The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-12-04

disappear rather than retrench. Ob serve that this minimum, the cause of their despair, would have been suffi- cient for others of less exacting needs and enylable to men whose tastes are modest.
 On lofty mountains vegetation changes with the altitude There is the region of ordinary flora, that of the forests, that of pastures, that of bare rocks and glaciers. Above a certain zone wheat is no longer found, but the vine still prospers. The oak ceases in the low regions; the pine hourishes at consid. erable heights. Human life, with its needs, reminds one of these phenomena of vegetation.
 At certain altitude of fortune tht dnancier thriyes, the clubman, the so ciety woman-all those, in short, fol whom the strictly necessary includes ( certain number of domestics and equipages as well as several town and country houses. Further on fourisheS the rich upper middle class, with its own standards and life. Tn other re- gions we find men of ample, moderate or small means and very unlike exi- gencies. Then come the people, arti, sans, day laborers, peasants-in short, the masses-who live dense and serTied Ike the thick, sturdy growths on the summits of the mountains, where the larger vegetation can no longer find nourishment. Tn all these different re- gions of society men live, and, no mat ter in which particular regions they flourish, all are alike human beings. bearing the same mark. How strange that among fellows there should be such prodigious difference in require mentsi And here the analogies of our comparison fail us. Plants and ami malls of the same families have iden- tical wants. In human life we observe quite the contrary. What conclusion shall we draw from this if not that with us there is a considerable elastic ity in the nature and number of needs? Is 1t well, is it favorable to the de- velopment of the individual and his happiness and to the development and happiness of society, that man should have a multitude of needs and bend his energies to their satisfaction? Let us return for moment to our comparison with inferior beings. Provided that their essential wants are satisfied, they live content. Is this true of men7 No In all classes of society we find dis content.
 I leave completely out of the ques- ton those who, lack the necessities of life. One cannot with justice count in the number of malcontents those from whom hunger, cold and misery wiring complaints. I am considering now that multitude of people who live under con ditions at least supportable. Whence comes their heartburning? Why is it found not only among those ef modest though sufficient means but also under shades of ever increasing refinement, all along the ascending scale, even to opulence and the summits of social place7 They talk of the contented mid dle classes. Who talk of them? Peo- pie who, judging from without, think that as soon as one begins to enjoy ease he ought to be satisfied. But the middle classes themselves-do they consider themselves satisfied? Not the least In the world. If there are people at once rich and content, be assured that they are content because they know how to be so, not because they are rich: An animal is satisfied when it has eaten; it lies down and sleeps. A man also can lie down and sleep for time, but it never lasts. When he be- comes accustomed to this contentment he tires of it and demands a greater Mans appetite is not appeased by food; it increases with eating. This may seem absurd, but 1t is strictly true.
 And the fact that those who make the most outcry are almost always those who should find the best reasons for contentment proves unquestionably that happiness is not allied to the num- Der of our needs and the zeal we put into their cultivation. It is for every one's interest to let this truth sink deep into his mind. If it does not. if he does not by decisive action succeed in limit ing his needs, he risks descent, insen- sible and beyond retreat, along the de- clivity of desire.
 He who lives to eat, drink, sleep,
 
 himself all that he can-be it the court Ter basking in the sun, the drunken laborer, the commoner serving his bel ly, the woman absorbed in her toilets, the profligate of low estate or high, or simply the ordinary pleasure lover, a good fellow" but too obedient to ma terial needs-that man or woman Is on the downward way of desire, and the descent is fatal Those who follow it obey the same laws as a body on an inclined plane. Dupes of an illusion forever repeated they think, Just a few steps more, the last, toward the thing down there that we covet; then we will halt" But the velocity they gain sweeps them on, and the farther they go the less able they are to resist it.
 Here Is the secret of the unrest, the madness. of many of our contempora- ries. Having condemned their will to the service of their appetites, they suf- fer the penalty. They are delivered up to violent passions which devour their flesh, crush their bones. suck their blood and cannot be sated. This is not q lofty moral denunciation. have been listening to what life says, and have recorded as I heard them some of the truths that resound in every square,
 Has drunkenness, inventive as 1t Is