neat, clean and elegant do they ever appear! Among the beasts of
the field we find that those which are the most cleanly are
generally the most gay and cheerful; or are distinguished by a
certain air of tranquillity and contentment; and singing birds
are always remarkable for the neatness of their plumage. And so
great is the effect of cleanliness upon man, that it extends even
to his moral character. Virtue never dwelt long with filth and
nastiness; nor do I believe there ever was a person SCRUPULOUSLY
ATTENTIVE TO CLEANLINESS who was a consummate villain[7].

Order and disorder--peace and war--health and sickness, cannot
exist together; but COMFORT and CONTENTMENT the inseparable
companions of HAPPINESS and VIRTUE, can only arise from order,
peace, and health.

Brute animals are evidently taught cleanliness by instinct; and
can there be a stronger proof of its being essentially necessary
to their well-being and happiness?--But if cleanliness is
necessary to the happiness of brutes, how much more so must it be
to the happiness of the human race?

The good effects of cleanliness, or rather the bad effects of
filth and nastiness, may, I think, be very satisfactorily
accounted for. Our bodies are continually at war with whatever
offends them, and every thing offends them that adheres to them,
and irritates them,--and through by long habit we may be so
accustomed to support a physical ill, as to become almost
insensible to it, yet it never leaves the mind perfectly at peace.
There always remains a certain uneasiness, and discontent;--
an indecision, and an aversion from all serious application,