Jerusalem," knowing all that awaited Him there. He went through
Gethsemane to Calvary with the step of a conqueror. Never was He more
truly a king than on the cross, and the grandest crown ever worn was
"the crown of thorns." In Him we have the highest example of courage,
as of all other virtues.

CHAPTER VIII.

HEALTH.

Health means soundness of body and of mind; the keeping of our physical
system in such a condition that it is able to do its work easily,
without disturbance, and without pain; the exercise of the mind so as
not to harm the body. There are certain preliminary considerations
that we should bear in mind in connection with this subject.

I. The close connection between body and mind.--They are both related
to each other in some mysterious way. So close is the connection that
the one cannot be affected without the other. The well-being of the
one depends on the well-being of the other. The power which the mind
has over the body and the body over the mind has been well and tersely
described by a writer of our time. "Man," he says, "is one, however
compound. Fire his conscience, and he blushes; check his circulation,
and he thinks tardily or not at all; impair his secretions, and the
moral sense is dulled, discolored, or depraved, his aspirations flag,
his hope and love both reel; impair them still more, and he becomes a
brute. A cup of wine degrades his moral nature below that of the
swine. Again, a violent emotion of pity or horror makes him vomit; a
lancet will restore him from delirium to clear thought; excessive
thought will waste his energy; excess of muscular exercise will deaden
thought; an emotion will double the strength of his muscles; and at
last, a prick of a needle or a grain of mineral will in an instant lay
to rest forever his body and its unity." [1] When we consider the
close connection between mind and body, and how the state of the one
affects the other, we see how important it is that both should work
together in that harmonious action which is health, and how carefully
we should guard against anything by which that harmonious action may be
interrupted.

II. Bodily health is almost essential to success in life.--It is not
_absolutely_ essential, but it is _almost_ essential. (_a_) Physical
health is not everything. "Give a man," it has been said, "a good deep
chest and a stomach of which he never knew the existence, and he must
succeed in any practical career