we eat and drink lest we run into excess. Every one must study his own
constitution, find out its need, and suit the supply of food to its
wants. According to the old proverb, "We should eat to live, not live
to eat." It is a great matter for health when we are able to strike
the proper medium and neither eat nor drink too much nor too little.
To lay down rules on this subject for the individual is impossible.
"One man's food is another man's poison." A man must determine from
his own experience what he ought to take, and how much, as well as what
he ought to avoid. The word intemperance is generally employed as
applying to the abuse of strong drinks. On this subject much has been
written, some advocating total abstinence and others judicious and
moderate use. Into this region of controversy we cannot enter. The
evils of drinking habits, as they are called, are plain to all. They
are a terrible curse to society, and a terrible danger to the
individual. They have ruined many a promising career. For many,
perhaps we may say for most, entire abstinence is their only safety.
He who finds that he can do his work well by drinking only water will
be wise if he drinks nothing else. That will never harm him, though
other liquids may. We must judge for ourselves, but "Temperance in all
things" is a rule binding on every Christian man. We cannot have
health unless we strictly and constantly practise temperance.

2. _Exercise_.--This is as necessary to health as food. "Only by
exercise--physical exercise--can we maintain our muscles, organs and
nervous system in proper vigor; only by exercise can we equalise the
circulation and distribute the blood evenly over every part of the
body; only by exercise can we take a cheerful and wholesome view of
life, for exercise assists the digestion, and a good digestion is a
sovereign antidote to low spirits; only by exercise can the brain be
strengthened to perform the labor demanded of it." [2] No sensible man
will try to do without it. If any man does so he will pay the penalty.
As to the amount of exercise and the kind of exercise every man must
judge for himself. Some, from their occupation, need less than others;
the outdoor laborer, for instance, than the clerk who is most of the
day at the desk. One man may take exercise best by walking, another by
riding, another by following outdoor sports. Athletics, such as
football, and cricket, are a favorite form of exercise wi