During the remainder of my stay in the country Mr. Nosnibor was
constantly attentive to his business, and largely increased his already
great possessions; but I never heard a whisper to the effect of his
having been indisposed a second 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
diseases, 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.
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