EDITOR'S TABLE. 



73 



AN OLD-FASHIONED MORAL. 



"TTOLTAIEE'S Candide is not a 

 V book that can be recommended 

 for general reading; yet it contains 

 perhaps as good a moral as could eas- 

 ily be found in a wide range of books 

 aiming more distinctly at edification. 

 The hero, after many vicissitudes 

 and copious experience of the deceit- 

 fulness of riches and the miseries 

 of an ill-regulated life, made the 

 blessed discovery that peace and 

 health and independence were to be 

 obtained by the industrious cultiva- 

 tion of a small piece of ground. He 

 had a friend called Martin who as- 

 sociated himself with him in his ag- 

 ricultural labors, but who had rather 

 a fine talent for discussing abstract 

 questions. Candide would listen to 

 him for a while, but never allowed 

 him to get very far without break- 

 ing in with the observation, " Mais 

 surtout il faut cultiver notre jar- 

 din " (" But above everything else 

 we must cultivate our garden"). 

 Here was safety, here was balm for 

 painful recollections, here was about 

 the best that the world had it in its 

 power to give; and Candide, chas- 

 tised by misfortune, wanted to stick 

 to that. 



This is an age of copious and un- 

 ending discussion of social and po- 

 litical problems. Discussion is well 

 in its way; but perhaps the problems 

 would not be so acute if there was 

 less discussion and more cultivating 

 of gardens. It may indeed be said, 

 with no small degree of plausibility, 

 that the greed to be rich, the unwill- 

 ingness, so to speak, to cultivate a 

 garden which only promises a mod- 

 erate reward, is at the bottom of a 

 large part of our troubles. Wisdom 

 cries aloud and tells the world that 

 happiness is not to be found in 

 riches; but the cry is little heeded. 



The whole lesson of higher educa- 

 tion is that happiness springs from 

 within and not from without; but 

 thousands take what they can of the 

 higher education while declining the 

 lesson. Science unlocks a world of 

 beauty and wonder, and offers to the 

 mind a constant succession of in- 

 teresting subjects of contemplation; 

 but thousands again ask nothing of 

 science except to show them the way 

 to wealth. Precisely similar in a 

 multitude of cases is the demand 

 made of art and literature. It is 

 well-nigh a century since Words- 

 worth lamented the decay of " plain 

 living and high thinking." Have 

 the succeeding years brought any 

 improvement in this respect? It is 

 much to be feared they have not. 

 Wealth is, if possible, more than ever 

 the ideal of society, and plain living 

 is terribly at a discount. 



We believe, however, that in the 

 deliberate choice of plain living by 

 an influential portion of society 

 there lies a greater potency of social 

 reform than in all the schemes of 

 socialistic reconstruction. The most 

 hurtful thing in the world to-day 

 is the false glamour of wealth. It is 

 against this evil influence that we 

 want an insurrection, not against 

 capital as such. Weaken the fas- 

 cination of wealth, and, in the same 

 degree that you do so, you increase 

 the moral responsibility of those 

 who are its possessors. The lux- 

 ury of the present age has run to 

 a dangerous extreme. Advice in 

 such a matter may seem idle, but 

 the discovery that Candide made 

 is one that the world at large must 

 make some day. True happiness 

 is the natural accompaniment of 

 honest industry and moderate liv- 

 ing. Such conditions make high 

 thinking possible, and give a savor 



