ook toward the world and those who inhabit it. To them this
earth is a vale of tears; everything is evil and steadily growing
worse; if every prospect pleases it only emphasizes their conviction
that man is vile. Natural instincts that prompt mankind to rejoice and
be glad, to lift up their voices in cheerful songs, or to express
their abundant vitality by joyous dances, are to them evidence of sin
and depravity. If they could have their way they would abolish every
manifestation of happiness, and carry their conviction that man is
doomed to endless pain and woe into the life beyond.

[Illustration]

That this peculiar idea of the relation of goodness to happiness at
one time represented the prevailing sentiment of what are termed the
enlightened peoples, is undeniably true. Yet always there has been a
saving remnant that protested against the solemn, serious, and sad
railers against mirth and merriment, and at last these dissenters are
finding that they are rapidly becoming the majority. No longer are
normal men and women ashamed to show that they are glad to be alive;
that they believe that they were meant to be happy and should seek
happiness; that they do not agree that goodness means repression of
natural impulses. Perhaps they are less concerned with abstract
standards of conduct than were their ancestors. For them life is a
joyous adventure, and they wish so to live that they may experience to
the full all that it has to offer.

Not the least encouraging sign of the changed and changing attitude of
humanity toward the old repressions and fears, is the world-wide
extension of interest in all forms of popular amusement. People no
longer think that to be good--or moral--whatever those words may mean,
is to be a doleful machine, wearily going the rounds of earning a
livelihood. They question the authority of those who try to inflict
upon them their narrow standards of life. They ask questions. They
want to know many things. Why, they ask, should it be a virtue to wear
a gloomy face, to shun pleasure, to avoid their impulses to sing, play
or dance? They have capacity for enjoyment. Why should they starve
their natures, and go without pleasures that are rightfully theirs? It
has often been said that Americans have not as a rule known how to
play. They are changing all that, and as the level of education and
intelligence rises, as wealth accumulates and is more widely diffused,
as old inhibitions lose their force, th