Pagina-afbeeldingen
PDF
ePub

Hardy Habits beft acquired in Infancy.

[this life

and rich, [nor beauty Thou haft neither heat, affection, limb, To make thy riches pleafant. What's yet in this, That bear'ft the name of life? Lie hid more thousand deaths; death we fear,

That makes thefe odds all even.”.

Yet in

yet

7

Of palfied old; and when thou art old | putting on the linen cold; and if the practice was continued of bathing the whole body in cold water, from the period of infancy to a state ceivable to what a degree of hardof maturity. It is almost inconnefs children will attain, when their habits are all favourable to this end. Yes, if an abfurd and fenfel-fs prudery did not interfere to taint the unfpotted mind, by obtruding on it its own grofs ideas, the little innocents, wholly taken up with their fports, would either not feel, or not regard, the action of the air on their

If then, to conclude, we find on a review of the past year, that we have omitted fome duties, forgot fome things that are incumbent, it is our business to cherish the remem

brance of fuch detects,,that they may not hereafter check our pleafares or make our reflections painful. The present like the former year, will, to many, undoubtedly

be the latt It can never, therefore, be unfeasonable to inculcate that virtuous activity is the end of our existence; that it enhances the pleafures of life, renders fociety a comfort, and even the bitter cup of affliction palatable; without it, our pleafures degenerate to profligacy, our friend hips are combinations in folly, folitude terrifies into madnefs, and fociety hardens us 10 impenitence. He, therefore, who is continually purpofing and refolving, without effort and without inchination, would do well to remember that the time is approaching when he who was thoughtlefs, muft be accountable, and he that confided in distant profpects of future ufefulne's will learn that "the hour cometh wherein no man can work."

naked bodies; and thus infure a

rebut conflitution before that period when decency requires us to conform to the manners of fociety. Do not iniitake me, I do not mean that children fhould not be cloathed; but let their cloathing be thin never fubject them to the trammels of ftays; and when in health, fuffer them to run about for at least an hour before you put on their ordinary drefs.

It was formerly the practice to burthen the infant with fhoes and

ftockings the moment its little body was emancipated from the restraint of fwaddling cloaths. It is now, I believe, the custom to let them go without fhoes until they can walk, and to forbear, for fome time longer, the ufe of flockings; but as the proper circulation of the blood muft in a great meafure depend on the firm texture of all the veffels in the extreme parts of the body, I am apt to think, that the luxury of fhoes and ftockings, not to make any mention of carpets, has been of the most fatal kind. The whole

Hardy Habits beft quired in Infan53, anl great Attention unfavour able to the tender Organs of Chil-train of nervous diseases, with the dren. By Mrs. C. M. Grabam.

T

HE medical treatment of infants is, I believe, very much the fame in the nurlaries of the opulent throughout the whole kingdom. But we fhould feldom, or perhaps never hear of confump tions, if the custom was adopted of

gout, and other chronic diforders, if they have not taken their rife from this indulgence, must be greatly aggravated by it; and for this reafon, I would keep my pupil's feet unfbackled, either by fhoes or Bockings, for the first half dozen years of their childhood; nor would

I impose

And do not we

I impofe on them the latter, till they
were of an age to be introduced
in form into company, when a con-
formity to the manners of fociety
becomes a very neceffary part of
conduct. What, fays Hortenfia,
are we to give up the ornament of
an elegant little foot, for fchemes
of ad antage which are perhaps
only vifionary? What is health
without beauty-that pleafing quae
lity of the fex?
know that among our artificial per-
fections, that of a little foot is one
of the most confpicuous? Why
truly, Hortenfia, I am fufficiently
fingular to regard health as one of
the first of human bleffings; and
even on the fubject of beauty, I
confefs to you, that I differ fo much
from the crowd, as to believe, that
if there is fuch a reality in nature as
beauty, it must confiit of symmetry
and proportion. A foot too fmall
for the fize of the body, is, in my
eyes, rather a deformity than a
beauty; it fhows bad nurfing almost
as much as the rickets; it carries
the imagination to all thofe dif-
agreeable and painful inequalities
which are the attendants on tight
fhoes. And if littlenefs alone, in-
dependent of proportion, conflitutes
the beauty of feet, we can never
pretend to vie with the Chinese,
whilst we preferve the privilege of
walking. Nature, if you do not
reftrain her, or turn her out of her
courfe, is equal to the tafk both of
fashioning the beauty of the perfon,
and confirming the ftrength of the
conftitution; while every practice
that counteracts her operation, will
be found materially injurious in one
or other, or in both of thefe inte-
refting particulars."

Both Locke and Rouffeau have very properly infifled on the not entrenching on the freedom of children, by taking up that time in the Laborious task of learning, which nature defigned to be spent in thofe

bodily exercifes which are fo neceffary to corporal health and strength; and Fenelon obferves, that you ought (with great care) to manage the organs of young children, till they become ftrengthened by a more

mature age.

