CLOTHING, HOW TO BE REGULATED, &c. 71

py, the cheerful, and the gay. This is a sufficient reason why ev-ery man should endeavour to be as easy in his mind as possiblewhen he goes to rest. Many by indulging grief and anxiousthought, have banished sound sleep so long, that they could neverafterwards enjoy it.

Sleep, when taken in the fore part of the night, is generallyreckoned most refreshing. Whether this be the eifect of habit ornot, is hard to say ; but as most people are accustomed to go earlyto bed when young, it may be presumed that sleep, at this season,will prove most refreshing to them ever after. Whether the forepart of the night be best for sleep or not, surely the fore part ofthe day is fittest both for business and amusement. I hardly everknew an early riser who did not enjoy a good state of health.*

Early rising is the natural consequence of going to bed early ; andthis habit implies sobriety, good order, and an exemption frommany fashionable follies extremely prejudicial to health. Theman, who accustoms himself to go to bed at an early hour, canseldom join the revels of Bacchus, or what are improperly calledthe amusements of the gay world. His rest is not disturbed by theeffects of unseasonable luxury. He knows, that temperance, mod-erate exercise, composure of mind, and external tranquillity, arethe best opiates. His slumbers are sound and refreshing. Thewaste of spirits on the preceding day is fully repaired. Everymuscle, every fibre, every nerve has regained its proper tone. Herises with cheerfulness and rigour to breathe the morning air, andto enter upon the duties of the day. In short, an attention to thissingle point of going to bed early, and of rising betimes, will befound to supersede a variety of other precepts, and may be justlycalled the golden rule for the attainment of health and long life.

CHAP. VII.

CLOTHING.

The clothing ought to be suited to the climate. Custom has, nodoubt, a very great influence in this article ; but no custom canever change the nature of things so far, as to render the sameclothing fit for an inhabitant of Nova Zembla and the Island of Ja-maica. It is not indeed necessary to observe an exact propor-tion between the quantity of clothes we wear, and the degree oflatitude which we inhabit ; but, at the same time, proper attentionought to be paid to it, as well as to the openness of the country, thefrequency and violence of storms, &c.

In youth, while the blood is hot and the perspiration free, it isless necessary to cover the body with a great quantity of clothes ;

* Men of every occupation, and in every situation of life, have lived to a good oldage ; nay some have enjoyed Ihis blessing whose plan of living was by no means regu-lar s but it consists with observation, that all very old men have been early risers.This is the onlv circumstance attending longevity to which I never knew an exception.