The morning meal being comparatively a light one, and the stomach being then in high vigour, digestion goes on briskly, so that appetite revives within a shorter time than after the more substantial dinner. Accordingly, in all nations and classes of society not perverted from the course of nature, a longer interval than five hours rarely elapses between breakfast and dinner. Our forefathers dined at noon, as our sailors continue to do at the present day. Over no small portion of the Continent of Europe, the same primitive hour is still adhered to; and among the labouring population of Great Britain, one or two o’clock is the common dinner hour, eight or nine being that of breakfast. Even the rich manufacturers of Manchester, and other English towns, continue to this day to dine at one o’clock; and the very universality of a mid-day meal among those who rise early, is itself a strong presumption in favour of its propriety, and of its being in harmony with the laws of the animal economy. To prevent business from interfering unduly with digestion, it was formerly the custom in Edinburgh to shut up shops and counting-houses for two hours in the middle of the day; and in Switzerland, I have seen the same practice followed. The members of the family being then assembled, relaxation and enjoyment take the place of the cares of the world; and the result is highly satisfactory. The appetite is keen enough to induce them to eat with zest all that nature requires, while it wants the resistless force which is given by a fast of eight or nine hours. There is consequently slower mastication, less cramming, and a much earlier return of the aptitude for business; while at the same time the mental and bodily faculties are refreshed by the interruption of their accustomed labour, and the affections cherished by healthful domestic intercourse taking place before too much weariness is induced to permit of its being enjoyed. In England, such weariness is a very common occurrence. The parent and husband, exhausted by the eager pursuit of wealth during the livelong day, returns home in the evening jaded and harassed, and little able to take pleasure or interest in the enjoyments of his wife and family. Hence, indeed, too often arise indifference and unhappiness between those whom Nature has formed, as if on purpose to suit each other.