C **4rS I *,.*# J' • -t.. .-' r ;^!K.. v *6* A.-ft' ■'■'■ tf/$jMi- * lib , .w!l * •• ..,^/« •Vr ' '." * .- -X.I1 Donated "by Dr. J.B. Gregg Custis V/ashington, D.C* LIBRARY AMERICAN FOUNDATION FOR HOMOEOPATHY -J ^ te^* & £ ^ mtmBBav.-9.n; LIBRARY NIEKICM FOUNDATION FOR HOMOEOPATHY esi-xx's DOMESTIC MEDICINE. OR *w®. simps wmwm* SHEWING THE DISEASES OF MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN. \M) EXPRESSLY INTENDED FOR THE BENEFIT or FAMILIES. CONTAINING A DESCRIPTION OF THE MEDICINAL ROOTS ANO HERBS, AND HOW THEY ARE TO BE I 'SEP IN THE CURE OF DISEASES. ARRANGED ON ANEW AND SIMPLE PLAN, Wt.y should we conceal from mankind, that which relieved the dig*rt>~«« of our fellow-beinffB? SECOND EDITION MADISONVILLE, tenn. Printed by J. F. Grant. isat. !IBRARY AMERICAN FOUNDATION FOR HOMOEOPATHY O^-Entered according to act of Congress in the year 1832, by Doctor John C. Gunn of Knoxville, in the Clerk's office of the Uietrict Court of the United States for the District of East Tennessee. WM. C. MYNATT, Clerk of the District of East Tennessee. INDEX Aag«r, Ague and fever, Apoplectic Fits, Asthma, Abortion, After pains, Alum Root, Active Purgatives, Anodynes, Antispasmodics, / Accidents, Amputation, G 142 263 268 356 372 427 511 518 519 533 564 Imputation, of the arm &c. 565 to - 670 Bilious Fever, 146 Bones Set, 444 Black-berry Bush, 447 Button Snake Root, 448 Butterfly Weed or Pleurisy root 470 Blood letting, - 494 Cold, 230 Ulnp, -.. 294 Cold Bath, 124 Colic, - 155 Choleramorbus, 158 Consumption, - 177 Cowpox or Vaccination, t o Cancer, 309 Corns, 312 Colic, 347 Cramp, 349 Constantdesire tomake water, 350 Chills, - 371 Child Bed Fever, 374 Constipation, 391 Col c in Children, 392 Convulsion or Fits, 397 Croup, - - » ■ 398 Cholera Infantum, 402 Cancer Root or Beech Drops, 44J Camom le, - - 4481 Chinkapin, 449 Columbo American, 455 Centaury American, 477 Castoroil, - - 488 Clysters or Glysters, 497 Contusion or Blow, 535 Concussion of the Brain, 537 Compression of the Brain, 537 Compound Accidents, 563 Cathetar Directions for &c. 571 Cholera Epidemic, 577 Cholera Symptoms of, 679 Cholera Treatments of, 588 Diseases of the Liver, 197 Drinking Cold Water When Overheated, - - 22b Dropsey, - 233 Diseases of Women, 315 Directions for Midwivea. 366 Directions after Labor, 369 Diseases of Children, 380 Dogwood, 423 Ditany, - - 438 Directions forpreserving roots, 499 D;spensatory, 507 Dislocations, of the lower Jaw &.C. from - 558 to 562 Directions for passing Bougeis, 574 Exercise, 111 Eruption of the Skin. 253 Eating Snuff 259 Epileptic Fits, 264 E ir Ache, 280 Exercise of Children in pure Air, - - 388 Extr ict of Garden Lettuce, 486 Emetics or pukes, 508 Epederaic Cholera 577 Fear, ... 2 IV INDEX. Ftod, 129 raver and General Remarks, 133 Flux or Bysentary, - 214 F-ilss Pains, - - ." 352 Flooding. - - . -' 353 buntings, - - ,371 Fe^er of Children, ib 401 Fox Glove, b: ' 450 Friction, . - 502 "Flannel, - - 502 1" Mi.ili', Cathetar, - 505 Fracture.; ice. of the Lower, Jaw, &e. from 550 to 557 r.rb:; - 38 Gravel and Stone, 242 Great fl&v of Urine, - 24L Gleet, - - 301 Giecn Sickness. - 32(- Ginseng, - - 427 Ginger, - - - 479 Hope, - -- • b 4 Head Ache, - - 27'J 'T?art Brn, - ..- . 3iS Hooping Cougb, - "-' 405 iiop, - - 448 Hoise jVi'.nt. - - 47b I -temperance, - 70 Indigestion or Dyspepsia, 1G8 lniLmmiiionof the Stonvxh, 217 Irifleniiu .lion of the intestines, 2h; mfLm'm ition of tiiB B.ajn, 221 Infl.niuuiio.i ot'the Sploeu , 223 !.•:.;■ linn uion o.' ilu Kidneys, 2ii ! ill.uiuKt.on ot'ihu Bladder, 2iJ hch, - - - 2)8 lull itnua^Qiis, - - 3/2 Inil iinuuions of the Breast,, 373 lp;.C tai ujiu - - 451 Ind n i'dysIc, - - 4t»,. ipec .c.i nil -. American, 4(jh Indian i urn.p, - 4;>i Issues, - - - 503 Jamo Town Weed, 41", Jems..Lm Oak, - 4.JJ Jallap, - - 473 Joy, - .5 Jealousy, - - 12 Love. ... 22 Lax or Constant Loosness nf the Bowels, - - 216 Locked Jaw, - - 308 Labor, - - - 360 Lib-or Difficult, ,, - -v.. 504 Mercury, . . - - 527 Mortification, - 570 Nervous Fever - 150 *•■■'■:• v>-~ Organs of Generation 318 Ofigin.d Imperfections 385 Op.um, - - 480 Pasture of The, »- 1 Pulse, 140 Phunsy, - -" 2 .*) Pals y, - ■ - 2o7 Piles, - ■ -, 272 Putrid Soir Throat,. - 274 Pox, - - -. ■' 296 Po.-ons, - - 302 P ,ni" 1 off-ction of the face, 3J6 Pre^nmcy, - - 3>u Pivgnmcy Signs of v ? 310 Pie0nancy C iuiions ,.aDqri:ig, 312 Pivgn :iicy D.soas.-s, of 313 Pa.n .n the he id&, Drowsoness 317 Piles, 352 INDEX. V Pink root. 425 Sage, -.. . 454. Pennyroyal, 4371 Senna, 4£8 Poplar, ■11' Sonna Amercan, 460 Peecoon or F.bod Root, !-")i) Sidphuros Famigation, 492 Prickly Ash. 474 Srimul nls, 516 Peppermint, 479 Sudavlfics 32.'! P2.-> ; Sprains, 536 Religion, ■17 Scarlet Fever, 575 Remarks preliminary, &:.»;. *.\:> Rheumatism, 161 Tetter or Ringworm, 254 Red Gum, 3.l::<. 151 Treatmeiitofnev.i.om'nfint- 382 Rhubi.-b, 46! Tlvnb. 330 Remirks. 52'.) Teething. 3i>;» Tobacco Plan:, '28 Sleep, 105 T.ansey, 153 Scurvy, 336 Tonics, 51-:> Suppression or stoppage ur'.nc ,242 Saii:t Anthony's fire, 253 Uva Ursi, 132 Sclnld Head. 255 Sore Lc^j, - 271 Venerial Diseases. 287 Sore Eyes, 276 Warm or Tepid Bath, 117 Small Pox, 285 ; Whitlow, 282 Scalds and burns, 311 Whites, 333 Sickness of the Stomach, 346 W uit of Sleep, 3)1 Swelled Le.;s. 3!.> Worms 407 Stopp-tge of UrinOj. *«■ 3)0 WVte Wilnut, 1tu3 Swelled Leg, 374 W Id Cherry. Tree 477 Still Born, 331 \Vuunds, 538 Snu tries, 3>9 Wounds Inc'sed r>39 Sore Eyes, 3J4 u punctured 541 Scald h ad, ■102 " contused 542 Seneku Snake Root 413 WounJs of the ear nose &c. bass ifras, 415 &c. from 54 J to 54U Sassaparilla, 415 Slipprey Ehn 43 i Yellow Gura 390 Spice Wood •.13 t INTRODUCTION. Man, in the early days of nature, lived in a state of health, both in body and in mind. The earth produ- ced its fruits for him without culture; there were neither irregularities nor inclemencies of the season**. In a state of innocency, and under a mild and clement sky, there was nothing to produce disease; spring was per- petual.—Protected by the immediate presence of the Almighty, and as yet innocent of any violations of his law, he was happy in the enjoyments which the spontaneous benevolence of nature afforded him. But he has been the artificer of his own outward destinies. He has transgressed the sacred laws of his Creatok —and incured the penalties annexed to his own trans- gressions! His days are now shortened, and encum- bered with disease; spring is no longer perpetual; for him now, "the earth brings forth thorns and briers:" and for him the world has been visited with earthquakes, sterility, storms, and variations of the seasons, which Might the fruits of his labours, and bring mortal disea- ses and fatal maladies on their wings. Among the mortal causes that have abridged the life of man, there is one winch merits the attention of the'phi losopher—it is civilization! Civilization, by polish- ing man, and depriving him of his primitive rudeness, seems to have enervated him:—it seems to have madr him purchase the advantage, at the expense of a multitude, of diseases and miseries to which the iirst inhabitattce of the world were strangers—and with which the savages who only give way to the impulses of nature are still unacquainted. Man, in associating with his fellow beings in large assemblages, seem* in some measures to have relaxed the strong ties- on hU Mil INTRODUCTION. earthly existence ; society, by extending the circle of his wants, by giving greater energy to his passions and by generating those that are unknown to the niafr of nature, seems to have become a frightful and inex- haustible- source of calamities. But was not man born for society; did not his individual weakness, and his severe and pressi g wants, make him abandon at an early period the wandering life he had led in the forests in pursuit "ef game—and associate with his fel- low man? Could lie not by associating with his fellow beings, the better protect his existence; secure his hap- piness, and expand his truly astonishing faculties?-— There exists no country, in which men are not found in a social state : this is the case even in the most re- mote and frightful solitudes, from the Arabian deserts to the Polar regions. But cannot the social ties of men be drawn too close? Witness our large and op- ulent cities, where the population is immense, and where assemble.! multitudes seems to be crowded on each other; where, although the comforts and luxuries of life are to be found in t.bundance, the horrors of want are extreme ! Are not these extremes always hos- tile to the social nature of man ; are not these large cit- ies continually the seats of mortal diseases; the abodes of crime and immorality ; and are not physical and moral depravity, always the consequences of such enormous accumulations of people? When men 11 r-1 'united, it was in small bodies; and they passed their da s in innocence and simplicity. We should not then be asionished if they were robust, and if they tin n armed to a gieat age. They were ex- empt from the greater part of the d seases which a fleet us, because they had none but natural wants, which they could satisfy without excess. The beverage of nature quenched their thirst without the aid of spiritu- ous liquors, and the I'r'ent ly hand of nature give them sustenance; but, in proportion to the incrase of asso- ciations, they generated a multitude id' fictitious wants, which continually torment us, their offspring, and ren- introduction. ' »x der us unhappy; whence, instead of those simple foods which always prolonged life, man has the poi- sons of every chemical and foreign luxury served upon his table: and what are the results? Why—prema- turely borne down with infirmities, and devoured with remorse, he dies disgusted and exhausted with excesses. reflecting on innocent nature, whom he has outraged! The greatest number of diseases and infirmities are,of our own begetting ; because we have infringed the heal- thy laws of nature. Fifteen out of twenty cases of sickness, are produced by ourselves; it is by luxury and scandalous excesses, that we render our existence unhappy, and abridge its length. Man is a creature of habit; urged on by the propen- sity of his nature : he not only abridges the period of his life, but inflicts on himseif the displeasure of hi* Creator. The rising morn, the radient noon, the^had- owy eve, all tell him as they pass that his temporal existence is short, his advance to eternity rapid! When we view man in all his bearings and depend- encies, we find, and the profoundest philosopher have done no more, that he is involved in mystery. The greatest philosophers have only discovered that they live ; but from whence they came, and whither they are going, are by nature altogether hidden : that impenetrable gloom surrounds us on every side, and that we can seek in revelation alone, the only souree of comforti and explanation. The seasons are a mem- ento of life: Spring, breathing into life the new-born flowers; Summer, with his genial warmth, ripening his luscious fruits ; Autumn, with her golden harvest. bestowing plenty on man : and Winter, wiMi icy mantle. bounding the requiem of the departed seasons. Fi|>t comes creeping infancy : next merry boy-hood and aspiring youth; then, resoiute and industrious man- hood: and last of all, described, cold, and declining age: emblematic of the winter of existence, the short- ness of human life. Behold the changes that have taken place in Tenner X INTRODUCTION. see, and, in the whole western country, within tho lapse of a few short years! Look for the wigwam of the poor Indian, wiio was once lord of the soil you now possess: it is gone, and his bones mingle with the dust of his habitation. The storm of enterprizing civ- ilization has wrecked its fury on the poor Indian; his land has passed'into the hands of the white man; whose splendid mansions now rests on the graves of his ancestors. His peaceful forests, once the abodes of solitude and savage life, in which he unmolested traced his game, now resound with the festivities of civilization, and the business hum of labor. Those, innocent and forlorne people, who received our forefa- thers in the spirit of friendship, instead of being fos- tered by the genial hand of civilization, have been driven to the feet of the Rocky or Oregan mountains. and present a sad and solitay spectacle of their former greatness! In a few more years, the race of the poor Indian will be forever extinguished, and his council fires blaze no more: the wilderness has been subdued, and the house of God has been built, where once assen- ded the smoke of warlike and idolatrous sacrifice; cultivated fields and gardens extended over a thousand valleys- in the west, never before since the creation reclaimed to the use of civilized man; in the enjoy- ment of cival and religious liberty, institutions of lear- ning are hourly springing forth, diffusing the light of knowledge, and establishing the enjoyment and happi- ness of the western world. A few years since, even within the memory of many of the present inhabitants, this immense region was a perfect wilderness: the dar- kened intellect of the savage, knew God but in the winds and thunders ; on every side, the dark foliage of the shadowy forest waved in the silent majesty of nature, and her noble rivers moved on in silence, with no more comerce than the peltry of the hunter savage- Most of these rivers are now navigated by steamers, affording the quickest facility of transportation, and the most lucrative commerce; supplying the remote iute- i.YrR0TJl7CT:0>:. x'j nor of our country with the rich products of every for-: ■ ign climate,* our public roads are covered every year with tho advance guard of civilization, and demonstrate wJitit must in a short period be the result, under our w i.-e equitable and politic constitutions of goverment. TU tree of peace spreads its broad branches from the Atlan- tic to the Pacific: a thousand villages are,reflected from i>n waves of almost every lake and river: and the we-' now echoes with the song of the reaper, untill the wil- derness and "the solitary place has been glad for i.is and the desert has rejoiced and blossomed as the r©s< ." —God, in the infinitude of his mercy, has stored one mountains, Holds and meadows, with simple for heal- ing our diseases, and for furnishing* us witii medicine- of our own, ^ without the use of foreign articles: .and the dis< eoveries of e.ich succeeding day convinces u.-, i hat he has graciously furnished man with the means of curing his own diseases, in a\l the differnt countrie- and climates of which he is an inhabitant. There i- not a day, a month, a year, which dose not -exhibit to us the surprising cures made by roots, herbs and shriple-, found in our kingdom of nature, when all foreign arti- cles have utterly failed: and the day will come, when calomel and mercurial medicines will be used no lon- ger, and when we will beindependant of foreign med- icines, which are often difficult to be obtained, frequent- ly adulterated, and always command a price which ihe poor are unabled to pay. The yet uncultivaie/l wilds of our country, abound in herbs and ylant- possesing medicinal virtues, and porbably thousand» of them, whose virtues and qualities remain unknown —The travels of Lewis and Clarke, led to high expect ntions in every branch of science: the observation - and inquiries of these gentlmen,"particularly of Lew- ;-. were directed, among other things, to the disease.- and medical remedies of our Indians; and they have given a large portion of interesting information on these points. Much, however, is left to be done bv Ihe wisdom of our Legislative bodies on these points*' mi iKtaamc-TiQiu Tor the time i& rapidly approaching, when the beauti- ful temple of medical science, will stand divested of all quackeries and superstitions, and its re-builders be regarded by the blessings, the gratitude, and the admi- ration of mankind. Professional pride and natvie cupidity, contrary t» the true spirit of justice and Christianity, have* in all ages and countries, from sentiments of self interest a.m\ want of liberality, delighted in concealing the divine art of healing diseases, under complicated names, and difficult or unmeaning technical phrases. Why make a mystery of things which relieve the distress and sufferings of our fellow beings? Let it be distinctly understood, when I speak of professional ride and avarice, that I do not intend to cast an imputation on all my profession, for want of that heav- •Mi-borii principle charity, to our fellow beings. On ihe contrary, wre are furnished by history, with main prominent examples of this divine form of humanity. flypocrates dispenced health and joy wherever he went/ and often yielded to the solicitations of neigh- boring princes, and extended the blessings of his skill to foreign nations. The great Boerhaave did a great deal for the poor, aud always discovered more solici- tude and punctuality in his attendance on them, than on the rich and powerful:—on being asked his reason for this, he promptly replied—-"Goo is their paymas- ter." Heberden's liberty to the poor was so great. that he was once told by a friend, he would exhaust his foetune.; "no," said he, "I am afraid that after all my charities, 1 shall die shamefully rich." Fother- ^311 once heard of the death of a citizen of London. who had left his family in indigent circumstances :— he doctor immediately called on the widow, and in- formed her he had received thirty guineas from her husband, while he was in prosperous circumstance*. for as many visits ; I have heard of his reverse of for- tune—take this purse—which contains all I received from him—it will do thy family more good than it will INTttOIHJCTW** xm tU me." Similar occurences of the liberality of this great and good man, might be given almost withoutend indeed itis said, that he gave away one halfof the income of his extensive «V profitable business, to the needy and afflicted, amounting, in the course of his life, to more|than one hundred thousand pounds. What an immense inter- est, in celestial happiness, must this sum not produce at the great day of accounst—-the general Judgment. With what unspeakable gratitude and delight, may ne uot suppose the many hundreds—perhaps thousands,. whom he has fed, clothed, and relieved in sickness, by iiis charities, will gaze on their benefactor in that solemn day, while the supreme Judge accredits those act- done to hiiHslf, iutheprensenceof an assembleduniver^b But. these good and great men, have gone where we must all shortly follow—and are now receiving tieir i icS reward of all their virtues, in that kingdom wlere" pain and affliction cease. When we trace the po.ver* of human intellect, and the monuments of human great ness. and all that genius has instituted and labor accom- plished: when we tv&ce these things through all their grades of advancement and decline—where is the pride of man? Behold, in each successive moment, th" monuments of the rich, tie great, and the power ul— tumbling into their native dust.—and the hand %Jj time mingling the proud man's ashes with those of the menial >lave, so that their posterity cannot distinguish them from each other! When the sable curtain of death is drawn, where is the bright intellect of geniues—ami where are those we have loved and honored? At the threshhold of eternity, reason leaves us and we sink, not- bithstindiuj; all our precautions, aud^the aid of distin- guished physicians. Vet such is the course of nature. that those who live long, must outlive those they love aud honor. Such, indeed, is the course of nature, and the condition of our present existence, life must sooner or later lose its associations, and those who remain u little longer, be doomed to walk downward to the grave alone and unregarded, without a single iatersted witne-^ MV IKTROLUCTION. of their joys or griefs! It is evident, that the decays oi age ?nust terminate in death:—yet, where is the man who does not believe he may survive another year: Piety towards God, should characterise every < ne who has any thing to do with the administering,'-of med- icine; nor should any individual ever administer med- icine, without first imploring the Almighty for success on his prescriptions—for where is the man, who can ■anticipate success, without the aid and blessing of heav- en? Galenvanquished atheism, for a considerable time, by proving the existence of a God, from the wis? and curious structure of the human body, l^ote!!^. tht illustrious father of bloob-letting in Europe, ear- nestly advises a physician never to leave his house. without preferinga prayer to God to aid and enlighten bin. Chesleden, the famous English anatomist, always •inqlored the aid and blessing of Heaven on his hand, whenever he laid hold of an instrument to perform a surgical operation. Sydenham, the great luminary and reformer of medicine, was a religious man ; and, Boethaave spent an hour every morning in his clos- et, in reading and commenting on the scriptures before he entered on the duties of his profession. .lloofman and Stahl, were not ashamed of t\\% gospel of Christ; and, waller has left behind him, a most eloquent defence of its doctrines. Doctor FothergiHb long life, resembled an alter from which incense of adoration and praise assended daily to heaven; and Hartly, whose works will probably only perish with time itself, was a devout christan. To this record of these great medical men, I shall add but one remark— which is, that the authoritative weight of their naine- aloue, in favor of the truth of revealed religion, is suffi- cient to turn the scale againsnt all the infdelity that has ever disgraced the science of medicine since its ear lie si discoveries. 1 have seen the flower of life fade, and all its fresh- u«ss wither; I have seen the bright eye loss its lustre: and my last and best friends, close their eyes in thb INTRODl'"' riO.V. XV cold and tranquil slumbers of death—and have said. •where are the boasted powers of medicine, the pride «f -kill, the vain boasts of science?"—How humilia- ting to the pride of man! Let every physician put this solemn question to himself:—what will avail all the means I can use, without the aid of the Almighty? All efforts, founded on years of experience and -tudy, vanish at the touch of death: and, the hold on life professed by the physician, is as brittle and slender as that possessed by his patient:—the next moment may be i-, and those r medics so often used with success in the ca(tfs of others, will assurdly fail him in hi- own case at last. In some expected moment, a wave in he agitated sea of life will baffle all his struggles ; andhe, in his turn will be compelled to pay that debt, which nature *• has claimed from thousands of his patients.—W~hen on the couch of death, and whilst perusing the works of Kousseau , the last words of the great Napoleon were, in the language.of that authors—"k is vain to shrink from what cannot be avoided: why hide that from our- -elves, which must at some period be fouud, the cer- tainty of death, is a truth which man knows—but which he willingly conceoles from himself."