The New Hampshire Gazette And Historical Chronicle

Upon TEMPERANCE and EXERCISE.

On the island of Ceylon, in the Indian ocean, a number of invalids were assembled together, who were afflicted with most of the chronic diseases to which the human body is subject. In the midst of them sat several venerable figures, who amused them with encomiums upon some medicines, which they assured them would afford infallible relief in all cases. One boasted of an elixir, another of a powder, brought from America; a third, of a medicine, invented and prepared in Germany; all of which they said were certain antidotes to the gout; a fourth, cried up a nostrum for the vapors; a fifth, drops for the gravel; a sixth, a balsam, prepared from honey, a sovereign remedy for a consumption; a seventh, a pill for cutaneous eruptions; while an eighth cried down the whole, and extolled a mineral water, which lay a few miles from the place where they were assembled. The credulous multitude partook eagerly of these medicines, but without any relief of their respective complaints. Several of those who made use of the German preparation, were hurried suddenly out of the world. Some said their medicines were adulterated; others, that the Doctors had mistaken their disorders; while most of them agreed that they were much worse than ever. While they were all, with one accord, giving vent in this manner, to the transports of disappointment and vexation, a clap of thunder was heard over their heads. Upon looking up, a light was seen in the sky. In the midst of this appeared the figure of something more than human; she was tall and comely; her skin was fair as the driven snow; a rosy hue tinged her cheeks; her hair hung loose upon her shoulders; her flowing robes disclosed a shape which would have cast a shade upon the statue of Venus de Medicis. In her right hand she held the bough of an Evergreen; in her left hand she had a scroll of parchment, she descended slowly, and stood erect upon the earth; she fixed her eyes, which sparkled with life, upon the deluded and afflicted company; there was a mixture of pity and indignation in her countenance; she stretched forth her right arm, and with a voice which was sweeter than melody itself, she addressed them in the following language:

"Ye children of men, listen for a while to the voice of instruction. Ye seek health where it is not to be found. The boasted specifics you have been using, have no virtues, even the persons who gave them, labour under many of the disorders they attempt to cure. My name is HYGIEA. I preside over the health of mankind. Discard all your medicines, and seek relief from Temperance and Exercise alone. Every thing you see is active around you. All the brute animals in nature are active in their instinctive pursuits. Inanimate nature is active too; air, fire, and water are always in motion. Unless this were the case, they would soon be unfit for the purposes they were designed to serve in the economy of nature. Shun sloth. This unhinges all the springs of life; fly from your diseases; they will not, they cannot pursue you."

Here she ended; she dropped the parchment upon the earth; a cloud received her, and she immediately ascended, and disappeared from their sight; a silence ensued, more expressive of approbation, than the loudest peals of applause. One of them approached with reverence to the spot where she stood; took up the scroll, and read the contents of it to his companions. It contained directions to each of them what they should do to restore their health. They all prepared themselves to obey the advice of the heavenly vision. The gouty man broke his vial of elixir, threw his powders into the fire, and walked four or five miles every day before breakfast. The man afflicted with the gravel threw aside his drops and began to work in his garden, or to play two or three hours every day at bowls. The hypochondriac and hysteric patients discharged their boxes of asafoetida, and took a journey horseback, to distant and opposite ends of the island. The melancholic threw aside his gloomy systems of philosophy, and sent for a dancing master. The studious man shut up his folios, and sought amusement from the sports of children. The sleeper threw away his mercurial pills, and swam every day in a neighbouring river. The consumptive man threw his balsam out of his window, and took a voyage to a distant country. After some months, they all returned to the place where they were wont to assemble in. Joy appeared in each of their countenances. One had renewed his youth; another had recovered the use of his limbs; a third, who had been half bent for many years, now walked upright; a fourth began to sing some jovial song, without being asked; a fifth could talk for hours together, without being interrupted with a cough; in a word, they all enjoyed now a complete recovery of their health. They joined in offering sacrifices to HYGIEA, Temples erected to her memory; and she continues, to this day, to be worshiped by all the inhabitants of that island.