The Map of Life Conduct and Character

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THE MAP OF LIFE

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WORKS BY

The Rt. Hon. W. E. H. LECKY.


HISTORY of ENGLAND in the EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
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DEMOCRACY and LIBERTY.
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THE MAP OF LIFE: Conduct and Character.
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        LONGMANS, GREEN, & CO.
   39 Paternoster Row, London, and Bombay.

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THE MAP OF LIFE

Conduct and Character

by

WILLIAM EDWARD HARTPOLE LECKY


     'La vie n'est pas un plaisir ni une douleur, mais une affaire grave
     dont nous sommes chargés, et qu'il faut conduire et terminer à
     notre honneur'                           TOCQUEVILLE

New Impression







Longmans, Green, and Co.
39 Paternoster Row, London
New York and Bombay
1904

All rights reserved

Bibliographical Note.

   _First printed_, _8vo_, _September 1899_. _Reprinted November
   1899_; _December 1899_; _January 1900 (with corrections)_. _Cabinet
   Edition_, _Crown 8vo_, _February 1901_. _Reprinted December, 1902_.
   _July, 1904_




CONTENTS


CHAPTER I
                                                            PAGE

How far reasoning on happiness is of any use                   1
The arguments of the Determinist                               2
The arguments for free will                                    3
_Securus judicat orbis terrarum_                               5


CHAPTER II

Happiness a condition of mind and often confused with
  the means of attaining it                                    7
Circumstances and character contribute to it in different
  degrees                                                      7
Religion, Stoicism, and Eastern nations seek it mainly by
 acting on disposition                                         7
Sensational philosophies and industrial and progressive
  nations seek it chiefly in improved circumstances            8
English character                                              8
Action of the body on happiness                               10
Influence of predispositions in reasonings on life            12
Promotion of health by legislation, fashion and self-culture  12
Slight causes of life failures                                14
Effects of sanitary reform                                    14
Diminished disease does not always imply a higher level of
  health                                                      15
Two causes depressing health                                  16
Encroachments on liberty in sanitary legislation              16
Sanitary education--its chief articles--its possible
  exaggeration                                                17
Constant thought about health not the way to attain it        18


CHAPTER III

Some general rules of happiness--1. A life full of
  work.--Happiness should not be the main object of pursuit   19
Carlyle on Ennui                                              20
2. Aim rather at avoiding suffering than attaining pleasure   21
3. The greatest pleasures and pains in spheres accessible to
  all                                                         22
4. Importance and difficulty of realising our blessings while
  they last                                                   24
Comparison and contrast                                       26
Content not the quality of progressive societies              27
The problem of balancing content and the desire for progress  28
What civilisation can do for happiness                        28


CHAPTER IV

The relation of morals to happiness.--The Utilitarian
  justification of virtue insufficient                        30
Power of man to aim at something different from and higher
  than happiness                                              32
General coincidence of duty and happiness                     33
The creation of unselfish interests one of the chief elements
  of happiness                                                34
Burke on a well-ordered life                                  35
Improvement of character more within our power than
  improvement of intellect                                    36
High moral qualities often go with