GROWTH OF AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES. 25 



But the average man, and the man of lower abilities, act 

 below their knowledge of the right. If statesmen compounded 

 their conduct of conscience and capacity in equal parts, nations 

 would be happier. And if the controlling notion in the per- 

 formance of all work were the duty which one owes to others, 

 rather than the advantage which may accrue to himself, our 

 daily lives would be fuller of comfort and content. Our 

 intelligence is limited, but still its boundaries are large, and 

 its powers for good or evil incalculable, aud a greater propor- 

 tion of its strength should be turned to the controlling and 

 the taming of our selfishness. Selfishness, though it be natural 

 and the strongest, is yet the most ruinous aud destructive 

 element in human nature. Though it has its origin in the 

 brute instinct of self-preservation, and though it be a neces- 

 sary adjunct of human character, yet in civilized societies it 

 should be tempered and refined by the strictest conceptions of 

 justice and duty. From the very beginning of history, man's 

 knowledge has been better than his conduct, and the hundred 

 years just past have not differed in this respect from their 

 predecessors. Let us take at random a few illustrations which 

 exhibit some of the blots upon our civilization. We have 

 read of mills in which stones are ground for the adulteration 

 of flour ; of plaster of Paris in mustard, which breeds wasting 

 ulcers in the stomach ; of candies and wall-papers colored with 

 poisons. Consider for a moment the power for evil which 

 the science of chemistry puts into the hands of immoral men. 

 In its present state, chemistry is a new science. Its knowl- 

 edge, properly used, brings with it beneficence and wealth. 

 It ministers to all our industries, and to suffering and stricken 

 man it comes like the spirit of God, with healing on its wings. 

 But used by selfish men, swayed only by selfishness and 

 greed, it becomes a gigantic instrument of disease and 

 death. It adulterates, with injurious substances, our foods. 

 It mingles subtle poisons with our drinks. There are acids, 

 deadly poisons from which the whole body of brandies, wines, 

 and cider are made. A leading newspaper said only a few 

 days ago : " It is a truth which needs to be brought to public 

 notice occasionally, that the brilliant-colored fluids which 

 decorate the average bar, derive the least of their flavor from 

 either grape or grain, but are the fabrication of so-called 



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