SEARCH
0-9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Prev | Current Page 266 | Next

Russell, George William Erskine, 1853-1919

"Sydney Smith"


First, sweet sleep; having never known what sweet sleep was, I sleep
like a baby or a plough-boy. If I wake, no needless terrors, no black
visions of life, but pleasing hopes and pleasing recollections:
Holland House, past and to come! If I dream, it is not of lions and
tigers, but of Easter dues and tithes. Secondly, I can take longer
walks, and make greater exertions, without fatigue. My understanding
is improved, and I comprehend Political Economy. Only one evil ensues
from it: I am in such extravagant spirits that I must look out for
some one who will bore and depress me."
In 1834 he wrote:--
"I am better in health, avoiding all fermented liquors, and drinking
nothing but London water, with a million insects in every drop. He who
drinks a tumbler of London water has literally in his stomach more
animated beings than there are men, women, and children on the face of
the globe."
In spite of this disquieting analysis he persevered, and wrote two years
later:--
"I have had no gout, nor any symptom of it: by eating little, and
drinking only water, I keep body and mind in a serene state, and spare
the great toe. Looking back at my past life, I find that all my
miseries of body and mind have proceeded from indigestion. Young
people in early life should be thoroughly taught the moral,
intellectual, and physical evils of indigestion.


Pages:
254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278