OLD HUMPHREY ON TURNING EVERY THING TO ADVANTAGE. Ir would well answer the purpose of any one to serve a seven years' apprenticeship, if thereby he could attain the art of turning all things to advantage. Talk of "philosophers' stones!" why this art is, at any time, worth a wagon load of them. Had I the iron of Europe, the pearls of Asia, the ivory of Africa, and the silver, the gold, and the diamonds of America, willingly would I barter them all, to be enabled to turn everything to advantage. Were the art of turning all things to advantage to be put up by auction, hardly could crowned heads afford to bid for it; for a good bargain would it be to the emperor of all the Russias, were it knocked down to him at the price of half his dominions. of ten strings, praised and magnified the Lord for ever. The art of turning all things to advantage is applicable to small things as well as to great; to trifles as well as to affairs of consequence; indeed, to derive from it the proper benefit, we should constantly practise it in the common affairs of life, spring and fall, summer and winter, morning, noon, and night. The simplest occurrence of our existence, if turned to advantage, may become to us a cause of joy; and, on the contrary, if made the worst of, it may possibly prove a source of abiding sorrow. I will give you a short sketch of one of my rambles last winter, when the snow lay on the ground, as it may set in a clearer light what I mean by applying the principle of turning all things to advantage, to the common and every-day circumstances of our existence. 66 went on, repeating to myself, with a But valuable as this art may be, there Hardly had I set my foot on the are those who, judging by their practice, ground before I had well-nigh fallen, for attach to it no value at all, for so far the path was very slippery. This matter, from attempting to make the best of however, was turned to good account, for every thing, they appear systematically having known more cases than one in to make the worst of it. Shadows of which a similar trip had occasioned a anticipated evil are turned into sub-broken bone, I doubled my care, and stances; molehills of misfortune are magnified into mountains; and many an imaginary trouble is distorted into a scarecrow, a spectre, a positive raw-head-andbloody-bones, to bewilder, to affright, and to confound. Such as are afflicted with this perverse propensity to make the worst of things have no need of a weightier calamity. The difference between a disposition to make the best, and an inclination to make the worst of things, is the same as the difference between hope and despondency, day and night, light and darkness. There are many good things in this bad world, and among the very best of them may be mentioned the art or quality of turning every thing to advantage. That which is easy to one is frequently difficult of accomplishment to another. A cheerful disposition is not soon depressed, neither is a gloomy spirit easily elated. It would, therefore, be unreasonable to expect that the latter could, as readily as the former, turn all things to advantage. How many who have gone mourning through the world, might have passed through it, as it were, leaping and dancing. And how many who have hung down their heads in silence, might have burst into a song, taken up the timbrel and harp, and on an instrument As I passed on, a maimed workman was carried by me, stretched at his fulllength on a door. He had trodden on an unsound rafter in a house that was under repair, and fallen from a great height. Poor fellow! It was out of my power to turn the sad accident to his advantage, I therefore tried to turn it to my own; so, as I proceeded on my way, I began to reflect on the matter thus. In the every-day labours of life, men usually show themselves wise in their generation, and seldom trust themselves on false supports. The mason ascends a stout ladder, the bricklayer works on a strong scaffold, and the miner is let down into depths by a rope that would bear twenty times his weight. Now and then, to be sure, a careless and reckless workman runs a needless risk, and ventures on what will not bear his weight, when the crash that follows sounds harshly in his ears, and his fall convinces him of Q 194 OLD HUMPHREY ON TURNING EVERY THING TO ADVANTAGE. his folly. But these instances are exceptions to a rule, and even the accidents which occur are not without their use; for though they fall heavy on the few, they increase the safety of the many by adding to their precaution. Well would it be for us, were we as wise in spiritual as in temporal things. Were mankind half as much alive to the welfare of their souls, as they are to the safety of their bodies, they would not so often lean on that which pierces them through with many sorrows, nor so frequently trust to supports that must fail in the season of sorrow and the hour of death. That was a wise resolution of the royal shepherd, "Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the Lord our God," Psa. xx. 7. As I walked on, a sudden storm of hail and snow came upon me, and having no umbrella, I was fain to seek a temporary refuge under a door way, beside which grew a fine, tall, Lombardy poplar. As I stood in my place of shelter, I tried to turn my situation to advantage, by observing the poplar tree narrowly, and musing and moralizing thereon. Had I not done so, I could not have now noted ← down the following remarks. There is that in the Lombardy poplar which I have never observed in any other tree; a character that is altogether its own, and