earnestly, looking for
instruction. Why are we so restless and dissatisfied in the present,
even though all of earthly good surrounds us, and ever looking far
away into the uncertain future for the good that never comes, or
that loses its brightest charms in possession?"

"Because," said the old man, speaking slowly, and with emphasis, "we
are mere self-seekers."

Mr. Markland had bent toward him, eager for the answer; but the
words fell coldly, and with scarce a ray of intelligence in them, on
his ears. He sighed faintly and leaned back in his seat, while a
look of disappointment shadowed his countenance.

"Can you understand," said Mr. Allison, "the proposition that man,
aggregated, as well as in the individual, is in the human form?"

Markland gazed inquiringly into the questioner's face. "In the human
form as to uses?" said Mr. Allison. "How as to uses?"

"Aggregate men into larger or smaller bodies, and, in the attainment
of ends proposed, you will find some directing, as the head, and
some executing, as the hands."

"True."

"Society, then, is only a man in a larger form. Now, there are
voluntary, as well as involuntary associations; the voluntary, such
as, from certain ends, individuals form one with another; the
involuntary, that of the common society in which we live. Let us
look for a moment at the voluntary association, and consider it as
man in a larger form. You see how all thought conspires to a single
end and how judgment speaks in a single voice. The very first act of
organization is to choose a head for direction, and hands to execute
the will of this larger man. And now mark well this fact: Efficient
action by this aggregated man depends wholly upon the unselfish
exercise by each part of its function for the good of the whole.
Defect and disorder arise the moment the head seeks power or
aggrandizement for itself, the hands work for their good alone, or
the feet strive to bear the body alone the paths they only wish to
tread. Disease follows, if the evil is not remedied; disease, the
sure precursor of dissolution. How disturbed and unhappy each member
of such an aggregated man must be, you can at once perceive.

"If it is so in the voluntary man of larger form, how can it be
different in the involuntary man, or the man of common society?"

"Of this great body you are a member. In it you are sustained, and
live by virtue of its wonderful organization. From the blood
circulating in its veins