The children of this generation have a creed, and it
is not badly summed up in a sentence which the Mayor of Defert quoted from Carnot the regicide, when registering on Wed- nesday the civil marriage of President Carnot's niece :—" The elements of happiness are health, an independent condition, a taste for work, the esteem of people of worth, love of society, talent, a knowledge of business, moderation, a tendency to aid the unfortunate, and the companionship of an amiable woman." The words we have italicised constitute the modern substitute, a most inefficient substitute, for religious faith. The list seems at first sight to be compendious; but a man may have all those things, and find that a quarrel with his children, failure to reach his object, or the growth of a disgust with life in his own mind, will leave him as miserable as the rest.
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