—We shall all -hortly finish our allotted time on earth, if even im- -uallv prolonged, leaving behind us all that is now famil- iar and beloved. Numerous races of men will succeed ns. entirely ignornt that we once lived, and who will retain of our existence, notcveu the vestage of a vague and empty remembrance! «>* ** •• OF THE PASSIONS, All the passions of man, seem to have been bestowed on him by an all-wise Creator, for wise and beneficent purposes: and it is certainly the province of human wis- dom, to keep them under due regulation. In a moral poiijjjfcview, when the passions' run counter to reason aiicl^pion, nationally and individually they produce the most frightful catastrophes. Among nations, if suffered to transcend the bounds of political justice, they always lead to anarchy, war, misrule and oppres- sion : and among individuals, do we not easily trace the . same dreadful and disastrous consequences? With monarchial and despotic government, we frequently see the unruly and ungoverned passions of one man, "dcs-» troying and laying waste, whole empires in a single champaign : and with democratical or republican insti- tutions of government, have we not frequently witnessed the terrific consequences, to moral and political justice, ' which arises from the disorganizing and tribulent pas- sions of the sovereign people. Individually, and nationally, then, the consequences of misdirected and uncontrolled passion are precisely the same, as regards everything connected with political, legislative,"and moral justice. But, as it is not my intention to enter into a disserta- tion on the passions, farther than as they relate to man as an individual, and to their influences on the state of his physical system, I will first ob^ye?that it is of the very highest importance, to the hstlthy action of the human system, that the passions should be held in due subjection. If you give way to the passions, you des- troy the finest of the vital powers: you destroy dices- turn and assimilation; you weaken the strengthanil A 2 gunn's domestic medicine. energies of the heart, and of the whole nervous system1; The stomach is the ivorlcshop of the whole human frame, and all its derangements. are immediately felt in the extremities : and to prove how strongly the connexion exists, between the stomach and the heart, the latter immediately ceases to beat, when the powers of the for- mer sink and are destroyed. Distress of mind is always a predisposing cause of disease; #hilc on the other hand, a calm and contented disposition, and a proper command over our passions and affections, are certain to produce consequences which operate against all predisposing causes of disease. Any c^jfclaint arising from great agitation of mind, is more ■j^nnate than any occasioned by violent corporeal agitations.— For instance ; eating and drinking, and particularly in the case of drinking, disease may be combatted by rest, sleep and temperance: but neither temperance, rest, nor even sleep itself, as every one knows, can much affect those disease* which have their seat in the passion* >of the mind. JL shall not enter into the subject of the passions at full length. FEAR. Fear is a base passion, and beneath the dignity of man. It takes from him reflection, power, resolution and judgment; and in short, all that dignity and great- ness of soul, which properly appertain to humanity. It has great influence in occasioning, aggravating and pro- ducing disease. It has been a matter of much specu- lation with me, whether any man is born constitution- ally a coward';—^nd my decided opinion is, that cow- ardice and courag*>are generally the effects of habit and moral influence* I have frequently seen brave men, * Immediately preceding the great battle of Waterloo, on which were about to be suspended the great political GUNn's DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 3 acknowledged to be such on great and important occa- sions during the late war, who trembled at the mere approach of danger, and acknowledged their want of firmnesn. The great !)uke of Marlboro' was once seen to tremble on the eve of battle; being asked by a sol- dier the cause of it, the Duke made the following reply —"; my botty trembles at the danger my soul is about exposing it lb!" And does it not appear surprisingly singular, but no less "true, that a man shall be one day brave an 1 the next day a coward. That there is a close affinity between the condition of the physical system and Jfc|T>assions there can be little doubt; the same maii^p under the influence of opium, would brave danger in its most giant form, is seen to shrink like a and mih't'iry destinies of Europe, J\rti.pnferm employed a guide, who was well acquainted with the country, to accompany him in reconnoitering the field of brittle, and the relative positions of the hostile armies. When the battle commenced, his peasant guide, who had never before been exposed to the tumultuous shock of hostile armies, manifested strong and decided indications of fear—by dodging from side to side at the.sound of the shot. .?; 'upoleon observed it an I taxed h im with cowardice which he acknowledged, lied!:en reasoned with him on the abs-rdity of his conduct. '•Bo you not know,'' said he, '•'?'/;at there is a power infinitely superior t$ man, who rules and governs all, and who holds in his hand all our destinies ! If tin's be true, of which there can be no doubt, you cannot die until your time arrives ; why then dodge the sound of a bull; when you hear it, it has parsed you ; and besides, when dodging the mere sound of one shot, you may throw yourself in the way of ano- ther." This reasoning had the egvet; it banished all suggestions of fear, and the guide afterwards rode erect and steady, and manifested no indications of fear. I mention this circumstance, to show how much ive are under the influence of mortal power, or the force of rea- son, riutpecting both cotenrdice and courage. 4 gunn's domestic medicine. sensitive plant, when deprived of that influence. There seems to be a reciprocal exercise of influence between the body and the mind, which by man is absolutely inexplicable: but of this we are certain, that cowardice disorders and impedes the circulation of the blood; hinders breathing with freedom; puts the stomach out of order, as well as the bow els; affects the kidneys and skin, and produces bad effects on the wholfe body—and k may be for these and similar reasons, that the ancients elevated courage into a moral virtue. Many persons have fallen down dead, from the influence of cowardice or fear; and can it then be doubtful, that this ffafcsion has much influence in producing and modifying disea- ses? I feel assured, from practical experience, that in disorders that are epidemical or catching, the timid, cowardly and fearful, take them much oftener than those who are remarkable for fortitude and courage. Napoleon was so well convinced of these facts, that when his army of Egypt was suffering dreadfully from the ravages of the plague, in order to inspire his sol- diers with courage, and to ward off those dangers , which might arise from the fears of his army, frequent- ly touched the bodies of those infected, with his own hands. Fear weakens the energy or strength of the heart, and of the w hole nervous system; the infectious matter has greater power on the frame at this time— consequently the system being deranged, loses its heal- thy action, and cannot resist and throw off the epidem- ical disease. HOPE. <* Hope ! what a source of human happiness rests in the pleasures of hope. Man cherishes it to his very tomb. Take from him hope, and life itself would be a burthen! How wisely has our Heavenly Father blended in our cup of misery, soft whispers of our future exemption gunn's domestic medicine. 5 from its influence. Without hope, how wretched, how miserable our existence: what a powerful effect it has, when laboring under pain and bodily disorder! It raises the spirits; it increases the action and power of the heart, and nervous, system; moderates the pulse, causes the breathing to be fuller and freer—and quick- ens all the secretions. It is therefore proper and advi- sable, in all disorders, to produce hope in the mind, if you wish to have any chance to effect a cure. Is there a being who lives without this balm of consolation, this hope of heavenly birth, which tells of happier days in brigl^anticipation! If such are the advantages of hope, as to the things of this field of thorns and briers—this vale of tears—what may we expect from that emotion, when it embraces the certainty of enjoying felicity with'" God in eternity. When in ordinary health and engaged in the pursuits of life, hope is attended with many favorable effects of a fortunate event, without possessing the physical dis- advantages ; the anticipation of happiness does not effect us so excessively as the actual enjoyment; yet it has frequently produced more benefit by its influei ce on health, than fortune realized. JOY. • Tins is a beneficent passion: it produces an extraor- dinary effect, and is of infinite benefit to the constitution,. when indulged in moderation; but. if it should be e\< e sive, or very sudden, it frequently does serious and lasting injury to persons in good health; and to those who are weak, or afflicted with disease, it sometimes terminates fatally. The following instance of the mel- ancholy effects of the too sudden influence of joy, will fully exemplyfy the power of this passion on the phys- ical system, even when in health. It may be relied on, as it came very nearly under mv own observation. A A* 6 gunn's domestic medicine. gentleman in the State of Virginia, who had once been very wealthy, but whose pecuniary circumstances had become much depressed, not to say desperate, as a last hope of redeeming himself and his family from distres- sing embarrassments, purchased a lottery ticket, for which he gave the last hundred dollars he could com- mand. The purchase was made, under a presentiment, if such it may be called, that a certain number would draw the highest prize. All his property was then under execution.. When the day of sale arrived, his father-in-law and himself took a walk into the fields, leaving his family much distressed with their misfor- tunes. A gentleman on horseback immediately from Richmond, rode up to the house- and asked, for Mr. B----, and was directed by his wife where he would be found. When the gentleman rode up to Mr. B----, without exercising the least precaution, he announced the fact that the ticket had drawn one hundred thousand dollars! The effect was such as might have been expect- ed: Mr. B----, immediately fainted, and Avas with much difficulty and after many exertions, restored.—In the circumstance I have just related, the great influence of this passion will easily be seen: and I trust it will be as distinctly inferred from it, that excesses of joy are frequently as dangerous to the constitution of human- ity, as those of grief; if not more so. I need scarcely remark here, that to persons laboring under disease, as well as to those in merely delicate health, joyful intelli- gence ought always to be communicated with much caution. ANGER. "Next anger rushed—his eyes on fire!"—Of this most dreadful of the human passions, had I sufficient space to allot it, much might be said that would be of high importance. There is no jpassion incidental to (.CNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 7 humanity, an indulgence in which leads to so many dreadful, not to say horrid and frightful consequences: "To count them all would want a thousand tongues— i'.Q. throat of Brass, and Adamantine lungs." I have before remarked, that all our passions were intended by the God of nature, if kept under the control of reason and humanity, to be beneficial to the happi- ness of man. This position is demonstrable by reason, and sanctioned by the highest authority—the word of God himself, "who never made any thing in vain.' It is not the application of our passions to their natural, reasonable, and legitimate objects, that constitutes crime, and ends in misery and misfortune: No—itis the abuse of those passions by unrestrained and intemperate indul- gence'—and the prostitution of them to ignoble and dis- graceful purposes! Was a noble spirit of resentment, for. unprovoked and wanton injuries, ever intended by the God of nature, to degenerate into senseless anger and brutal rage? A noble spirit of resentment, upon the strictest moral principles, was intended to punish wan- ton and unprovoked aggression, and by preventing a repetition of the deed, to reform the offender. I am perfectly aware that I here occupy a new, but by no means an untenable ground. Was the passion of Love, the refined solacer of civilized life; the harbinger of successful procreative power; the nurse which ushers into life successive millions of the human race, ever intended by the God of nature to degenerate into brutal lust ; and to be followed by a traiu of venereal diseases which cankers life at its very core ••and visits the iniqui- ties of the fathers, upon the children to the third and fourth generations?" Was the deep seated ami natural sentiment of self preservation,, that essential safe- guard of man in every stage of his moral existence, ever intended to degenerate into that childish, superstitious, base, and ignoble passion called Fear? Was the eleva- ting and enobling passion of emulation, that only seeks to rival superior excellence, so Iionorable to the pride of man, and so consonant to the'native dignity of his soul, 8 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. ever intended to degenerate into a dastardly passion of envy, which seeks to destroy by slander and defama- tion, the excellence it has not the honest virtue even to attempt to rival? Those who blindly decry the legiti- mate gratification of the human passions, although they may do so from what to them seems the best of motives, ought to be aware that they do not arraign the wisdom of providence, for implanting them into the human bosom; and they ought also in all cases, to avoid con- founding the natural and legitimate uses of the passions, with the abuses of their lofty and powerful energies. The passions, confined to their native object, and as I have said before, kept in due subjection to the restraints of reason and moderation, are essential to the enjoy- ments, the preservation, and the happines of man; they only become dangerous and criminal, when permitted to produce misrule in the human breast, and are placed beyond the arbitrium and control of moral virtue, which is the true science of human wisdom. I remarked in the outset, that there was no passion knowli to humanity, an unrestrained indulgence in which was so fatal in its consequences to the peace of society, and the happiness of man, as anger. This deformer of the human countenance and character, is every where to be found; and its ravages seem co-extensive with its existence: in other words, it seems to live through all human life, and to extend through the wliole extent of human society. It is even sometimes seen to wrinkle and deform the maiden cheek of youthful beauty with a frown! But do not my fair countrywomen know, that the pas- sions never fail to leave their impress on the counte- nance, and that habitual anger will render them moro disgusting than the witch of Endor? They may be assured, and my remarks are not founded on cursory and supperficial observation, that the more of native beauty there is to be found in the female countenance,. the more easily will it be deformed by the vicious pas- sions, and particularly by that demon Anger. The gunn's domestic medicine. 9 female countenauce is more expressive of the finer, sof- ter, and more amiable passions than that of man; in other words, the female face seems to be formed from finer materials, and to have been cast in a finer mould, and it is from these causes, that the female face is more expressive of the moral feelings, and sooner betrays indi- cations, of a depraved and vicious temper. The stern countenance of man, can assume and maintain a fixture of expression, under any circumstances; and it is the consciousness of this power, that frequntly tempts him to play the hypocrite and deluder:—-for were he con- scious that his face would always betray the emotions of his soul, he would never even attempt to deceive ! To the practiced eye of philosophical research and rigid scrutiny, no expression of the human countenauce ever passes unobserved. To such an eye all the wiles of the human hmrt stand uurevealed; nor can any subterfuge of conn'erfelt expression conceal the reality from its observation. The Scripture itself sanctions this doc- trine, ",l man s'tatl be known by his look—and a proud man by his gait." If my fair country women would reflect well on the doctrine I have just laid down, they w6uld always Cultivate the softer and more benevolent feelings of the heart; and always endeavor to be in reality, what they won Id widi to appear: for they may receive it as a valuable truth, not to be controverted by any ef the artifices of self deception, that they were never formed by the God of nature for deception and hypocrisy; and that the purity and elevation of their moral feelings, or the corruptions and depravity of their real characters, are as easily distinguished from each other, as is the sur- face of the ocean in a settled calm, from that same ocfean, when lashed into mountain billows by the winds of Heaven. Do we not seethe ravages of this moral curse called anger, in every department of society? We see it beneath the domestic roof, embittering the enjoyments of the rich and poor; laying waste the harmonious sanctity of connubial life, and often entailing misery and misfor- 10 gunn's domestic medicine. tune on a helpless and unoffending offspring. But this is not all. We see it manifesting itself in its most horrid forms, in our halls of legislation; in our seats of legal justice; and even in our elections, in whic'i every man ought to be permitted to act with perfect freedom, and without the least accountability to another. In all our electioneering, conflicts, at least of late years, we can see the old and disgraceful maxim revived and fully acted on:—"those who are not for us are against us;"—as if a man could not exercise a right of selection, and prefer one man to another, without forfeiting the friendship, and incurring the enmity of all the opposite parties. If we would reflect correctly on this subject, we would soon discover, that personal frindship and personal enmity, ought to have nothing to do witn the matter; we would soon distinguish that a real statesman, or an enlightened legislator, ought to be the mere tool, for factional purpo- ses, of no party whatever. The noble a:i:l devoted patriotism, which gave birth to our truly gvc.^t political institutions, emphatically forbids, • that the American people should ever sacrifice to the narrow views of party spirit, what was destined by the God of nrbn.e, for the benefit of the human racel This government presents to Europe, a spectacle of no ordlr iry character; in which their statesmen read the future destinies of man, and the political fate of nations. W^e are the only peo- ple of any age or country, who have organized a truly representative government, whose experiments in legisla- tion—diplomacy and arms, are to settle the important question yet undecided, whether the mass of mankind can bear the wide tolerations of political freedom; and whether man, under any circufhstances, is capable of .assuriiing and exercising the high prerogative of self government ! For what a stake, then, against all the monarchies and despotisms of Europe and Asia, are the people and this government contending; a stake, as I before remarked, in which the whole human race are interested! Before this view of the subject, my reader, how do our party squabbles and brawls at elections, conn's domestic medicine. 11 dwindle down to nothing: to less than nothingl God forbid that I should ever seem to turn censor of the age: or assume a dictatorial tone, even in the cause of truth and moderation. I have been led into a slight notice of the proceeding subjects, by their strong connexion with the moral condition of man, and his too frequent sub- jection to the ravages of a most devastating and I had almost said, a most damnable passion, which it seems is scarcely controllable, by all the energies of reason l l • • ^ and moral sentiment combined. Anger was never yet an evidence of justice, a proof of virtue, or a demon- stration of superior intellect; a mind of elevated endow- ments, will always endeavor to correct its sanguinary impulses and to expel its influence. The man of cool reflection, sees in its unrestrained dominion, a thousand evils which escape common observation. He sees that it frequently fills our prisons with delinquents; that it is sometimes the cause of endless remorse; arid that it often loads the gallows with a melancholy victim! To speak of other than moral and religious remedies, for this dreadful malady, would be idle an4 nugatory. I might tell you as a physician, to deluge your heads with water as (old as the snows of Zembla; I might tell you to open every vein in your bodies to calm the raging and ungovernable impulses of anger; I might tell you that an emetic would curb the tumultuous fever of rage, and restore you to yourselves: all these reme- dies would produce but a temporary cure; they would be but clipping the twiggs from the Bohon upas, and leaving the root untouched1. The only sovereign pow- ers or remedies, if you please, which can be efficient in correcting the evils of anger, must be sought for in early education, and in moral and religious principles, instil- led iuto the mind at an early period of life. 12 gunn's domestic medicine. JEALOUSY. This is a passion, the causes of which have seldom been investigated, although the effects of it are every where to be found. The causes of it have generally something to do with love ; but not always. The cox- comb and coquette, both of whom are incapable of genuine love, may be powerfully affected by jealousy; yet in both these cases the lady and gentleman have only experienced a slight mortification of their vanity, and hive of general admiration. The wound here is not deep, and is generally healed by the consolatory admiration of some other jilt or jackpudding, as the case may be. I am not going to speak of the jealousy of the warrior, which is sanguinary and daring; of that of the diplomatist, which is politic, cunning and circum- ventive; or of that of the statesman, which is embittered by spectres and phantoms of future glory!