Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 47.djvu/83

Rh with the other, and this sympathy or fellow-feeling is the basis of that relation known as Friendship. This sympathy, leading to the desire on the part of those between whom it exists that the life of each shall be free from discomfort and annoyance, prompts the doing of kindly acts one for another. These acts are frequently the dispensing of hospitality; they frequently are the extending of aid in misfortune and adversity, and, now and then, result in the sharing of fortune, to a greater or less extent, by one more richly endowed with the means for the satisfaction of his material needs, with those to whom he is bound by this sympathy of friendship. It will be perceived, therefore, that when a person, prompted by this sympathy, contributes to the material welfare of another, that other receives from his gift benefit that he might not otherwise obtain, except as the reward of effort toward the satisfaction of the material needs of mankind. Thus friendship bestows what otherwise would not be obtained but through the channels of business.

Akin in a measure to that sympathy which prompts acts of kindness which inure to the benefit of one's friends, is that sympathy which prompts acts of charity intended to inure to the benefit of the needy and unfortunate—of those who, whether by reason of bodily, mental, or moral defects, or by the grinding force of untoward circumstance, live in misery. The giving of alms to a beggar, the contribution to a hospital, asylum, or missionary fund, springing from this feeling of sympathy, have directly or indirectly for their object the bettering of the material condition of the beneficiaries.

As the actions prompted by the desire for pecuniary gain, many of the actions prompted by friendship, and the actions prompted by charity have for their object the satisfaction of the desires of others, the conferring of benefit upon others, it is proper to consider to what extent, in what manner, and under what conditions one should confer benefit upon or receive benefit from others.

It has been demonstrated by the greatest philosophers that the highest end to be attained by each individual for the good of himself and the good of civilization is the greatest harmonious physical, mental, and moral development of which he is capable. The benefits conferred by each individual upon others should therefore be such as to lead to this end for each of the beneficiaries, and the benefits received by each individual from others should lead to this end for him.

To its wholesome use, as well as to its highest development, is essential that the body receive that food and clothing and the bodily organs that alternate exercise and rest that promote regularity and fullness of the vital processes; that nerves and muscles