"Bodily exercise of any kind, besides its general effect on the system, contributes in particular to strengthen the lungs, by increasing the circulation of blood through them and calling forth a more vigorous performance of their function. Exercise of a vio lent kind, in one unused to it, produces great efforts of respiration-if carried to excess, pain in the breast, shortness and difficulty of breathing--and it might sometimes possibly prove fatal. But habit soon enables one to bear the same degree of exertion without inconvenience; and this is to be attributed in some measure to an increased power on the part of the lungs, as well as in the muscular system."

Now this certainly appears reasonable and probable; whether the result would be successful upon experiment, it is impossible to decide; but it is surely an experiment well worth the making. Indeed this subject in general is far more worthy the attention of those who are entering upon the study of theology, than it seems to have been considered. It is not an uncommon impression, that preaching is an employment of dangerous tendency, that those who embrace the profession are to make up their minds to perhaps the sacrifice of life and health in the service of the calling which they have chosen. It is a matter of serious enquiry whether there be good foundation for this opinion; whether the evils, which are feared, and those which have been suffered, are the direct and necessary consequences of the duties in which ministers of the gospel are engaged, or whether they are the result of circumstances only incidentally connected with these duties. Whether their liability to disease, be any thing more than the general liability of imprudent students, which is directed with particular force to the lungs, by the peculiarity of their professional labours. We are inclined to the belief, that there are no dangers arising from the life and occupation of a clergyman, which could not be obviated by well-directed and timely attention. We are convinced that much may be, and we know, indeed, of instances in which much has been done, by a resolute and rigid adherence to some judicious system of living, so adapted as to obviate the dangers from which there is reason to fear.

We are no advocates for overstrained caution, we would not have any one cultivate in himself a sensitive timidity with respect to his health, which shall make him shrink from every wind that blows and from every shower that falls. We would not have him live in perpetual anxiety, watching every change in his pulse, and every flush on his cheek, as the harbinger of disease and death. We would have him fortify himself to resist the influence of external causes, not shrink from their operation. New Series-vol. III.

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Nothing certainly is to be gained towards enabling a man to perform the duties of a laborious profession, by nursing him and pampering him with delicacies, by shielding him from air and light. This may protract a feeble existence, but it will not restore decaying health, nor preserve that which is already firm. A minister should lead a life of strict temperance. We do not mean merely that he must abstain from any gross violations of its dictates, any great excesses; it would be an insult, and we are happy to say, an undeserved one, to suppose such a caution necessary. But he must go much farther than this-what is moderation in another man must be excess to him-he should be self-denying and abstemious; particularly where his duties are not of a very active nature, and he spends much of his time in reading and in writing; for in this case the quantity of nourishment demanded by the system is less, and the supply should be diminished in proportion.

But as far as is possible he should lead a life of bodily activity; and upon the whole, this is probably the most important circumstance to be attended to. The importance of much exercise to the preservation of health is manifested in the great advantage which ministers in the country have over those in town and over students of theology in this respect. Few of them, in proportion, are the subjects of disease unless predisposed either constitutionally, or in consequence of their habits before becoming settled in their parishes. It is not always enough that he should take his morning and evening walk, and perform his usual out-of-door business for himself; something more is frequently necessary; he must exercise systematically; and since this is irksome where the mind has not some subject, of interest on which to employ itself, it is of service to propose some definite purpose to be accomplished, which will operate as a sufficient motive to the necessary exertion; such might be, in the country, an attention to agricultural pursuits, or to the study of Botany.

We have a few words more to say on the subject of public speaking. We agree with the remark quoted above, in thinking much of the evil to be attributed rather to the inequality and irregularity of the exercise, than to its severity, and that this difficulty can be only remedied by acquiring the habit of regularly reciting or reading aloud for as long a time as that usually occupied in the exercises of the pulpit. With some this expedient would no doubt fail, with some it might, if persisted in, even hasten the evil it was intended to remedy. But this affords no reason for despairing of its efficacy in a majority of instances, and with due precautions we feel satisfied it is rea

sonable to expect, upon the whole, very favourable consequences. Exercise must be equal and regular and continued. Excessive fatigue on one day, and total indolence the next, is perhaps worse than no exertion at all. Indeed if we would preserve a state of health, all our habits, of whatever kind, should be equal and steady, and not constantly varying with every whim and caprice-our diet, our clothing, our hours and quantity of study and of exercise, our hours of rising and going to rest, should be on an average, after allowing for circumstances, the same. And here we cannot avoid adverting to a circumstance, which we believe calculated to have a most pernicious effect upon the health of preachers; and that is, their allowing the weight of their mental labour to fall upon a particular portion of the week, instead of being equally divided through the whole of it. It is indeed so common as to be almost proverbial, for them to delay the work of preparation for the sabbath to the day and night preceding, which obliges them to an intensity and constancy of application, which scarcely the firmest health could withstand uninjured. The bad consequence is likely to be the greater from the circumstance, that the position of the body in writing is such as to impede the free motion of the lungs. Few men can be occupied for any length of time in this way without some oppression or stricture in the chest, or some slight obstruction of the respiration. And if a preacher goes into the pulpit on the sabbath, after a day, a night, and perhaps a morning also, spent in the labour of composition, with few and short intervals of relaxation, what are we to expect, but that when the labour of speaking is added to the effects of this constrained position, the lungs should be exhausted, irritated, and enfeebled?

