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 proud luxurious pomp is swollen up of late.”

How many more dishes and how many more wines do we put on the table than our ancestors afforded.  Pope writes of Balaam’s housekeeping:—­

   “A single dish the week day meal affords,
   An added pudding solemnized the Lord’s.”

Then when he became rich:—­

   “Live like yourself was soon my lady’s word,
   And lo, two puddings smoked upon the board!”

Then his description of his own table is worth noting:—­

   “Content with little, I can manage here
   On brocoli and mutton round the year,
   ’Tis true no turbots dignify my boards,
   But gudgeons, flounders, what my Thames affords.