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,
Jucundissime Martialis, hæc sunt;
Res non parta labore, sed relicta;
Non ingratus ager; focus perennis;
Lis nunquam, toga rara; mens quieta;
Vires ingenua, salubre corpus;
Prudens simplicitas; pares amici;
Convictus facilis, sine arte mensa:
Nox non ebria, sed soluta curis ;
Non tristis torus, attamen pudicus;
Somnus qui faciat breves tenebras ;
Quod sis, esse velis, nihilque malis ;
Summum nec metuas diem, nec optes."

MARTIAL, X. 47.

Translation by Cowley.

Since, dearest friend, 'tis your desire to see
A true receipt of happiness from me;
These are the chief ingredients, if not all:
Take an estate neither too great, nor small,
Which quantum sufficit the doctors call.

Let this estate from parent's care descend;
The getting it too much of life does spend.
Take such a ground, whose gratitude may be
A fair encouragement for industry.
Let constant fires the Winter's fury tame;
And let thy kitchen be a vestal flame.
Thee to the town let 'never suit at law,
And rarely, very rarely, business draw.
Thy active mind in equal temper keep,
In undisturbed peace, yet not in sleep.
Let exercise a vigorous health maintain,
Without which all the composition's vain.
In the same weight prudence and innocence take.
Ana of each does the just mixture make.
But a few friendships wear, and let them be
By nature and by fortune fit for thee..
Instead of art and luxury in food,

Let mirth and freedom make thy table good;
If any cares into the day time creep,

At night, without wine's opium, let them sleep.
Let rest, which Nature does to darkness wed,
And not lust, recommend to thee thy bed;
Be satisfied, and pleased, with what thou art;
Act chearfully and well the allotted part;

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,