SELF-KILLING
1.As the world is at present situated，it is possible to acquire learning upon almost every subject，and an infinite amount of knowledge，useful and otherwise，without even by chance lighting upon a knowledge of the most indispensable observances necessary for the preservation of a sound mind in a sound body.Half of the multiform languages of Asia may be mastered，while the prodigy who boasts of much learning knows not that to sit a whole day within doors at close study is detrimental to health；or，if he knows so much，deliberately prefers the course which leads to ruin.Leyden，an enthusiast of this order，was ill with a fever and liver complaint at Mysore，and yet continued to study ten hours a day.
2.His physician warned him of the dangerous consequences that were likely to ensue，when he answered，“Very well，doctor，you have done your duty，but I can not be idle：whether I am to die or live，the wheel must go round to the last.”“I may perish in the attempt，”he said，on another occasion；“but，if I die without surpassing Sir William Jones a hundred-fold in Oriental learning，let never tear for me profane the eye of a Borderer.”
And he eventually sank，in his thirty-sixth year，under the consequences of spending some time in an ill-ventilated library，which a slight acquaintance with one of the most familiar of the sciences，would have warned him against entering.Alexander Nicoll，a recent professor of Hebrew at Oxford，who was said to be able to walk to thewall of China without the aid of an interpreter，died at the same age，partly through the effects of that intense study which so effectually but so uselessly had gained him distinction.
3.Dr.Alexander Murray，a similar prodigy，died in his thirty-eighth year of over-severe study；making the third of a set of men remarkable for the same wonderful attainments，and natives of the same country，who，within a space of twenty years，fell victims to their deficiency in a piece of knowledge which any well-cultivated mind may acquire in a day.Excessive application unquestionably cut short the days of Sir Walter Scott，and also of the celebrated Weber，whose mournful exclamation in the midst of his numerous engagements can never be forgotten；“Would that I were a tailor，for then I should have a Sunday’s holiday！”The premature extinction of early prodigies of genius is generally traceable to the same cause.We read that while all other children played，they remained at home to study，and then we learn that they perished in the bud，and balked the hopes of all their admiring friends.
4.The ignorant wonder is，of course，always the greater，when life is broken short in the midst of honorable undertakings.We wonder at the inscrutable decrees which permit the idle and the dissolute to live，and remove the ardent benefactor of his kind，the hope of parents，the virtuous and the self-devoted；never reflecting that the highest moral and intellectual qualities avail nothing in repairing or warding off a decided injury to the physical system，which is regulated by an entirely distinct code of laws.The conduct of the Portuguese sailors in a storm，when，instead of working the vessel properly，they employ themselves in paying vows to their saints，is just as rational as most of the notions which prevail on this subject.