It is our
unwise exposure which saps the strength and gives energy and force to
latent disease. These, tenfold more than any intense application of the
brain to its legitimate work, limit and destroy human life. The truly
cultivated mind tends to give just aims, moderate desires, and good
habits.
Ay, and when the true sainthood shall possess and rule humanity,--when
the fields of knowledge with their wholesome fruits shall tempt every
foot away from the forbidden paths of vice and sensual indulgence,--when
a wise intelligence shall cool the hot passions which dry up the
refreshing fountains of peace and joy in the heart,--when a heavenly
wisdom shall lift us above any bondage to this world's fortunes, and
when a good conscience and a lofty trust shall forbid us to be slaves to
any occupation lower than the highest,--when we stand erect and free,
clothed with a real saintliness,--then the years of our life may
increase, and man may go down to his grave "in a full age, like as a
shock of corn cometh in in his season."
Meanwhile we must stand firmly on this assertion, that, the more of
mental and moral sainthood our people achieve, the more that sainthood
will write fair inscriptions on their bodies, will shine out in
intelligence in their faces, will exhibit itself in graceful form and
motion, and thus add to the deeper and more lasting virtues physical
power, a body which shall be at once a good servant and the proper
representative of a refined and elevated soul.
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