The herald., 1898-04-04
UNfARNfD HAPPINESS
PROF. JoRDAN's BRILLIANT LEG
TURE AT UNITY CHURCH
THE KINDS OF TEMPTATION
offered as Short Cuts to Happiness
Are Idleness, Gambling, Licen-
tiousness, and Precocity

Prof. David starr Jordan of Stanford uni
versity delivered his lecture on 1.-THE Quest
for Unearned Happiness to q crowded
house at Unity church last evening. The
lecture was given by the Women's society
OF the church and was financially as well
as intellectually, decided success.
II have to say tonight word concerning
unearned happiness" began the lecturer.
ut is something that does not exist but to-
ward which large part Of humanity is
constantly striving. Something for moth
Ing is never given in this world. The great
cause of mans failure In pursuit Of happi-
ness is his refusal to pay the price that ev-
cry good and perfect gift demands. Desire
outruns effort. Misery Is natures protest
against degeneration. Misery is accursed.
When life falls misery begins. Happiness
may not come to him who pursues It In the
wrong direction, nor will 1t come to him
who stands In wait. II we are not willing
to pay the price we shall 60 unrewarded
| Spurious efforts bring spurious pleasures.
As our labor so is our reward. There never
was unearned happiness This fact is the
source of the great problem Of life, the Ia
Dor problem and the social evil which can
never be solved until each man solves II
! for himself. Each pleasure that comes to
! us without effort or responsibility bears the
DEVILS own deadhead stamp upon 1t and
| II turns into misery in our hands. Happi-
ness comes from the normal exercise OF
| life's functions-doing, thinking, overcom-
| ing and loving. Love brings happiness only
| as 1t works itself out into living action.
The love that would end in no helping act
and no purpose of responsibility is a mere
torture OF the mind. In the quest of happi-
ness effectiveness rather than pleasure
must be the real object of pursuit limo
| cence is not necessarily virtue, and may be
farther from 1t than vice itself.
'In general. the sinner is not the man
who sets out in life to be wicked, but he Is
the man who cannot say no. The primal
motive Of most forms Of sin Is the desire 10
make a short cut to happiness, but happi-
ness through sin Is never obtained. I'm
earned pleasures are mere Illusions and as
they pass away their legacy lie weakness.
misery and pain. True happiness leaves
no reaction.
1.-THE short cuts to happiness which
temptation offers may be roughly divided
into five classes:
IDLENESS
1.-THE attempt to secure pleasures Of
rest without the effort that justifies rest
and makes 1t enjoyable Is idleness. The
indolent ennui Of the hopelessly rich and
the indolent misery Of the hopelessly poor
have this much In common: The quest for
happiness has become a passive one,
waiting for the Joy that never comes.
GAMBLING
I'm all lite forms. gambling Is the desire to
get something for nothing. Burglary and
larceny have the same motive. The diff
ference between gambling and stealing is
one fixed bysocial customs and prejudices
In society money Is poweri 1t is the visible
representation of stored up power. The
love Of money is not the source Of all evil.
1t is the desire to get money without earn
ing It that lie the root of all evil.
RIGHTEOUSNESS
More widespread and more insidious
than the quest for unearned power Is the
search for the unearned pleasures of love,
without loves duties or loves RESPONSE
b!lities. In the economy Of human life,
love looks forward to the future. To shirk
responsibilities is to destroy society. Love
is the greatest thing in the world because
1t is the greatest source of happiness.
Loves chief foe Is lust. To shirk the bonds
of love for tho irresponsible joys of lust Is
the DEVILS choicest temptation. Open vice
brings with a certainty disease and degra-
dalton. Secret vice comes to the same end
but all the more surely, because the SIN
and folly Of lying 10 added to the other
agencies Of decay. The man who tries to
live double life is either neurotic freak
or the prince Of fools. sometimes BOTH and
at the last an irreclaimab BILE scoundrel. The
word Irritation covers a multitude of sins.
ITO breath the aroma of love, in pure
selfshness, without an atom of altruistic
responsibility. is the motive of Irritation.
To touch woman's hand in wantonness
may be to poison her life and yours.
THE strongest forces Of human life are
not subjects for Idle play. The real heart
and soul of man are measured by the
truths he shows to woman. A mans ideal
of womanhood is fixed by the woman he
seeks. BY mans ideal Of womanhood we
may know the degree of his manhood.
PRECOCITY
I'm the hotbed of modern society there
Is tendency toprecocious growth. Boys
will be boys people say. but II boys will
be boys In the bad sense. they will never
be men. Our duties to our after selves are
more vital than our duties to our present
selves, and our duties to society. If all
men lived in such fashion that remorse
was unknown, the ills of society would
mostly vanish. In the life of the lower
animals. nature guards against precocity.
Among beasts no one takes to himself
the pleasures of life till he can carry its
responsibilities. The female scorns the
male who is immature. He must bide his
time and develop his strength In patience.
But the immature child is brought at once
among temptations he cannot resist. The
gauntlet Of obscene suggestions in our
cities is one OF the most terrible our chill
dren have to face. Our children grow old
too fast.
INTEMPERANCE
1.-THE basis Of intempefance is the effort
to secure. by means Of drugs. the feeling of
happiness when happiness does not exist.
OF this character are alcohol, opium. to-
bacco, cocaine, kola, tea or coffee. They
give feeling of pleasure or rest when res.
or pleasure does not exist. The feeling
arises from injury to the nerves which the
brain does not truthfully interpret Some
phase OF mental unsoundness Is the natu-
raj effect of any of those drugs called stim-
ulants and narcotics. Their use causes
the nervous system to lie. One and all,
the result of their habitual use Is to render
the nervous system incapable Of ever tell
ing the truth"
Professor Jordan will lecture before the
members OF the EbeIl ON Tuesday evening
on the subject, 1.-THE Bubbles of saki. or
O Study Of Pessimism." An Informal re-
ception will follow the lecture.