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Essay On One Of The Sources Of Human Happiness.
recent events , too , in my own career , I am led to take a more exalted view of the sources of human happiness , and extend it to that supreme and universal spirit , who is the bounteous giver of all good things in this world . Very probably there is nothing new under the sun , but , nevertheless , if humour is not irrelevant here , there may be many things new and
pleasing to us poor transient mortals , though , in the sight of that glorious luminary , they wax old , and are as sounding brass or the tinkling cymbal . Passing over the pleasures of childhood , which only derive their title to bo called such from the thoughtlessness which generally characterises all ages under twenty , and the abeyance of loftier sources of
gratification and felicity than the toys , in which oftentimes their playmates , the pups and kittens , take as much delight as themselves , ive will contenrqilate that period when nature has added her finishing-stroke to the exterior , and education has expanded the organs of intellectual enjoyment , which alone gives dignity and excellence to man ; when
our minds are ready for the impress of good or evil notions , and our hearts are prepared to sympathise or ridicule the distresses of our fellowcreatures ; when our feelings are awake to the liveliest emotions of pleasure only when pure , and our senses are tinctured with the hi ghest sensation of happiness in the contemplation of the noble works of the omnipotent author of nature ' s self . I revile not the intervening years
between our birth and entrance into maturity , both of body and mind , but I deem them less pregnant with matter to supply my theory , than the period I have fixed for distinguishing what human happiness is , from the mere gambols of a creature ( certainly endowed with the spark of that spirit which is afterwards fanned into a flame of a larger and brighter force ) but very far from possessing the capacity to enjoy
happiness in its fullest extent . It may be said , and witli truth , that we take ourselves as models , from which we chisel out our groups of other men . Though four-and-twenty suns have hardly shed their lustre over my head , yet , with the exception of the last six years of my life , I may say that I look back upon the past as a vision of animal bliss , and worthy the records of juvenile happiness alone ; and I shrewdly suspect very many , if we could compare notes , would be found to have rowed
in the same boat . Then , within this brief era , I will confine my pursuit of human happiness , and I will leave the reader to determine whether I have been successful in my search . Many have taken a wider range of years , before they discovered wherein resided their peculiar happiness ; some have never found it . Perhaps they were more ambitious , perhaps less fortunate : however this may be , I shall commission old Time to decide .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Essay On One Of The Sources Of Human Happiness.
recent events , too , in my own career , I am led to take a more exalted view of the sources of human happiness , and extend it to that supreme and universal spirit , who is the bounteous giver of all good things in this world . Very probably there is nothing new under the sun , but , nevertheless , if humour is not irrelevant here , there may be many things new and
pleasing to us poor transient mortals , though , in the sight of that glorious luminary , they wax old , and are as sounding brass or the tinkling cymbal . Passing over the pleasures of childhood , which only derive their title to bo called such from the thoughtlessness which generally characterises all ages under twenty , and the abeyance of loftier sources of
gratification and felicity than the toys , in which oftentimes their playmates , the pups and kittens , take as much delight as themselves , ive will contenrqilate that period when nature has added her finishing-stroke to the exterior , and education has expanded the organs of intellectual enjoyment , which alone gives dignity and excellence to man ; when
our minds are ready for the impress of good or evil notions , and our hearts are prepared to sympathise or ridicule the distresses of our fellowcreatures ; when our feelings are awake to the liveliest emotions of pleasure only when pure , and our senses are tinctured with the hi ghest sensation of happiness in the contemplation of the noble works of the omnipotent author of nature ' s self . I revile not the intervening years
between our birth and entrance into maturity , both of body and mind , but I deem them less pregnant with matter to supply my theory , than the period I have fixed for distinguishing what human happiness is , from the mere gambols of a creature ( certainly endowed with the spark of that spirit which is afterwards fanned into a flame of a larger and brighter force ) but very far from possessing the capacity to enjoy
happiness in its fullest extent . It may be said , and witli truth , that we take ourselves as models , from which we chisel out our groups of other men . Though four-and-twenty suns have hardly shed their lustre over my head , yet , with the exception of the last six years of my life , I may say that I look back upon the past as a vision of animal bliss , and worthy the records of juvenile happiness alone ; and I shrewdly suspect very many , if we could compare notes , would be found to have rowed
in the same boat . Then , within this brief era , I will confine my pursuit of human happiness , and I will leave the reader to determine whether I have been successful in my search . Many have taken a wider range of years , before they discovered wherein resided their peculiar happiness ; some have never found it . Perhaps they were more ambitious , perhaps less fortunate : however this may be , I shall commission old Time to decide .