imperative. The mental powers, as well as the physical, demand this--the "_mind's eye_" as well as the organs of outward vision, will be found, by experiment, to possess the clearer and quicker discernment during those hours when, throughout the domains of Nature, all is activity, healthfulness and visible beauty. And no peculiarity of circ.u.mstance or inclination will ever make that healthful which is _unnatural_. Hence the wisdom of _establishing habits_ consistent with health, while no obstacle exists to their easy acquisition. There is an experiment on record made by two generals, each at the head of an army on march, in warm weather, over the same route. The one led on his troops by day, the other chose the cooler hours for advancing, and reposed while the sun was abroad. In all other respects, their arrangements were similar. At the end of ten or twelve days, the result convincingly proved that exertion even under mid-summer heat is most healthfully made while the stimulus of solar light sustains the system, and that sleep is most refreshing and beneficial in all respects when sought while the hush and obscurity of the outer world a.s.sist repose.

But if, as the nursery doggerel wisely declares,

"Early to bed and early to rise, Makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise,"

there must be united with this rational habit, others each equally important to the full advantage to be derived from all combined.

Among these, _Exercise_ holds a prominent rank. As with the bath, this is most effectually employed for health before the system is exhausted by mental labor.

Among the numerous modes of exercise, none is so completely at command at all times and under all circ.u.mstances, as _walking_. But the full benefit of this exercise, is not often enjoyed by the inhabitants of cities, by reason of the impure air that is almost necessarily inhaled in connection with it. Still, it is not impossible to obviate this difficulty by a little pains. The _early riser_ and the _rapid pedestrian_ may in general, easily secure time to seek daily one of the few and limited breathing-places that, though in this regard we are vastly inferior to Europeans in taste and good sense, even our American cities supply, either, like what they indeed are, _lungs_, in the very centre of activity, or at no unapproachable distance from it. Do not forget that vegetation, while it sends forth noxious influences _at night_, exales oxygen and other needful food for vitality, _in the morning_, especially; nor that an erect carriage, which alone gives un.o.bstructed play to the organs of respiration and digestion, is requisite, together with considerable activity of movement, to secure the legitimate results of walking.

Students, and others whose occupations are of a sedentary character, sometimes adopt the practice of taking a long walk periodically. This is, no doubt, promotive of health, provided it is not at first carried to an extreme. All such habits should be gradually formed, and their formation commenced and pursued with due respect for physiological rules. Mr. Combe, the distinguished phrenologist--in his "Const.i.tution of Man," I think, relates an instance of a young person, in infirm health and unaccustomed to such exertion, who undertook a walk of twenty miles, to be accomplished without interruption. The first seven or eight miles were achieved with ease and pleasure to the pedestrian, but thenceforth discomfort and final exhaustion should have been a sufficient warning to the tyro to desist from his self-appointed task. A severe illness was the consequence and punishment of his ignorant violation of physiological laws.

By the way, I cannot too strongly recommend to your careful perusal the various works of Dr. Andrew Combe, long the physician of the amiable King of Belgium, in relation to that and kindred subjects. His "Physiology as applied to Mental Health," is replete with practical suggestions and advice of the most instructive and important nature, as are also his "Dietetics," etc.

Himself an incurable invalid, he maintained the vital forces through many years of eminent usefulness to others, only by dint of the most strenuous adherence to the strictest requirements of the Science of the Physique. The writings of his brother, Mr. George Combe, and especially the work I have just mentioned, the "Const.i.tution of Man," also abound in lessons of practical usefulness, which may be adopted irrespective of his peculiar phrenological views. In the mult.i.tude of newer publications these admirable books are already half-forgotten, but my limited reading has afforded me no knowledge of anything superior to them, as text-books for the young.

_Riding_ and _driving_ need no recommendation to insure their popularity, as means of exercise. Both have many pleasure and health-giving attractions.

Every young man should endeavor to acquire a thorough knowledge of both riding and driving, not from a desire to emulate the ign.o.ble achievements of a horse-jockey, but as proper _accomplishments_ for a gentleman.

The possession of a fine horse is a prolific source of high and innocent enjoyment, and may often be secured by those whose purses are not taxed for _cigars and wine_! Nothing can be more exhilarating than the successful management of this spirited and generous animal, whether under the saddle or in harness! Even plethoric, ponderous old Dr.

Johnson, admitted that "few things are so exciting as to be drawn rapidly along in a post-chaise, over a smooth road, by a fine horse!"

Let me repeat, however, that young men should be content to promote health and enjoyment by the moderate, gentleman-like gratification of the pride of skill, in this respect. Like many other amus.e.m.e.nts, though entirely innocent and unexceptionable when reasonably indulged in, its abuse leads inevitably to the most debasing consequences.--Our dusty high-roads very ill supply the place of the extensive public Parks and gardens that furnish such agreeable places of resort for both riding and driving, as well as for pedestrians, in most of the large cities of Europe, but one may, at least, secure better air and more freedom of s.p.a.ce by resorting to them than to the streets, for every form of exercise. And as it is a well established fact that agreeable and novel a.s.sociations for both the eye and the mind are essential concomitants of beneficial exercise, we have every practical consideration united to good taste in favor of eschewing the streets whenever fate permits.