We cannot conclude without again earnestly calling the attention of the younger part of the profession particularly to this subject. It is their duty as well as their interest, to take seasonably those precautions, from which they may hope as great a proportion of bodily health as is enjoyed by any class of sedentary men and in order that they may take them, they should understand the nature of the evils against which they are to guard, and the circumstances to which they owe their origin.

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INTELLIGENCE.

Society for propagating the Gospel among the Indians and others in North America.--The anniversary of this society was held in Boston, Nov. 9, 1820, when the Discourse was delivered by Rev. C. Lowell, from Luke xii. 48. "To whom much is given, of him will much be required." The sermon and the annual report have been for some time published, but we have been prevented from laying any account of them before our readers till the present time. Assistance is given, as is well known, by this society to the small settlements of our own country, and instruction sent to the Indians. The following is a brief sketch of their operations the last year :

Missions in Maine.-The Rev. Dr. Porter accomplished his mission of three months at Fryeburg and the vicinity. Mr. Douglas performed his mission of two months at Alfred and Shapleigh. In Alfred his labours have been crowned with unusual success. "I have been," he writes, "greatly encouraged. I have baptized 23 persons; 4 adults and 19 children; 10 persons have united with the church-nine by a public profession and one by letter." Mr. Calef laboured two months in Parsonsfield, Limington, Effingham, Newfield, and Waterborough. Mr. Adams performed a mission of three months at Vassalborough and the adjoining town of Winslow. He bears a decided testimony in favour of "local missions;" but adds, "not that itinerant missions ought to be abandoned; the sheep and lambs, scattered on the mountains, should not be forgotten. Still I conceive, that local missions, judiciously conducted, promise the most permanent utility," Mr. Sawyer performed the duties assigned him at Brownville and the vicinity. "The prospects, in this section of the country, do, in some respects, look more hopeful than heretofore. As a mean to what has been done we are greatly indebted to your Society." Mr. Parker performed two months' service at Dresden and the vicinity. Mr. Fisher performed one month's service at Sedgwick and the vicinity. Mr. Peet performed one month's service, assigned to him at Norridgewock and the vicinity. It is grateful to learn, that Mr. Nurse, at Ellsworth, has been favoured with such an improved state of health, as to be able to prosecute his labours without interruption, both in the work of the ministry and in the conduct of the school." In my school," he writes, "things have gone on pleasantly and prosperously. It has been in operation more than eleven

months of the twelve.

The number of scholars has varied from 20 to 60. Their attention to study has been pleasing and commendable. The Examining Committee were of opinion, that the school never appeared so well as at the last examination. Those, who believe and realize, that it is not good that the soul should be without knowledge, must, I think, contemplate the operations and influences of this school with some degree of interest. In it upwards of 40 have been qualified to take charge of schools, and have been employed as instructors of youth in this town and in the eastern part of Maine. They have been dispersed from the Penobscot to the St. Croix. With a very few exceptions, they have been very faithful, acceptable and successful. In places of great ignorance, and in the bosom of the wilderness, flourishing schools have sprung up, in which the children have been taught and daily habituated to read the Bible; have been taught to write systematically, to parse the language, the use of figures in common life, and the elements of geography. The mode of instruction practised in our school has been carried into many others; and hundreds, if not thousands of youth have felt the benefit of it.

Mr. Kellogg visited Dennysville, Robbinston, and Perry, and performed service there and at other places, gratuitously; devoting the two missionary months exclusively to Lubec. The church that was erecting in Lubec, was dedicated on the 30th of August; the sermon was preached by Mr. Kellogg. It is the first congregational church in that place. A church, consisting of 11 members, was gathered here by Mr. Kellogg on his former mission. The importance of Lubec, in a religious as well as commercial view; the wise measures adopted by the inhabitants for the promotion of their moral and religious interests; the enlightened zeal with which those measures are carrying forward into effect; and the successful influence of our missionary in this great and sacred enterprise, are amply testified by the communications that have been received. The movers of the subscription to the maintenance of public worship in the newly erected church, observe: "Lubec contains, by actual enumeration, more than 1300 souls. Of this number nearly half are children and persons under age. Though a house of worship has been erected, there is no prospect of a settled ministry unless public spirited individuals will step forward and make a common effort, suited to the emergency of the case and to the greatness of the occasion. A committee of Lubec, in a communication to the Secretary, observe respecting Mr. Kellogg: "His labours and zeal to unite the discordant materials of which our population is composed into one religious society; to lay the

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