LUXURY.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 4890, 23 November 1876, Page 3

LUXURY.

(Prom the Liberal Review.)

The people of this country are giving themselves up to luxury. This must be said not of one class, but of nearly all. The only difference between the self-indulgence of many rich people and that of poor people is that one is of rather a more, gross form than the other. While the hodman muddles his brain and destroys his constitution in the pothouse the merchant prince repairs to his grand mansion and eats a magnificent dinner which does him as much harm as good; while the hodman reels home when he has finished his potations and falls into a dull slumber, from which he awakes unrefreshed, the merchant prince after he has filled his stomach with good things pretends to read the newspaper and goes comfortably to sleep. The slave of luxury who dissipates in a perfectly respectable manner may object to be criticised. When he spends a score or two of pounds upon a “ little dinnerj” to himself and his friends, he will probably tell those who show a disposition to condemn the proceeding that he can afford to do so, and that he has a perfect right to get rid of his money in whatever way he pleases. It is likely, too, that when he is expostulated with because he devotes a great deal of time to the gratification of his more sensual tastes, he wifi reply that he is at liberty to devote them to what purpose seemeth to him best. He does not perceive that he owes any particular duty to his neighbor, and as long as he pays his taxes and abstains from purloining other people’s property thinks that he does all that his country and his conscience can reasonably demand from him. He readily recognises the fact that man is an animal with certain passions, and he feels that it is a man’s duty as well as the pleasure of man’s life to gratify those passions. Hence, no doubt, the peculiar mode of pleading which he is led to adopt in defence of his conduct. It would be a waste of time to seriously argue with the individual who holds that he who concerns himself with the welfare of his fellows, to his own personal inconvenience, is supremely foolish, and that he who develops his powers at the cost of hard work, instead of making his existence one round of personal gratification, is little short of an idiot, so we shall not attempt to do so. It may be pointed out, however, that any one , who gives himself, body and soul, up to luxury is not only denied some of the sweetest delights which may be snatched by men, but is often seriously injured in a strictly utilitarian point of view. Nine times out of ten he is the miserable victim of ailments which are simply the result of his folly. Though he draws up elaborate programmes of pleasures to be enjoyed, more frequently than not he finds the same turn out stale, flat, and unprofitable. As a matter of fact he does not, in a general way, relish his life of splendid ease any more than a young lady relishes a crowded ball when she has on a valuable dress with a long train which she is particularly anxious not to tear. Then he becomes so enervated, so accustomed to indolence and good things, that he is unfitted to take part in the real struggle of existence when, perchance, he is called upon to do so. The country now is inundated with respectable loafers, who are nuisances to their acquaintances and burdens to themselves, and these loafers, who cannot work, but are not afraid to beg in certain ways, are either broken-down slaves of luxury or the descendants of parents who did nothing but eat, drink, and be merry, and teach their unhappy children to follow their wretched example. The slaves of luxury are not permitted to pursue their pernicious ways unwarned. . Denunciations of their conduct come from various quarters. Awful warnings are addressed alike to those who eat and drink too much, to those who are above using their legs and other limbs in the manner intended by_ nature, and to those who are so : bent upon taking the shine out of the peacock that if they were caught in a shower of rain their peace of mind would be destroyed for months. All, this is, of course, something to be thankful for. Unfortunately, however, the authors of the warnings and the denunciations are not always above reproach themselves. We will admit that they may be idealists, who hold the fripperies and frivolities 6f life in well deserved contempt. We will admit, further, that they may believe that they, in common with the rest of humanity, should have a mission of a more or less exalted character. , We will admit, indeed, that they show their consistency by turning up their nose* at dinner parties and sniffing in contempt at the mention of the rest of the sprightly entertainments which are peculiar to respectable circles. Admitting all this, however—admitting even that they indulge in sufficient mental work to prevent their minds from stagnating—what do their claims to our favorable notice amount to ? If these people do not over-eat themselves, and if they do not drink and slumber too much/ many of them are guilty of excesses iu another direction. There is the luxury of dilletantism, and of this they are the slaves. They are wrapped up in their love for books, or pictures, or science, and can think and talk of nothing else. They will not be drawn from their homes and the contemplation of their particular hobbies except to go into an atmosphere similar to that which they leave behind them. While, the political world is in a ferment, while social matters demand earnest attention, they remain quietly at their firesides, immersed in abstract speculations or recondite studies. There is nothing degrading, nothing bestial in all this ; but to this extent only is it superior to the luxury which is made up of eating, drinking, sleeping, and fine clothing. Of what good to the world is the man who, loving his own ease and amusements, refined though these latter may be, persistently holds aloof from his fellows ? Even if he goes to the trouble of formulating grand theories, we fail to see that he is true to his high mission so long as he declines to sacricce himself for the sake of his neighbors. It may be repugnant to him to mix with the masses of the people, he may feel uncomfortable when he finds himself in the company of an uncongenial circle ; but it is to be presumed that men who wish to play a creditable part in life will occasionally do what they think distasteful. In truth, those who decline to do this are almost as culpable as the individuals who revel in luxury from which the grosser elements have not been expunged. A man with a full head is better than a man with an empty one ; but the pedant who keeps his knowledge to himself and his own immediate

worshippers is of no more use .than the .poor thing who has not sense enough to be a great knave. We say, then, that those who are persuading men to become students, and nothing but students, are incurring a grave responsibility.' . ■" '