that is not only like savages, but like animals. They are merry and
contented at the prospect of a savory meal, and they are fond of
playing tricks on each other--both sexes chaff and tease constantly.
I believe that the development of our larger brain is the
intellectual work of man during hundreds and thousands of years, and
it would gratify me to see it raised to a still greater state of
activity."

"I am listening to you so quietly that I don't interrupt you--even
when you talk absurd nonsense. How can one look doleful and
disagreeable if honest, highly constituted men indulge in
conversation with each other for a few hours after hard work? I
delight in this harmless enjoyment, in which people forget all the
cares of the day. Here people shake off the burdens of their
vocation and the accidents of their lot. Here am I, a poor devil
enjoying the society of the minister's friends, and admiring the
same beautiful eyes as he does."

"The harmless enjoyments of which you speak are exactly the signs by
which one may recognize the vegetative lives of the savage and the
animal. A serene enjoyment is what naturally appertains to the lower
forms of life when they are satiated, and in no danger of being
tracked for their lives. The oldest drawings on the subject always
represent men with a foolish serene smile. So the privilege of
development is to rejoice in a satisfied stomach and untroubled
security, and all through his life to know no other care or want but
comfort of body."

"At last I understand you. The artist's ideal is the 'Penseroso,'
and in order to recognize the highly developed man he must be