CHAPTER VI. 



THE CONSERVATION OF VITALITY. 



Reason's whole pleasure, all the joys of sense, 



Lie in three words Health, Peace and Competence. 



But Health consists of Temperance alone, 



And Peace, O Virtue, Peace is all thy own. 



POPE. 



HAVING placed the facts before the reader, it 

 may seem unnecessary to prolong the discussion 

 of a subject which must be distasteful to all to 

 none more so than myself. Yet, it is of the first 

 and last importance that no stone be left un- 

 turned, to enlighten the public mind, however 

 unthankful the task, and I would urge all to use 

 their utmost endeavours to bring this matter to 

 a successful issue. 



We are in a much more serious condition than 

 is generally supposed. If the physical decline of 

 the race were merely a social problem, and had 

 been brought about by depressing conditions of 

 labour, and insufficient food, as so many authors 

 seem to imagine, there would not be so much 

 cause for alarm, as all these things might be, 

 and no doubt will be, rectified in course of time, 

 by improved social measures. But it is a 

 moral problem, and one which cannot at pre- 

 sent be aired at any time or in any place, 

 as all things pertaining to the public welfare 

 should be, and it is thus rendered all the more 

 difficult of solution, 



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