from which an excellent lesson may be obtained. The branches of an oak start off on all sides, full of power and independence, as though, conscious of their strength, they were determined to seek their own fortunes, and never more to return to their parent stem. They seem to say, "Leave us alone! we require no help; let the winds do their worst! we can battle for ourselves;" but this is not the case with the branches of the poplar, for they all strive to remain at home, and to keep as close to the parent tree as possible. There they are, spreading out in family clusters, but not a cluster, branch, or single spray is there, from the bottom of the tree to the top, that does not seem bent on clinging as closely as it can to the stem that gave it birth. So much is this the case, and so close are the branches to the stem, that, could an oilcase covering be drawn tightly over the tree, it would resemble a huge silk umbrella in its case, or a gigantic walking-stick. Look, ye divided families, rent asunder by anger, heart-burnings, and jealousies, the parents against the children, and the children against the parents, look at the Lombardy poplar, and blush crimson red. See the parent tree and the offspring branches all dwelling together in peace! all bound together in the bonds of unity and brotherhood! and all looking together towards heaven! In the midst of my reflections on the poplar, there came by two children carrying an umbrella, which suddenly the wind turned inside out. Poor little lambs! they were in a world of trouble, for the wind kept tugging at their inverted umbrella, as if determined to get possession of it, and the storm beat upon them piteously. I turned this matter to their advantage and my own, by quitting my place of shelter and relieving them from their difficulty. On went the little maidens one way, and as the storm had in some degree abated, on I went the other, ejaculating the hope that they would be sheltered in every storm, and find at last a home in heaven. On turning a corner, I came suddenly upon a party of young urchins, who, having provided themselves with a pile of snow-balls, were ardently occupied in pelting all who came near them.` Now, to tell the truth, I rather like to see boys snow-balling, when they are neither tyrannous nor ill-natured. Seeing, however, what a store of snow-balls the young rogues had got together, and not being over anxious to be made a snow man of, I endeavoured to avert my danger; so, instead of shaking my stick at them frowningly, and threatening them with all the pains and penalties of my wrathful indignation, I jokingly told them, that if I were their schoolmaster, every one of them should have a half-day's holiday. This vastly pleased them, and put them into high good humour. "Don't throw at him!" said one; "No! no! don't throw at him," said another, and so I got clear off. Had I been peevish, and not thus made the best of this affair, most likely Old Humphrey would have had it, hip and thigh, head, back, and bosom, and not improbably, as he sheered off, be-battered and discomfited, two or three additional balls would have been dashed into his neck hole. But, perhaps, if I proceed further in this strain, some of my readers will suspect that I have introduced this subject rather to show off my own cleverness than for any other purpose; let me, then, reader, turn to you. If it should so be that you are in the daily and hourly habit of turning all occurrences to the best advantage, patiently enduring your troubles, gratefully enjoying your mercies, and zealously improving all the gifts with which God has so liberally endowed you, my remarks will not injure you; and if you are not, they may do you good. Though I venture to question you, I shall put the same inquiries to my own heart. Are you turning to advantage your health, wealth, and influence? for these things were not given you to trifle with. A steam-engine is a powerful thing, and on account of its power it can be made to do, according to the use to which it is applied, a deal of good or a great deal of evil. This is just the case with health, wealth, and influence. Turn them to advantage, and they will be peace to your spirit, oil to your joints, and marrow to your bones; but put them to a bad purpose, and they will turn against you and rend you, beat you with many stripes, mercilessly trample you in the mire, and bring you down with sorrow to the grave. What are you doing with God's gifts? How are you using the endowments of your mind? What a priceless gift is the gift of reason! If you would think highly of a favour from a king, how much more should you estimate a favour from the King of kings? If you would prize a gift from the mighty of the earth, what value should you set on the gifts of Him who is almighty in heaven? The way to refrain from evil and to do good, to avoid sorrow and secure joy, is to turn the gifts of God to the best advantage. If thou wilt rightly use the gifts Though barren be thy land, and dark Are you digging manfully in the inexhaustible mine of God's holy word, and obtaining what is far more precious than silver and gold? Are you enjoying and improving your sabbaths and seasons of prayer, and so using the means of grace that they abundantly increase your hope of glory? God has neither given his word, his sabbaths, his sanctuary, nor his services in vain, and they will either be wings of lightness to you, or a millstone around your neck. Agree, resolve, determine, to turn these things to advantage. How do you deal with God's mercies and judgments? Do you consider whence they