134 A BOOK OF MORTALS 



sion of instinct or not, none can deny that even the feathers 

 of the barn door fowl draw attention -to the face beneath 

 them ; or that even moleskins accentuate the soft suggestive- 

 ness of the " collier de Venus " on the fresh young throat 

 which they encircle. 



But in another way also these unequivocal, typical, 

 luxuries of fur and feather have as distinct an influence on 

 the society of to-day as they have had on the society of the 

 past. The possession or non-possession of — let us say a 

 priceless blue fox coat renders possible the formulation of 

 two assertions which are practically the foundations of the 

 whole vast edifice of man's civilization. 



For half the pains and pleasures of life are contained in 

 the statement of fact, " I have a blue fox coat, but thou 

 hast not a blue fox coat," or its converse " Thou hast a blue 

 fox coat but I have not a blue fox coat." 



On the other hand if we add to these two premises the 

 corollary " I will have a blue fox coat and thou shalt not 

 have a blue fox coat " that same edifice of civilization begins 

 to crumble to pieces again and we are once more a prey to 

 envies, hatreds, uncharitablenesses, wars, and rumours of 

 wars. 



Furs and feathers, then, when worn by man or woman, 

 have a notable influence on our world. 



And when worn by their rightful owners .? 



Ah ! There, in the life itself, not in the cast off gar- 

 ments of the life, is the great gain. For without this world 

 of fur and feather, humanity would be poor indeed. The 

 realm of the poet, the painter, the philosopher lies in the 

 world which is peopled by fur and feathers, in the shade of 

 the woods, the sunshine of the hills, the wildness of the 