ANECDOTE OF GOUPY.

drawing-mafter, at the palace of his late royal highnefs Frederick prince of Wales. While he was one day there, his prefent majefly, for fome trifling faux pas, was ordered to stand behind the chair as a pri foner. Goupy was commanded to go on with his drawing; " How can I," replied the artift, make a drawing worthy the attention of your royal highness, when I fee the prince ftanding behind your chair, under your difpleafure?" "You may return to your feat, fir,"replied the good-natured prince of Wales, but remember that Goupy has releafed you."

OUPY attended as an assistant

As Goupy grew old, he became very poor. At the acceffion of his prefent majefty he was eighty-four.

Soon after that period, walking in a peufive mood and pitcous plight in the Kenlington road, he obferved the royal carriage, and pulled off his hat. The face of the old man caught the king's eye, he ordered the coach to ftop, called the friendlefs artist to the door, and asked him "how he went on, and what he had to live upon ?" "Little enough, in truth," replied the old man, I was once fo happy as to take your majelty out of a prifon, I hope you will not fuffer me to go into one." "Indeed I will not," replied the king, until I enquire farther about your fituation, you fhall be paid a guinea a week." This the poor man received a few weeks, at the end of which time he died.

"but as

OC

Occafional Papers. Addreffed to the Ladies."

OCCASIONAL PAPERS,
Addreffed to the LADIES.

No. XXIII.

ON SWEETNESS OF TEMPER.

19

other people, are fond of contradiction, though very impatient of it, if it be offered to them. They feldom have much understanding, for furely that mind cannot be well cultivated that is ignorant of what is fo effential a beauty in the focial difpofition, as the desire to please, and HE government of the temper the willingness to be pleafed. In is acknowledged to be one of their converfation they are abrupt, the most important duties of life.-fhort, and pert; of good manners they know little, or, which is precifely the fame thing, they practife little.

TH

And few, I believe, will deny that a good temper is one of the most amiable qualifications-It embelliches every accomplishment-it fmooths the little roughneffes and afperities of life.-It affifts the judgment by keeping the paffions tem, perate. It renders beauty more than lovely, and gives to the moft ordinary fet of features a charm which is in vain to be fought for in mere beauty. In folitude it chears and comforts, in fociety it inftructs, delights, and conciliates. I have feen many hundred beautiful women who were disagreeable and not beloved. 1 never knew a good tempered woman that was not beautiful, and admired by every clafs of

men.

There is certainly a fomething in goodness of temper which nothing can compenfate for the want of Learning is pedantry and rudeness; genius is deformed, beauty infipid, and all the duties of life are labours an i fatigues infupportable, without fweetnels of temper.

The oppofites to this excellent qualification are fulkiness, peevishnefs, and paffion.

The previ are fo nearly allied to the above, that perhaps they might have been claffed together, only the peevish are more talkative and converfable, as the phrafe is, though they are equally void of that temper which tends to make themselves and others happy. Difcontent appears in every thing they do, and and in every thing done to them— for it is the misfortune of difpofitions like thefe, that they learn to torment others from having first learned to torment themselves. In this refpect they are certainly objects of pity, but objects upon whom pity is feldom beftowed, for it is more in our natures to pity thofe who fuffer from unavoidable miffortunes, than those who seem happieft when they are practising the wort of faults, and to whom it appears to be a pain to act, speak, and think, with the kindness and complacency that we find in the reft of the world.

The paffionate difpofitions are, however, really objects of pity; The fulky are the worst compa- for often paffionate perfons are pernions, not only for others, but for fectly fenfible of their failing, try themselves. In retirement it is im- all they can to fupprefs it, and fufpoffible they can be happy. No-fer exceedingly when they recollect thing pleases them, or, if it does, how much they have difcovered they have not the generofity to ex- their temper. "Make no friendprefs their fatisfaction. They di-fhip with an angry man," fays Solofturb company, break up the most mon-but this is not to be taken in agrecable parties, and fpoil the a literal fenfe, for many perfons mot harmiefs amusements. They who are apt to fly out in immoderate fee nothing with the fame eyes as paffions for trifles, are in other reVOL. XXII. с

Specs

[ocr errors]

fpects the best of man and womankind. The paffionate thus far differ from the fulky and the vindictive, that they vent the whole paffion in a breath, as if it were a natural difcharge which could not be restrained, and afterwards are the readieft to make atonement for their unguarded expreffions, or afperity of language.

unwilling afpect, is next to insulti the object of it. To make one a other happy in fociety is furely indifpenfible duty, and will be b performed by those who guard ov their tempers, and learn, from th beft examples, how to sweeten th difpofition.

To acquire the temper I ar fpeaking of, it is neceffary to banis all bad paffions from the heart; t reprefs envy at the merit, fuccefs or good fortune of others, which is a high degree of wickednefs, and muf produce the very worst effects on the heart; to reprefs an inclination to calumny, reproach, felf-conceit, and a felfifh difpofition in general; and to cultivate benevolence and kindnefs to all. We shall thus be en

greater than all the heroes of antiquity could boast of- a victory over ourfelves. To gain the afcendency over the bad tempers of others will then be eafy; for our example will be irrefiftible.

