Good Exercise Needed for Body and Spirit

1896

A Vexed Question

The great problem is how to train and keep the physical system at the top of its capacity for work and enjoyment all the time. Those who do not get an abundant of outdoor exercise in their regular avocations must secure its equivalent in some other way, or suffer the consequences.

The more exacting the work of the brain, the more needful is it to keep the whole system toned to the highest degree of endurance and vitality. How to do this each must settle for himself as best he can, with such professional advice as he can command; but to do it in some way is both an interest and a duty.

There is a religion of the body as well as of the spirit; indeed, true religion includes both body and mind. It is not a crusade on calisthenics and the other methods of physical training that is wanted, but a wiser and more general use of them. We have mastered the art of making a perfect tree, and persuading a rose to bloom in any color we may choose; we know exactly how to rear just such a horse or dog as we desire; but who shall tell us how to develop and train the human body to perfection?

When we go back and study the old Greek and Roman models, our pride oozes out and we are inclined to question whether we have not lost in one way quite as much as we have gained in another by this intangible something we call civilization.