LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. Class x r '* PEACE AND HAPPINESS BY THE RIGHT HON. LORD AVEBURY, P.O. Pres. Soc. Ant.; For. Sec. R.A.; F.R.8., D.C.L. (OxoN.), LL.D. (CANTAB. DTTBL. ST. ANDREWS BT EDIN.), M.D. (WirKZB.), German Ord. Pour le Me'rite ; Com. Legion d'Honneur ; F.L.S., F.G.S., F.Z.S., F.S.A., F.E.S., Trust. Brit. Mus. ; Pres. Roy. Mic. Soc. ; Pres. Roy. Soc. ; Assoc. Roy. Acad. des Sci. Brux. ; Hon. Mem. R. Irish Acad., Amer. Ethnol. Soc., Anthrop. Soc. Wash. (U.S.), Brux. Firenze, Anthrop. Verein Graz, Soc. Entom. de France, Soc. G6ol. de la Suisse, and Soc. Helvet. des Sci. Nat. ; Mem. Amer. Phil. Soc. Philad., and Soc. d'Ethn. de Paris; Corresp. Mem. Soc. des Sci. Nat. de Cherb., Berl. Gesell. fur Anthrop., Soc. Romanadi Antrop., Soc. d'Emul. d' Abbeville ; For. Mem. Roy. Dan. Acad., Soc. Cient. Argentina, Soc. de G6og. de Lisb., Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad., Numis. and Ant. Soc. Philad., Amer. Entom. Soc. ; For. Assoc. Mem. Soc. d'Anthiop. de Paris ; For. Mem. Amer. Antiq. Soc. ; For. Mem. Soc. Espaftolade Hist. Nat., Roy. Soc. of Sci. Upsala; Hon. Mem. New Zealand Inst. ; Hon. Mem.Soc.de Sociologie; Patron Calcutta Historical Soc. ; Vice-Patron Royal Anthropo- logical Soc. of Australasia ; Lord Rector of the University of St. Andrews ; LL.D. St. Andrews THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 1909 All rights reserved COPYBIGHT, 1909, BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. Set up and electrotyped. Published January, 1909. Nortoooto J. S. Gushing Co. Berwick & Smith Co. Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. CONTENTS CHAPTER I ON HAPPINESS PAGE Importance of Subject The Wish of all How are Peace and Happiness to be secured ? Apology for Advice The Lesson of Life Complexity of Life The Duty of Happiness Self -Control The Folly of Anger The Importance of keeping one's Temper We might all be Good Pleasures Epicurus : Old Legend Ujnhappiness, Causes of Pain, Use of Imaginary Troubles Sin Luck Necessity for Work Sloth Industry Lessons from other Races Burmese Japanese Civilisation and Science Reason Limitations of Knowledge Two Views of Life : Retirement, Usefulness Rest Sunday Supreme Importance of Leisure Time ... 1 CHAPTER II THE BODY Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes Life a Miracle Mind and Body Marvellous Complexity of the Body The Action of the Brain Memory The Priceless Gift of Life Conditions of Health Cleanliness Health Mental Troubles Luxury Wealth, Power, and Health Moderation Fresh Air Fasting Eating and Drinking Work, Indolence, and Patience Sleep Dreams Alcohol ..... 31 180681 vi PEACE AND HAPPINESS CHAPTER III THE MIND PAGE The Body a Temple for the Soul The Soul is all the World to Man King of Edessa Fire of Prometheus Shortness of Life Supposed Insignificance of Man, and Misery of Life : Death in that case no Evil Two Views of Man Not Opposite, but Alternative Strength Woman Beauty Helen Poets and Women Draupadi Solomon on a Wise Woman Dignity of Life Mystery of Life Clearness of Duty Milton on Life 66 CHAPTER IV ASPIRATION To what should we aspire ? St. Augustine on Avarice and Ambition The Athenian Oath Cicero on Glory Disadvantages of Wealth and Power Precipices in Life Shakespeare on Ambition Perseverance The Ideal of Socialists The Ancients on Progress The Golden Age Science and Progress The Future of Science 75 CHAPTER V CONTENTMENT Sunshine involves Shadow Unreasonable Complaints Solomon Ages of Man : Childhood, Boyhood, Man- hood, Old Age Death Melancholy Brooding over Grievances Living in Paradise Freedom Anxiety Courage 97 CONTENTS vii CHAPTER VI ADVERSITY PAGE The Complexity of Life Troubles inevitable Classifica- tion of Troubles : Warnings, Trials, Imaginary or Trifling, Self-made, Punishments, Blessings in Dis- guise Hope Courage 117 CHAPTER VII KINDNESS Allowances for Children, for Illness, and after Death Why not for all? Our own Faults give us more Trouble than those of others Charity : giving Money and giving Thought The Lessons of Providence Prayer Gregory the Great and Trajan Forgiving Grievances The Home 136 CHAPTER VIII EDUCATION Neglect of Nature Narrowness of System What a University might be Classics alone only Part of Education Learned Men often only half educated Mistake of Early Specialisation Importance of Sci- ence Drawing Instruction and Education Edu- cation and Character 165 CHAPTER IX ON FRIENDS AND ENEMIES The Folly of making Enemies A Foolish Friend more dangerous than an Enemy Pylades and Orestes Jonathan and David The Sanctity of Friendship The Faults of Friends The Candid Friend Con- versation Argument Misunderstandings So- ciety The Love of Towns Strangers Solitude Value of Friends Peace in Crowds A Kind Word Gifts The Presence of Friends Love Jealousy 177 viii PEACE AND HAPPINESS CHAPTER X ON RICHES PAGE Overestimate of what Wealth can do Enjoyment without Possession Love of Money rather than Possession of Money, against which we are warned Pleasure of Giving not confined to the Kich The Widow's Mite The Gift of Time more important than Money The Best Things not to be bought : nor can they be stolen Wealth of Nations Thrift Speculation Gambling A Man may be made of Money, but Money cannot make a Man 199 CHAPTEE XI THE DREAD OF NATURE The Dread of Nature Comets Eclipses Heathen Gods Magic Savages Koinans Valentias Stars and Planets Nature Spirits Indifference to Nature Madame de Stael Goldsmith Johnson Tenny- son and the Cruelty of Nature Death, often Pain- less Science and Nature 215 CHAPTER XII THE LOVE OF NATURE Nothing really important is uncommon Love of Collect- ing Collections the Material for Study Problems of Nature The Life History of Animals Ruskin on the Squirrel; the Serpent; Flowers The Sky Night Wordsworth on Science Nature and Beauty Nature and Colour The Sea Autumn Tints The Earth The Beautifying Touch of Nature Nature as a Friend Nature and Peace 229 CONTENTS ix CHAPTER XIII NOW PAGE Importance of the Present Uncertainty of the Future Shortness of Time No one has more than another Equality of Conditions Thrift of Time : Moses, David, Bacon, Jeremy Taylor Proverbs about Time, Shortness of Life Time is easy to lose but difficult to find Youth and Old Age To-day only is our own Time is invaluable and irrevocable . 263 CHAPTER XIV WISDOM Wotan giving Mimir one of his Eyes for a Draught from the Fountain of Wisdom Definition of Wisdom Speech and Silence National Mistakes due to Hurry Sleep and Prudence Easy not to do, very difficult to undo Knowledge Solomon on Wisdom Rea- son The Fatigue of Thought Our Extreme Ig- norance The Mystery of the World Duty Faults Odiousness of Vice The Wisdom of Solomon His own Conduct The Voice of Conscience . . 