52 



GhazzaWs Alchemy of Happiness. 



and military expeditions, and has strength to carry bur- 

 dens. If he performs his duty well, in time of war, in 

 running, fleeing and going to meet the enemy, his service 

 is accepted, and he will be treated with attention in his 

 accoutrements, grooming and feeding. But if he performs 

 his service imperfectly, a pack saddle will be put on his 

 back, as on the ass, from day to day he will be employed as 

 a beast of burden, and he will be carelessly and deficiently 

 provided with food, and poorly taken care of. 



Besides, beloved ! if man had been created only to eat 

 and drink, it would follow that animals are of greater worth 

 and excellence than man ; for they can eat and drink more 

 than man can, and they have useful services devolved upon 

 them of drawing burdens, tilling the ground, and giving 

 meat, butter and milk for food. If also man had been 

 created to fight, kill and domineer, it would follow that 

 beasts of prey are nobler than he, for they are mightier in 

 their ferocity and their power of subjugating other animals. 

 There are, moreover, many animals of manifest utility, as 

 the dog to watch and hunt, and the skins of some of them 

 for clothing. It follows, therefore, that man was not 

 created for these things, but rather to serve God and to 

 grow in the knowledge of him. 



It is plain that mind, discernment and reason were be- 

 stowed upon man, that when he looks upon the world and 

 sees in every object illustrations of various forms of perfec- 

 tion, and much to excite his wonder, he might turn his 

 attention from the work of the artist, to the artist himself; 

 from the thing formed to him that formed it ; that he might 

 comprehend his own excessive frailty and weakness, and 

 the perfection of the wisdom and power, yea, of all the 

 attributes of the eternal Creator, and that, without ceasing, 

 he might humbly supplicate acceptance in his frailty and 

 weakness on the one hand, and on the other might seek to 

 draw near to the King of kings, and finally obtain rest in 