—Nor will I trouble myself with noticing the jealousy of the poet, which is harmless, though vindicative; of the historian, which is longwinded and untiring in the pursuit of fame; or of the philosopher and man of general science, which is learnedly dull and heavily investigative, in the pursuit of truths which eternally elude human researches! I shall confine myself to the single subject, of that jealousy which sometimes subsists between husband and wife, and which generally renders both the objects of public curiosity, compassion, or contempt. Marriages are contracted upon various principles; such as the love of person, the love of fame, the love of money, &c. So soon as the rites and ceremonies of mar- riage are duly solemnized, and rendered matter of legal record, the parties individually acquire certain rights and privileges, of which it is a breach of the municipal law to deprive them, as well as a violation of the law of God. If the love of money induced the lady to marry the gentleman, or the gentleman the lady, any deviation of conduct, however indecent and immoral on the ons part, ought never to be complained of on the oth»r, gunn's domestic medicine. *3 provided the true intent and meaning of the compact be complied with, in relation to the cash itself. The same doctrines apply, in the case of a marriage con- tracted on any other principles.' If the fame of either of the parties, induces the other to enter into the mar- riage bonds, and there be no other stipulation expressed •or implied, infidelity to the nuptial bed, profligacy of conduct, and even the most indecent deviations from moral rectitude, ought never to make a breach between the parties; the tenor and spirit of the compact being complied with, there is nothing more to be said. Nor would there be in nine cases out of ten, if married per- sons who are induced to cautiousness and disagreement. would only be particular in calling to mind, the real motives which operated in inducing them to marry. If the mere love of person, without any considerations relating to temper, moral excellence, and intellectual elevation of character, was the leading principle which induced the parties to bear the yoke of life together. surely neither of them have a right to complain of the want of excellencies, which were overlooked, disregar- ded and absolutely undervalued in the stipulations of the compact. 1 think this rcasouing is fair: and abso- lutely too logical to be refuted: and, as I intend this book as a family museum of useful instruction and advice. I trust that what I have so far said on the sub- ject of jealousy, and other causes of domestic discontent. will have its due weight. What right have parties who have been improperly matched, or rather those who have improperly matched themselves, to disturb the peace of whole neighborhoods and communities. with their winnings, scoldings, and recriminations of each other? Will these proceedings benefit the parties themselves? Will these bickerings and brawls, divorce them from each other? AVill their domestic disagree- ments, and their "fisticuff combats," if they should happen to be so far advanced in the •• siceets of connu- bial love." reflect any respectability or honor, on their innocent and unoffending offspring? Will their neigh- 14 gunn's domestic medicine. bors endeavor to compose their strifes, and hush them into peace with a soothing lullaby? No: they will in ten cases out of eleven, be gratified at finding out, that there are others more miserable than themselves; and do every thing they possibly can, to inflame the contest, by taking sides. Some will take the part of the hus- band ; these are generally the gentlemen of the little body politic; some will take the part of the wife; these are generally the lady-peacemakers of the neighborhood; and before six months pass round, the whole country will be roused to a war of words—and resemble "a puddle in a storm." 8£c. 8{c. But, to conclude the subject of this species of jeal- ousy, with as much seriousness as it seems to deserve; it maybe remarked that the passion is generally foun- ded on the tales and hints of servants, the surmises of talebearing gossips, and the malignant iiiuendoes of those who delight in the diffusion of slander and defa- mation. There is a class of people in all societies, who are seriously afflicted with a disease called by phy- sicians "cacoethes loquendi." It is a disease that is generated between ignorance, petty malignity, and rest- lessness of tongue, which forbids the repose of society: in English, it is the "disease of talking." These peo-' pie have considerable powers of invention; but, from their ignorance of the common topics of enlightened and" manly conversation, they seem to be absolutely compelled to lie their way into notice! The education of these people, commences at an early period of life. When very young, just perhaps able to go on an errand to a neighboring house, they are immediately asked on their return home, as to every thing they saw or heard there; their answers are such as might be expected, a mixture of truths and lies. Finding at length that their . parents are interested in such tales—they commence with telling fibs—and end, confirmed and malignant liarsl Parents, this is especially addressed to you; it is worthy of your most serious consideration. But, there is a species of jealousy, of a most malig- GUNX's DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 15 nant and terrible character, such as that delineated by Shakcspear in his Moor of Venice, which sometimes takes possession of the human bosom, and shakes the tlirone of reason lo its very centre. This passion, or rather this insanity, seems to me to be founded on almost speechless and unbounded love; a love bordering on absolute veneration and idolatry. This is an abstruse and intricate subject, and I freely confess that I approach it with unfeigned diffidence. There certainly does exist, in the very nature of man, certain strong sympnthie< and antipathies, for which he is absolutely unable to account on reasoning principles; and which, therefore, must be referred to the native inspirations of human instinct. The-;e sympathies and antipathies are every where l,» be found: nor do I believe there exists on earth, one single individual, male or female, arrived at mature age, who has not strongly felt the influences of tUese instinctive, T will not say unerr- ing principles. They are discoverable in our choices of dogs, of horses, of farms; in fact, they are discover- able in all cases, where the biases of self interest and ambition have no voice; and where nature herself rules the empire of election. Doctor Fell once asked Dean Swift, what was the reason, after all the advances he had made to conciliate his friendship, that he could not gain him over: and received the following reply, which speaks a volume on the subject. "Ido not like you Doctor Fell. The reason e people are never in danger of suffering the tortures of*a broken heart, nor can they experience either much happiness or any considerable degree of misery in the married state. The love of general admiration is their master passion: and whenever this is the case, it is impossible that a concentration of C* 30 gunn's domestic MEDICINE^ affections can take place, and be exclusively directed to a single object: fire can never be produced from the separated and scattered sunbeams, they must be concen- trated by a convex glass, called a lens, before they can be rendered sufficiently intense to produce warmth, heat and combustion. The love of general admiration, was wisely implanted in the human bosom, and for the best of purposes ; but whenever it gains the full possession of the female breasf, it freezes all the domestic and conjugal affections,'*and sometimes leads to jealousy and discontent, with all their dreadful train of consequences —in other words, and I wish the sentiment to make a well-merited and indelible impression, the married man who can prefer the admiration of other women to that of the wife of his bosom, is a traitor to all the hallowed solemnities of the marriage compact, and a cold and calculating violator of the laws of God! Nor on the other hand, is the married woman less a traitress to con- nubial love, to the honor and happiness of her husband and family, and to the best interests of society and domestic enjoyment, who can prefer the shallow and superficial admiration of fools and coxcombs, to the deep and devoted attachments of a husband, who would not scruple to make a sacrifice of life itself to insure her happiness. "Wroman alone was formed to bless The life of man, and share his care; To soothe his breast, when keen distress Hath lodged a poison'd arrow there." I have mentioned, that persons of diametrically oppo- site physical, moral and intellectual characters, could never assimilate with, and become strongly attached to each other, notwithstanding the powerful attractions of the sexual instinct. By opposite natural and acquired characters, I do not mean mere contrasts of mental and corporeal disposition and characteristics. I cannot oth- erwise disclose my precise meaning, respecting things which are direct opposites, and those which are only GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 31 contrasts of each other, than by citing the example of colors. Black and white, for instance, are theopposites of eac h other, and when placed in juxtaposition alvvaya pain the eye; but. either of those colors, when com- pared with any other of the primitive colors or even shades, are oaly considered contrasts. St. Pierre, in his studies of nature, has been explicit on this ingenious and novel subject, which is certainly worthy of much consideration. There seems to exist, between persons of opposite physical characters, a decided indifference as regards sexual communication: or if not a decided and entire indifference, there certainly does not obtain between them, that arduous and passionate sexnal pro- pensi'y, which is found between persons who are the conlrasts of each other. I have remarked in innumer- able instances, the strong attachments which existed between persous of contrasted complexions, contrasted colors of the eyes and hair, and especially of strongly contrasted stature and dimensions; and I have no doubt, that the reader of this new, if not very interesting part of my reflections, will recollect very many instances, of the existence of marriages voluntarily entered into from the strongest of possible attachments, between persons who in point of stature and si/,e, were perfect contrasts of each other. Ask a tall, robust and athletic man, what sort of a wife he would choose: and you will very soon ascertain that his choice would fall on a female, the con- trasted reverse of himself. In fact, you will always find on inquiry, that a lean man prefers a woman of size and rather large proportions—a short man, a woman of lofty stature, and so on to,the end of the chapter of contrasts in personal character. The gigan- tic and brawny Roman warrior, Mark Anthony, fell in love with the sylph-like and fairy form of Cleopatra the celebrated queen of Egypt, who was remarkable for being of very diminutive proportions, though very beautiful: in fact, thousands of such instances might be cited from both ancient and modern history. This coutrast of physical proportions aud character, united 22 gunk's domestic medicine. in the marriage bond, seems to have been intended by providence, to equalize the breed of mankind, and tb prevent them on the one hand from running up into a race of giants, and on the other from degenerating into a strain of diminutive and contemptible pigmies. But on the subject of contrasts, this is not all; con- trasts in moral and intellectual qualities, seem to be equally favorable to love; and here again 1 am com- pelled to resort to figurative language to convey my meaning. There are concords & discords in music: per- fect concords always fall on the ear with a dull and cold monotony; whilst perfect discords always grate harshly on the auditory nerves, producing exquisite sensations which are still more unharmonious and disagreeable. It will not be necessary to say much on this subject of moral and mental contrasts; I only suggest it, that the reader may make his own observations, respecting this singular anomaly in human character. We know per- fectly well, that persons of moderate intellectual pow- ers, both male and female, provided their tempers and dispositions be gentle and amiable, are invariably the objects of love and the most tender regard, with those who possess uncommonly lofty and powerful character- istics of genius and intellect. This fact is even so notor- ious in all societies, as to have become a proverb; and, how often have we all seen instances in cojugal life, in which fortitude has been united to despondency—fickle- ness and inconstancy of resolution, with the most unshaken and resolute tenaciousness of purpose—timidi- ty with consumate bravery—and the highest order of moral courage, with the shrinking cowardice of super- stition and childish ignorance. We know these to be the facts, and can only account for them on the great scale of divine wisdom and providence, by presuming them to be intended for equalizing the human species in wisdom and moral energy—and forming additional and indissoluble bonds in the social compacts of mankind. I have several times mentioned, and T think demon- strated, as far as the force of facts and mora! reasoning gunn's domestic medicine. S3 will go, that the passion of love is measurably involun- tary, and beyond the control of moral sentiment and reason; nor can there 1 think exist any doubt, not only that the strength of the passion depends on the pecu- liar temperaments of individuals, but that the distinctive characteristics of the passion or e notion called love, are essentially connected with the physical, moral and intellectual qualifications of the objects or persons beloved. If, then, the streogth of the passion is in any proportion to the natural temperaments of individu- als ; and if its peculiar qualities or characteristics depend on the natural and acquire 1 qualifications o£ the objects of attachment, how re licalous, absurd, and perfectly irrational it must be for any mm or woman to expect, that he or she can possibly be an object of attach- ment, with any person of rational and scrutinizing mind, on account of qualificition.s whicli are not possessed, and whicli in fact, are known and perceived to be" entirely wanting. I mention the subject in this way, and place it in this light, in or 1 »r to or «ve:it the exercise of h/voc- ncy be! ween the sexes, which is always dangerous in its cousetjMences—ami in order, also, "that those-whose happiness, in life depends on their being objects of esteem, friendship, veneration, attachment aiid love, may sec the absolute uecessi'y of deserving the homi-e of such reline land virtuous sentiments ; in other words. that they may be deeply imores^l with the important and eternal truth, that candor, honor and moralVirtue, are the great passports to human happiness. I have often witnessed the tre-.unions solicitude of females, of the most amiable and exalted qualities of person and mind, respecting the public opinion of their merits and character, and frequently Jieeu interogated by them on the subject. In these cases. I have uniformly answered in the words of an old Grecian sage, "know thyself," and your opinions of yourself, if correct and weil foun- ded will be precisely such as are entertained for you. by those whose esteem and approbation are of anv impor- tance. Genuine and rational love, commences in the J4 QUNJf's domestic medicine. natural, and if I may be allowed the expression, m$ applicable to human nature, the instinctive sympathies of individuals for the society of each other; it is cemented and powerfully strengthened by the endearments of sex- ual enjoyment, of which I have before spoken; and it is crowned with both temporal and immortal duration, by the mild purity and unfading lustre of the moral vh> tues, and the imposing splendors of genius and intel- lectual power. As I said- before, it is confined to no particular climate, and to no exclusive region of the globe; its benign influence is experienced, as well among the polar snows of the north, as in the mild climate of the temperate zones. It is the exclusive guest of no par- ticular rank in life: the rich,the poor, the exalted, the base, the brave, are alike participants in its genial warmth, & heavenly influence. In the words of Lawrence Sterne, " no tint of words can spot its snow mantle, nor cheinic power turn its sceptre into iron; with love to smile upon him as he eats his crust, the swain is happier than the mon- arch, from whose court it has been exiled by vice and morality," This is that uudebased and genuine love, which is founded in unlimited confidence, mutual esteem, & the mild sublimities of virtue & integrity of character. It illuminates the countenance with the sparkling bril- liancy of soft desire; and is in fact, the safeguard of famale virtue, and of chastity itself, whenever assailed by unprincipled and seductive fascination. With respect to the passion of love, there is a com- mon error of female education, which will also apply to the early instruction of males, of which I must speak in plain terms in the conclusion of this subject. Every human being, at a very early period of life, from pecu- liar modes of instruction, and the examples presented to the mind, forms some idea of the qualifications which constitute human excellency. If for instance, at an early period, the parents and instructors of a female, impress upon her mind, that the mere decoration of the person will render her an object of tender regard, with- out the cultivation of her moral and intellectual qualities^ GUNN'S D0ME9TIC MEDICINE. 35 the result will be, and it cannot be avoided, that aiming at what she believes to be the great excellence of the human female character, both her moral and intellectual energies will retrograde into barrenness and insipidity: in other words, she will become what the world denom- inates a pretty woman, the idol of fools and coxcombs, but an object of compassion, indifference or contempt, with men of lofty sentiments and distinguished charac- ters. Peter the Great of Russia, on account of her superior intellectual endowments chose for a wife, and made her Empress of Russia, a woman of obscure and lowly origin. And in more modern times, I had the information from a person well acquainted with the facts, we find the spirit, discrimination and sound judgment of Peter the Great respecting the value of a woman of a cultivated mind, revived in the person and character of Lord Morgan. Sidney Owcnson, his pre- sent wife, was the daughter of a comedian on the Dublin Stage. At an early period this youthful female discov- ered strong traits of genius of a literary character, and Owcnson, though in impoverished circumstances, deter- mined to educate his daughter. He did so; in conse- quence of which, she became an object of strong attach- ment with a man of distinguished mind, who preferred her to the titled and the rich, and she is now lady Mor- gan. Mrs. Hamilton, a lady, of some celebrity, who has written much on female education, makes the following remark on women: "where there is no intellect, there is no moral principle; and where there is no principle, there is no security for female virtue." This is the truth, but not the whole truth: had Mrs Hamilton recognized religion as an assential requisite in preserving the moral virtues of women, she would probably have said all that was necessary on female education.—The accom- plishments of women, ought always to have some rela- tion to their future duties in life; but it is evident that the cultivation of their minds, cannot with justice to Ihemselves and society be dispensed with! no matter 36 cunn's domestic medicine. what may be their future destinies. A cultivated mind is a never-failing passport to the best society; it always insures the extension of friendship and civility, when accompanied by correctness of conduct aud a virtuous deportment; it prevents women from becoming the dupes of artifice, and the victims of seduction; it expands the heart to all the principles of sympathetic feeling for the distresses of others, and induces a com- miseration for the misfortunes of mankind; it holds up to a distinct and scrutinizing examination, the real char- acters of men, and enables a women to make a judicious selection of worth, from a herd of coxcombs and fools, by which, if wealthy and distinguished by personal beauty, she may be persecuted icith addresses. It fits her for the superintendence and regulation of a family, and enables her to make correct educational impressions on the minds of her offspring. The want of mental culture, among females of all ranks in life, has frequently led to disastrous conse- quences. By mental culture, I do not mean those shal- low and frivolous accomplishments which are sometimes taught at boarding-schools ; nor do I mean by a refine- ment of the female mind, a proficiency in drawing rosea which resemble a copper coin, in thrumming a waltz on the piano, or fidgeting through the lassivious gesticula- tions of an Italian or French fandango! I mean by mental culture, the acquisition of solid accomplish- ments ; those which can be rendered useful to domestic policy, be an example to society in the correction of its morals, & reflect honor on the national character. Such an education always represses the waywardness of the fancy, and lops away the useless & often dangerous exu- berance of a powerful imagination; it affords a never fai- ling resource of comfort in solitude, and finds a healing balm for the wounds of a wayward and unfortunate des- tiny. In fine, no woman possessed of a judicious edu- cation, even under the pressure of the most trying misfor- tunes, everyetlostthejustequipoise between her strength and sensibility, or became the victim of a broken hearil { glnn's domestic medicine. 37 The excpiisite miseries which spring from disappoint- ed love, and sometimes terminate in a broken heart, (for I am'well persuaded there is really such a disease,) always arise from visionary creations of the fancy, and disorders of the imagination: in other words, they are the offspring of overstraind and imaginary conceptions, of the qualifications of the object of attachment; they are in fact, the melancholy results of an over-estimate of the virtues and perfections of human nature; of which the woman of a cultivated mind, and really philosophic acquisitions, stands in no possible danger. 'A woman who cultivates her imagination, by the unlimited perusal of novels and romances, at the expense of the solid qualities of her understanding, is always in danger of becoming the victim of a wayward fancy; and, should she live to have the errors of her imagination corrected by practical experience, will have nothing of the imagination left, but the ashes of a consumed sensi- bility, on which no future attachment can possibly be predicated. A woman of cultivated mind, sees"objeels \ / aslhey really are—and not as they are clothed by an \ inflamed and disordered fancy; she. knows that human 1 nature is not perfection itself, and expects nothing from / it, but what appertains to the natural character of man; / she knows it to be a compound of weakness anji strength, virtue and vice, wisdom and folly—and never over-estimating the virtues and perfections of an object of attachment, her desires are chastened by moderation, and her loves by the high-toned philosophy of true wis dom! Such a woman, unlike the melancholy victim* of a morbid sensibility, and a high wrought and disor- dered imagination, is in no danger of sinking into the diseased apathy of disappointed love, and becoming the victim of partial or total insanity, or a disconsolate and broken heart: for which all the mere medical remedies known to human genius and science, are but miserable & inefficient paliatives. Religion, change of scenery, & attractive and interesting company, in some cashes have considerable influence in detaching the mind from the D v 38 gunn's domestic medicine. concentration of its reflections on an object of deep and vital love; but, in the more numerous instances, they have all been known to fail, and even to baffle all the efforts of'friendship and parental attachment. In fact^ : it seems to me, and I have paid much attention to the subject, that judicious education, and a well culti- vated mind, acting as preventatives to the disorders of the imagination, are almost the only and powerful spe- cifics, againgt the occurrence of the miseries of disap- pointed love. GRIEF. This depressing affection of the mind, called a pas- sion, when experienced in the extreme, sometimes degenerates into confirmed melancholy, despair and fatal insanity. It is the offspring of so many and such various causes, that it is next to impossible to enumer- ate them. It is sometimes caused by cheerless and gloomy presentiments of the future; sometimes by the heavy pressure of present evils and calamities; and not unfrequently, by strong and vivid recollections of losses which can never be retrieved. Against its inroads and often fatal effects on the health of the phy- sical system, (which are varied according to the temper- ament and character of the individual,) neither the internal nor external exhibition of medical drugs can have much avail. The force and effect which grief exercises and pro- duces, in deranging the functions of the physical system, seem in a great degree to depend on the poignancy and acuteness of those sensibilities which characterize the nervous system. Where the nervous system is tremu- lously sensible, and easily susceptible of external impressions, which is generally the case with persons of distinguished genius, there is invariably found a con- stitutional melancholy, which delights in retrospections gunn's domestic medicine. 