The San Francisco call., 1897-06-03
BLISS IS LOVE AND WORK
Scientific Diagnosis of the E u.
siva Article By DR..
Jordan.
Misery, He Says, Is 0aly Another
Name for Human Degen.
eTdcy.

Professor David Starr Jordan talked to
a house full of people last evening at the
Turk-street Temple. standing room
only was announced before the speaker
began his lecture, and many who came
after that we turned away. His topic
was "The Pursuit of Happiness. Itwas
a subject that held the attention oil the
audience. He began by defining the d il
ferencs between unhappiness or misery
and pain. Pain was a physical disturb
ance that need not necessarily Danish all
happiness. Misery, on the contrary, may
be independent of external things; it is
nursed within.
"The thought comes to me of a man
who, more than ali others, has Influenced
the thought of his time and who did not
know whatit was to enjoy the health tn at
comes to you and me-" said the sneaker
For thirty years Charles Darwin was
afflicted every day with the sea-
sickness that was born of that
wretchedness, but il did not make OF him
a wretched man. Misery is degeneracy.
Il is cause, effect and symptom. Dunk
enness is sign of weakness, degeneracy.
1t Is the cause of deEeneracy-it is the
effect and symptom of degeneracy. De-
generaCy causes a mans downfall and
prevents him rising when opportunit
'On the other hand happiness helps q
man onward. The pleasure that one feels
In effort and accom- plishment is the bri be
that nature offers to men that leads them
10. better things; that sense OF elation, of
victory, it is our pay, our reward.
THE great cause OF misery is the at
tempt TO take this reward without doing
the action necessary to secure 1.-THE at
tempt to take short cut"
The sDeaker described rho function Of
the nervous system; how its business was
to convey Information to us, to the brain
of the things without. lie inquired along
what lines should a human being seek
happiness, and answered:
Through the satisfaction of the i'm
pulses. When one is hungry he is i'm
PEELED 20 eat, and the obedience to the i'm
pulse brings satisfaction. 1t is right and
natural. The impulse of love is accom-
panied by stronger impulses. The Romans
were so fond OF a certain fish that. having
eaten all they could of it, they would take
an emeic and, throwing oft what was on
the stomach, began to gorge themselves
again. The result OF this unnatural graft
hcation of this sense led straight 10 dys-
pepsia. Far greater satisfaction fol-
lows the satisfaction of other impulses.
Some men, for instance, find this in
their constant attentions to women.
shall not d we'll upon this further than TO
say that with every natural i'm pulse thOre
is responsibility. The impulses are true
and their satisfaction is natural, or they
would not be there, but with them goes
responsibility. l remember when a
young man hearing a lecture by the
most beautiful man l had ever
seen. His manner was perfect and
1 can hear yet the melody OF his voice as
he SAID, i come among you to bring the
message of home, sweet home He said
that the home was built upon love, and
when love was gone the home was de-
stroyed and a new home should be built.
and its best ties, and l am not surprised
10 hear that Theodore Tilton's old age is
unhappy and tnat he wears the face of
barkeeper-a barkeeper l mean, for l do
not wish to cast slur upon that Class.
who does not put his heart in his work"
The speaker said that the utterance of
Huxley that there is mo alleviation of
mans woes except in absolute veracity of
thought and action at the facing of the
world as it is'' was to his mind the most
i'm poriant message that science has for
men. The teaching of ones nerves to lie
through the absorption of drugs or alco-
hoI or any other stImuant q I'd but harm,
Permitting ones self the habit of dream
ing was ineffective and led ultimate to
misery. The formation of ideals should
lead to action to produce happiness, ''for
the gods have no bargain counters" In a
word, he said loving, helping others
striving, conquering," brought happi-
ness, and there was nothing else that did,
The lecturer was frequently applauded.
ADVANCES made on furniture and pianos with