"Oh! how canst thou renounce the boundless store Of charms which Nature to her votaries yields,-- The warbling woodland, the resounding sh.o.r.e, The pomp of groves and garniture of fields; All that the genial ray of morning gilds, And all that echoes to the song of even, All that the mountain's sheltering bosom shields, And all the dread magnificence of Heaven;-- O! how canst thou renounce and hope to be forgiven!"

BEATTIE

_Eating_ and _drinking_ are too closely connected with our general subject of health, to be forgotten here.

That regard for Temperance which I have endeavored to commend to you, of course yields a prominent place to habits in these respects.

In relation to _eating_, I strongly recommend the cultivation of _simple tastes_, and the careful avoidance of every indulgence tending towards sensuality.

Some knowledge of _Dietetics_ is essential to the adoption of right opinions and practice on this point. For instance, no man should wait for dire experience to enforce the truths that roast and broiled meats possess the most nutritious qualities; that all _fried_ dishes are, necessarily, more or less unwholesome; that animal oils and fatty substances require stronger digestive force for their a.s.similation than persons of sedentary life usually possess; that warm bread, as a rule, is unsuited to the human stomach, etc., etc. No one should consider these matters unworthy of serious attention, though temporarily free from inconvenience arising from neglecting them. Eventually, every human const.i.tution will exhibit painful proofs of all outrages committed upon the laws by which its operations are governed; and the greater the license permitted in youth, the severer will be the penalty exacted in after years.

----"Mind and Body are so close combined, Where Health of Body, Health of Mind you find."

Preserve, then, as you value the means of usefulness, the perfect play of your mental powers--so easily trammelled by the clogging of the machinery of the body--the unadulterated taste that is content with a sufficiency of wholesome, well-cooked food to satisfy the demands of healthful appet.i.te. Cultivate no love of condiments, sauces and stimulants; indulge no ambition to excel in dressing salads, cla.s.sifying _ragouts_, or in demonstrating, down to the nicety of a single ingredient, the distinction between a home-made and an imported _pate de foie gras_! Distinctions such as these may suffice for the worn-out society of a corrupt civilization, but our countrymen--MEN--should shout EXCELSIOR!

Abstract rules in relations to the hours proper for taking meals, however carefully adapted to the security of health, in themselves considered, must, of necessity, give place to those artificially imposed by custom and convenience. Thus, though the practice of _dining late_ is not sanctioned by Hygeia, it admits of question, whether, as the usages of the business-world at present exists, it is not a wiser custom than any other permitted by circ.u.mstance.

All who have given any attention to the subject know, that neither bodily nor mental labor can be either comfortably or successfully pursued directly after a full meal. Hence, then, those whose occupations require their attention during several successive hours, may find the habit of dining after the more imperative labors of the day are accomplished, most conducive to health as well as convenience.

Still, it should not be forgotten, that long abstinence is likely to produce the exhaustion that tells so surely and seriously upon the const.i.tution, of young persons especially. This may be prevented by taking, systematically, a little light, simple nutriment, sufficient to produce what is aptly termed the _stimulus of distention_ in that much abused organ--the stomach. This practice regularly adhered to, will also promote a collateral advantage, by acting as a security against the too keen sharpening of appet.i.te that tends to repletion in eating, and which sometimes produces results similar to those exhibited by a boa-constrictor after dining upon a whole buffalo, swallowed without the previous ceremony of carving! One should never dine so heartily as to be unfitted for the subsequent enjoyment of society, or of the lighter pursuits of literature. _Deliberate and thorough mastication_ will more beneficially, and quite as pleasurably, prolong the enjoyments of the table, as a more hurried disposal of a large quant.i.ty of food. And really I do not know how the most rigid economist of time, or the most self-sacrificing devotee either of Mammon or of Literature, can more judiciously devote an hour of each day than to the single purpose of _dining_!

Happily for those whose self-respect does not always furnish the sustaining power requisite for the maintenance of a principle, fashion no longer requires of any man the use of even _wine_, much less of stronger beverages. And with reference to the use of all alcoholic stimulants, as well as of tobacco, I would remind you that _those only who are not enslaved by appet.i.te, are_ FREE! If you have acquired a liking for wine or tobacco, and would abjure either, or both, you will soon be convinced, by experiment, of the truth of Dr. Johnson's saying, of which, by the way, his own life furnished a striking ill.u.s.tration, that "_abstinence is easier than temperance_."

To prolong arguments against the habits of smoking and drinking, were a work of supererogation, here. I will advance but one, which may, possibly, possess the merit of novelty. Both have the effect, materially to limit our enjoyment of the presence and conversation of

"Heaven's last, best gift to man!"

I cannot better dismiss this important topic than by quoting the following pa.s.sage from the writings of Sir Walter Raleigh:

"Except thou desire to hasten thy end, take this for a general rule--that thou never add any artificial heat to thy body by wine or spice, until thou find that time hath decayed thy natural heat; the sooner thou dost begin to help nature the sooner she will forsake thee, and leave thee to trust altogether to art."

In my youth, advice to young men was constantly commingled--whatever its general tenor--with admonitions regarding the necessity for industry and perseverance in those who would achieve worldly success. In these utilitarian times, when all seem borne along upon a resistless current, hurrying to the attainment of some practical end, engrossed by schemes of political ambition, or devoted to the acquisition of wealth, a quiet looker-on--as I am wont to regard myself--is tempted to counsel "moderation in all things," contentment with the legitimate results of honorable effort, the cultivation of habits of daily relaxation from the severity of toil, of daily rest from the mental tension that is demanded for successful compet.i.tion in the arena of life.