[28]. In most eastern countries it was customary to bury the dead at some distance from any town. As this practice obtained among the Jews, the Greeks, and also the Romans, it is strange that the western parts of Europe should not have followed their example in a custom so truly laudable.
[29]. One cannot pass through a large church or cathedral, even in summer, without feeling quite chilly.
[30]. We have daily accounts of persons who lose their lives by going down into deep wells and other places where the air stagnates; all these accidents might be prevented by only letting down a lighted candle before them, and stopping when they perceive it go out; yet this precaution, simple as it is, is seldom used.
[31]. A year seldom passes that we do not hear of some hospital physician or surgeon having lost his life by an hospital fever caught from his patients. For this they have themselves alone to blame. Their patients are either in an improper situation, or they are too careless with regard to their own conduct.
[32]. It is not necessity, but fashion, which makes the use of carriages so common. There are many people who have not exercise enough to keep their humours wholesome, who yet dare not venture to make a visit to their next neighbours, but in a coach or sedan, lest they should be looked down upon. Strange, that men should be such fools as to be laughed out of the use of their limbs, or to throw away their health, in order to gratify a piece of vanity, or to comply with a ridiculous fashion!
[33]. Cheyne.
[34]. Sedentary occupations ought chiefly to be followed by women. They bear confinement much better than men, and are fitter for every kind of business which does not require much strength. It is ridiculous enough to see a lusty fellow making pins, needles, or watch-wheels, while many of the laborious parts of husbandry are carried on by the other sex. The fact is, we want men for laborious employments, while one half of the other sex are rendered useless for want of occupations suited to their strength, &c. Were girls bred to mechanical employments, we should not see such numbers of them prostitute themselves for bread, nor find such a want of men for the important purposes of navigation, agriculture, &c. An eminent silk manufacturer told me, that he found women answer better for that business, than men; and that he had lately taken a great many girls apprentices as silk-weavers. I hope his example will be followed by many others.
[35]. Golff is a diversion very common in North Britain. It is well calculated for exercising the body, and may always be taken in such moderation, as neither to overheat nor fatigue. It has greatly the preference over cricket, tennis, or any of those games which cannot be played without violence.
[36]. Men of every occupation, and in every situation of life, have lived to a good old age; nay some have enjoyed this blessing whose plan of living was by no means regular: but it consists with observation, that all very old men have been early risers. This is the only circumstance attending longevity, to which I never knew an exception.
[37]. That colds kill more than plagues, is an old observation; and, with regard to this country, it holds strictly true. Every person of discernment, however, will perceive, that most of the colds which prove so destructive to the inhabitants of Britain are owing to their imprudence in changing clothes. A few warm days in March or April induce them to throw off their winter garments, without considering that our most penetrating colds generally happen in the spring.