SENSE OV COMFOKT.

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The mere satisfying the cravings of hutiger, or the pro-tection of the body against the agony of cold, affords us noclue to the idiosyncracy of a particular people; whereas theindulgence in hahits of cleanliness, as well as a love of cosinessand tidiness at home, together with a liking for the tranquillityof the family fireside, betray not only a considerable amount ofrefined sensibility on the part of a nation, but imply a sedate-ness of character, and a development of those tender and affec-tionate graces of human nature, which are termed the domesticvirtuos. But, on the other band, a taste for luxury, or a predi-lection for mere pleasure, heilig a positive rather than a negativeenjoyment,— a feeling prompted merely by the recollection ofsome past delight, instead of hy the sense of some present un-pleasantness, and for which, consequently, there is no physicalexcuse,— exhibits a gross oftener than a refined nature, espe-cially when the pleasures are merely sensual ones, and theyare sought after at the expense of comforts.

To delight in gaudy clothes, for instance, and yet hecallous as to the annoyance and offensiveness of an uncleanperson, is distinctive of negroes; and to find enjoyment indrinking stimulating liquors wbilst we are insensible to thecharms of a wholesome, snug, and neat dwelling-place, is tohe on a level with savages. The lowest and most undevelopedof human beings can appreciate the coarse pleasures of luxury,but it requires an educated and refined nature to be alive tothose delicate sradations of feelino; which an Enchshman com-prises under the term comfort —even as the uninformed eyecan perceive the barbaric beauty of lustrous metals and vividcolours, whilst it needs the organ of a Rembrandt to feel thehigher and softer charms of the " clear obscure."

The various articles of comfort which now form part ofour every-day life seem to come so natural to us, that we

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