tells of an Italian who managed to bear up under the
tortures of the rack by never for a moment ceasing to think of the
gallows which would have awaited him, had he revealed his secret; he
kept on crying out: _I see it! I see it_!--afterwards explaining that
this was part of his plan.

[Footnote 1: _Nouveaux Essais_. Liv. I. ch. 2. Sec. 11.]

It is from some such reason as this, that we find it so difficult to
stand alone in a matter of opinion,--not to be made irresolute by the
fact that everyone else disagrees with us and acts accordingly, even
though we are quite sure that they are in the wrong. Take the case of
a fugitive king who is trying to avoid capture; how much consolation
he must find in the ceremonious and submissive attitude of a faithful
follower, exhibited secretly so as not to betray his master's strict
_incognito_; it must be almost necessary to prevent him doubting his
own existence.

SECTION 20. In the first part of this work I have insisted upon the
great value of _health_ as the chief and most important element in
happiness. Let me emphasize and confirm what I have there said by
giving a few general rules as to its preservation.

The way to harden the body is to impose a great deal of labor and
effort upon it in the days of good health,--to exercise it, both as a
whole and in its several parts, and to habituate it to withstand all
kinds of noxious influences. But on the appearance of an illness or
disorder, either in the body as a whole or in many of its parts, a
contrary course should be taken, and every means used to nurse the
body, or the part of it which is affected, and to spare it any effort;
for what is ailing and debilitated cannot be hardened.

The muscles may be strengthened by a vigorous use of them; but not so
the nerves; they are weakened by it. Therefore, while exercising the
muscles in every way that is suitable, care should be taken to spare
the nerves as much as possible. The eyes, for instance, should be
protected from too strong a light,--especially when it is reflected
light,--from any straining of them in the dark, or from the
long-continued examination of minute objects; and the ears from too
loud sounds. Above all, the brain should never be forced, or used too
much, or at the wrong time; let it have a rest during digestion; for
then the same vital energy which forms thoughts in the brain has a
great deal of work to do elsewhere,--I mean in the digestive organs,
where it