y pursuits and
sedentary occupations, and too little to the acquisition of the
corporeal powers indispensable to make the former practically useful. If
the present system does not undergo some change, I much apprehend we
shall see a degenerate and sinking race, such as came to exist among the
higher classes in France before the Revolution, and such as now deforms
a large part of the noblest families in Spain;[5] but if the spirit of
improvement, so happily awakened, continues--as I trust it will--to
animate those concerned in the formation of the young members of
society, we shall soon be able, I doubt not, to exhibit an active,
beautiful, and wise generation, of which the age may be proud."

[5] I am informed by a lady who passed a long time at the Spanish court,
in a distinguished situation, that the grandees have deteriorated by
their habits of living, and the restriction of intermarriages to their
own rank, to a race of dwarfs; and, though fine persons are sometimes
seen among them, they, when assembled at court, appear to be a group of
manikins.

CHAPTER III.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION. THE LAWS OF HEALTH.

If man is ever to be elevated to the highest and happiest condition
which his nature will permit, it must be, in no small degree, by the
improvement--I might say, the redemption--of his physical powers.
But knowledge on any subject must precede improvement.--ALCOTT.

Physical and moral health are as nearly related as the body and the
soul.--HUFELAND'S _Art of Prolonging Life_.

If the reader is persuaded that the views presented in the last chapter
on the importance of physical education are truthful--and they are
concurred in by physiologists generally--he will naturally desire to
become acquainted with the _laws of health_, that, by yielding obedience
to them, he may improve his physical condition, and most successfully
promote his intellectual and moral well-being. I might, then, here refer
to some of the many excellent treatises on this subject; but I shall
probably better accomplish the object for which this work has been
undertaken by presenting, within as narrow limits as practicable, a
summary of these laws.

In every department of nature, _waste_ is invariably the result of
_action_. In mechanics, we seek to reduce the waste consequent upon
action to the lowest possible degree; but to prevent it entirely is
beyond the power of man. Every breath of wind th