39 of the past, and scriou-. if not cheerless anticipations of the future. At an early period of life, these persons are highly susceptible of the cliarmS of nature, and also of her more gloomy and sombre scenery; and, •being deeply sensible of tlie influence of what to other men would be slight impressions, their feelings always exhibit themselves in the extremes of animation or depression of spirits, for whicli they themselves are utterly unable to account. In fact.it is not unusual to witness in the varying sensibilities of these persons, and that loo in the lapse of a single clay, the reflective calm- ness and profundity of the great southern Pacific Ocean —the urbanity and cheerfulness attendant on anticipa- tion^ of future prosperity and happiness—and those storms of ungovernable and unsubdued passions, whose undulation* resemble the mountain billows of the Allan* tic, when lashed by the hurricanes and tornadoes of the Torrid Zone! This is not only the constitutional tem- perament of true and unsophisticated genius, of which so much has been said, and so little known, but it is also the soil which produces sensations of exquisite happiness and misery : distinguished principles of mor- al rectitude and depravity of conduct: great virtues and great vices\ Seriousness, depression of spirits, melancholy, guiep, despair, insanity, are but the different modifications of the same passion, or predisposition of the moral facul- ties, of whose essence we in reality know nothing abstractly, only differing iu degree of force and effect, in proportion to the strength and weakness of operating causes. For instance: seriousness and solemnity of feeling, are always produced in a mind of sensibility and reflection, by the -\i$ht of a dead body: of the human limbs lopped away iu battle: of the human mind in ruins: and of human misery exhibited to us under i\n\jprm: in theve cases the effects produced are only temporary, and usually pass away witlj,the removal of the objects which excited them. If. however, serious ;i ol solemn feelings be often reproduced in the mind, by gunn's domestic medicine. reiterated exhibitions of objects capable of exciting them, their impressions will become more durable, and soon "produce a habitual tone of feeling, denominated depression of spirits. When this depression of spirits is habitually indulged in for any considerable lapse of time, it is apt to gain so great an ascendency over the notice and resolute powers of the mind, as to dispose the person affected with its influence, to seek in solitude and retirement from society," an indulgence in inactivity, irresoluton and gloomy reflections, which, becoming fixed and as it were immoveable„settlesl down into" mel- ancholy. Seriousness, depression of spirits, and mel- ancholy, sometimes produce mental derangements; but they are generally of a harmless, unobtrusive, silent, and inoffensive character, where the nervous system is tremulous and exceedingly delicate—or w here the tem- perament, if I may be allowed the phraseology, is char- acterised by weakness, irresolution and timidity. Compared with the above affections, which seem at first view to have their seat in the imagination, and by some are denominated hypochondria in men, and hys- terics in women—grief and despair are certainly affec- tions of a mOre active a!ud*|)ovverful character, and much sooner ending in fatuity or mental exhaustion, and outrageous or confirmed insanity. As I have somewhere mentioned, and the probability is that the fact will be acknowledged by all well- informed physicians, by which I meau those who have discovered how Uttle can be essentially known on the subject of affections of the mind, the particular and direct influence which these, and other strong passions have in deranging the organization of the brain, cannot well be ascertained. All we know about the matter is, that we cannot think with accuracy and profundity of research, without a wel,l-organized braift, and that any derangement of that organization and its natural func- tions, produces coequal and coextensive derangements of the intellectual or mental powers. The probability is, that refined susceptible, and strong organizations of gunn's domestic medicine. 41 the brain, considered in the aggregate, have much influ- ence in imparting to the mind, those refinements of taste, susceptibilities of feeling, and superior intellectual capacities, which we call genius, for want of a term which can be more clearly understood. We are per- fectly aware, that without a well-organized eye, no defin- ite or accurate ideas can be formed of colors—forms*— dimensions—distances; that without a'well-organized and susceptible ear, no clear and distinctively correct impressions can be made, by what we call sounds, or vibrations of the air, for want of a more expressive term, on the auditory nerves: that without a well con- structed nasal organ, vulgarly denominated a nose, no clear and distinct impressions can be made on the olfactory nerves or nerves of smelling, by the effluvia arising from bodies: that, unless the portions of the nervous system whicli are incorporated with the tongue and its appendages, be unobstructed by malconforma- tion of the organs of taste, no distinctions of flavor could be recognized, between sugar, gall, and vinegar; and that unless the nerves which are spread over the cutaneous surface of the.body, and particularly that of the hands be perfect both in organization and tone, no adecpiate or correct ideas could ever be formed of the shape, solidity, kv, of bodies, with which we come in immediate contact. The fact seems to be, and I consid- er the theoretical conjecture inferior to none which has been published by medical men, that whenever the affec- tions of the mind derange the tone and susceptibility of the senses, these derangements always bring to the censorium, or focal point of mental impression, incor- rect and distorted ideas of external objects which, as in hypochondria, make us believe in the existence of phantasmagoria of a most childish and superstitious character. This is a species of insanity, connected with unnatural and painful seriousness—habitual depression of spirits—and confirmed melancholy. On the other hand, when afflictive impressions are made upon the mind, of an unusuallv active and powerful char- 42 gunn's domestic medicine". acter, and sufficient to impair and partially destroy the organization itself,as in the cases of intense and poignant grief, or absolute and hopeless despair, thepartial disso- lution of the physical structure and organization of the brain, it is not improbable, leads to offensive mischiev- ous, and terrific insanity, amounting to absolute phren- zy, and finally terminating in dissolution. The fact is, and it is well known to physicians, that a dissolution of the organic structure of the frame, if that dissolution take place in any vital organ, particularly the brain or stomach, between which there exists a close and almost identical sympathy, decidedly morbid effects are produced to the whole system—physical, moral and mental; in fact, the brain may be called the father, and the stomach the mother of the system. I have only as yet spoken of the influence which is produced upon the physical functions and system, by the passion of grief, and other strong affections of the same or a similar character. The same effects as those produced by the passions above enumerated, are some- times the offspring of other causes, not connected in the first instance, with the passions, but which afterwards operate strongly upon them, and assist in destroying the nervous, vital and moral functions and organization of the system. We know perfectly well, for instance, that there are many substances which, when taken into the stomach, affect the passions strongly by irritation and excitement—produce morbid derangements of the phy- sical functions—and not unfrequently, moral and men- tal alienations.—The effect of tincture of cantharides on some of the passions, When taken into the stomach, is perfectly well known: nor do I believe, that if its application to the stomach were long continued, it would ever fail to produce morbid irritations and inflammations, which would terminate in functional derangement, and actual dissolution of organic structure in the brain. The effect which opium produces, where it is used in immoderate quantities, as among the Turks, is well known; and that it not unfrequently ends in derangements "gunn's domestic medicine. 43 of the physical system, and absolute insanity with all its horrors. Nor is the intemperate use of spirituous liquors, used to such excess and in such immoderate quantities in our own country, far behind the use of opium, in producing the same deleterious effects on the brain, through the medium of thestomach. Everyman who will tax his recollection, will find his memory fur- nished with innumerable instances, in which a long trainof physical diseases has been followedby derange- ments of the intellect, which none of the boasted pow- ers of science or medicine could relieve or rectify, mere- ly from the immoderate use, or rather abuse of spiritu- ous liquors. Have we not all witnessed instances, in which the abuse of spirituous liquors has produced visceral obstructions of a most deadly character—and mental derangements which have been confirmed and rendered durable to the end of life? How is this fixed and confirmed mental alienation to be accounted for, but upon the presumption that those stimulants, long continued, affect not only the nerves, but the organic structure of the brain? Do we not know that a fit of intoxication is a paroxysm of mental derangement-and that impressions often reiterated w ill wear their chan- nels iu the brain, injure its unrivalled and delicate organization, and render those effects durable? What are the effects which immediately follow a fit of exces- sive intoxication? Are they not the very same as those produced by the influence of the passions of which I have before spoken? Are they not seriousness, depres- sion of spirits, melancholy, gkikf, despair, insanity? This is the point at which I intended to arrive. I intended to demonstrate in a plain and simple manner. that disease, insanity and death, are produced as well by moral as by physical causes: and that a physician ought to ascertain both the state of the body and mind, if he really intends to effect a cure or removal of the class of diseases just mentioned. I know it to be a common practice with physicians, to listen to long details of the physical -ymptoms of their patients. 44 gunn's domestic medicine. without the least inquiry as to the moral or mental causes of their diseases; when the fact is> that in five cases out of ten, arising among persons of sedentary, refined, luxurious, studious, and intellectual habits; and among delicate females, in seven cases of disease out of eleven, particularly those which are obstructional, the causes w\Yl be found seated in the mind and passions. I needA not enlarge on this subject; every man posses- sed, of any experience and common sense, must have observed, both on himself and others, the remarkable effects produced on the physical system by the mind and passions; nor can such an individual be ignorant of the fact, that deleterious substances when taken into the stomach, frequently operate with immense power on the passions, as well as on the organic structure of the physical system. The truth is, that although we are well convinced of the intimate connexion of the mind and body, and also of the reciprocal influence they always exercise alternately over each other, no man has ever yet been able fully to develope the mysteries of that connexion, or the natural mediums l>y and through which they operate on and influence each other; in other words,all we certainly know respecting the matters under consideration, must be confined to the effects daily and hourly witnessed, in the reciprocal and varied action of the mind and its passions, and the body and its affections, on each other. When morbid derangements of the system are derived from the action of the mind and passions, the consolations of religion and philosophy are of great importance; because they teach mankind, in a language not to be misunderstood, that cheerless and gloomy presenti- ments of the future, only unfit us for combating and vanquishing present difficulties: that the heavy pressure of present evils, and calamities which are irremoveable, are lightened of half their ponderous and depressing influence, by that masculine fortitude which is derived from the inspirations of wisdom, and that celestial hope of relief which springs from genuine religion: GUNN*! domestic medicine. 45 nod that it is the height of human folly and weakness-^ unavailiugly to mourn over losses which can never be retrieved! When the causes of our diseases and mis- cries are connected with physical principles in some degree under our control,it becomes a moral duty,so far as it be possible, to remove them—and that too by physical means: and 1 am decidedly of opinion, generally speak- ing, and a few individual cases which might be enumer- ated left put of view, that moral causes of disease and misery are to be combatted by moral means—and that physical causes of functional derangement, and viola- tions of organic structure derived from such causes are to be combatted and overcome by physical means. I am perfectly willing to admit, that the influences of the imagination, and of the animating passions, are very (on-iderable in preventing disease, and removing obstructions when not firmly seated; but I am-not wil- ling to allow, that either the imagination or the anima- ting passions, can render flexible the coats of an ossified artery, or remove a stone from the bladder! The fact is, that the line of demarcation where moral causes cease to operate, and where the influence of physical ones commences, is a mystery hitherto too profouudand iiiscrutiblc for the boldest efforts of human genius. We are well aware that many malconformatioiis of the human fetus take place previous to birth, such as in cases of hare-lip, external impressions on the skin. &c. but at what period cd* gestation such malconformatioiis and external impressions cease to be made, it is abso- lutely impossible to conjecture with even a probability * of truth. The following case of the powerful effects of imagin- ation, put by Doctor Cypricanus, is recorded in this work, to place pregnant females on their guard, and to exemplify the effects of the imagination on highly sus- ceptible materials. -A female child,'' says "this dis- tinguished man. "was born with a wound in her breast above Jour inches in length. It penetrated to the ?nus- culi inh'rcostales, and was an inch broad, and hollow 46 gunn's domestic medicine. under the flesh round about the wound; besides whicli, there was a contusion with some swelling at the lower part of the wound inside. The child came into the world without any violence; and consequently it did not receive the wound in its birth; it was caused by the strength of the imagination; for, about two months before, the mother had by chance heard a report that a. man had murdered his Avife, and with his knife had given her a "Teat wound in the breast—at which relation she cbanged, but not excessively. It is not merely probable, but absolutely certain, that the child received the wound in its mother's body, at the very moment she was affrighted; because the wound was very sordid, and tiie inside as well as the outside beset with slime, proceeding from the water in which the child lies in its mother's womb—besides which, it had every appear- ance of an old wound." The effects of grief, which is an extremely, depres- sing passion, and its morbid influences on the body or physical system, are very remarkable. It diminishes bodily strength in general, and also the action of the heart in particular. It impedes the circulation of the fluids, stagnates the bile invariably, and occasions Indurations of the liver; or by throwing the bile into the circulation of the blood, it produces jaundice or dropsy. Grief also diminishes the perspiration, renders the skin sallow, aggravates the scurvy; and is particu- larly effective in producing and aggravating putrid fevers; it also disposes persons to being easily affected with fever, arising from excessive irritability, or constipation or costiveness of the bowels. Its effects in changing the color of the hair are well known; and many instan- ces have occurred, in which the hair has been turned hom deep black to gray in a few hours. From grief,. blindness, gangrene, and even sudden dea$i, or as itis emphatically called, a broken heart, hnvo not unfre- quently resulted. From the excess of tins passion, persons who indulge in melancholy reflections for ain length of time, become peevish and fretful; and so gunk's domestic medicine. 47 Extremely irritable, that their minds find new food for sorrow in vxevx object presented to them. Thus the whole imagination becomes seriously affected with con- firmed melancholy, sometimes producing nervous fevers, or what is still more dreadful, total insanity.—The remedies usually resorted to with salutary effects, are gentle opiates taken with caution; exercise on horse back;—change of scene; the use of the siring, which has in very many instances produced signally beneficial effects; friction of the body and limbs with flannel or a flesh brush—this friction ought to be frequently resorted to and continued, to give impetus to the blood, when the extremities become cold; washing the body with strong vinegar, &c.—Mild wines temperately administered may be given, and should they prod*0® acidity of the stomach and loss ofapetite, cxercis* DUl^ other tonics ought (o be resorted to—change of climate is often in desnaratecases found beneficial, ab° a diver- sion of the mind from its original imaginations, a«d par- ticularly the frequent use of the tepid bat* is recommen- ded: and in cases of suppressions of ttie, Menstrual dis- charge occasiored byr grief, the l<[>id b*th has invaria- bly been found beneficial. The powerful influence of the mind upon the womb, w lieu affected by grief, can scarcely be computed by the best observers ; who gen- erally attriMte to merely physical causes, effects which are to be sought for iu the mind. But more will be develops on this important subject, as regards female diseases under another and mo^ appropriate head. pi^LIGION. f'nts passi*«t or affection qf the human mind, properly ,]fined an1' *vt'U understood, is a deeply devotionalsenti- tent orawe? veneration and love, for that inscrutable hm>g who created the universe in his wisdom; supports ithj his almighty poicer: and regulates the machinery o< nature, in beneficence and love to his creatures. 48 gunn's domestic medicine. Considered merely in relation to his vital and animal functions, man seems to occupy the highest point in the Scale of animated nature; but notwithstanding this dis- tinguished elevation, with some grand and distinctive €jxceptions to the general principles of existence, and those of a strong and decided character, he seems in many respects to be allied to the inferior orders.of crea- tion. Like the merely animal orders of nature inferior to himself, he is animated by loves and friendships, hatreds and enmities,—and by all the other passions and propensities, incidental to the merely animal crea- tion.—In common with the elephant, the lion, the dog >. and the fox, his heart seems to be the seat of life or >;tality, and his brain the censorium of intellectual exis- teu*% Like them he is furnished with a stomach to digests, js food-&a heart to propel the vital fluid through the artexial and venous systems.—Like the inferior orders of oration, man is susceptible of the influence of heat and col-L *and all the variations of temperature incidental to tht^ changes of the seasons; like them he can be deluged by ^ains, frozen by the snows of winter, . and melted by the he^s of summer, lake them he is eubjected.to physical diseases, which can le mitigated or removed by the san-e means; *aid like then he is ani- mated by strong sentiments of self-preseivation, and entertains an instinctive and powerful dre\d of both pain and dissolution! But here the parallel between man and the inferfov orders of creation terminals; and he begins to take his A*parture from their ea^hborn level, which they ean nevei emulate or even follcy Man is the only animal in citron, who can rafe his contemplations to the Deity, and experience a snbXme sentiment of awe and veneration, for ^he unknown u. thor of his existence. The only animav jn creatio capable of experiencing a strong solicitude fo* a knowl- edge of his own origin, or who can direct his views and anticipations to a future • existence, beyond the boundaries of time! He is the only being absolutely Ipiown to himself who can form a coneption of speaciv gunn's domestic medicine. 