come, why they were sent, and how you can turn them to the best account? There is some difference between health, strength, and plenty; and plague, pestilence, and famine; and yet all come from the same Almighty source. Do God's mercies make you thankful? Do God's judgments humble your hearts? Do you profit by them both? Indeed, I hope so. Despise not the chastening of the Almighty. "Humbled beneath his mighty hand; What account can you give of your poverty, your discouragements, and your disappointments? Oh, these in the hand of the heavenly Physician are often more medicinal than the balm of Gilead! Overlook them not; undervalue them not. They are as rough cocoa-nuts, with milky hearts; as masses of black earth, in which diamonds are embedded; as dark clouds, from which sun-beams burst forth. Profit by them, improve them, and turn them to the best advantage. It Do you turn your afflictions to the best account? For if not, you are depriving yourself of great advantages. One hour of affliction sometimes teaches us more than a year of health. humbles a proud heart, and abases a haughty spirit; it shows us our weakness, and manifests God's power; it sets before us the value of health; it softens our rugged dispositions; it compels us to feel for others' woe; and it often is made a means of directing our eyes to the hills whence cometh our help, and of assisting us up not a few of the rounds of the ladder that reaches even to heaven. To sum up all, are you turning to the best advantage, both in great and little things, your faculties, your opportunities, your wealth, your poverty, your health, your sicknesses, your hopes, your fears, your joys, and your sorrows, in such a sort, that you can, of a truth, say, I know "that all things work together for good to them that love God?" Rom. viii. 28. If you are doing this, all that I can hope is, that I may be mercifully enabled to follow your good example; and if, conscious of your manifold infirmities, you are, like him who is now addressing you, seeking above for strength to do what hitherto you have not been able to accomplish, why then, as fellow-strivers together after good, let us do what we can for each other. Give me your attention to my remarks, and I will give you, in return, the prayer, the blessing, and the "Godspeed" of Old Humphrey. IMPORTANCE OF VENTILATION. ONE of the most general and potential sources of mischief, is the want of sufficient ventilation, external and internal, to the homes of poverty. In the process of supporting mankind and animals, the atmosphere is deprived of its oxygen, and exhaled in a morbid condition, unfit for combustion and the sustenance of life, and the respiration of plants contributes also to the derangement; but the play of the winds, whispering in gentle breezes and rushing in powerful gales, is a machinery appointed by Providence to subserve the purpose of remedying this vitiated condition of the atmosphere, dispensing and separating the poisonous elements, rendering them innocuous by bringing about new combinations, thus keeping up that due proportion between the component parts of the aërial envelope, upon which its lifeconserving property hinges, yet which the functions of life are perpetually destroying. The crétinisme, or idiocy, common in some of the Alpine valleys, narrow and shut in by high mountains, where the fresh air does not circulate freely, Saussure attributed to the stagnation of the atmosphere; and though such instances of physical deformity and intellectual incapacity may be the combined effect of various causes, it is in harmony with the one referred to, to suppose it an influential agent in the unhappy phenomena. But in providing house-accommodation for the poor, it might seem to have been the builders' or the projectors' object, to deprive them as much as possible of the providential boon, in constructing the narrow alleys and courts, closed at one extremity and only accessible through a covered passage at the other, as if to prevent any farther supply of the breath of heaven from entering, and the escape of the noxious gases that are generated. The enforced sufficient opening of these courts, and the absolute prohibition of their construction in future, should not be delayed; and proprietors may be reconciled to some sacrifice of their own private interests in the matter, by the thought, that in such sites the pestilence is born, against which they have no security that it will not sally forth and level an envenomed spear against themselves in their own airy abodes. But of no avail is an external supply of pure air, unless provision is made for its interior reception; for of course it is the condition of the atmosphere habitually breathed that influences health. Here let us reflect upon the importance of this invisible element, more necessary to life than food, without the due furniture of which, no food, however excellent and abundant, can sustain health and strength. The tall pine "Hewn on Norwegian hills, to be the mast Of some great admiral," is often seen springing from a scanty stratum of impoverished soil, and the spectator has wondered at its stately dimensions in such a site, ignorant of the fact that its main feeder is the common air we breathe. It is a curious result of chemical science, that oxygen, a constituent part of the atmosphere, a light and invisible gas in its simple state, constitutes water in combination with hydrogen, and enters largely into combination with the earths and metals, so as to compose fully one-half of the solid contents of the globe. This may enlarge our