s with the energy and zest which come of
good digestion, strong muscles, steady nerves, and a clear head. He
works hard, plays a strong game, thinks quickly and clearly; because he
has a surplus of vitality to throw into whatever he undertakes. He
prospers in business because he is able to prosecute it with energy. He
makes friends because he has the cheerfulness and vivacity which is the
charm of good-fellowship. He enjoys life because all its powers are at
his command.

THE TEMPTATION.

+The pleasures of taste an incidental good, but not the ultimate
good.+--Food tastes good to the hungry, and to the thirsty drinking is a
keen delight. This is a kind and wise provision of nature; and as long
as this pleasure accompanies eating and drinking in a normal and natural
way it aids digestion and promotes health and vigor. The more we enjoy
our food the better; and food, well-cooked, well-served, and eaten in a
happy and congenial company, is vastly better for us than the same food
poorly cooked, poorly served, and devoured in solitude and silence.

Yet it is possible to make this pleasure which accompanies eating and
drinking the end for the sake of which we eat and drink. The temptation
is to eat and drink what we like and as much as we like; instead of what
we know to be best for us.

THE VICE OF DEFECT.

+The difference between temperance and asceticism.+--Asceticism looks
like temperance. People who practice it often pride themselves upon it.
But it is a hollow sham. And it has done much to bring discredit upon
temperance, for which it tries to pass. What then is the difference
between temperance and asceticism? Both control appetite. Both are
opposed to intemperance. But they differ in the ends at which they aim.
Temperance controls appetite for the sake of greater life and health and
strength. Asceticism is the control of appetite merely for the sake of
controlling it. Asceticism, in shunning the evils to which food and
drink may lead, misses also the best blessings they are able to confer.
The ascetic attempts to regulate by rule and measure everything he eats
and drinks, and to get along with just as little as possible, and so he
misses the good cheer and hearty enjoyment which should be the best part
of every meal.

Let us be careful not to confound sour, lean, dyspeptic asceticism with
the hale, hearty virtue of temperance. Asceticism sacrifices vigor and
vitality for the sake of keeping its rules and ex