49 which is an abstract idea of infinity; of time, which is an abstract conception of eternity, or of plastic and creative power, which leads to an abstract, but infinite- ly inadequate conception of the omnipotence of god! Man seems to unite in his moral and intellectual com- position, the human extremes of strength and weakness wisdom, -Midfolly. In infancy, or when not associated with his fellow-beings, he is a naked, defenceless, dependent and timid animal; exposed to diseases of every multiplied character—to dangers beyond arith- metical computation—and to death in all its varied and gigantic forms: yet with all these incipient weaknesses. and seeming imperfections of his nature, in the pleni- tude of life and intellectual power, and when associated with his fellow-beings in social compact, he has satisfied his natural wants; rendered himself independent of every thing but his creator; driven from his presence. enslaved to his purposes, or destroyed by the machin- ery and chemical power of his war-like inventions, all animals hostile to his life and his preservation; and compelled the earth, the air, the waters and the woods. to yield him the sustenance and even the luxuries of life, and to furnish him with the means of constructing his habitation. He has done more. By referring his knowledge of particular facts, to the discovery of abstract and general principles, he has measurably unfolded the elements of science: by which, he meas- ures the earth, and discloses the laws which regulate the solar system:—ascertains the distances and relative positions of the heavenly bodies; and determines th« location of his own globe among them: discloses the component parts of which the substratum of the earth itself is compounded, and by an effort of microscopic vision and profound sagacity, gives you a satisfactory analysis of a physical atom! Nor is this all: from obscure and"imperfect original discoveries in nautical science, he has converted the bark canoes of the wan- dering savage into vehicles of burthen for international commerce, and imposing engines of war; and. instead E 50 (iUXVS DOMESTIC MEDICINE. of the petty barks of the ancients, by which they pros- ecuted an insignificant trafic along the shores and inlets of the Mediterranean,-he has constructed ships of bulk and strength sufficient to master the winds of heaven and the waves of the ocean:—to discover and colonise new continents: and to make his way in security, through trackless, unknown, and almost shoreless oceans, to countries so remote as not even to be found in delineation on the mariners chart! Nor do the greatness of his dis.covcries,*nor the sublime elevations of his character, terminate here. The progressive improvements of man in literature, from hieroglyph- ics, whicli are the signs of things, to the use of let- ters, which are the signs or symbols of sounds, afford new and astonishing demonstrations of his powers. We have proofs before us, if we will advert, for a moment to the present state of mankind, of all the progressive stages of improvement, through which he has passed, in arriving at his present state of. moral and intellectual civilization, and scientific and literary ^refinements: nor need we recur to the empire of fable, nor the fictions of his early history, to arrive at the truth, A collective view of the'.present Inhabitants of the globe, will furnish ample demonstrations of the following iaets. In a state of savage and illiterate nature, tradition, as among the Indians of our own for- ests afforded the only means of communication, between the present and future races of mankind.—But,, in pro- portion as man began to progress in discoveries relating to the arts and science-, he became disgusted.and dis- satisfied with the errors and misrepresentations of oral tradition and sought various expedients to perpetuate to his posterity, authentic testimonials of his sagacity, and durable monuments of his intellectual powers.- Hieroglyphics and pyramids were resorted to in some Countries, and pillars and public edifices iu others; but knowing all these to be liable to decay, and that their time meaning might be easily misunderstood or forgot- ten, he was not satisfied with a medium of intelligence, i.vxn's domestic; medicine. 5J which would revive and perpetuate his knowledge and discoveries to future times, until literature drose to record iu unfading characters, the intelligence, the imp:Mvemeuls in science, and the fate of past genera lions. The discovery of, and progrssive improvements in letters, have enabled man to trice his species through all anterior ages since the creation; nor would he now. were it'not for lit "ruin re and the discovery of the art of printing, be enable! to profit at this advance! period of the world, by the records of history, and the divine inspirations of rkligion, virtue and pure morality. which are breathed forth in love and mercy to fallen man, by uoi.v w kit! It i-; from this divine and inspired work, th.it he derives a knowledge of all the attributes of his creator; of the immortality of Ins own soul; and of all the duties he owes to (rod, his fellow-creatures, and himself. Tne reveries of all the sages and philos- ophers of antiquity, with the im-n.irtal Pluto at (heir he.i 1, sink into cold insignificance, wheucompared with the divine consolations a lorded to man. by that pure and unsophisticated religion, which is derived from the^ word of (rod: and while speikiug of the pure anu uudefiled religion of Jesus Chris;-, I will first show what it is not: second the abuses if its doctrines; third, ichat it really is; and fourth, its benefits and consofa- ti >!>-, iu health and prosperity, sickness and misfor- tune. The virtues and the boasted wisdom of man. purified and improved by the highest ell'orts of human reason. would be nothing without the support and consolations of the doctrines of the scr'oture. The magnificence, splendor and sublimity" of the great works of nature, from which alone, without the divine inspirations to be found iu the word of God, he is enabled to form but an inadequate, a ud finite coucefti m of the attributes of an Ai.viH.iirv Creator: daz/.'.e md confound the feeble ell'orts of man, iu all his attempts to grasp at the divine perfections of his maker—bi-Heall the high- toned energies of his reason and intelligence—and throw 52 gunn's domestic medicine. him to an infinite distance below even an imaginary conception of the deity. Thus circunistanced-—thus surrounded by mysteries which he cannot explain to himself—feeling a strong and deep-seated natural sen- timent of immortality ; and yet dreading the cold and silent horrors of the grave—the word of God, and faith in Christ alone, can afford him support and conso- lation in the hour of death; solve die otherwise,inscru- table and sublime mysteries of his own existence; and reveal to him the dreadful enigmas of eternity, In fact, when man surveys with an attentive and philo- sophic eye, the vast and complicated machinery of the universe—when he discovers that all this complicated and boundless machinery is subject to the irresistable influence of laws infinitely beyond his conception; —when he essays to embody his own conceptions of the attributes of that uf.inc; who created, and who rules anil governs all:—and, in fine, when he makes the frehle attempt, unaided by divine revelation, to identify his hopes of immortality and future happiness with the unchangeable hues of created noture, so vast, so bound- '*iess, aud so complicated as they must be, he shrinks back upon his own insign'licance, and involuntarily asks himself, "am. I not a stranger to the eternal laws of my own destiny?—am I not a stranger to this God, the suppreme creator of the universe?—am I not lost in the immensity of his works, and the boundlessness of his power!" Mere opinions, deduced from the boldest efforts of the reasoning faculties of man, never yet produced that genuine religion whicli absorbs his affections, concen- trates his love aud gratitude on his divine creator, regulates his moral and intellectual energies for the production of liis present and future happiness, and makes him satisfied with his own prospects of futu- rity. These are the reasons in all probability, why the ancient sages, who hoped for and partially believed in immortality, were unable to satisfy themselves, with rational and conclusive proofs of the future existence of uun.vs domestic medicine. 53 the human soul: these are also probably the reason, and they are founded in the wisdom and providence of God himself, why the great truths of immortality were veiled, in all ages, anterior to the true gospel dispensa- tion from the boasted sagacity and reasoning powers of the philosophers and sages of antiquity:—for, could these men have arrived at any definite and certain con- clusions on the future destinies of the human race, with- out the moral purifications of true Christianity, the consequences would have been dreadful to society and mankind, as can be easily demonstrated. Suppose a man were enabled by the unaided efforts of reason, to demonstrate conclusively to himself, that annihilation, or an absolute and entire negation of exis- tence, was his future and irrevocable doom:—what would be the immediate consequences of this appalling and dreadful discovery! Would he not feel that every affection of his soul was dissolved—and that existence itself was valueless? Would it not loosen every strong tie he feels on life—aud sicken him with that lapse of time which must so soon reduce him to nothing!— Where, under this gloomy and horrrid anticipation, would be his affections for his parents, his wife, his family, his country:—what would become of the per- formance of his duties as a parent, husband, a citizen and a patriot:—where would be the endearing sugges- tions cd* his own self-love, and his insatiable desires of present and future happiness, under the certain convic- tion that the elevated aud noble energies of his soul would explode and be lost forever, when his carcase would become a clod of the valley. IVit, let it he supposed, that the powers of reason unailed by the holy inspirations of scripture, were capable of arriving at the certain conviction of min's fu'uv happiness iu eterniy; and that the decree of the AI nighty which awarded to him so auspicious a destiny, was ib-olutely irrevocable by his own conduct: and wh it w > lid i hen he the con- ejuences? With. *o brilli int a career of future happiness and celestial glory in full 54 TJUNn's domestic medicine. view, would not all the poor enjoyments of this life fade away—and even all the splendors of the visible crea- tion become to him a blank? Would he take upon himself the care* of a family; assume the laborious duties of providing for a numerous offspring, or feel an interest in the common affairs of mankind? Would he experience any of those affections and friendships, which, under the present predicaments of life, are of such vast importance to the enjoyments of man? Can the eye which is accustomed to gazing at the sun, dis- tinguish the darker and more sombre colorings of earth- ly objects ? But, with unalloyed and interminable hap- piness beyond the grave in full view, what in this life would be the feelings, emotions and conduct, of a man subjected to the pains of disease, the evils attendant on poverty and want, and all the great aggregate of miseries and misfortunes, with which man in the present state of things is destined to agonize through life? Would he feel disposed to encounter gratuitously, evils and sufferings from which he could escape with impunity to happier regions ? And now let us suppose that a man were enabled to distinguish nothing in his future destinies, but a sub- mission throughout eternity to the sufferi?igs and speech- less agonies of the damned^ that nothing he could do would alleviate so dreadful, disastrious and horrible a destiny:—and what would be the immediate results? Where, to the eye of such a man, would then be all the charms and fascinations of nature? Where all the varied and imposing splendors of the visible creation? What delight could he possibly experience in the performance of his moral duties, or in the practice of virtues which must terminate in a future condition infinitely worse than annihilation itself? Would not these dark and dread- ful anticipations of a period which must soon arrive, be eternally present to his imagination, with all their attendant horrors? Would they not haunt his waking dreams of future misery, and disturb his midnight slumbers, with spectral phantoms of the sufferings of the cunn's domestic medicine. 55 damned, too frightful and tremendous for delineation; Hut, what, under these awful and afflicting expectations, from which there were no distant hopes of exemption, would be the character and conduct of this unfortunate and miserable victim? Would he not say to himself! —••what to me are all the ties of parentage of offspring: or of kindred; what interest have I in the affairs of life, the peace and happiness of society, or the moral conduct and regulations of mankind. Before the set- ting of to-morrow's sun, my eyes may close forever on the light of day, on all the objects which once were dear to my infancy and youth, and on all the varied and sublime beauties, whicli characterize with magnificience and splendor, the mystic wonders of created nature! Kor me no morning sun will ever again arise; for me no vernal music of the groves will ever again awake; on my benighted soul, predestined to endless torments, no distant ray of feeble hope can ever dawn!"----Secta- tarians, remorseless fanatics, purblind bigots—you who deal with unsparing hand and intorlerant zeal, the ineffable and everlasting miseries of deep damnation to your fellow beings, merely for differing from you in opinion respecting modes of faith and divine worship, behold in this faithful picture, the condition to which your narrow and selfish doctrines would consign the great mass of mankind!—Approach and behold a pic- ture, which might make you shudder for your blasphe- mous presumptions, in judging between erring and feeble man and his maker; and wresting the high pre- rogative of divine and eternal justice, from the hands of the Almighty ! If you can for a moment suspend the fiery and vindictive delusions of your intolerance and presumption, I wish you to contemplate with a dispas- sionate and discriminating eye, some farther results to which your infuriated and intolerant doctrines inevita- bly tend. If you alone are right, and if all other reli- gious creeds are the offspring of error, which must of necessity terminate in future misery—what allurements to religion and morality do you hold out, to those who 56 GtJNN's DOMESTIC MEDICINE. you say are predestined from all eternity to the inflic- tions of divine wrath: and to what a penury of benefi- cence and love, do you reduce the mercy and affections of the Deity to man. Do you suppose that the doc- trines of particular and exclusive faith, are within the arbitrium or control of the voluntary powers of human intellect? In other words, do you presume that a man can believe what he wishes, without divine assistance sought with purity of heart! And that he can ever be the voluntary devotee of religious errors, thereby sin- ning against light and knowledge, and dooming him- self to endless and indescribable torments? To speak in plain terras, and without any courtly affectation of language detrimental to the interests of truth, can you suppose that any rational being since the creation of man, ever yet voluntarily consigned his soul to everlas- ting misery, by the entertainment of religious opinions which he knew to be wrong: the truth is, that the sup- position implies, not only a contradiction in language, but an absolute and positive contradiction in the facts themselves! But let us suppose for a moment, that your sect or persuasion alone are right in their faith and religious opinions, and that all others professing different modes of faith, and different opinions in religion, are in the entertainment 6T errors which must inevitably end in eternal punishments. Have you ever contemplated the absurdity of this intolerant and exclusive doctrine : have you ever viewed it with an unprejudiced and dispas- sionate eve, and traced its malignant and desolating s.urit, on the past, on the present, &i\o\ on futuee times? If you have nob I will make the laudable attemot to burst your narrow and intolerant prejudice- asunder; and to exhibit these disgraceful and dogmatical doc- trines in all tueir native deformities. By the Mosiical account of the creation, which we are bound to believe an-hemic, the world is now nearly six thousand years old; but of the ant-deluv ian r ■■;-. es of men, and also of those who existed anterior to the lunn's domestic medicine. 57 gospel dispensation, I will make none but the folio win* simple and plain remark: that it would hardly comport with the common principles of justice, to consign all those numerous races of men to eternal perdition, for not believing in ctoctrines which had never been announced to them, and to which they were utter stran- gers! Since the first announcement of the gospel dis- pensation under our Saviour until the present time, a period of nearly two thousand years has elapsed; every half minute of which long period, according to the most authentic calculations which can be made, lias witnessed the birth and death of ten human beinmjs! There are, as nearly as the facts caii be ascertained^ about eleven hundred millions human beings composing the population on the globe: now—if you will ascertain the number of half minutes which 'have elapsed in two thousand years, and multiply that number by ten, you will have something like 'the number of deaths which have occurred since the coming of Christ. Under this strong, and new. and most important view of the. subject: and considering likewise, that the immense aud measurably unknown population of both Africa and Asia, have never embraced the christian dispensa- tion: that the aborigiual inhabitants of both North and South America have ever been in the same uucivilizml & unchristian condition: 1 wish you to inform me, ye bigots—-ye fanatics—ye fiery and intolerant zealots, "iu the cause of a God autocratical, supreme, and infinitely merciful to feeble aud erring mm, how manv human beiugs. out of the countless myriads who have sunk into the tomb in the long lapse of two thousand /fears, belonged to those little sects, who doom all mankind to the horrors of deep and irrevocable damnation but themselves! ■ But this is not all: according to the nar- row and exclusive principle of your religious doctrines, which we will bring nearer t.» ourselves by an applica- tion of them to the present age, how many human beings, out of eleven hundred millions which are now in existence, according to the purblind aud intolerant 58 GUNxbs DOMESTIC MEDIC1NK. dogmas of any one of your exclusive professions Oj faith, will be doomed never to reach the goal of infin- ite mercy, even through the merits of that Sayiour who died for the salvation of all mankind! These are views of the absurdity of some of your doctrines, and of the dreadful consequences they would have in their applications to mankind, too stubborn for the subter- fuges of sophistry, too authentic in point of fact for refutation, and too plain for either denial or evasion.— But, let us advance a step farther; let us contemplate the appalling spectacle, which your wild, speculative an I visionary theories of religion, would present to an assembled universe at the end of time! Let us sup- pose a period, the great day of accounts between man and his maker, when an aggregation of all the various races of men, and of all the countless myriads who have existed between the commencement and the termi- nation of time, would take place: here all arithmetical computations fail:—and the human imagination itself expires, iu attempting to grasp at so vast, so unbounded a^pectacle! Suppose also, that your paltry and dis- putacious conflicts here, and your norrovv conceptions of divine justice, always inadequate and contradictory because the offsping of ignorance, were to be made the irrevocable standard of adjudication by which count- less and innumerable millions of the human race, were to be consigned to endless misery, ruin and despair? Would not so dreadful an exhibition of the consequen- ces of your bigotry and intolerance, destroy your holy zeal and vindictive rage in the cause of religious and intolerant prejudices? . Would not your sensibilities as men, weep tears of blood and forgiveness over the mis- eries of your fellow men? Would you not wish to revoke those prejudices against mankind, "which could populate the regions of the damned with myriads of your fellow beings—disclose to yon an abortive though divine Scheme of redemption for fallen man—and tor- ture your intellectual vision, with the spectacle of a ruined creation* and an almost solitary God\ OI.'NN'S- UOMKsTIC. MEDICINE. 59 I have now shown, and I think conclusively, that the efforts of human reason, unaided by scriptural divinity. are utterly incompetent to disclosing to mankind the great truths connected vvilii the immortality of man:__ that without the moral purifications of true Christianity and genuine religion, such disclosures would have been fraught with dreadful consequences to mankind, instan- ced in the cases of future certainty as to annihilation, future happiness, and future misery. I think I have done more ; 1 think I have shown, as far as the moral reasoning powers of man can be applied to incontrov erti- • ble facts, that very many of the intolerant and sectarian abuses which have crept into the christian religion. from the bigotry and misdirected zeal of many of its bclligerant and inflammatory champions, are .utterly inconsistent with christian charity, truly divine worship^ • and the principles of eternal .us tick: in line. I think I have shown conclusively, what pure and genuine reli- gion IS NOT ! As connected and incorporated with dangerous and intolerant opinions in religion, the abusive consequences w hich aJway. flow from uci opinun*. especially when under the influence of the vindictive passions, of men, require dispassionate consideration. I have said in another part of this work, when speaking of the moral philosophy of the passions that when restrained within due bounds, A: exercised only in relation to their native and legitimate objects, they were r«*ential not only to the existence but to the happiness of man. T now assert that the reverse of this proposition is equally true, in other words, that the passions when indulged in to excess, and suffered to produce anarchy and wide mi.orule in the human bosom, are fraught with innumera- ble miseries A; misfortunes to mankind, in every depart- ment of life. In sectarian doctrines, which relate to the entertain- ment of opinions connected with the temporal self-in- terest of mankind, it is to be expected that the pas- sions, in all their excesses, will always have consider- 60 gunn's domestic medicine. able influence. The professors of all the sciences which relate to the present state of man, are passion- ately influenced to the conversion of proselytes to their respective systems, because on the number of their con- verts depend not only their wealth and fame—but in numerous instances, the very bread which themselves and their families require for daily support. The same ~ may be remarked, in relation to the leaders of all pol- itical partizans—and to all other zealots in political science. In these cases, and many others which might be enumerated, the stimulation of the passions, and all their disorganizing and dangerous excesses, are proportioned to the real or imaginary self-interests of man, and to the acute and* energetic pressure of his immediately real or imaginary wants. In all these cases, we can account on rational principles, or more properly speaking on logical ones, for the slander and defamation with whicli scientific men of all professions usually load each other—and for all the personal enmity, envy and malignity, with which the low-lived spirit of grovelling ambition, usu- ally persecutes a dangerous and aspiring rival! In all cases where we can connect the excesses of the pas- sions, and the practice of intoleration and injustice, with the wants and immediate self-interests of men, there seems to be some colorable mitigation for their devi- ations from virtue, justice and moderation : but in cases where Keligion alone is concerned ; where all the tem- poral interests and conflictions of self-love are entirely out of the question, where the religious faith and opin- ions of men are accounts only to be referred to the lofty and unerring tribunal of god himself; the gratuitous persecutions of men, and their sanguinary zeal in the cause of an almighty power, who needs not their assis- tance, can only be accounted for upon principles of wan- ton depravity, native cruelty of temper, and innate vin- dictiveness of soul! Does the Almighty require the sacrifice of the peace of society, & of all the affections of man for his fellow-beings, in the diffusion of an immac- c.unn's domestic medicine. 