conceptions of the important office assigned to air in the scheme of animate and inanimate nature; and rebuke our folly, in being inattentive to the causes which vitiate it, and of the means by which a pure supply may be constantly kept up. To feed on putrid substances, and accept a draught containing a poisonous admixture, would not be a whit more irrational than is the toleration of an impure atmosphere. But even the refined and intelligent classes of society display a marvellous lack of knowledge or consideration respecting the state of the ethereal medium so essential to their well-being. Strikingly yet truly is the scene presented by a London drawing-room on a gala-night, pictured in the following statement:"That lofty duchess's head is sparkling with diamonds-that slight, lovely being, leaning on her arm, has the pearls of India wound around her brow-those rush out."* In this case, the sufferance statesmen and warriors are decorated of evil by the party is only taxed for an with stars the dense mass displays hour or two; but tens of thousands in flowers, ribands, and ornaments of every London, Manchester, and Liverpool, are colour in the rainbow; but among them spending day and night in this "durance all, is there, we ask, a single one who vile," moping, emaciating, and sickening, for a moment has thought of bringing under the debilitating and noxious inwith him the hogsheads of air per hour fluence of a stale, pent up, and corrupt necessary for his respiration? And if atmosphere, which simple and inexevery guest present has neglected to do pensive means would put in circulation so, in what manner, it must be inquired, and refresh. has the noble host provided for the de- In Mr. Toynbee's evidence before the mand? Alas! the massive, pictured walls Health of Towns Commission, some rearound us, and richly-stuccoed and gilt markable details are given respecting the ceiling over our heads, answer the ques- varieties of disease which may be referred tion; and one has only to cast a glance to atmospheric impurity, particularly at them to perceive that the 500 persons scrofula, one of the most terrible scourges present are, like those in the Black-hole of the human frame. He states his own at Calcutta, conglomerated together in experience, with that of his medical cola hermetically-sealed box full of vitiated leagues, and some other authorities, to air. Every minute 500 gallons of air be corroborative of the view taken by pass into the lungs of those present, from M. Baudelocque, in his treatise "Etudes whence, divested of its oxygen, it is ex- de la Maladie Scrofuleuse," namely, that haled in a morbid condition-every res- the repeated respiration of the same atpiration of each elegant, nay, even our mosphere is the cause of scrofula; and own contemplative sigh, vitiates about that if there be entirely pure air, there sixteen cubic inches of the element; and may be bad food, bad clothing, and want yet, while every moment it is becoming of personal cleanliness, yet scrofulous more and more destructive to health, disease cannot exist. According to M. while the loveliest cheeks are gradually Baudelocque, it is invariably found, that fading before us-while the constitutions a truly scrofulous disease is caused by of the young are evidently receiving an vitiated air, in which it is not necessary injury which not the wealth of Croesus to remain long in order to its production. will be able to repay-what arrange- Frequently a few hours each day is suffiments, we repeat, has the noble host cient, and thus persons may live in a made for repairing the damage he is healthy country, pass a considerable porcreating? If foul air, like manure, could tion of time in the open air, and yet bebe carted away, and if good air, like come scrofulous, because of sleeping in a fresh, clean straw, could be brought in confined place, where the air has not its stead, surely one of the simplest been renewed. The liability of shepherds luxuries which wealth could offer to to this disease, usually attributed to exsociety would be to effect this sanitary posure to storms and atmospheric changes, operation; and thus, instead of offering a and to humidity, he assigns to their passset of lovely women ices and unwhole- ing the night in a confined but in France, some refreshments, to spend the money which they transport from place to place, these would cost in pouring upon their and which only admits the external air heads, necks, and shoulders a continual through a small door, closed during supply of that pure, fresh, exhilarating the day, and closed upon their betaking oxygenous mixture which gives anima- themselves to rest. The case of the viltion to their hearts, and colour to their lage of Oresmeaux, near Amiens, is mencheeks. But is this expensive, trouble- tioned, occupying an open elevated site, some, complicated, horse-and-cart mode but consisting of small confined houses, of purifying the horrid atmosphere we in which the inhabitants were constantly are breathing necessary? No! every-ravaged by the malady, and many families body present knows that, outside the shutters and plate-glass windows of the rooms, there is in waiting, not two inches from us, an overwhelming supply (which might be warmed) of pure air, just as desirous to rush in as the foul air we have been breathing and rebreathing is eager to became extinct, the last members dying rotten of scrofula. Upon a fire destroying great part of the village, the houses were built in a more salubrious manner, which the disease became less com upon * Quarterly Review, No. cxlii. p. 419. |