Every young man should endeavor to acquire a thorough knowledge of both riding and driving, not from a desire to emulate the ignoble
achievements of a horse-jockey, but as proper accomplishments for a gentleman.
The possession of a fine horse is a prolific source of high and innocent enjoyment, and may often be secured by those whose purses are not taxed for cigars and wine! Nothing can be more exhilarating than the successful management of this spirited and generous animal, whether under the saddle or in harness! Even plethoric, ponderous old Dr. Johnson, admitted that "few things are so exciting as to be drawn rapidly along in a post-chaise, over a smooth road, by a fine horse!"
Let me repeat, however, that young men should be content to promote health and enjoyment by the moderate, gentleman-like gratification of the pride of skill, in this respect. Like many other amusements, though entirely innocent and unexceptionable when reasonably indulged in, its abuse leads inevitably to the most debasing consequences.—Our dusty high-roads very ill supply the place of the extensive public Parks and gardens that furnish such agreeable places of resort for both riding and driving, as well as for pedestrians, in most of the large cities of Europe, but one may, at least, secure better air and more freedom of space by resorting to them than to the streets, for every form of exercise. And as it is a well established fact that agreeable and novel associations for both the eye and the mind are essential concomitants of beneficial exercise, we have every practical consideration united to good taste in favor of eschewing the streets whenever fate permits.
"Oh! how canst thou renounce the boundless store
Of charms which Nature to her votaries yields,—
The warbling woodland, the resounding shore,
The pomp of groves and garniture of fields;
All that the genial ray of morning gilds,
And all that echoes to the song of even,
All that the mountain's sheltering bosom shields,
And all the dread magnificence of Heaven;—
O! how canst thou renounce and hope to be forgiven!"
Beattie
Eating and drinking are too closely connected with our general subject of health, to be forgotten here.
That regard for Temperance which I have endeavored to commend to you, of course yields a prominent place to habits in these respects.
In relation to eating, I strongly recommend the cultivation of simple tastes, and the careful avoidance of every indulgence tending towards
sensuality.
Some knowledge of Dietetics is essential to the adoption of right opinions and practice on this point. For instance, no man should wait for dire experience to enforce the truths that roast and broiled meats possess the most nutritious qualities; that all fried dishes are, necessarily, more or less unwholesome; that animal oils and fatty substances require stronger digestive force for their assimilation than persons of sedentary life usually possess; that warm bread, as a rule, is unsuited to the human stomach, etc., etc. No one should consider these matters unworthy of serious attention, though temporarily free from inconvenience arising from neglecting them. Eventually, every human constitution will exhibit painful proofs of all outrages committed upon the laws by which its operations are governed; and the greater the license permitted in youth, the severer will be the penalty exacted in after years.