61 ulate and benevolent religion, whicli expressly inculcates —"peace on earth, and good will towards men?" If my faith in the rectitude and purity of my own doc- trines of salvation be perfect, will the persecution and destruction of the religious doctrines of other men, add any further demonstrations of truth to the support of my own creed? You may as well tell me, ye bigots. and persecutors of mankiud for the love of God, that the sun requires a lamp for the diffusion of his merediaii rays—or that by conflagrating the habitation of a fellow being, you will build or repair your own! W hy then consign to everlasting destruction, and that too without attempting their reformation, all those who may chance to differ from you in religious faith and opinion? Are notthose who dissent from you in religious doctrines and opinions as rational as yourselves? Are they less interested in knowing the truths of genuine christian divinity, and in practising on the precepts which they inculcate than you yourselves are? l)o you suppose that any human being ever existed, who was endowed with ordinary rationality, and common sentiments of self-love, who could voluntarily entertain errors of opinion in religion, knowing that the profes- sion of such opinions would eventually consign their immortal souls, to deep and irredeemable misery! Why then persecute men, for the entertainment of opinions, w hich are misfortunes and not arimes? Why, in other words, do you, punish and persecute erring and feeble man, for involuntary errors of opinion, which accord- ing to your own creeds, will be punished in a future life! Where are the credentials, from which you derive authority to sit in judgment between man and his Maker; and to assist an omnipotent god, in the execution of those laws which his own infinite wisdom, at the creation, imposed on the universe!! Under this view of your conduct, which If place in a strong and correct light for your own contemplations, with the hope that you may be induced to abandon your abuses of the religion of the Savior of mankind, and F 62 gunn's domestic medicine. to treat your fellow-men with more lenity and compas- sion, I must confess myself utterly at a loss, which to be most astonished at your ignorance—presumption— or fanaticism. How, ye biggotted and fanatical zeal- ots—how do you reconcile your inquisitions, your burn- ings, your persecutions, and your intolerance in opin- io?!, with the mildly compassionate and humane exam- ple of the Savior of the world; he who exclaimed amidst the protracted agonies of the cross, and whilst sweating drops of blood to wash out the crimsoned iniquities of mankind-—"Father forgive them for they know not what they do I" You are mistaken in a attrir butingtopure and holy zeal in the cause of religion, your persecutions of those who differ from you in sectarian faith and doctrines: your worldly minded pride of making proselytes—your ambition to become conspi- cuous among men. as the defenders of the true faith— your secret aspirations after exaltations to high clerical offices—your love of worldly distinction and temporal power—and not unfrequently, your cupidity and avar- ice, respecting good round salaries for the discharge of your official functions; these are the energetic and innamatory motives, which urge you to your vindictive persecutions of mankind for opinion's sake; these are the real causes of your want of charity to each other, and to mankind in the aggregate. I think I have now shown, in a tolerably clear and strong point of view, not only what religion is not—but also many of the abuses of its doctrines; let us now endeavor to understand something respecting what it really is. "Feeble work of my hand," says the Almighty to his creature man, "1 owe you nothing but I give you existence. I place you in the midst of a universe which bespeaks my wisdom and glory, and I surround you with blessiings and enjoyments, which d&ght to excite in your bosom pure and elevated sentiments of love, admiration and gratitude, to that inscrutable Being who made you for the enjoyment of happiness—-and uunn's domestic medicine. 68 placed the objects of those enjoyments within vour reach. Your love can add nothing to my felicity, your admiration to my power, nor your sentiments of grati- tude to my glory ; and I make you susceptible of thesu exalted and divine emotions, that you may render your- self happy, both here and hereaiW. The fidelity of your obedience to »v i~»*s will be the test of your own li;iiki»:««0*; and, when you cease to "love me and keep my commandments," your breach of my precepts will offend me, and render yourself unhappy." Such—according to our feeble and inadequate con- ceptions of a God of love and mercy, are the mild and benevolent sentiments entertained by him for his erring and dependent creature man--for he expressly announ- ces in his holy word, "that he delights not in the death of a sinner." These are some of the consolations of true religion, which when fully merited by man, by a strict obedience to the words of scripture", and a full and entire faith in the merits of a blest redeemer, noth- ing earthly can destroy. I do not intend to enter into a critical I dissertation on the subject of religion, further than its divine spirit is connected with the moral condi- tion of man, and his physical health and enjoyments. \\ e know perfectly well, from our own consciousness, that the mere pleasures and enjoyments of this world, are iu-ui.Tirient to satisfy the mn'r.ii desires of the human mind, when deeply impressed with an uuerrin«- senti- ment of immorlilily. (rive a ram wealth and'luxury unbounded; load mih with titles and worldly honors • even clothe him with what Doctor Yoiiii«- calls "a mortal immortality"—aud, like Cwsar when crow- ned emperor and invested with the imperial purple. he will exclaim—"and is this alll" With respect to ihe enjoyments of this world. I mean those which are not connected with a future state of existence, and sen- timents of pure and undeliled religion, itisa truth that has been recognized by the experience, of all a»es. that their satiation always produces indifference, and not unfrequently disgnst, This circumstance alone otisht £5 64 gunn's domestic medicine. to convince us, that the desires of man and his capaci- ties for enjoyment, are not limited to this earthly sphere; and that there must be a future and more exal- ted state of being, where his capacities for moral and intellectual enjoyment will meet with objects suited to their elevation,—and where the boundless desires which he is conscious of in this life^ will meet with scenes of enjoyment as unlimited as those desire, it was from this view of the subject under consideration, and proDa- bly also from the strong impression of the insufficiency of the enjoyments of this life, that the great Dr. Young exclaimed in his Night Thoughts—"man must be immortal, or heaven is unjust!" Do we not know per- fectly well, that when the physical calls of nature are satisfied, lassitude and indifference succeed? Do we not also know, that when all the pleasures and enjoy- ments of this world are showered on u* in profusion, there still exists in the human bosom, hopes and desire* connected with sentiments of immortality, and objects of a more elevated and intellectual order of enjoyment than this world can afford? The fact is, that the desires, the capacities, and the hopes of man as tofuturity-when compared with the utter insufficiency of the objects of enjoyment actually under his control in this life, go very far to demonstrate satisfactorily the immortality of man. Do the affections of the brute for its offspring, like those of man for his relations and friends, survive the flight of time, and contemplate a re-union of those affections in another state of existence ? The difference between the influence of reason and that of true religion, in relation to the future happiness and enjoyments of man, may be satisfactorily explained in a few words. Reason teaches man merely to hope for immortal exis- tence and happiness, whilst pure Religion, supported bjfaiih in the redeemer, and by the faithful practice of Ms precepts, assures him of both future existence aud future happiness. There is this further difference between reason and religion, and I think it a very pal- pable and plain one: reason cannot influence man's fee- gunn's domestic medicine. 65 ble hopes of immortality and future happiness, with sufficient motives for the practice of piety and virtue— whilst religion urges him imperiously to the performance of his duties to his God, to himself, and to his fellow- beings, by the certainity of future rewards and punish- ments. These are the reasons why pure and geuuine christians, I do not mean bigots, hypocrites, or intoler- ant fanatic-, are better citizens, better husbands, and better parents, than most other men; and these are the reasons also, why they are the happier classes of man- kind. Reason may teach the existence of a great first cause, but it is utterly incompetent to disclosing his moral attributes of justice, love and mercy, or to defin- ing for man his particular and indispensible duties in every department of life. The precepts of religion are plain aud easy of comprehension; they can be under- stood and practiced by all ranks and grades of men. Reason, on the other hand, in attempting an explanation of Ih•• attributes of God, or the duties of man to that (micI or his fellow-creatures, is eternally operating on imaginary and' mpflcnown principles, and making hair- breadth distinctions, wliich have no existence but in the sound of words without meaning: the'errors of reason are founded in the ignorance of man, who knows noth- ing in reality of the essential or elementary principles of A any one thing iu heaven or on earth. The scriptures say, and any man can understand the denunciation, "'whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shell his blood be shed." Now I would like io see the champion of reason, who can demonstrate satisfactorily that murder is a crime, and that it is punishable with death. But I will put another, and more general and comprisive case, which will be quite sufficient. JUuuicipaLJaw is said to hefounded on "reason, wb eh we call the mother of, justice. If reason Ue an unerring sentinel, aud if law ihe the perfecUpn of reason, as it is said.to be by learned dnd profound civilian-, why have wot six thous- and years of reasoning been suflkient to reduce law to uuerriug principles of justice: and whv, at this late 66 gunn's domestic medicine. and refined period of reason, do we so seldom find two persons "of council learned in the law,*' who agree in opinion respecting its real principles ? The fact is, that in reasoning on all subjects involving morals, all we can possibly arrive at is a high degree of probability, which amounts to little more than ingenious and plausi- ble conjecture. If the mere exercise of reason be entirely sufficient to disclose to man his duties, to impel him to the performance of those duties, and to satisfy him respecting the all-important doctrines of futurity, why have the advocates of mere reason so many doubts and difficulties on all these subjects:-—the enigma is easily solved; the ignorance of man respecting first principles, the doubts he always entertains of the infal- libility of reasoning as a science, and the consciousness of being eternally liable to error in his rational deduc- tions, involve him in labyrinths of confusion and dis- may from which no merely human powers of intellect or genius can possibly extricate him. While in the rise or day spring of life ; while enjoying uninterrup- ted health and prosperity ; and while indulging in anti- cipations of a protracted and fortunate term of existence here, the lordly and proud advocate of the all-sufficiency of reason, may indulge in theoretical speculations wdiich he imagines he firmly believes in: but, let him become unfortunate in his adventures after earthly enjoyments, and infirm in his health; let his prospects of exemp- tion from disease and misfortune darken around him; and in this situation let him approach the unknown and mysterious confines of eternity. Where then will be his visionary and theoretical speculations respecting futurity; where the fortitude which ought to support him in his descend to the cold and silent mansions of the dead ; and where the celestial fire of hope and chris- tian consolation that alone can light him to eternal hap- piness, relieve his gloomy apprehehsions of annihila- tion and shed even splendor around the horrors of the grave? Pure and vital religion, not that based on merely gunn's domestic medicine. 67 bigotted and sectarian prejudices, or on frivolous and childish distinctions respecting rites and ceremonies, if infinitely superior to reason, in securing to man all the moral enjoyments of this life, and in assuring him of those blessings whicli reason only hopes for in futur- ity. Ily pure and vital religion, I do not mean hypoc- ricy, which is the religion of knaves, fanaticism which is the religion of madmen, fear which is the religii n of cowardice, or superstition which is that of fools; I mean that pure and elevated sentiment of divine love and admiration for the Deity, which leads us to faith iu the great Redeemer of fallen and degraded man, and to the practice of benevolence, virtue, toleration, * and charity for our fellow-beings. This divine and ennobling sentiment, when experienced in all its purity, banishes all the base, sordid, selfish, and ignoble pas- sions from the human bosom, and elevates man as it were, to a communion with his maker. It cultivates all the liner affections of man for his fellow beings ; makes him a provide^ and tender parent; a chaste and faith- ful husband; a kind and benevolent master, and a use- ful, virtuous, and patriotic citizen: it makes him faith- ful in his friendships, virtuous in his loves, honest in his dealings, candid in his communications with man, kind, moderate in his desires, unostentations in his char- ities, and tolerant in his opinions. Fanatics, bigots, zealots, hypocrites; ye who practice fraud, violence, hypocricy, and all the deceptions and mummery of priestcraft on the sons of men, and yet dare to call yourselves the disciples and followers of the immacu- late Saviour of mankind, compare yourselves with this portrait of a real christian ! There is a class of reli- gionist in every christian country, who are impressed with the absurd opinion, that the profession of faith in part'cular sectarian creeds, and the practice of a few frivolous WrVx and ceremonies, are cpiite sufficient to entitle them to salvation. The probability is that these people are deceiving themselves, or making the profes- sion of religion a mere mask for iniquitous designs 68 gunn's domestic MEDICINE. against the community; for, let their vicious passioni or propensities be excited, and themselves thrown off their guard, and you immediately discover the true state of the case; in fact you soon discover them to be sen- sualists, swindlers and hypocrites. These people ought always to bear in mind, that those alone are gen- uine christians, who know the will of God, and prac- tice its divine precepts ; nor ought they ever to lose sight of the important and eternal truth—that it is impossible to decieve the Almighty.—Compared with these hypocritical and unworthy professors whose prayers are always on the "house tops," and whose devotions are loud and emphatical that they may be heard, the true Christian exhibits an essentially differ-. ent and greatly more elevated character.—He is modest, retiring and unobtrusive, in his devotions ; it is not the mere profession of piety and religion, that stimulates him in the performance of his duties—it is the heaven- born consciousness that his devotional exercises are acceptible to his Maker, and that the^w|ll render him serene amidst clangers and difficulties, animated and cheerful under the infliction of disease and sickness, and resigned to the will of his Creator. To such a man, diseases, infirmities, and misfortunes in this life are nothing ; he is above their influence : they can neith- er ruffle his passions, nor disturb the deep and settled serenity of his soul. The death-bed of such a man is not the death-bed of the sinner; even the presence of the king of terrors cannot appal the resolutions, or shake the fortitude of the man whose reliance is on the love and mercy of his God. As a physician, I some years since, in Virgina, attended the couch of a devout christian, and a sincere believer in Christ; and was impressed with sentiments which can never be obliter- ated from my memory by the lapse of time. The patient was a poor methodist preacher; he had been seriously and dangerously indisposed nearly two years; and was evidently awaiting the summon to "that borne from whence no traveller returns." Instead of seeing terror gunn's domestic medicine. 69 and dismay depicted in his countenance, which I had often witnessed in the cases of those who were not christians, all was cheerful serenity and mild resigna- tion; no ghastly expression of feature bespoke the terror of death, no indications of mental distress told of remorse for an ill-spent life; nor did a single shade of gloomy anticipation, pass over the eye that was so soon to close in the cold and silent mansions of the dead! The last words of the innocent sufferer were, and they •"•« deeply impressed on my memory:—"my life has been devoted to the service of my God, and to the bene- fit of my fellow beings: I await with perfect resigna- tion to his will, the call of my Master,"---------Here was an instance of the consolatory influence of true religion, which ought to prove conclusively that it is connected with none of the gloomy and depressing passions. In truth, it has a. 1 ways been matter of much asloi.ishnieiH io me, ui;;!. the consolations y;^;^ --re, religion promises mankind in a future state of existence, could ever have^rocluced on the mint! of man any oth^ er impressions than those of cheerfulness, fortitude and resignation. I never could conceive how genuine reli- gion was connected, unless perverted to the excitement ot the gloomy pass.o.w, by misconceptions of the attri- butes ot God. with emotions of terror and depressing apprehensions of futurity. Has man not assurances of an exemption from all the evils and calamities of this life, if he be a faithful aud true christian, in a more perfect and elevated state of being, when his corrup- tions shall put on iucorruption—and when the mere mortal shall put on immortality? Are not the doctrines of true Christianity, essentially connected with that sun- shine of the breast, whicli we denominate a good con- science:—"^ which nothin^earthly can give, or can destroy! The christian religion was never intended by the Almighty, as a source of grief, mortification and suffering: it is a pure emanation of divine love and mercy towards feeble, erring and falleu mankind; and tvas surely intended by divine wisdom, as an unfailing 70 gunn's domestic medicine. source of joy, consolation and happiness, both here and hereafter, to the human race! I have been more par- ticular on the the subject of religion, than at first view might seem necessary to the interests of medical science; but I have been long convinced, that the sentiments we entertain of a future life, are not only essentially con- nected with the moral condition of mankind, but with the health and many of the diseases of the physical system, of which more will be said under the proper heads. INTEMPERANCE. Intemperance is the offspring of so many and such various causes, that it seems impossible to enumerate them, or even to reduce them to any thing like scientific order. I will commence my remarks on intemperance, which in its broadest signification means excess in th« gratification of our propensities, passions, and even intellectual j)ursuits, by emphatically observing that it is generally found in strong and intimate connexion, when really traced to its origin, with the pleasures and enjoyments; as well as with miseries and misfortunes of mankind. I have before remarked under another head, that with regard to the elementary principles of the passions, propensities, and intellectual powers, of man, we know absolutely nothing with certainty; and that all we can possible understand with respect to them, is derived from our consciousness* of their exis- tence, and from the effects they daily and hourly pro- duce for our observation. Every capacity or power of the human system, physi- cal and intellectual, when exercised in moderation, and with strict conformity to the laws of nature, is produc- tive of enjoyment and happiness: this natural and mod- erate exercise of our propensities, passions, and mental energies, when matured into habits of life and charac- ter; we call temperance ; and, it is the abusive degrada- CUNY's DOMESTIC MUDICINE. 71 lion of those same intellectual powers, passions and propensities, by their unrestrained and excessive indul- gence to the destruction of health and happiness, that we call iTEMPEiixci-:. I will gi ve some familiar ex- amples of the application of these principles, in order that they may be fully comprehended by those for whom I w rile. Wo are all liable to hunger and thirst', and all of us require sleep, for the renovation of our bodily and mental powers when fatigued. These are natural wants; and their gratifications are always essential to health and happiness. We know perfectly well, for instance, that when we satisfy our hunger and thirst in moderation, and renew the strength of our systems, of mind and body, by sleeping no more than the requisite lime for producing those effects, the satisfaction of these natural wants invariably produces healthy action qf* body and mind, attended with enjoyment and pleasure. But, on the other hand, when in eating or drinking, we overload and surcharge the stomach with meat and drink, and when iu sleeping take more repose than is required for the renovation of our bodily and mental systems, our excesses are always productive of nausea, uneasi- ness, indigestion,, and stupidity, and we habitually become gluttons, drunkards, and sluggards, and are a disgrace to ourselves and society.