Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 22, Number 95, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 August 1901 — HOW TO SECURE HAPPINESS. [ARTICLE]

HOW TO SECURE HAPPINESS.

Author of “Heavenly T wlna” Ex preanea . Her opinion. To an audience assembled In St. George's Hall Mme. Sarah Grand, who quite recently addressed herself to the alluring subject of “mere man,” dlsI coursed upon the above theme, which ' furnished her with not a few opportunities for satirical but on the whole goodhumored comment oh human and social follies and foibles. Mrs. Grand is a fluent and voluble

lecturer, whose rapidly expressed at* terance would paralyze the efforts of the most expert stenographer, but, In the main, her monograph resolved itself Into an optimistic reply to Mr. Mallock’s time-worn conundrum, “Is life worth living?” At the same time her observation of things and people does not always lead her into roseate putts of criticism. Thus, on the subject of men’s kindness—as distinct from women’s—she lays it down that “it is more often the expression of their owq satisfaction than the outcome of a desire to please.” On the other hand, she concludes that men understand the art of happiness far better than women. ;——'—-—— —•— There Is nothing new or startling in the propositiaon that “there is joy to be found In congenial work, just as in congenial play,” but Mrs. Grand’s sly remark that people derive solace from the disagreeable business of getting up early on a cold morning from the airs of superiority they can assume for the rest of the day is not without humor. The highest forms of happiness, she declared, are easily attained. “The simple hospitality offered with grace and affection gives far more pleasure than the magnificent entertainments of the rich, whose, imprudence and selfsatisfaction are only equaled by the irritation they excite in their guests.” Indeed, according to this lady novelist, “in smart society there is no such thing as ‘noblesse oblige.’ ” Furthermore, she is of opinion that, although the art of happiness is still in its infancy, “everybody knows how to be disagreeable,” and that one great cause of unhappiness is “our indifference to the happiness of others.” Mrs. Grand pleaded, not a little eloquently, for “harmonious surroundings” as being among the makings of happiness in-life. In the home, on* should avoid the trumpery and the tawdry, and be content to have about one a few good, beautiful things. It was no surprise to learn from her lips that every girl ought to be encouraged to work and become independent, and her description of marriage as "the most arduous of all professions for a woman” must be’reckoned among the lecturer’s most effective epigrams.— London Telegraph.