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Major Hamilton of Fairholme

I wrote yesterday by Hog all I had to say concerning Mrs
Hamilton in whom I take a great deal of concern & now I am to say with
regard to yourself in whom also I take some concern. I know your ailment
as well as if I was within you. Your fulness & corpulency have raised
some difficulty both in your Lungs & Heart so that whatever straitens
your chest gives a palpitation & some pain along with it and at the same time

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some uneasiness in breathing. Nothing is more liable to straiten
the chest than a full stomach & when the chest is straitened nothing
urges the difficulty of the circulation through the Heart & Lungs
more than walking. Now for your satisfaction I have explained
your ailments butt you might perhaps been better without that in¬
formation & it is of much more consequence to know how the affair
is to be remedied. In the first place not by Medecine & in the next by Re¬
Regimen alone. You must contrive to keep your diet moderate at least
in the quality of it. Take butter milk & dry toast to your breakfast or
take water gruel or Cocoa Tea. Common tea is by no means filling
or fattening but it weakens the Stomach & makes it more liable to wind
At dinner you may take a bit of meat every day but it must be the lightest
& the least possible. If you keep the quantity very moderate the quali¬
ty may be at your pleasure but I would not have you take fish of
kind. That your Stomach may be satisfied without your body's b
being loaded, you must take Broth, Pudding, and Vegetables in very
large proportion which may puff your stomach at first but that will
soon be discussed & your vessels not filled. At supper you must
take no meat but vegetables or any kind you please. You may
also take plain milk with bread or any kind of grain but sweet
cream must be avoided. Bread & Butter you may take at any meal
but not in large quantity & at least the butter in no large proportion.
In the article of drinking there is less nicety. Much Strong drink of any
kind would be very hurtful but a large proportion of liquid is very
proper for you. In moderate quantity you may take Wine or Punch you
please but your Punch must be very weak & if you take Port or Ma¬
deira it would be the better if well diluted. Malt Liquor of all
kinds upon a count of their flatulency you had better let alone.

This is the management of Diet & the next article is Exercise.

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With regard to this it would be better to ride about your fields on
horseback than to sit at home but it is only bodily exercise that can
be of much service & this is difficult to execute. You must try it es¬
pecially in the morning & forenoon. You must take it moderately
at first & increase it by degrees only. You should move little for half
an hour after breakfast or for two hours after dinner. If you have occa¬
sion to go abroad soon after dinner it must be on horseback. I fancy it
is common for you to ride before dinner & to walk after it but your
practice should be quite reversed. Till your body is much lighter
you should never attempt to walk uphill you should ride tho you are
to alight at the top as you should always do in the forenoons. To secure
your exercise you should contrive some work for yourself. You should
always carry a weeding hook & not allow a weed to flower either in
your [lawn?] or your Pastures. Your servants will take out the thistles
but the rest you you should treat yourself. You ought to prune all
your trees yourself as Thommy Aikman ¹ used to do. After Rain
you ought to view every furrow & with a light spade let of every
Drop of standing Water. These & some other such employments will
be of great service to you & if you join them to a low diet they will se¬
cure you against all mischief. The only other advice I have to of¬
fer is to abridge your sleep by getting up early in the morning & not
going to bed at night till you find yourself well disposed to sleep. But
of all things avoid sleeping in afternoon. These are the particular[s?]
of a Regimen which may supersede all kind of medecine but
I have no objections to your taking sometimes a dose of salts
which I would proper to all other Laxatives. Bark & Bitters may
I think do much harm & can do little good till other circumstances
occur.

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I have now finished my paper & hope I have said the needful but
if you have any doubts or questions to put either about yourself or
Mrs Hamilton & they shall be solved as well as I can being sincerely
& affectionately