—The same doctrine and mode of reasoning may be applied to the passions of mankind. When they are indulged in w ith natural moderation, and never suffered to run into riot and excess, they are always conducive to health: and pro- ductive of many of the enjoyments and pleasures of life: but. when they gain the ascendency of the moral feelings and rational powers, when they postrate the bulwarks of religion and morality, and are indulged in all their debasing and destructive excesses, the progress of the passsions proclaims the premature decay of health, strength, and happiness—and emphatically announces to the unfortunate victims of excess, that they are fallen indeed! In truth, what has just been remarked with regard to the natural wants and passions 72 GUNN's DOMESTIC MEDICINE. of men, may with strict justice be applied to the lofty and powerful energies of the mind itself. It has been truly remarked by an acute and profound iuv estigator of the faculties of the mind, that "he who thinks with great intenseness, and profundity will not continue to do so for many successive years"—and iu proof of this I will note some instances which will have much weight in demonstrating the fact. Sir Isaac Newton, who was probably the greatest astronomer and mathemati- cian of his own or any other age, several years previous to the close of his life, was utterly unable to compre- hend the meaning of his own works; in addition to which I will notice as a well, authenticated fact, that the celebrated Dean Swift, the energies of whose mind were inferior to those of no literary man of the same age, several years previous to his death became a dri- veller, and confirmed idiot. Whether it be true, that intense, subtile, and powerful intellect, acts upon the mere cercase as a sharp sword does upon the scabbard; or whether the mind itself becomes exhausted and worn out, by an overstrained and continued excitement of its powers, I leave for metaphysicians to determine:—but we certainly do know, and the experience of all ages and generations proves the fact, that excessive mental exertion not only produces fatigue and lassitude in a few hours, but that if such exertion be continued for a few years in succession, it invariably blunts and wears down the keenest and soundest intellectual ener- gies of man. The broad and comprehensive view I have just given of temperance and intemperance, in regard to the physical wants, passions and intellectual powers of man, Ihelie^e to be the only correct expo- sition on general principles that can be given; because it embraces all the destructive excesses to which man is prone, and refers all those excesses, to the abuses and degradations of .his elevated and noble faculties. I commenced with remarking, and I wish the princi- ple to be kept in view by the reader, that the vices of intemperance when fairly traced to their origin, will l.UNN's DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 73 always be found in connexion with the enjoyments and pleasures,as well a* with the miseries and misfortunes of mankind. Mankind may be distinguished into two great classes or divisions: First, those whose pleasures and enjoy- ments, and whose pains and miseries, partake so great- ly of a physical character, as nearly always to be ref- erable to corporeal or bodily functions and sensations: this class is composed of men who are properly denom- inated sensi AiasTs; in other words, they are individ- uals who can only be rendered happy or miserable through the medium of the senses. Second, those whose general characters partake more of the nature and habitual influence of the intellectual powers, and of the emotions and passions of the mind; and whose enjoyments, pleasures, sufferings and miseries, arc more intimately connected with the mind and imagina- tion ; these may with much propriety be denominated mi'.n; i ai.ists. Among the great aggregate of mankind, the reality of the distinction between animal and intel- lectual man, as regards the native bias of the human character towards one or the other extreme, is demon- strable from the following facts. Hunger and thirst, for instance, are corporeal wants; they are essential to the health, strength and support of the physical or bodily'system, and maybe called corporeal or bodily passions, when they become so powerful as to impel men to gluttony and drunkenness:—desires and pro- pensities being nothing more, when considered in rela- tion to the corporeal system, than slighter shades of the physical wants and passions of men. Love and ambition, on the contrary, are passions of the mind and imagination: they are the offspring of refined sen- sibility, and deep-toned energies of intellectual charac- ter: and when acting in their native sphere, are»so far abstracted from all corporeal considerations, that they only occasionally act on the physical wants and pas- sions, and then only for the attainment of specific objects. When the passion of love, for instance, i^ 74 GUNNT,S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. directed to the perpetuation of the human species, which I will remark in passing, vas not the case in the love which existed between Jonathan and David, the intellectual passion of love only acts on the sexual and corporeal functions; but, I would ask any sceptic on this point, whether the love of literature, mathematics, astronomy, or any other science or intellectual pursuit, has any connection whatever with propensities, wants and passions founded on the merely corporeal or bodily- functions of mankind. And surely it will not be ques- tioned, that the food and nourishment required for exer- cising, giving pleasure to, and streng hening the mind, are essentially different from those re uired for the sus- tenance, health, and strength of the body: and we all know perfectly well, in reference to tae corporeal and intellectual functions and capacities of men, that the strong predominance of either class operates unfavora- bly and sometimes destructively to the other. The fact is, that we oftentimes find the loftiest and strong- est passions and mental energies, connected with deli- cate and sometimes feeble corporeal organization, debil- ity of stomach, and prostration of strength: nor is it unusual to observe; that those who possess uncommonly high health and physical strength, are frequently in the other extreme, as regards the exercise of the m,ind and passions. But further; every man who has acquired any experience, respecting those states of the physical system, when the mind and passions act with the. great- est force, must know that a full stomach always blunts the mind and feelings; and that inanition or emptiness of the stomach, is favorable to intellectual operations. This fact is so well known that the Creek Indians, in all their public deliberations on important national concerns, use what they call the black drink, made;of the parched leaves of the spice-wood boiled, which vomits them copiously and produces the inanition just mentioned; without which, they allege they are inadequate to deliberating on their national affairs. Some medical writer has remarked, that physical debil- GUNn's DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 75 ity, and a diseased state of the system, impart as it were preternatural excitement to the mind; and instan- ces the cases of Hoi lieu, Erasmus, Pascal, Cicero, (■alba, Pope, and several others, who were as remarka- ble for the feebleness of their physical constitutions, as they were for their gigantic energies of intellect: the same writer also remarks, that abortive, feeble, and sickly children, almost invariably display powerful characteristics of intellect when grown to maturity : aud instances the cases of the great Lord Littleton and .Mrs. Ferguson, both of whom were seven months- children: to whh !i he might have added the case of Richard the Thirl, who according to Shakespeare's account, was "deformed, unfinished, aud sent into this breathing world scarce half made up." On the other hand, it has frequently been remarked by men of acute and scrutinizing minds, that high health, great corpo- real strength, and uncommon muscularity of frame, are seldom remarkable for subtile and profound genius, or for an attachment to purely intellectual pursuits. This is so notoriously true, that the opinions generally formed by the vulgar, of the persons of men who are conspicuous and renowned for great intellectual powers, are almost invariably the very reverse of what may be called the corporeally contemptible realities. In demon- stration of this fact, innumerable instances might be given, in addition to those found in the persons of Alex- ander of Mac c clou, Frederick King of Prussia, John Philpot Cumin, Aaron Burr, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson." .lames Madison, Andrew Jackson, and lastly the late emperorNapoleon. who was nicknamed by bis own soldiers, from his contemtible stature and proportions, the little corporal. 1 will here make an observation on this subject, which I do not recollect to have seen iu any writer. We are always to presume, that the soundness and strength of the physical consti- tutions of men, lead to great longevity or length of days: and it is a fact as notorious as true*, that such men are seldom or never possessed of much mind: in other 76 GUNN?S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. words, the sword is not sufficiently sharp to cut the scabbard. I am acquainted with a man, a pauper, of this county, who is said from good authority to be one hundred and ten years of age, who I was informed on enquiry, never even in the meridian of life had more than a very ordinary mind: and Thomas Parre, who died in London on the 16th November, 1635, aged one hundred and fifty-two years,it is said, was greatly noted for having been a man as remarkable for his defi- ciency of mental energies, as for his lascivious and sensual propensities. "It was observed of him," says the London Medical Museum, "that he used to eat often, both by night and by day, taking up with old cheese, milk, coarse bread, small beer, and whey; and which is more remarkable, he ate at midnight, a little before he died. Being opened after his death, his body was still found very fleshy;—his breast hairy; his gen- itals unimpaired, w hich served to confirm the report of his having undergone public censures for his incontin- ency," &c. &c. I would by no means wish to be understood, that there are no individuals possessed of high health and great physical strength,who are remar- kable for strong intellectual powers; Newton, John- son, Shakespeare, and a thousand other instances might be given as exceptions to the general rule just noticed; but we are all well convinced not only that high health and strength,lead to corporeal amusements and pursuits unfavorable to intellectual improvement;but that debility & disease act in various ways extremely favorable to acces- sions of mental strength. In the first place, debility and disease lower the tone of those passions which impel us to active exertion and amusement; in other words, they impose a powerful restraint on the physical appe- tites and propensities—circumscribe us to amusements and pursuits connected with the operations of the mind, confine us to the company of our elders, whose superior experience and knowledge are beneficial to our intellectual improvement; and "by keeping up an action in the brain, in common with other parts GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 77 «>f the body, they tend to impart vigor to the intellec- tual faculties." From what has been said, I think it will appear evi- dent, that from both natural and accidental circum- stances, there is a distinction to be drawn, between those men whose pleasures and pains are connected with physical or corporeal character, and those whose enjoyments and miseries are more intimately associated with the powers and passions of the mind: and it was for these reasons that I alleged in the outset, not only that intemperance was the offspring of various physical and intellectual causes, but that when traced to its ori- gin, it would generally be found in strong and iutimate connexion, as well with the pleasures and enjoyments. as with the miseries and misfortunes of mankind. This is a view of the subject of intemperance and its causes, which I presume has never before been taken by any writer; and although it must of necessity, like every thing else human, be subject to imperfections both in data and conclusions, yet it may have some salutary tendencies. It may possibly invite the attention of the learned, to further and more satisfactory investigations of the subject; it may exhibit the necessity of seeking for the real causes of intemperance, in removing its habits and effects from the human system ; and it may invite society to the exercise of more lenity and compas- sion, when laboring for the reformation of its unfortu- nate and melancholy victims.—Abuse and degradation were never yet influential in reforming the intemperate; for, what interest did any man ever yet feel, for the pre- servation of that which he has been convinced, by abuse and degradation. was of no estimation or value ! Intem- perance is confined to no rank in life; to no particular grade of genius and intellectual power, between a Soc rates and an idiot : it is found in the hut of the savage, the haunts of the learned, the hovel of the beg- gar, and in the palaces of kings : its causes are as vari- ous as the capacities of man for enjoyments and plea- sures, and as multiplied as the various miseries and G* 78 gunn's domestic medicine. misfortunes to which he is subjected through life: what [\ farce then it must be, for any physician to attempt to remove the different causes of intemperance, without knowing what those causes are, and by the application of one specific remedy to such an infinite variety of cau- ses.—Would you attempt to remove diseases of th« mind, by merely physical remedies ? Would you, on the other hand, hope for the removal of merely corporeal diseases, by the application of intellectual means? Would you sooth the mental anguish of remorse, with- out the consolations of religion, and assurances of divine forgiveness ? Would you, in other words, attempt to destroy a poisonous variety of plants, without striking at the roots of their existence and vitality ? The mere pleasures of sense, as well as those of the intellect, are susceptible of being rendered more intense, hy the application of stimulants ; in the varied and end- less catalogue of stimulating powers, are to be found all the great alurements to dissipation and confirmed intem- perance; but it will hardly be contended, that one grade of stimulants, possesses the same strength and adaption of allurement, with all the varieties of mankind. Phisically speaking, one man's system is excited to pleasurable sensations by suuflf, the system of another by tobacco, of another by wine, of a fourth by spirits and opium, of a fifth by highly seasoned and stimula- ting food, &c. &c.; and we are all perfectly aware, that a persistency in the use of any or all the above stimulants, will sometimes degenerate into a confirmed habit of intemperance in their use, too strong for the restraints of either the moral or intellectual energies of the self-devoted victims. You will frequently hear ihe devotees of any or all the above excesses, execra- ting the very agents they employ in wearing down their constitutions with incidental diseases and premature decay, and moralizing with the finest touches of elocu- tion, on the heinousness and immorality of such dan- gerous and degrading excesses ; and what does all this prove? Why it demonstrates conclusively, that the GUNN,8 DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 79 habits of dissipation and intemperance, like all other derelictions fro n the standardof nature and philosophic moderation, are to be resisted in their first formation. and before they can acquire the resistless force of tor- rents, before which all human resolutions, and effort* of preservation, sink to rise no more! There are two periods of hu n in life; there are two marked & distinct per- iods iu the pr > j;r '■isive excess »,sof dissipation and intem- perance. In i'rise of life, >ve act upon every thing around us, fro n i > ill > ice i 1 our own strength, and a conciousness of being able to master and shape our own destinies: iu the decline of life, when the physical, moral, and n \ i il energies be,j;in to fail, we act upon less resolute 11 I 1 ss con'i leu i il principles; in other words, we merely ict on the Ifensive, and resort to expedients for w ir.ling oil* diseases, dangers and death. These two periods are strongly marked in the lives and characters of all men; fro ;n the General, who achieves victories iu his youth, and sustains defeats in his old age, to the m in of in'ellectual powers and pursuits, who, like the immortal Milton, writes a "paradise Lost,*' in the meridian of life and intellectual resolution, and a "Paradise Regained," when the tremors of old age and irresolution have crept over him. This is a faith- ful picture of a man of dissipation and intemperance.— At first he adventures on an excess, partly from the attractive force of the allurement, aud partly from the conciousness of moral and intellectual resolution to with- stand any temptation to dangerous indulgence. In the formation of intemperate habits, this is precarious and hostile ground: the scripture says, '"let him who stands, take heed lest he fall.*' The habit of intem- perance is of slow or rapid grow th, in proportion to the strength or weakness of our resolutions to withstand temptation. Where many and strong motives combine to retard our progress iu excesses of intemperance, we advance slowly aud almost imperceptibly to self-destruc- tion. When the animation of youth, and the convivi- alities of conversation, are sufficient for the production 80 GUNn's DOMESTIC MEDICINE. of pleasurable sensations : when we are highly suscep- tible of impression from the varied charms of nature; and while the brilliant prospects of a long and animated life, seem " to bid an eternal Eden smile around us," temptations to degrading intemperance are only those which enhance the intensity of other pleasures. But, in-proportion as all these fairy prospects fade on the vision; in proportion as the repetition of these enjoy- ments causes us to lose the sentiment of novelty, and especially when satiety of such enjoyments produces lassitude and coldness, we invariably descend to more sensual and intense expedients, for renewing sensations of pleasure: and unfortunately for mankind, those expedients are too often connected with the dissipations and intemperance of the glutton, the epicure, the opium- eater, and the drunkard. This descent to confirmed habits of intemperance in all its varied stages of degra- dation, need not be delineated ; these graduated debase- ments are visible in every department of society, and are so common, as almost everywhere to have lost their novelty and impression. I have not yet spoken of those dissipations, which seem to be connected with the energies and passions of the mind; and compared with which, the intemperate excesses of the mere animal appetites and passions of man, dwindle into a comparatively insignificant and ordinary character. Where the character of an indi- vidual is decidedly intellectual, there always will be discovered at an early period of life, a strong native propensity to an indulgence in intellectual pleasures, and in those passions which are more closely allied to the mental powers. I mean here those pleasures of the mind, which have their rise in the memory, the understanding, the imagination, &c. and those which are the offspring of an indulgence in those passions of the mind, which we call love, hope, ambition, &c. With regard to the pleasures of memory, they are as various and unlimited as the objects by which we are surrounded in nature; they comprize every thing cog- GUNN?S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 81 nizable by all the, senses of man, the impression of which c an be stamped upon the retentive faculty; and they embrace also, those recollections of our own con- duct, which are fraught with the pleasures of a good conscience. It is absolutely impossible to define or limit the pleasures of memory, they embrace our parents, our early friends, and all the objects of our youthful attachments; the houses in whicli we were born and educated, the haunts of our youthful and innocent diver- sions, and all the objects of our early pursuits. The pleasures of memory also comprise all we have learned of the heroism, the magnanimity, and the intelligence, of the great warriors and sages of antiquity ; they in fact embrace all the recollections of the mind, in its recognizance of all the objects and events which have ever been pleasing to us : and they particularly afford us happiness from a review of a well-spent life. But are there not pains, as well as pleasures of memory ?— There are : and lure commences the catalogue of dis- sipations, the first impulse to which is to be found in Ihe mind. Was it an inherent baseness and brutality of native character, that rendered Robert Burns intem- perate? Was it a bestial love of the liquid poison which finally destroyed him, that originated and con- firmed those habits of intemperance which sent him to an early grave ? No : his dissipations commenced in the convivialities and pleasures of a refined, delicate, and superior mind: and were confirmed into habits of intemperance too stubborn for the control of his moral energies, by the lowliness of his fortunes, the poignan- cy and vulgarity of his sufirings, and the pains of his ?nemorjfi Why do we see a man like this, the prey of a morbid and confirmed melancholy?—And why do we hear him warbling forth his distresses, when contem- plating objects yet dear and painful to his memory, in the following inspired and tender strains: "ye mind me of departed hours—departed, never to return!" The fate of Robert Burns, has been the fate of thousands whose names are lost to fame, and who have sunk into 82 gunn's DOMESTIC MEDICINE. obscure and lonely graves, unpitied and unknown.— Thomas Paine once remarked, that one of the greatest miseries of human life, consisted in not being able to forget what it was painful to remember. Mr. Paine's character was highly intellectual; his whole life had been devoted to conferring political benefits and moral miseries on mankind ; and it is not merely possible, but highly probable, that the desertions of society on account of his theological writings, and the pains of his memory, led to those confirmed habits of dissipation and intemperance, whicli ultimately destroyed him.