A pafionate temper, however, is a ferious evil, and although being thoroughly fentible of it, is going a great way to cure it, yet nothing lefs than a moft fcrupulous and conflant watch over ourfelves will ever enable us to make any progrefs towards the perfect cure. It is, I have always thought, a melancholy thing to fee a perfon of understanding, perhaps of beauty and accomplish-abled to make a conqueft which is ments, distorted in the features by a burst of un.meaning paffion, excited by a hafty expreffion not worth regarding, or a mifconceived affront about a trifle perhaps beneath notice. And the mifchief is, that paffion though excited at first by a trifle, which in moments of coolness would be defpifed, flies off, takes a range through the brain and memory, calls up a thoufand circum-ing, and very unfit for the fociety ftances long fince forgotton, or worthy of being forgot, and dwells upon them with all the violence of a fit, if I may fo exprefs myfelf, until at length the original caufe of the paffion is for-will be unknown; his goodnefs will got, and real caufe for anger arifes. Nothing violent, however, can laft long, and the ftorm fubfides fuddenly or gradually, as circumftances are, leaving behind it many unpleafing reflections, much fhame on both fides, and much compunction of heart.

In every refpect, therefore, the cultivation of a good temper, has many advantages. It is fo effential a part of philanthropy that I cannot fee how a man ought to claim the merit of benevolence without it. Charity given with a fullen air,

an

To fay that a man "is a good man, but his temper is fo bad there is no bearing of him," is in fact faying, that he is a very ufclefs be

in which he lives. What fignify the goodnefs of his actions, or where are the advantages to be derived from his example, if he has driven mankind from him? His actions.

be confined to himself, and his example no man will wish to follow. Such a man, indeed, for all the good he may do in fociety, may as well refide on an uninhabited ifland, and

"Wafte his goodness in the defart air."

Dr. Johnfon has a thought on temper, which I cannot refift tran fcribing." It fometimes happens," fays he, " that too close an attention to minute exactnefs, or a too rigor. ous habit of examining every thing by the ftandard of perfection, viti

ates

Sketch of the Charaller of Count Cagliostro.

ates the temper rather than improves the understanding, and teaches the mind to difcern fauits with unhappy penetration. It is incident likewife to men of vigorous img nations, to pleafe themfelves too much with futurities, and to fret because those expectations have been difappointed, which fhould never have been formed. Knowledge and genius are often enemies to quiet, by fuggesting ideas of excellence, which men and the performances of men cannot attain. But let no man rafhly determine that his unwillingness to be pleafed is a proof of understanding, unless his fuperiority appears from lefs doubtful evidence; for though peevishness may fometimes juftly boat its defcent from learning or wit, it is much oftener of bafe extraction, the child of vanity and nurfling of ignorance."

Another author has a quotation exactly to my purpose, and confirms what is faid above of the progrefs of paffion. "How many, for the fake of venting their paffion, when they have been angry, have given their tongues a liberty to run on, till they have talked themselves into the height of paffion, thus as it were fanning the flame with their own breath: which fhews Cicero's advice to his brother, a man of a paffionate temper, was very good :

That as much as poffible he fhould keep filence when provoked, that he might not further incenfe himfelf by his own words." And there is the fame reason why we should watch the beginnings of other paffions; for the paffions, not reftrained, chafe themfelves, and, like the wheels of a chariot, take fire by the rapidity of their own motion."

There are feveral other remarks I had to offer my fair readers on the beauty of temper, which I fhall defer to another occafion, left, by the length of my paper, I put their patience to the test.

NESTOR.

[ocr errors]

BIOGRAPHICAL PARTICULARS;

OR, A

Sketch of the Character of COUNT CAGLIOSTRO, By the late Mr. FERBER, Profeffor of Mineralogy, &c.

Translated from the Berlin Magazine, of Gedike and Biefer, of O&ober, 1790.

CAGLIOSTRO at Mittau, (Mittaw).

COUNT CAGLIOSTRO.

As this extraordinary character has, for fome time past, made himself famous, throughout Europe, for actions and powers (if real) the moft extraordinary, which he declares himself in poffeffion of, and is believed and afferted by his followers to be; viz. the power · of raifing the dead, and of calling up, and converfing with fpirits; of feeing into futurity; of the tranfmutation of any metal into gold; of making real pearls; of enlarging diamonds and other precious flones; and of poffeffing a fecret and unbounded influence and power over the human mind, &c. As the strange relations of his having actually performed all these aftonishing actions, in many inftances, have made much noife in the higher ranks of life, and efpecially among ft the ladies, in most of the polifhed courts of Europe. WE, ever defirous of affording to the public, particularly the fair-fex, that juft information, inftruction, and intelligence fo beneficial to mankind, by which the clouds of deception and mift of impofition is entirely difperfed, have, at confiderable trouble and expence, procured a full and perfect account of this celebrated impofler, with a complete detection of his doplicity and various impofitions. C 2

Te

« VorigeDoorgaan »