OF THE PASSIONS.

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been impressed on their minds by some accident, or foolish predic-tion. This, for example, is often the case with women in child-bed.Many of those who die in that situation are impressed with the notionof their death a long time before it happens; and there is reason tobelieve that this impression is often the cause of it.

The methods taken to impress the minds of women with the ap-prehensions of the great pain and peril of child-birth are very hurt-ful. Few women die in labour, though many lose their lives after it;which may be thus accounted for. A woman after delivery, findingherself weak and exhausted, immediately apprehends she is in dan-ger; but this fear seldom fails to obstruct the necessary evacuations,upon which her recovery depends. Thus the sex often fall a sacri-fice to their own imaginations, when there would be no danger, didthey apprehend none.

ft seldom happens that two or three women in a great town die inchild-bed, but their death is followed by many others. Every wo-man of their acquaintance who is with child dreads the same fate,and the disease becomes epidemical by the mere force of imagination.This should induce pregnant women to despise fear, and by all meansto avoid those tattling gossips who are continually buzzing in theirears the misfortunes of others. Every thing that may in the leastalarm a pregnant or child-bed woman, ought with the greatest care tobe guarded against.

Many women have lost their lives in child-bed by the old supersti-tious custom, still kept up in most parts of Britain, of tolling theparish bell for every person who dies. People who think themselvesin danger are very inquisitive; and if they come to know that thebet' tolls for one who died in the same situation with themselves,what must be the consequence ? At any rate they are apt to supposethat this is the case, and it will often be found a very difficult matterto persuade them to the contrary.

But this custom is not pernicious to child-bed women only. It ishurtful in many other cases. When low fevers, in which it is difficultto support the patient's spirits, prevail, what must be the effect of afuneral peal sounding five or six times a day in his ears 1 No doubthis imagination may suggest that others died of the same diseastunder which he labours. This apprehension will have a greater ten-dency to depress his spirits, than all the cordials of which medicinecan boast will have to raise them.

If this useless piece of ceremony cannot be abolished, we ought tokeep the sick as much from hearing it as possible, and from everyother thing that may tend to alarm them. So far however is thisfrom being generally attended to, that many make it their businesslo visit the sick, on purpose to whisper dismal stories in their ears.Such may pass for sympathizing friends, but they ought rather to beconsidered as enemies. All who wish well to the sick ought to keepsuch persons at the greatest distance from them.

A custom has long prevailed among physicians of prognosticating,as they call it, the patient's fate, or foretelling the issue of the didcease. Vanity no doubt introduced this practice, and still suports