y be that, although a moderate indulgence does so tend, an immoderate
use has precisely the reverse effect. My subject, therefore, divides
itself, firstly, into a consideration of those luxuries which are _per
se_ deleterious, and those which are so only by excessive use.

I suppose you will not be surprised to hear that I think we are in
danger, in the upper and middle classes at all events, of going far
beyond the point where pleasures and indulgences tend to the improvement
of body and mind. Surely there are many of us who can remember when the
habits of our fathers were less luxurious than they are now. In a
leading article in a newspaper not long ago the writer said, "All classes
without exception spend too much on what may be called luxuries. A very
marked change in this respect has been noticed by every one who studies
the movements of society. Among people whose fathers regarded champagne
as a devout Aryan might have regarded the Soma juice--viz., as a beverage
reserved for the gods and for millionaires--the foaming grape of Eastern
France is now habitually consumed. . . ." He goes on, "The luxuries of
the poor are few, and chiefly consist of too much beer, and of little
occasional dainties. What pleasures but the grossest does the State
provide for the artisan's leisure?" "It does not do," says the writer,
"to be hard upon them, but it is undeniable that this excess of
expenditure on what in no sense profits them is enormous in the mass."

Not long ago a great outcry was heard about the extravagance and luxury
of the working man. It was stated often, and certainly not without
foundation, that the best of everything in the markets in the way of food
was bought at the highest prices by workmen or their wives; and although
the champagne was not perhaps so very freely indulged in, nor so pure as
might be wished, yet, that the working men indulged themselves in more
drink than was good for their stomachs, and in more expensive drinks than
was good for their purses, no man can doubt.

If this increase of luxury is observable in the lower classes, how much
more easily can it be discerned in the middle classes. Take for instance
the pleasures of the table. I do not speak of great entertainments or
life in palaces or great houses, which do not so much vary from one age
to another, but of the ordinary life of people like ourselves. Spenser
says:--

"The antique world excess and pryde did hate,
Such p