o the
belief that he is nourishing himself by denying his natural appetite;
but soon finds he was made for some altogether different kind of food,
even though of much less tastefulness as far as the palate is concerned.

Some men indeed never acknowledge this articulately or distinctly even
to themselves, yet always show it plainly enough to others. Take, e.g.,
'that last infirmity of noble minds.' I suppose the most exalted and
least 'carnal' of worldly joys consists in the adequate recognition by
the world of high achievement by ourselves. Yet it is notorious that--

"It is by God decreed
Fame shall not satisfy the highest need."

It has been my lot to know not a few of the famous men of our
generation, and I have always observed that this is profoundly true.
Like all other 'moral' satisfactions, this soon palls by custom, and as
soon as one end of distinction is reached, another is pined for. There
is no finality to rest in, while disease and death are always standing
in the background. Custom may even blind men to their own misery, so far
as not to make them realize what is wanting; yet the want is there.

I take it then as unquestionably true that this whole negative side of
the subject proves a vacuum in the soul of man which nothing can fill
save faith in God.

Now take the positive side. Consider the happiness of religious--and
chiefly of the highest religious, i.e. Christian--belief. It is a matter
of fact that besides being most intense, it is most enduring, growing,
and never staled by custom. In short, according to the universal
testimony of those who have it, it differs from all other happiness not
only in degree but in kind. Those who have it can usually testify to
what they used to be without it. It has no relation to intellectual
status. It is a thing by itself and supreme.

So much for the individual. But positive evidence does not end here.
Look at the effects of Christian belief as exercised on human
society--1st, by individual Christians on the family, &c.; and, 2nd, by
the Christian Church on the world.

All this may lead on to an argument from the adaptation of Christianity
to human higher needs. All men must feel these needs more or less in
proportion as their higher natures, moral and spiritual, are developed.
Now Christianity is the only religion which is adapted to meet them,
and, according to those who are alone able to testify, does so most
abundantly. All these me