wood, form all her materials; but these are subdivided, modelled, classed, and mixed together, in so many forms of beauty, as to prove to a well regulated mind one of the purest as well as highest sources of innocent and intellectual pleasure Feb. 2d, 1807. N° IV. On the State best adapted to Human Happiness. "Vitam quæ faciunt beatiorem, MARTIAL, X. 47. Translation by Cowley. Since, dearest friend, 'tis your desire to see Let this estate from parent's care descend; Let mirth and freedom make thy table good; At night, without wine's opium, let them sleep. Enjoy the present hour, be thankful for the past, And neither fear, nor wish the approaches of the last." I have often and deeply reflected how far this state of existence is in right of itself capable of happiness; and what are the circumstances which afford the best chance of attaining it; and I am firmly convinced that the description given by Martial of the ingredients most conducive to it, is founded not merely in the dreams of a poet's fancy, but in solid and unalterable truth. The great difficulty is the concurrence of the ingredient, which is least likely to be combined with the rest, but without which all the rest are vain : "Quod sis, esse velis; nihilque malis." Unless a man knows how to value such a lot; unless he is thoroughly aware of the emptiness or the perplexities of wealth, and grandeur, and rank, and power; as long as he is dazzled by show, or sighs after distinction; the moderate pleasures within his reach will appear insipid and dull. To see so large a portion of mankind pass by, unheeded, the very exquisite enjoyments, which offer themselves to their embrace, in pursuit of the most delusive phantoms, which they are seeking at the expense of ease, virtue, health, fortune, and reputation, is indeed amongst the most deplorable proofs of our fallen nature. To rise of a morning with a head unburthened with perplexing business, and a heart uuclouded with care; to behold, as the sun pierces through the mistiness of the dawn, the scenes of nature opening before us in dewy brilliance; to be at liberty to wander uncontrolled amid this beautiful landscape, and, while exercise strengthens and braces the body, to inhale freshness and exquisite odours, and exhilarating spirits, from the pure airs of heaven, is not mere negative happiness, but rapture and enchantment! From hence to return home, even to a straw-roofed cottage, where there is neatness, and competence, and peace; and a book, and a virtuous friend, of a cultivated mind, to meet one; is only a variety, and not a diminution, of the day's pleasure. The sacred charm of innocence, instead of leaving the sting of regret in the recollection of the past, adds, on reflection, to the poignancy of the enjoyment; and the corporeal frame, healthy from its own habits, and untouched by mental uneasiness, becomes attuned to sensations of happiness, such as almost lift it above humanity! I am as sure, as I am of any human truth, that grandeur and ambition at the very moment of attaining their utmost wishes, never felt pleasures, which, even in a worldly point of view, could bear a comparison with these cheap and innocent occupations! Occupations, in the power of thousands, |