sations that do but excite and disappoint. In this day of
counterfeits, adulterations, and base imitations, the devil is busier
than he has ever been in the course of human history, in the manufacture
of pleasures, both old and new; and these he offers for sale in most
attractive fashion, falsely labeled, _Happiness_. In this
soul-destroying craft he is without a peer; he has had centuries of
experience and practise, and by his skill he controls the market. He has
learned the tricks of the trade, and knows well how to catch the eye and
arouse the desire of his customers. He puts up the stuff in
bright-colored packages, tied with tinsel string and tassel; and crowds
flock to his bargain counters, hustling and crushing one another in
their frenzy to buy.

"Follow one of the purchasers as he goes off gloatingly with his gaudy
packet, and watch him as he opens it. What finds he inside the gilded
wrapping? He has expected fragrant happiness, but uncovers only an
inferior brand of pleasure, the stench of which is nauseating.

"Happiness includes all that is really desirable and of true worth in
pleasure, and much beside. Happiness is genuine gold, pleasure but
gilded brass, which corrodes in the hand, and is soon converted into
poisonous verdigris. Happiness is as the genuine diamond, which, rough
or polished, shines with its own inimitable luster; pleasure is as the
paste imitation that glows only when artificially embellished. Happiness
is as the ruby, red as the heart's blood, hard and enduring; pleasure,
as stained glass, soft, brittle, and of but transitory beauty.

"Happiness is true food, wholesome, nutritious and sweet; it builds up
the body and generates energy for action, physical, mental and
spiritual; pleasure is but a deceiving stimulant which, like spirituous
drink, makes one think he is strong when in reality enfeebled; makes him
fancy he is well when in fact stricken with deadly malady.

"Happiness leaves no bad after-taste, it is followed by no depressing
reaction; it calls for no repentance, brings no regret, entails no
remorse; pleasure too often makes necessary repentance, contrition, and
suffering; and, if indulged to the extreme, it brings degradation and
destruction.

"True happiness is lived over and over again in memory, always with a
renewal of the original good; a moment of unholy pleasure may leave a
barbed sting, which, like a thorn in the flesh, is an ever-present
source of anguish.

"Happ