275 CHAPTER XV RELIGION Peace and Comfort of Importance of the Thoughts Temptations not irresistible The Commandments Three Views of Life Unreasonable Complaints Gracious Promises Progress of Religion The Church of England Stanley and Jowett Prayer The Souls of the Righteous 293 X PEACE AND HAPPINESS CHAPTER XVI THEOLOGY PAGE Religion and Conscience Theology and Reason The Mystery of the Universe The Essence of Religion Essence of Christianity Tennyson on Doubt For- bearance Eastern Story Views of Moses, David, Solomon, Micah Teaching of the New Testament Creeds as a Hindrance Miracles Faith The Athanasian Creed Differences of Religions Per- secution Horrors of the Inquisition Scepticism Futility of Disputations The Spirit of Religion Reverent Scepticism Keble Jeremy Taylor Faith of the Fijians The Teaching of Christ . . .309 CHAPTER XVII PEACE OP MIND A Man's Peace of Mind depends on himself Unnecessary Anxieties Sleep and Care Brooding Eastern Proverb Dr. Johnson on Insults Meddling Diffi- culties Business and Anxiety Business and Peace Mr. Gladstone's Temple of Peace St. Maria della Pace Working for oneself and working for others The World The Commandments A Good Life Suspicions Religions Controversy The Promises of the Bible Peace 335 CHAPTER XVIII THE PEACE OP NATIONS Present State of Europe The Crushing Burden of Arma- ments Arbitration Gambetta Horrors of War Futility of War Common Interests of Nations Comparison of Navies The Disunited States of Europe compared with the United States of America The Policy of Europe International Barriers Discouragement of Commerce The Federation of Europe Lord Salisbury The Future of Europe . 359 CHAPTER I ON HAPPINESS ' CHAPTER I ON HAPPINESS WE all wish for peace and happiness. We cannot hope for more, and we need not wish for less. It may be doubted whether it is possible to have peace without happiness, or happiness without peace. But how are either or both to be secured? On what do they depend? Money cannot make us happy, success cannot make us happy, friends cannot make us happy, health and strength cannot make us happy. AIL these make for happiness, but none of them will secure it. Nature may do all she can, she may give us fame, health, money, long life, but she cannot make us happy. Every one of us must do that for himself. Our language expresses this admirably. What do we say if 3 4 PEACE AND HAPPINESS CHAP. , we have had a happy day? We say we have x enjoyed ourselves. This expression of our mother tongue seems very suggestive. Our happiness depends upon ourselves, f We differ, however, so much from one another in condition, circumstance, age, duties, and acquirements, that it may seem impossible to lay down any general rules, and presumptuous even to make suggestions. I Varro long ago cited 288 opinions of philosophers with reference to happiness. Nevertheless there is no one advanced in life, however successful his or her career may have been, who does not look back with regret on some faults which need not have been com- mitted, some temptations which might have been resisted, some mistakes which could have been avoided, if only they had known then what they know now; and some experience which, without any real sacrifice or difficulty, might have made their lives brighter, happier, and more useful. " Theodore Parker was loaded with erudi- tion, but exclaimed on his premature death-bed, i ON HAPPINESS 5 'Oh, that I had known the art of life, or found some book, or some man to tell me how to live, to study, to take exercise/" 1 It is recorded that in Athens there was a law according to which any man who had a lighted candle and refused to allow another to light his at it, was to be punished with death. Plutarch tells us in a noble passage that "It was for the sake of others that I first undertook to write biographies; but I soon began to dwell upon and delight in them for myself, endeavouring, to the best of my ability, to regulate my own life, and to make it like those who were reflected in their history as it were in a mirror before me. . . . Thus, by our familiarity with history and the habit of writing it, we so train our- selves by constantly receiving into our minds the memorials of the great and good, that should anything base or vicious be placed in our way by the society into which we are necessarily thrown, we reject it from our thoughts by fixing them calmly and serenely on some of these great exemplars." 2 1 Youman's Modern Culture. 2 Life of Timoleon. 6 PEACE AND HAPPINESS CHAP. In theory we all, or at any rate a great majority, regard peace and happiness as the greatest good; but in practice many throw them away for wealth or power or fame. It may, indeed, be said to many of us, as Christ said of Jerusalem: "If ' thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace!" No doubt life is difficult. "Nature is often hidden, sometimes overcome, seldom extinguished. Force maketh nature more violent in the return; doctrine and discourse maketh nature less importune; but custom only doth alter and subdue nature." l Life is not a picture or even a page, but a book of many pages and many chapters, by no means easy to read. We speak of the world, but in fact there are^ many worlds, and every one creates his own world for himself. "~ All men desire happiness, but few know how to secure it. It is wise interests rather than pleasures^ Those who are never grave when they areyoung, will be^ 1 Bacon. i ON HAPPINESS 7 melancholy when they are old^jwhile those "who sow in tears shall reap in joy." * Solomon tells us that "he that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man: he that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich." 2 Thomas a Kempis puts it on higher ground, but went perhaps too far when he said: "Behold the truth: the two you cannot have, here in this world to pass delightful days, and afterwards to reign a king with Christ." "It is a perfect sin," said Max Miiller, "not to be happy." We must not, indeed, expect too much. "Connoissons done notre portee; nous sommes quelque chose, et ne sommes pas tout." 3 It is most important to form a just con- ception of life, not to be disconcerted by the contradictions and vicissitudes, to be prepared for all its varied phases successes and reverses, triumphs and disappointments, hopes and fears, health and ill-health, pleasures and pains, joys and sorrows, happy memories and vain regrets. 1 Psalm cxxvi. 2 Proverbs xxi. 3 " We must learn our limits ; we are all something, but not everything" (Pascal). 8 PEACE AND HAPPINESS CHAP. "Whilst you are upon earth," said Selden, " en joy the good things that are here (to that end were they given), and be not melancholy, and wish yourself in heaven." Those who do not value life, certainly do not deserve it. In the teaching of Christ happiness was not only the reward of duty, but a duty itself. Self-control is perhaps the first requisite of happiness. Self-reverence, self-knowledge, self-control, These three alone lead life to sovereign power. 