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increased his already great possessions; but I never heard
a whisper to the effect of his having been indisposed a sec-
ond time, or made money by other than the most strictly
honourable means. I did hear afterwards in confidence that
there had been reason to believe that his health had been
not a little affected by the straightener’s treatment, but his
friends did not choose to be over-curious upon the subject,
and on his return to his affairs it was by common consent
passed over as hardly criminal in one who was otherwise so
much afflicted. For they regard bodily ailments as the more
venial in proportion as they have been produced by causes
independent of the constitution. Thus if a person ruin his
health by excessive indulgence at the table or by drinking,
they count it to be almost a part of the mental disease which
brought it about, and so it goes for little, but they have no
mercy on such illnesses as fevers or catarrhs or lung dis-
eases, which to us appear to be beyond the control of the
individual. They are only more lenient towards the diseases
of the young—such as measles, which they think to be like
sowing one’s wild oats—and look over them as pardonable
indiscretions if they have not been too serious, and if they
are atoned for by complete subsequent recovery.
It is hardly necessary to say that the office of straightener
is one which requires long and special training. It stands
to reason that he who would cure a moral ailment must be
practically acquainted with it in all its bearings. The stu-
dent for the profession of straightener is required to set
apart certain seasons for the practice of each vice in turn,
as a religious duty. These seasons are called ‘fasts,’ and are

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