with the fine view and passing your eye over the beauties of the gardens below, without taking one step to descend and walk about in them. On the contrary, you call for tea and the chessboard; and lo! you are occupied in your seat till nine o'clock, and that besides two hours' play after dinner; and then, instead of walking home, which would have bestirred you a little, you step into your carriage. How absurd to suppose that all this carelessness can be accompanied by health! Franklin. I am convinced now of the justice of Poor Richard's remark, that "our debts and our sins are always greater than we think for." Gout. So it is. You wise men are sages and fools in your conduct. in your maxims Franklin. But do you charge among my crimes that I return in a carriage from Mr. Brillon's? Gout. Certainly; for, having been seated all the while, you cannot make the fatigue of the day an excuse, and cannot need, therefore, the relief of a carriage. Franklin. What, then, would you have me do with my carriage? Gout. Burn it, if you choose; you would at least get heat out of it once in this way; or, if you dislike that proposal, here's another for you; observe the poor peasants who work in the vineyards and grounds; you may find every day, among these deserving creatures, four or five old men and women, bent and perhaps crippled by weight of years and too long and too great labor. After a most fatiguing day, these people have to trudge a mile or two to their smoky huts. Order your coachman to set them down. This is an act that will be good for your soul, and at the same time, after your visit to the Brillons, if you return on foot, that will be good for your body. Franklin. Ah! how tiresome you are! Gout. Well, then, to my office; it should not be forgotten that I am your physician. There. Franklin. Ohhh! What a cruel physician! Gout. How ungrateful you are to say so! Is it not I who, in the character of your physician, have saved you from the palsy, dropsy, and apoplexy? One or other of which would have done for you long ago, but for me. Franklin. I submit, and thank you for the past, but entreat that you do not visit me in the future; for, in my mind, one had better die than be cured so dolefully. Oh! oh! For heaven's sake, leave me, and I promise faithfully never more to play at chess, but to take exercise daily and live temperately. Gout. I know you too well. You promise fair; but after a few months of good health you will return to your old habits; your fine promises will be forgotten like the forms of the last year's clouds. Let us then finish the account, and I will go. But I leave you with an assurance of visiting you again at a proper time and place; for my object is your good, and you are sensible now that I am your real friend. CLASS ACTIVITIES 1. What habits brought on Franklin's condition? Do you suppose Frankin meant to write about gout only? Explain. 2. Explain the meaning of "live temperately," and give examples from the life of some one you know. How might a tooth- 3. Why did Gout consider herself a friend? ache be a friend to you? Aching eyes? 4. What rules of health are suggested by this conversation? Read the "Rules of Conduct" in Book One, p. 472, to find how many of them apply to health. 5. Why does your school have a recess period? Group athletic drill? What else does it provide for warding off enemies from children? ADDITIONAL READINGS. 1. "A War Worth Waging," R. Barry, in Century Magazine, 64:31-38. 2. "Disease-Carrying House Fly," D. D. Jackson, in Review of Reviews, 49:44-48. 3. "A Battle for Health in a Dairy Herd," B. E. Powell, in American Review of Reviews, 48:65– 69. 4. "Our Army vs. a Bacillus," A. G. Grinnell, in National Geographic Magazine, 24:1146–1152. 5. "National Waste Through Ill Health," H. W. Lanier, in World's Work, 63:299–303. 6. “An In telligently Selected Diet," C. M. Denton, in Lessons in Community and National Life, B-7. 7. "The United States Public Health Service," J. W. Trask, ibid., B-14. 8. "How the City Cares for Health," F. D. Bramhall, ibid., C-19. 9. "Conserving the Nation's Man Power," R. Blue, in National Geographic Magazine, 32:255–278. 10. "Uncle Sam Fighting the Disease of the World," W. A. Du Puy, in American Review of Reviews, 49: 301–307. 4. TO SLEEP WILLIAM WORDSWORTH A flock of sheep that leisurely pass by, Even thus last night, and two nights more I lay, Without Thee what is all the morning's wealth? Dear mother of fresh thought and joyous health! CLASS ACTIVITIES 1. What lines make the poem appropriate for "Saving and Conserving"? 2. Why does it seem right to call sleep "the mother of fresh thought and joyous health"? 3. Volunteer work. Read Arnold Bennett's How to Live on Twentyfour Hours a Day. Report to the class what he says about sleep. CLASS-LIBRARY READINGS SAVING HEALTH AND STRENGTH I. "The Valley," C. Harris, in The Promise of Country Life, 97-105. 2. "The Woman Physician's Opportunity," M. Tracy, in Opportunities of To-day, 239–247. 3. "Nursing," L. M. Powell, ibid., 255-258. 4. "The Hospital Worker," H. E. Gilson, ibid., 259–262. 5. "France's Fighting Woman Doctor," D. Canfield, in Joy in Work, 32-65. 6. "Fresh Air and Healthy Lives,” Book of Knowledge, 6: 1787–1789. 7. "How and When to Eat," ibid., 10: 3045-3048. 8. "Some Insect Foes of Man," ibid., 10: 3139-3148. II. 11. "The Man Who Vanquished the Mosquito," Compton's Pictured Encyclopedia, 4:1490–1491. |