1 That is to say, true sovereign power almost, I might say, the power best worth having namely, the power over oneself. Every one is ruled by somebody, and it is better to be governed by oneself than by anybody else. Caprice for caprice, another's whims are more easily borne than one's own. Moreover, one can more or less often escape from the tyranny of others, but our own is always with us. To obey no one is better than to command any one; and to control 1 Tennyson. ft -ON HAPPINESS 9 oneself is better than to rule over any one else. Every one is bound to make the best of himself. Self-love ... is not so vile a sin As self -neglecting. 1 It has been^said tha^t^ILjaen^are controlled either by reason or bjrjDassion- Passion, how- ever, is a fitful mistress, and leads her slaves into innumerable disasters. If a man cannot control himself, how can he expect to be master of others? and on the other hand "he that is master of himself will soon be master of others/ 72 at least if he wishes; and if he cannot master himself, others will soon master him. An angry man has no chance with a cool one. Seneca well said that " anger is like rain, which breaks itself against that on which it falls." Always then keep your temper. When you are in the right you can surely keep it, and when you are in the wrong you cannot afford to lose it. "Democritus laughed," said Seneca, "and Heraclitus wept at the folly of mankind, but no one ever heard of 1 Shakespeare. 2 Bacon. 10 PEACE AND HAPPINESS CHAP. an angry philosopher." 1 If you can master yourself and the alphabet you can master anything. Neither task, however, is very easy. Grown-up people forget the difficulty of the alphabet: it is acquired once for all and we learnt it long ago. The mastery of self requires a continual watch. Every one, how- ever, can win the victory if he chooses. We cannot all be great statesmen, artists, or philosophers, but what is more important, at any rate for us, we can all if we choose be good men. "Etre meilleurs ou pires," says Joubert, " depend de nous; tout le reste depend de Dieu." 2 It is not the wicked world without, but the sinful soul within, that ruins a man. We pray that we may not be led into temptation, but in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred it is we who lead ourselves into temptation. In a weird and tragic story by Calderon, the hero is constantly haunted and thwarted by a mysterious figure in a mask, and when at last the mask is lifted, his own features are disclosed. 1 Gratian. 2 "To be better or worse depends on ourselves, all the rest on God." i ON HAPPINESS 11 Mrs. Browning says that we spend our lives " little thinking if we work our souls as nobly as our iron." The heart is indeed often as hard as iron or stone, but the will is, or ought to be, stronger. Iron and stone can offer but a passive resistance, and if drops of water can wear away stone, surely the human will ought to be able to do so. There is no doubt high authority for saying that There's a divinity that shapes our ends, Rough-hew them how we will ; l but yet no one was ever thoroughly ruined except by himself: We ne'er can be, but by ourselves, undone. 2 Englishmen pride themselves on being free, but there are two sorts of freedom "the / false, where a man is free to do what he likes ; / the true, where he is free to do what he * L - ___ ^ ought." Many think that wealth gives leisure and leisure gives pleasure. But what kind of pleasure? There is all the difference in the world between false pleasures and true 1 Shakespeare. 2 Savage. 8 Kingsley. 12 PEACE AND HAPPINESS CHAP. pleasures. False pleasures are fleeting; true pleasures last long. True pleasures are paid for in advance; false pleasures afterwards, with heavy and compound interest. As Thomas a Kempis says in The Imitation of Christ "So every fleshly joy comes with a smiling face, but at the last it bites and kills. 77 False pleasures come from without jind are imperfect: happiness is internal and our_own. Sir George Cornewall Lewis, Chancellor of the Exchequer under Sir Robert Peel, said that "life would be tolerable, if it were not for its amusements 77 ;' or, as Mme. de Sevigne* put it, "On est au milieu des plaisirs, sans avoir un moment de joie." "Silence and stillness, 77 says Alfred Austin, our Poet Laureate, "are the sweetest of all our joys. 77 But who can describe happiness? " Silence is the perfectest herald of joy: I were but little happy, if I could say how much. 77 1 The view of Epicurus was "that man cannot live agreeably, unless he lives honourably, justly, 1 Shakespeare. i ON HAPPINESS 13 and wisely; and, if he lives wisely, justly, and honourably, it is impossible that he should not live agreeably. " l There is an old legend that soon after the creation the gods announced that mankind would, on a given day, be permitted to divide the earth between them. As soon as the appointed time arrived, the agriculturists appropriated the fertile fields; merchants the roads and seas; monks the slopes suitable for vines; noblemen the woods and forests, for the sake of the game; kings the bridges and defiles, where they could raise taxes. The poet, who was in deep meditation, came when all was over and bewailed his lot. What was to be done? The gods had nothing more to give. "Come," they said, "and live with us in the eternal azure of heaven. Come as often as you like, you will find the door open." He accepted, but had no need to disturb himself; in his happy moments, free from care or anxiety, his mind, like some well-tuned instrument, could at will bring down the heaven to earth. 1 Cicero. 14 PEACE AND HAPPINESS CHAP. We cannot all be poets, but in these happier days we have all the same gracious invitation if we will only accept it. We cannot all be great or powerful, rich or clever, but we may all be happy and good. We can all make our lives bright and beautiful if we choose. This rests with us. We can succeed if we choose, but we must do our best. We do not spring into life perfect, like Pallas. Children are innocent, but not virtuous. Even those who unfortunately inherit a tendency to evil may escape from their ancestors if they will. The result depends not on cleverness, but on character. "L'esprit," said Amiel, "sert a tout, mais il ne suffit a rien." l Rousseau was certainly one of the cleverest of men, but his life was far from happy; and why? It was his own egotism and pride which made him miserable. Sorrow and pain are, of course, sure to come, but they are often exaggerated. Many people distress themselves about matters which are of very slight importance. A proper sense of proportion would reduce 1 "Cleverness serves for everything, but suffices for nothing." i ON HAPPINESS 15 /many troubles to infinitesimal dimensions. \We are apt to let our mind dwell on any I source of sorrow or anxiety, and to overlook ^ , I / the many blessings by which we are sur- / I rounded, or to take them as a matter of course. Small troubles loom great, and great blessings seem small. 3^ Pain is not always, or even generally, an evil. It is often a warning and safeguard. Indeed, but for pain we should soon lose our lives. This will be generally admitted; but we do not so readily acknowledge that the same is true of mental troubles. That care is a safeguard from disaster, and sorrow from despair. It is foolish to make ourselves miserable about troubles which may never happen. According to the old saying, it is no use jumping till you come to the ditch. It is, of course, very difficult to avoid worrying ourselves if things go wrong, and yet it is foolish. Either we can change them or we cannot. If we can change them, of course we shall do so, and it is unnecessary to worry; if we cannot change them, it is clearly useless. 16 PEACE AND HAPPINESS CHAP. Many troubles in life are in reality trials or opportunities. And if we so often exaggerate our troubles, we constantly fail to appreciate our blessings. Those that come every day pass unnoticed, whereas we ought on that very account to be all the more grateful for them. We__^hojild enjoy what we have, and not fret for what we . havenotT^ --~*x s ^ - ^m^^the^aain source of sorrow. It is a mistake to suppose^SS by repentance we can escape punishment for wrong-doing. "Re- morse," says Joubert, "is the punishment of crime, and repentance is the expiation." "Not that which produces happiness is good; but that only which is good produces happiness." 1 As Ruskin said of a beautiful picture: "As I myself look at it, there is no fault nor folly in my life and both have been many and great that does not rise up against me, and take away my joy, and shorten my power of possession, of sight, of understanding. And every past effort of my life, every gleam of Tightness or good in it, is with me now, to 1 Fichte. i ON HAPPINESS 17 help me in my grasp of this, and of all other beautiful things." Peace and happiness do not depend upon luck. "It is," says Sir Frederick Treves, "a common plea of the faint-hearted that success depends mainly on luck. I do not believe at all in luck, and the man who is content to wait for a stroke of good fortune will probably wait until he has a stroke of paralysis." I do not say that there is no such thing as luck. We are told that Timotheus, the Athenian, after he had, in the account he gave to the state of his government, often interlaced in his speech, "And in this fortune had no part," never prospered in anything he undertook afterwards. 1 But a belief in one's own star is no slight help. "Good Fortune, what a force it is! It imparts courage. It is the feeling that fortune is with us that gives us the hardihood to dare. Not to dare is to do nothing of moment, and one never dares ex- cept in the confidence that fortune will favour us." 2 Yet sooner or later, so far as fortune is concerned, things average themselves. 1 Bacon. 2 Napoleon. 18 PEACE AND HAPPINESS CHAP. We live in a very beautiful world; but few good things are to be had in it without hard work. It is not a world in which any one can expect to be prosperous if he is easily #\ discouraged. Perseverance earnest, steady perseverance is necessary to success. He that by the plough would thrive, Himself must either hold or drive. * This is no drawback. Good solid work is as necessary to peace of mind as it is for the health of the body; in fact, the two are inseparable. Sleep, we know, is one of our greatest blessings, but like others it must be used with judgment and moderation. Taken in excess it becomes a curse. "Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: so shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man." * But rest and leisure do not imply sloth. Sloth is quite different. The object of rest and leisure is to prepare for energy and 1 Franklin. 2 Proverbs. i ON HAPPINESS 19 progress; the object of sloth is to avoid any exertion. _If_ health, or rather want of health, or any other cause shuts us out from a life of energy, and deprives us of a career of success, it opens one of resignation and heroism. Every one may make his life one of moral grandeur, and the triumph over suffering is often more noble than victory over difficulties. Any life, in fact, may be a triumph and a joy. "The body," said Cicero, "may be disordered without our fault, but the mind cannot." Two feelings should be always with us gratitude for the past and hope for the future. But without faith and charity there can be no hope, at least no hope that has any firm foundation. We must not, indeed, trust in our own strength; we all need, like Prometheus, fire from heaven. It is a deadly error to suppose that idle- ness is a privilege and work a penalty. "Work is no disgrace," says Hesiod, "but idle- ness is." His countrymen did not, however, appreciate this view. Indeed it was perhaps the very absence of this material training 20 PEACE AND HAPPINESS CHAP. which led to the ultimate fall of Greece. Art was carried to its highest development; constant wars and athletic exercises led to splendid bodily development, but the Greeks had not the inestimable advantage of the discipline of steady industry: they wanted perseverance, self-control, and patient endur- ance. Regular work and steady industry is a great moral power, and this they lacked. They were no doubt a wonderful race, but they were not justified in their contempt for others in looking down on them as barbarians. White men often now look down with ignorant contempt on other races. It would be wiser to see what we could learn from them. We might well take a lesson from the Burmese detestation of war, or from the Japanese respect for Bushido. "If we cannot adequately express all that ' Bushido ' is, we can say what it is not. Take the average scheme of life of the average society of the West; 'Bushido/ as nearly as may be, represents its exact antithesis. ' Bushido ' offers us the ideal of poverty I ON HAPPINESS 21 instead of wealth, humility in place of ostentation, reserve instead of reclaim, self- sacrifice in place of selfishness, the care of the interest of the State rather than that of the individual. 'Bushido' inspires ardent courage and the refusal to turn the back upon the enemy; it looks death calmly in the face, and prefers it to ignominy of any kind. "It preaches submission to authority, and the sacrifice of all private interests, whether of self or family, to the common weal. It requires its disciples to submit to a strict physical and mental discipline, develops a martial spirit, and by lauding the virtues of constancy, courage, fortitude, faithfulness, daring, and self-restraint, offers an exalted code of moral principles, not only for the man and the warrior, but for men and women in times of both peace and of war." 1 Bushido, in fact, is the conscience of the nation, and has made the Japanese a great people. - Amiel asserts 2 that civilisation rests oh 1 Times, October 4, 1904, The Soul of a Nation. 2 Journal intime. 22 PEACE AND HAPPINESS CHAP. conscience, not on science. Does it not rather depend on both? Without science our material existence would be impossible; without conscience life would be intolerable. The one is necessary for the body, the other for the soul. Science has done more for man than magicians ever imagined. Chateaubriand unjustly and incorrectly condemns science * because he affirms that it "fletrit ce qu'il touche: les parfums, 1'eclat des couleurs, 1 'elegance des formes, disparaissent dans les plantes pour le Botaniste." He cannot have known much of that fascinating and delightful science! He is more correct when he tells us that 'Vest dans le coeur de rhomme que sont les graces de la Nature." Truth is above reason. The object of reason is to attain truth. For truth we should work and live and be ready, if necessary, to die. " Learn what is true," said Huxley, "in order to do what is right, is the summing up of the whole duty of man, for all who are unable to satisfy their mental hunger with the east wind of authority." Reason is indispensable. 1 Genie du Christianisme. i ON HAPPINESS 23 It may be said that it makes mistakes; yes, but how do we know that? By reason. Reason is indispensable, but we must not overestimate what it can do for us. "The way to religious truth/ 7 said Pascal, "is through the heart: an evil spirit poisons everything." I should have said religious feeling, rather than religious truth, for the discovery of which reason seems our best guide; but no doubt character must profoundly affect belief: the ideas of God formed by a good man may be right or wrong, those of a bad man must be wrong. Our theories can at present only be pro- visional. Marvellous as has been the progress of science, and wonderful the additions to our knowledge, they can only be regarded as tentative and preliminary; as preparing the ground, and providing materials^ f or_fiirther discoveries; we have an immense amount to do, to learn, and to unlearn, before we can hope to reach the solution of the great problem of life, the great mystery of that wonderful universe in which we find ourselves, and in which it is our privilege to live. 24 PEACE AND HAPPINESS CHAP. However we may long for peace, we cannot expect to secure it by running away from duty. In early Christian times the Anchorites thought to sanctify themselves and secure peace of mind by retiring into the desert; far away not only from cares and temptations of the world, but also from the duties and re- sponsibilities of life. Whether they succeeded I have my doubts. Honest work and useful occupations are a safeguard in many ways. Moreover, the delightful duties of family life, the daily power of giving little pleasures, of softening or removing troubles, of helping in difficulties, are themselves a purifying and ennobling influence. Nor can any one be the better for sacrificing the society of his friends, or shrinking from the duties we owe to our country, in order to spend his life in working for what he cannot have, lamenting over what he cannot prevent, and puzzling over what he cannot hope to comprehend. As far as I can judge from books, jealousies and disputes are not altogether absent from monasteries or even from convents; nor need i ON HAPPINESS 25 an active and useful life necessarily be one of care or anxiety. The problem, however, is not merely which life that of isolation or of activity is most likely to bring peace and happiness to oneself, but which will enable one to do most for the welfare of others. No doubt in the dark ages convents and monasteries kept alight the torch of learning, and were the centres of education, of literature, and of refinement as well as of religion. They were harbours of refuge for the studious as well as for the poor and the oppressed. They did a great deal to mitigate the savagery and cruelty of those dark times, and we also our- selves owe them much. But however this may be, the problem for most of us our clear duty is to work in the world, to remain of the world, and yet to keep ourselves as far as possible unspotted by the world though no doubt this is far from easy. Even now there are many who can do more for their fellow-creatures in the college or the cloister than they would at the Bar or in the Senate. Dante condemned Pope Celestine for 26 PEACE AND HAPPINESS CHAP. " giving up" and retiring to a monastery. He places him and others like him in a special place of punishment, for he says : "Forthwith I understood and felt that this was the crew of Caitiffs, hateful to God, and to God's enemies." Most of us, indeed, can be more useful in a profession or business, on the farm or in the workshop; and happily we may carry peace of mind even into the most active life. To those who know how to live, life becomes every year more rich, more interesting, and more mysterious. Work, indeed, should not be incessant. Schiller even laid it down that a man "is only completely a man when he is playing." * V This is surely going too far. Every man, however, should give himself a good holiday once a year, and a day's holiday once a week. More than this, he should give himself a little ( holiday every day an hour or two for self- examination, for thought, for brain rest, for exercise, and last, not least, for amusement. Every man at the close of the day should /V give himself a few minutes to think over 1 Schiller's Essays. i ON HAPPINESS 27 what he has done, and what he might have, and ought to have, done. If he follows these simple rules he will have a good conscience, a good appetite, and peaceful slumbers. Some of us perhaps at the present day do not sufficiently appreciate the importance of leisure and securing opportunities for medita- tion. We make life too much of a rush and a bustle ; even our games we turn into a business. To work is the duty, but by no means the whole duty of man; yet he is, or ought to be, at his best when work is over for a while and he has his time and his mind to himself. Our countrymen work well, I wish I could think that their days of rest were quite as wisely spent. The six days of labour are good and useful; but the seventh is, or should be, holy. On it the mind should soar above the world, aspire and be inspired; should rest peaceful, serene, and divine, wider and deeper than the ocean, and high as the heaven above. England is not poorer, but richer, because our ancestors have, through many ages, rested from their labour one day in seven. That day is not lost. "While industry is suspended, 28 PEACE AND HAPPINESS CHAP. while the plough lies in the furrow, while the exchange is silent, while no smoke ascends from the factory, a process is going on, quite as important to the wealth of nations as any process which is performed on more busy days. Man, the machine of machines, is repairing and winding up, so that he returns to his labour on Monday with clear intellect, with livelier spirits, with renewed corporeal vigour." * We sometimes hear people say that they have nothing to do. But what a mistake! Our most important occupation, our most imperative responsibility the improvement of oneself, the care of one's own soul, is always with us. We recognise the headship of a great school or the tutorship of a royal prince as a position of great importance and responsibility; but the keepership of oneself is to oneself a duty of even greater responsibility. From this point of view our leisure hours are perhaps the most important time we ever have. The claims of a profession, of an office, of a business the occupations which provide 1 Macaulay. i ON HAPPINESS 29 the requisites of life, are no doubt very important, they are what Germans call " bread and butter" duties, they are necessary for our material existence; but, after all, so far as the body is concerned, we are mere animals, and the body is only important as the temple of the soul. St. Augustine wisely said: "Otium vest rum magnum habet negotium." 1 He might have said the greatest, for "what is a man profited if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" And yet we hear of persons who have retired from the active labour of youth and middle age, and who find the time hang heavy on their hands because they imagine they have nothing to do, whereas in truth they have now at last the grand opportunity of devoting their whole time to the two supreme objects of existence the pro motion 44- of the happiness of others and the improve- ment of their own soul. 1 "Your leisure is charged with a great business." CHAPTER II THE BODY CHAPTER II THE BODY THE feeding of the five thousand with the loaves and fishes was a miracle in the sense of being against the ordinary course of nature, but the ordinary course of nature is itself marvellous. The way in which man is fed by the multiplication of grain, the increase of flocks and herds; the way in which corn and meat and milk are translated into flesh and blood and brain is indeed most wonderful. And when they are so changed, it is as miraculous how the blood nourishes the various organs. But most mysterious of all are the relations between mind and body, the gulf between life and death. A railway signal is misread or overlooked, a horse runs away, a compass gets out of order, we miss our balance, a thousand D 33 34 PEACE AND HAPPINESS CHAP. and one possibilities of accident surround us every moment. And even in ourselves we carry the elements of our own destruction: the bursting of a blood-vessel in the brain, a failure of the heart, a minute change in the nervous system and all is over. What was a living, speaking, feeling, thinking mind becomes a mere mass of inanimate matter. We are, indeed, "fearfully and wonder- fully made," nor can we yet by any means realise our extraordinary complexity. Spinoza states it as an obvious truth that "the human mind must perceive everything which happens in the human body." This is, how- ever, the very reverse of the case. As a matter of fact we are intensely ignorant -even the most learned physicians know little of what is passing within us. That something must take place in the brain when we speak, or read, or think, is obvious; but what that is we have no idea. How do we see, or hear, or feel, or smell? The most advanced physiologist cannot tell us. We know, indeed, very little about our own ii THE BODY 35 bodies. Take, for instance, the mechanism of the senses. As regards touch, there are in the skin, especially of the hands and tongue, certain minute corpuscles each connected with a nerve, some organs of touch, others and different ones for the transmission of the sensations of heat and cold, which apparently are not opposite sensations of the same, but perceptions of different, organs; but how these impressions are transmitted to the brain, and how they are there transmuted into sensations, we are absolutely ignorant. As regards taste, there are on the tongue many thousands of minute bud-like groups of special cells which are supposed to be the organs of taste ; but how they are affected, and in what different manner, by different flavours, and how these are realised in the brain, we are again entirely ignorant. As regards smell, the mucous membrane of the nose contains certain yellow or brownish cells differing from the rest, but showing no visible structure which throws any light on the problem; and how these 36 PEACE AND HAPPINESS CHAP. convey to the brain the multiplicity of odours, and how the brain deals with them, we are again entirely ignorant. The drum of the ear receives the vibrations of the atmosphere and transmits them through a complex chain of small bones which are considered to intensify the vibrations to the labyrinth, on which the final filaments of the auditory nerve are distributed. It has been suggested that the wonderful organ of Corti a series of some 4000 minute arches are, as it were, the keys on which the sound-waves play, almost like the fingers of a performer on the keys of a musical instrument. This may be the case, but even so it affords no ultimate explanation. The ear is a complex and delicate organ, but it does not explain the sensation of sound or the differences of notes. Consider, again, the eye. Externally comes the cornea, then the aqueous humour, the iris, the lens, the vitreous humour, and finally the retina, which is no thicker than a sheet of thin paper, and yet consists of no less than nine separate layers, the innermost being the rods and cones, which are the immediate recipients ii THE BODY 37 of the undulations of light. The number of rods and cones in the human eye is enormous. At a moderate computation the cones may be estimated at over 3,000,000, and the rods at 30,000,000. All this constitutes a wonderful optical instrument. The landscape is focussed on the retina, as on a photographic plate; the image is constantly becoming visible, and the wonder- ful plate is continually being washed clean and prepared for another impression. But this does not carry us much further. What happens when the image is focussed on the retina? How are the impressions conveyed to the brain ? We have not merely to deal with outlines, but with shades, and, still more wonderful, with colours. How these are transmitted to the brain, and how they are realised in the brain, we are again entirely ignorant. Consider, again, the processes of digestion. We partake of a meal and transmute our food into flesh and bone, and fat and blood, tendons and skin, miles of arteries and veins, lungs and liver, and a hundred other substances and fluids, each with different properties and OF THE UNIVERSITY 38 PEACE AND HAPPINESS CHAP. uses. But how these wonderful chemical changes take place we know not. In the same way I might analyse the other changes which are continually proceeding in our complex organisation secretion, the formation and circulation of the blood, and many other functions; but each description would lead up in the end to a confession of ignorance ! How little, then, we know, and yet in another sense how much we know! The existence of memory is so familiar that we do not realise what a marvel it is. In one sense even the most ignorant of us have an almost inexhaustible stock of knowledge. What innumerable facts are stored up in our brains recollections of childhood, of friends and relations, sounds and tastes and smells, pictures of places and faces, poetry and song, names of friends and relations, of kings and heroes, of statesmen and poets, dates and quotations, facts and fancies; what innumer- able details and memories ! But how are they perceived, where are they stored, and how are they restored when we choose to recall them? ii THE BODY 39 Man is indeed a miracle, endowed with "the priceless gift of life, which he can have but once, for he waited a whole Eternity to be born, and now has a whole Eternity waiting to see what he will do when born, - this priceless gift we see strangled out of him by innumerable packthreads; and there remains of the glorious possibility, which we fondly named Man, nothing but an inanimate mass of foul loss and disappoint- ment, which we wrap in shrouds, and bury underground, surely with well-merited tears. To the thinker here lies tragedy enough; the epitome and marrow of all tragedy what- soever." The complication, however, of our bodily structure is so great that the marvel is, not our being sometimes ill, but our being ever well. No wonder that we suffer at times; but happily, if pain is excessive, it must needs be short. The relations of the body and soul are as mysterious, and have given rise to as much controversy, as those between faith and 1 Carlyle. 40 PEACE AND HAPPINESS CHAP. works. St. James tells us that "as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also"; and as the body without the spirit is dead, so, in this world at least, the mind acts through the body. Moreover, we have only one body, and can never have another. The ancient Egyptians believed that after death the soul could visit and occupy any representation of the body, and they provided the spirits of their friends with many "ushabtis" to choose from. Our spirit has no such power of selection. To lead a happy and useful life, then, we must give reasonable care and attention to the body, and yet how reckless we are ! We stuff it with food, poison it with drink, overwork it unnecessarily, let it rust in idle- ness, abuse it, ill-use it, injure it, neglect it; and suffer terribly, but justly, for our errors. Though no man can add a cubit to his stature, we can all make ourselves ill, and most of us can keep ourselves well. Most people will keep fairly well if they eat little; ii THE BODY 41 avoid alcohol and tobacco; take plenty of fresh air and exercise ; keep the mind at work, and the conscience at rest. The ideals of different races and centuries have no doubt been very different. With us cleanliness is next to godliness. With our ancestors it was the very reverse, and dearly they paid for their error in plagues and black death. According to the Venerable Bede, St. Etheldreda was so holy that she rarely washed, except perhaps before some great festival of the Church; and Dean Stanley tells us in his Memorials of Canterbury that after the assassination of Becket the bystanders were much impressed, for "the austerity of hair drawers, close fitted as they were to the bare flesh, had hitherto been unknown to English saints, and the marvel was increased by the sight to our notions so revolting of the innumerable vermin with which the haircloth abounded boiling over with them, as one account describes it, like water in a simmering cauldron. At the dreadful sight all the enthusiasm of the previous night revived with double ardour. 42 PEACE AND HAPPINESS CHAP. They looked at each other in silent wonder, then exclaimed, ' See, see what a true monk he was, and we knew it not/ and burst into alternate fits of weeping and laughter, between the sorrow of having lost such a head, and the joy of having found such a saint." Yet however good our health may be, however carefully we may regulate our diet and our habits, the body is so powerfully affected by the mind, that, as every skilful physician knows, it is often the mind rather than the body with which he has to deal. We may often say with Macbeth to the physician : Canst thou not minister to a mind diseased, Pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow, Raze out the written troubles of the brain And with some sweet oblivious antidote Cleanse the stuff'd bosom of that perilous stuff Which weighs upon the heart ? And yet some, through vice or weakness, still more through ignorance, sin against their bodies. We are "fearfully and wonderfully made," our body is so perfectly arranged ii THE BODY 43 and adjusted and constructed, so beautifully adapted to its purposes and surroundings, that to spoil and ruin its delicate and com- plicated mechanism is not only a terrible mistake, but a grievous sin. We take much pains over breeds of sheep and cattle and horses, but what is most important is to improve the breed of men- bodily, mentally, and spiritually. Prosperity will not do this. Unless well used it is a peril. Comfort, and still more luxury, are dangers: a beautiful climate is apt to relax the fibres; a stern, cool, even cold one braces the nerves and knits the muscles. Madame de Swetchine well said 1 that "La racine de saintete* est sante*. II faut pour devenir sainte qu'un ame soit saine." Moreover, no doubt it is much easier to be good when we are feeling well and strong. If we are in pain or overwrought, things which are comparatively trifling upset us. Small troubles, which under other conditions we should scarcely notice, vex and annoy us. 1 Quoted by Sir M. E. Grant Duff, Diary, 1896-1901. 44 PEACE AND HAPPINESS CHAP. Wealth and power can give no immunity, but rather multiply temptations and increase anxieties. Dr. Radcliffe is said to have told William III. that he would not have His Majesty's two legs for His Majesty's three kingdoms. Some people, no doubt, are born with a bad constitution with the seeds of diseases for which they are not responsible. But it is probably not an exaggeration to say that for nine-tenths of what we suffer we are ourselves responsible. Mr. Taylor in his work on golf tells us that "to maintain anything approaching his best form, a golfer must of necessity live a clean, wholesome, and sober life. ... A man must live plainly, but well, and he must be careful of himself. If he uses up the reserve force, or abuses himself in any way, then he has cast his opportunities aside, and he drops immediately out of the game. There are no half-measures. You must do one of two things: be careful of yourself in everything, or forsake the game altogether. A man who lives a careless or a vicious life ii THE BODY 45 can never succeed in golf, or hope to keep his nerves and his stamina." What applies to golf is equally true of life generally. We all know that we can make ourselves ill, but scarcely realise how much we can do to keep ourselves well. Moderation is all-important, moderation in eating as well as in drinking. Probably nine people out of ten eat and drink more than they need more than is good for them. An occasional feast matters little; it is the continual daily overloading ourselves with food which is so injurious, so depressing. It is easy to eat too much; there is no fear of eating too little. A light stomach, moreover, makes a light heart. High feeding means low spirits, and many people suffer as much from dyspepsia as from all other ailments put together. As we are now situated, scarcely any time spent in the open air can be said to be wasted. Such hours will not only not be counted in life, but will actually add to it, will tend to make "your days long in the land." 46 PEACE AND HAPPINESS CHAP. Bodily pleasures are fleeting and often dearly bought. Food from the time of Eve has brought sorrow and death on man. " Plures occidit gula quam gladius." * " Of all re- bellions," said Bacon, "the rebellions of the belly are the worst." Shut your mouth and save your life. Men do not generally die " a natural death," they kill themselves, and die much sooner than they need. The way to live long is to live wisely, and especially to be moderate in all things. Food in moder- ation is a daily satisfaction, and it was a friendly wish : Now, good digestion wait on appetite, And health on both. 2 Too much to eat is almost as bad as too much to drink. Timotheus, head of Athens, having had a frugal supper with Plato, and meeting him next day, said, " Your suppers are not only agreeable whilst I partake of them, but the next day also." 3 The mind cannot work freely when the stomach is full. Fasting has always been considered as a preparation 1 "The throat kills more than the sword." 2 Shakespeare. 3 Cicero, The Tusculan Disputations. ii THE BODY 47 for prayer, and indeed for any intellectual exertion. Over-eating leads to dyspepsia, low spirits, and many other evils. Drink is even more fatal. "Oh God, that any one should put an enemy in their mouth to steal away their brains." l Drunkenness is the great curse of northern nations. Who hath woe ? who hath sorrow ? who hath contentions ? Who hath babbling ? who hath wounds without cause ? Who hath redness of eyes ? They that tarry long at the wine : They that go to seek out mixed wine. Look not thou upon the wine when it is red. When it giveth his colour in the cup : At the last it biteth like a serpent, And stingeth like an adder. 2 That drink leads to poverty is but a small part of the evil; it is not that a man has made himself a beggar, but that he has made himself a brute or rather worse than a brute. His punishment is not so much that he suffers; what is worst is that he has brought the suffering on himself. This is the terrible, the intolerable, part. It is not the result of the 1 Shakespeare. 2 Proverbs. 48 PEACE AND HAPPINESS CHAP. vice, but the vice itself which fills up the cup of bitterness. The danger of drink is due to its insidious- ness. In vino veritas wine at first seems to promote truth, conversation, and good-fellow- ship. The young man sits down, perhaps, feel- ing a little dull, gloomy, and disheartened; he takes a little wine, and the ideas come more quickly, words occur to him, care is forgotten, hope revives, he feels in sympathy with mankind, his heart is cheered; he was de- spondent, and he is happy, another glass and he will be glorious. But alas ! the rich land- scape was a mirage, the bright vision a dream, the free flow of words ends in an indiscretion, the feelings of friendship in a quarrel, and the vivacity of the brain in a racking headache. Even genius sometimes falls a victim to the bottle, as in the old Eastern tale. Education ought to banish dulness, which is one of the great dangers of life. How many have been ruined by giving way, in Martineau's words, to the " fearful impulse to alternate the stagnant blood of dulness with the throbbing pulses of revelry." ii THE BODY 49 Statistics seem to prove that teetotallers live longer than those who take alcohol, even in moderation. Alcohol is bad not only for the body, but for the mind. It makes men quarrelsome, it inflames the passions, makes them more hard to resist, and increases the difficulty of living a pure life. "All our trouble/' said Jeremy Taylor, "is from within us ; and if a dish of lettuce and a clear fountain can cool all my heats, so that I shall have neither thirst nor pride, lust nor revenge, envy nor ambition, I am lodged in the bosom of felicity; and, indeed, no men sleep so soundly as they that lay their head upon Nature's lap." l The body in health is a marvellous and beautiful piece of mechanism, which is en- trusted to us, and of which we are bound to take the greatest care. Just because of its beauty and perfection it is a disgrace to us if, through any fault of ours, it is marred or injured; and just because of its beauty and perfection in health, it becomes repulsive and loathsome if we neglect or misuse it. We 1 Sermons. 50 PEACE AND HAPPINESS CHAP. may make it as we please, either a glorious temple or a ghastly ruin. We cannot, however, live without food and drink. Nicole refers 1 to these necessities of food and drink with some humiliation. "II lui faut necessairement de la nourriture pour faire agir les ressorts de son cerveau, sans quoi Fame ne peut rien. Qu'y a-t-il de plus humiliant que cette necessite? Pour vivre il faut mourir tous les jours, en cessant de penser et d'agir raisonnablement, . . . qu'il plait a Dieu de le reduire ainsi tous les jours a Petat et a la condition des betes." The Romans had two excellent proverbs about work "Labor omnia vincit," and another which, though less known, is quite as true, "Labor ipse voluptas." 2 The two say- ings are closely related. Victory even in trifles is a pleasure. We all love to win a game, and some cannot help showing their annoyance if they lose. If, then, it is true and who can deny it ? that work will win in the end, it is obvious that it will bring 1 Essais de Morale. 2 "Labour conquers all difficulties," and "Labour is itself a pleasure." ii THE BODY 51 happiness with it. The man who takes an interest in his work as every one should will find it, whatever it is, a real pleasure. The body and soul are both made for use, and neither can rest until it has worked. Idleness means rust. Some people take indolence for patience, but the two are very different. Moreover, work secures for us the blessed and mysterious gift of sleep, which