— But, the instances just submitted to the reader, are but two out of thousands whicli might be adduced, to prove the influence of the pains of memory, in originating and confirming fatal habits of dissipation and intemper- ance. How many millions have sunk into the vortex of intemperance, from the influence of those pains of memory, called an accusing conscience ? Physician— "canst thou minister to a mind diseased," by medical prescriptions which can only affect the body ? The pleasures and pains of the understanding come next under consideration ; and present such a field for the investigation of philosophy, as can only be delineated in outline. Curiosity is the first passion, or rather emotion of the human understanding; it leads the mind to the investigation and scrutiny of all the objects of nature and art which present themselves to man, betwixt the cradle and the grave: the emotion or passion of curiosity does more ; it leads us to the investigation of objects beyond the boundaries of time, and impels us to attempt a revelation of the great enigmas of eternity itself! The mind of man is natur- ally attached to truth, and always experiences plea- sure in the discovery of it, when the disclosure is found beneficial to comfort, health, fame, or to enjoy- ments of any description; in all these cases, and innum- erable others, we experience what may be called the pleasures of the understanding. But has not the human understanding also its pains? I think so; (;UNN?S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 83 we all know perfectly well, that the period of death must arrive: and does not this certain anticipation give pain to thousands? Is not the fear of death painful? 1 will admit that the uncertainty of the moment wisely and benevolently hidden from us by Providence, in some measure blunts the painful anticipation of death; but what are the mental pangs of the convict, who is given to understand, that he must be executed to mor- row ! Both the pleasures and pains of the understand- ing, have relation to the discovery of truth. Suppose a man be bitten by a serpent, of whose character he knows nothing: is he not alarmed.9 Suppose that he immediately discovers the reptile to be harmless; do not i" .; mental pains of alarm cease; and does he not experience pleasure from the consciousness of security from ch nger? Here the pleasure of the understanding is deriv cl from a beneficial discovery: but suppose he ascertain that the reptile by which he has been assailed is of a venomous and fatal character, and that he clear- ly understands his immediate destiny to be death, are not his mental pangs identified with the pains of the understanding? I have not space, in a work like this, to go into a philosphical detail of the important truths connected with this subject: and regret to be compelled to differ from the authority of the great Doctor Hush, who alleges that the pleasures of the undeis landing have no antagonist in pain. A knowl- edge of facts, is the aggregate amount of the truths acquired by the operations of the understanding: where these acquisitions of knowledge develope consequences beneficial to human enjoyment and happiness, they are always productive of pleasure to the mind, through the medium of the understanding: but where by the opera- tions of the understanding, the mind is brought into a full view of dangerous and disastrous consequences, the results are always painful and unhappy. This I believe to be a full and fair statement of the case : and were it not, I would like to know, what influence in the religious reformation of mankind could possibly be 84 gunn's domestic medicine. derived from faith in the belief of future rewards and punishments ! Ignorant of consequences, what to man would be the happiness or misery of either prosperity or misfortune ? xVnd how are either to be calculated without the operations of the understanding?—can a man even calculate the results of a plain question in arithmetic, without the operations of this mental pow- er? It is alone by the pervading and subtile powers of the understanding, that we are enabled to feel the real- ities of either intellectual pain or pleasure, happiness or misery. The memory of man, acts upon nothing but facts and events which are past and gone; but the understanding operates also on the present condition and circumstances of mankind, and even extends its views to futurity; and these are the reasons why the pleasures and pains of the understanding, are more intense than those of the memory.—These are also the reasons why we are led astray-by the festivities of pres- ent dissipations aud intemperance ; and these are also the true reasons, why we resort to the banquet and the flowing bowl, to drown both past and present sorrows connected with the mind. Thus we see, that both joys and sorrows are capable of producing habits of intem- perance and dissipation: Physician, can your medical drugs restrain those joys, or remove those sorrows which spring from the'mind itself, when all the max- ims of moral wisdom and philosophy have failed! No : you must resort to the restraining powers and the con- solations of religion and morality. The pleasures and pains of the imagination, com- merce where those of the memory and the understanding terminate: and there is this specific difference between them; the powers of the understanding and memory operate on facts and probabilities, while those of the imagination riot in the wild excesses of fiction, romance and absolute improbabilities. The range of the human imagination seems to be unlimited; & what is very extra- ordinary, and something difficult to be accounted for, its vigor and creative powers, seem to be proportiened to gunn's domestic medicine. 85 ** -.« the weakness \ want of cultivation of the understanding. All the records which have descended to us from very ancient times, seem to favor the pre sumption that the em- pire of imagination, fiction, and romance, in the dark pe- riods of antiquity, gave a tone k character to the human mind; and that the early records of history only teem with romantic fictions whicli defy belief, and with delin- eations of prodigies which never existed, because the philosophic investigations of the understanding had not yet corrected the errors of the imagination. It was probably for these reasons, that Homer in his "I|liad" admits and describes a plurality of Gods; and that Ossian's fancy saw the ghost of departed heroes who had been slain in battle, half viewless among the clouds of night. Had the progress and improvement of Homer's understanding, enabled him to arrive at the sublime conclusion which announces the existence of one great first cause, he never could have delineated in poetic numbers the distinctive characters of his ficti- tious deities: and, had Ossiannot been ignorant enough td believe in ghosts, his imagination never could- have deceived him into the belief, that those of his forefath- ers were witnessing from the clouds, the sanguinary horrors of his batttles? The fact seems to be, as I have said before, that the empire of imagination com- mences where the matter-of-fact and philosophic oper- ations of the understanding and memory cease: for I think it will not be contested, even by men of ordinary intelligence, that it is impossible to imagine the exis- tence of a thing which we are convinced has no being; or to fancy a thing to be true, which we kuow to be a falsehood. Can any man imagine that sugacr is^bitter, gall sweet, or that" two and two make five? No: the truth is, that a know ledge of facts and realitieadestroys all the frost works of fancy and fiction, aid demon- strates clearly that philosophy and science have nearly extinguished the fire of poetic genius. In other words, few men can be poets in this age of philosophic improve- ment, w ho will not borrow or steal from the old wri- H 86 -gunn's domestic medicine. ters, or who cannot find subjects of poetic inspiration, on which little or nothing is or can be certainly known. Newton or Locke, would have cut as contemptible a figure in poetry, as Homer and Ossian would have exhibited in astronomy and metaphysics. We all know that the fire of the imagination is weak- ened and destroyed by old age and experience; and that those who always deal in fictions are always the vic- tims of folly. The pleasures of imagination are always the most brilliant and powerful in the youthful mind,* ^nd the reasons are obvious. This is the period when all impressions made on the mind, by disclosing to us the opening beauties of nature, and the imposing splendors of creation, are entirely novel and without alloy. This is the period when none of the cares and anxieties of life, overshadow and begloom the fairy prospct of fancied and endless felicities to come; and this too is the period, when our youthful friendships are untainted by a knowledge of the baseness and sel- fishness pf mankind—and our loves of the supposed divinity of the female character, are unalloyed by those appalling discoveries of experience, wisdom and phil- osophy, which leach us that every thing human is imperfect, and unworthy of our idolatrous deyotions! These>are the reasons why man^y modern philosophers have,,,been of opinion, that the state of savage and uncultivated nature, as regards a more refined condition of the human mind, is much more conducive to human happiness than any other; for say these men, "where ignorance is bliss, it is surely folly to be w ise." If these delusive fascinations of the imagination could continue through life, uncorrected by the bitter lessons of exper- ience and wisdom ; or if man could be so educated, as never to seek or experience happiness but in thcrealities of life and nature, the wild delusions of fancy would never lead his judgement estray in the pursuits of hap- piness ; nor would he ever be discontented with the moderate enjoyments which the realities of existence afford him. But, one of the most difficult lessons in gunn's domestic medicine. 87 wisdom and philosophy, is to be able to acquire and preserve through life that balance of character which preserves to us the innocent delusions of the fancy. without suffering them to interfere with, and ultimately to destroy our rational attachments to the colder real- ities of life. It is the want of this just equipoise. between philosophic m > deration and strength of judge- ment, and the acute sensibilities allied to a cultivated im igination, that constitutes the real vortex in which so many men of enlightened and lofty genius have sunk to rise no more. Relying on the pleasures of imagin- ation for happiness iu early life, never dreaming that I hey are in a world of sad realities, which will involve Jhein io misfortunes a^biM^t which nothing buLilic exer- cise of prudence and judgment can giird theiny and. continuing to enjoy the present moment, without look- ing forward to the probable and untoward contingencies of futuri'y—they are never aroused from theif brilli in^-* and illussory visions of fanciful and imaginary, hap pine s. until they are overwhelmed with real miseries and misfortunes, and pressed upon by those imperious calls of want and necessity, which cannot be silenced by visionary or imaginary means.—Here commence those pains of the imagination, those lacerations'of sensibility, and those horrible anticipations o£ real and unmitigated suffering, which no human language* can describe, and vviiich are so often seen to goad the man of genius and superior*cndowl0ents tokdissipation and intemperance, and precipitate him to all the despera- tions attendant on ruined fortunes, and an early grave! Ttiis is the vortex that has swallowed thousands of the greatest men that ever existed; this is t^ie*"bottomless ocean that has engulphed millions of the "brightest'and most useful men that ever had existence. It is useless to speak of the love of liquor being the!cause of intem- perance, as applied to men of lofty and powerful ener- gies of mind, and it is worse than useless to attempt the reformation of such men, without knowing trnd'-reaching (he real causes of their derelictions. Nearly all that m gunn's domestic medicine. has been written on the subject of intemperance, has been superficial and nugatory, and confined to the mere contemplation of its effects. Would you prescribe remedies for the mere effects of a disease, without know- ing and striking at the real causes? Would you attempt to guard yourself against the pointed dagger of an assassin, without paralyzing the arm that held it to your bosom? I will admit that you may remove the diseases and habits of intemperance, where they arc merely connected with the corporeal system and physi- cal sensations of men, and have nothing whatever to do with the mind, by the administration of medical drugs, whicli will act on that corporeal system, and by the substitution of new boo'ily habits for old ones; but beyond these points you cannot go by physical means, wdien you advance on the confines of the mind, and the intellectual passions. Here you are in a new region, and must adapt your means to the origin and nature of the disease you must employ the moral pow- ers of dissuasive eloquence, the divine consolations of religion, held out by scripture to erring and repentant man, and its denunciations against the conduct of the self destroyer; you must employ the maxims of pby- losophy, ^and the admonitory precepts of true wisdom, you must soothe the victim of intemperate"1 despair, with reasonable hopes of a better*fate, instead of irritating him by abusive and degrading ^denunciations, &c. &c. But, as this is a most'iniportant subject, I will endea- vor to elucidate it a little farther. When the causes of disease are connected with the mind and its passions, mere physical restraints and even punishments will amount to nothing in attempting a cure.—There is a elass of mankind, I will admit, who, like children whose moral susceptibilities cannot be acted, upon, must be restrained from excesses, and even the commission of crimes, by ignominous corporeal terrors and punish- ments; this class of men always possesses more of the physical or corporeal, than of the moral and meutal character, and must be acted on by pillories, whipping- gunn's domestic medicine. 89 posts, and sometimes gibbets. But, terrors and punish- ments which merely affect the body, have no influence with those men whose minds and passions are morbid- ly affected, or those who are under strong moral impres- sions of rectitude of conduct. The whole range of martyrs, who have suffered unspeakable tortures in the cause of religion aud patriotism, demonstrate these facts. Would you then attempt to restrain from intem- perance, by mere corporeal and physical means, the man whose mind and its passions are affected? Cer- tainly not: every man whose character is decidely intellectual, feels that his native dignity is outraged and degraded by corporeal and ignominious restraints or punishments, and will iu nine instances out of ten, des- troy himself to escape from his own sentiments of deg- radation—While the genius of conquest, in the person of Napoleon, was lowering by successive victories all the national banners of Europe, a French soldier of the line presented himself to the Emperor and desired to be shot. When interrogated as to his reasons, he replied that he had been sentenced to receive ignomini- ous corporeal punishment for some misdeed, rather than to submit to which, he preferred death: the impre^^ion* made on the mind of Napoleon was such, that ignom- inious corporeal punishments were immediately abol- ished throughout the French armies. It is almost needless to remark, on those passions of the mind, called hope, love, ambition, &c.—that they are all productive of pleasures and pains, in proportion as their influence is bounded by moderation, or charac- terised by excess. The pleasures of hope have bee,n finely celebrated by Campbell; and are well known to have a powerful influence in blunting the miseries and misfortunes of mankind during life, and even in illu- minating their anticipations of a happy immortality beyond the grave! But the pleasures of hope have their counterpoise of evils and miseries; and when indulged in to excess, or founded on visionary and impossible principles, frequently terminate in disap- H* 90 gunn's DOMESTIC MEblClNE/ pointment and despair.—Here wisdom, fortitude^ reli- gion and philosophy, are probably the only essential and efficient preventatives, against those intemperate palliatives of disappointed hope, which have led thous- ands to drown themselves, their fortunes and their mis- eries in the bowl. The miseries of despair and disap- pointed hope, are seldom the portion of those whose education have been moral and judicious, or who have oeen early taught to distinguish the realities of life, from those illusive and visionary expectations of it, which never can be realized even by the greatest pros- perity. The visionary gildings with which youthful feeling and animating anticipation invest the untried scenes of life, always dissolve before the lessons of wisdom and experience; and where these privations are followed by positive misfortunes from whrch there exists no hope of redemption, intemperance almost, invariably succeeds, as the only remiedy by whic]» temporary alleviation can be obtained. But this conduct is founded in short-sighted and desperate policy; because, to the mental pangs of misfortune, are always added the miseries of corporeal disease. Love is likewise an intellectual passion, and like hope is productive of pleasure and pain, happiness and misery. I have before spoken of tfcis passion, as connected with the enjoyments and happiness of man; it now becomes my duty to take a brief view of the som- bre colorings of the picture, and to develope some of the causes with which its miseries are connected. Love is always founded on perceptions of real or imaginary perfections; when this elevated and ennobling senti- ment is based on the perception of qualities which really exist, it invariably leads to happiness, and is an unerring indication of superior wisdom; but when it is founded in errors of the imagination, and in the false perception of merely visionary qualities which have no existence, it generally eventuates in misery, and is a decided mark of overweening stupidity and folly. The first step to misery, in wedded love, where the qualities DUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 91 of either of the parties are not sufficiently noble to sustain the passion, is the discovery of blemishes of per- son,disposition, mind or character, whicli were not known previously to marriage. This discovery produces a chill Of the affections, which leads to a more narrow and scrutinizing investigation of the causes of our having been deceived. If they are found to have originated with ourselves, we invarriably undervalue and detest ottr own judgment, which could suffer us thus to be deceived, and immediately become disatisfied with our- selves; and it requires no great exercise of wisdom to know, that those who are dissatisfied with themselves, are displeased with all those around them. On the contrary, if it is found on investigation that we have been dec ieved by the hypocrisy of the individual to whom we are tied by bonds which death alone can dissolve, contempt and detestation are the inevitable ^consequences; for it is no more possible for a man or woman of moral discernment to love an unworthy object. knowing it to be such, than it is for a human being to hate the presence^ of virtue combined with peerless beauty.—Here then commences that series of domestic and conjugal misleries, whicli defies and baffles the pow- er of mere language to describe: and the parties soon become estranged from, and perfectly hateful to each other. Home becomes a hell; the tavern and gaming table are resorted to; to bad company, habits of intem- perance succeed, and the event is, death by confirmed habits of intoxication, or life embittered by negligence, disease, poverty and want! I am the more particular in mentioning the effects of "love to hatred turned," and in tracing those effects to their causes, not only because the picture which is true to life may be instru- mental in preventing deceptions and hypownsy in court- ship, but because it may have a tendency to illustrate the eternal truth that no miseries can ever be drowned iu the midnight bowl, unless th^ chalice contain the poison of death itself!----1 said that love was always founded on the perception of real or visionary perfec- 92 gunn's DOMESTIC MEDICINE. tion, with that founded on amiable and noble qualities, I have here nothing to do, because it is always perma- nent, and unshaken by misfortunes. This position requires no farther proof, than can be found in every country, and in the sphere of every man's observations on life. Where, however, the attachment is founded 011 illusory perceptions, it is not only short lived in itself, but eternally liable to destruction by variations of for- tuue. Some persons, indeed all individuals of the "human species are formed by nature for enjoying tins felicities of attachment and love. With these elemen- tary principles, and with .a heart alive to the tenderest sensibilities, the devourer of novels and romances, in which the human character is invested with perfections that never pertained to it, is peculiarly liably to mise- ries and misfortunes in love. I say once for all,jafld wish it to be born in mind by the reader, that no inordinate and excessive passion, not even that of love itself, was _ ever the offspring of correct perceptions of human nature, such as it really is. Where is the man or woman of reflection, who does not know that human nature is not perfection; and who is not perfectly convinced, that it is a compound of personal and moral* beauties and imperfections'. Those who are in time made acquainted with these philosophic truths, and have early learned to know that man is a compound, to say the best we can of him, of virtue and vice, strength and weakness, wisdom and folly, will never experience any of the passions in their extremes. Their loves and hatreds, their friendships and enmi- ties, and indeed all their other passions, are true to nature, and therefore always characterized by modera- tion. Loves and hatreds are only felt in the extreme, because in the former case we are blind to imperfections which really exist; and because in the latter instances, we shut our eyes against many noble traits of character, which would mitigate our unqualified hatreds.—The same may be said of our friendships and enmities, and indeed of all our other passions; even the sneak- GUNN's DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 93 iug scoundrel avarice, if he did not overrate the objects of his desires, would abandon his swindling propen- sities, and relax his gripe on the miseries and misfor- tunes of mankind. It is the immoderate overrating of the objects of our passions, that produces all their excesses; against which no human being can be guar- ded, unless through the medium of wisdom and intelli- gent e, which alone can stamp the genuine value on every object of human desire or pursuit. Few instances are to be found on record, where the miseries of dis- appointed love have been experienced in the extreme, by persons whose errors of imagination had been cor- rected by experience, and the a'-NinVifinna ^f tl'!IC V,l^ doni; and even where all the agonies of disappointed love have been felt in their excesses, they produce dif- ferent effects upon the different sexes. On woman, they induce a disposition for retirement and a solitary life. Nvhich sometimes ends in confirmed melancholy, some- times in insanity, and not unfrequently in ^broken heart. With man, on i\\o other hand, the excesses of unfor- tunate love, produce very different effects, they urge him to mix in crowded assemblies, iu the hum of business, and in the haunts of men: they dispose 14m to attempt a forgetfulncss of his miseries, by exploring new sceue- of life, iu countries to which he is a stranger, by encoun- tering the dangers of the field and flood: