644 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY, 



It may be well to add that this conscious pursuit of a happy tone 

 of mind will demand a good deal of individual self-assertion in the 

 face of the claims of social custom. If a man is to succeed in being a 

 radiant center of happiness, he must, it is plain, be free to seek en- 

 joyment in his own way. We do not mean merely that he will natu- 

 rally disregard the force of example so far as to avoid the extreme 

 heat of the struggle for existence. It is only too obvious that, if he 

 desires a healthy, cheerful condition of mind, he must take life in a 

 measure easily and abandon all excessive ambitions. What is less 

 obvious is, that he will have to hold aloof from many of the forms of 

 fashionable enjoyment prescribed by society. These prescriptions are 

 often exceedingly foolish, having no relation to individual tastes. For 

 example, the late dinner-party, though supposed to be a source of en- 

 joyment, is really adapted to induce in many persons a permanent feel- 

 ing of depression and weariness. It would perhaps not be edifying to 

 inquire how much of the chronic discontent and mental discomfort of 

 people arises from a too ready compliance with the demands of fash- 

 ionable society with respect to amusements. 



But the reader may object that we are here taking only one view 

 of our subject. Is it not, he may ask, a dangerous doctrine that plea- 

 sure is a good thing, deserving to be cultivated with ardor and assidu- 

 ity? No doubt the pursuit of personal enjoyment must not be made 

 the sole aim of life. To use Mr. Spencer's language, egoism must be 

 balanced by altruism. Yet, while allowing this, we would contend 

 that a wise and calm regard for a continuously happy existence is a 

 much less inadequate guide to right living than many moralists are 

 apt to think. They forget that the preservation of an habitual flow 

 of pleasurable feeling is not possible where exciting indulgences are 

 sought after as the chief thing in life. It is really a defamation of the 

 idea of pleasure to call a sensual person addicted to wild excesses of 

 enjoyment a man of pleasure. The true man of pleasure is rather he 

 who tries to carry the atmosphere of enjoyment into all the circum- 

 stances and occupations of the day. Those who thus seek pleasure 

 rationally, avoiding all fatiguing over-indulgence, and giving the high- 

 est value to the quieter and more expansive forms of enjoyment, will 

 not perhaps greatly fail in a due consideration of others' interests. 

 For, as Mr. Spencer has shown in this same volume, a considerable 

 dash of altruism is a necessary condition of a full experience of per- 

 sonal gratification. This is true even in our present imperfect stage 

 of social development. And if, as he thinks, and we would fain hope, 

 things are tending to a complete formation of the social man with an 

 adequate capacity of sympathy, it must happen by and by that the 

 most thoughtful and judicious cultivator of personal happiness will at 

 the same time be most serviceable to others. However this may be, 

 Mr. Spencer has rendered a timely service in exposing the absurdity 

 of an undiscriminating disparagement of the pleasurable disposition, 



