Whatever then, and how great soever the enjoyments which we possess, as long as they depend, at least principally, on circumstances not within ourselves, they are still far from perfection; for true happiness, as I have endeavoured to prove, is an internal thing, and totally independent of our fate and fortune. It is also. of a private unobtrusive character; an enemy to pomp and noise, and therefore courts re-, tirement, without however shunning the world. Those who, on the contrary, have no internal resources of happiness, or no mental pleasures, become a burden to themselves in the hour of loneliness or retirement. For as their enjoyments spring less from their own minds, or from internal satisfaction, than from a constant change of outward impressions, or from the admiration or flattery of others, their happiness is far from possessing that lofty, independent character which belongs to mental pleasures; as we can never enjoy it unless in a crowd, or when we can draw the eyes of the world upon us. The more refined, therefore, our feelings are, or the more mental, the higher and more intense will be the happiness which they give us; and no degree of wealth, rank, or power, is able to compete with them in conferring on us the feeling of happiness. And, depend upon it, the Almighty never yet permitted that there lived such a being as a happy villain. For however triumphant vice may be in the outward world, where even villains occasionally may oppress the righteous; yet in our own bosom, the true seat of perfect happiness, vice is hell,hell itself, and nothing but hell. Outward appearances, also, but seldom indicate the state of a man's mind; nay, where all seems fair on the outside, the most cruel mental agonies and heartburnings, such as perpetual fears or suspicions, inward groans, or the writhing of conscience, may render a human existence worse than a thousand deaths. SECOND PRINCIPLE. PROVIDENCE HAS CONSTITUTED US WITH A VIEW TO ACTIVITY; AND IN ACCORDANCE WITH THIS LAW OF OUR NATURE, LABOUR, EITHER OF THE MIND OR BODY, IS THE ONLY SOURCE OR MEANS OF OUR ENJOYMENT. IN my first essay, I endeavoured to illustrate the twofold character of our nature, and to show the great importance of such a double existence with regard to our happiness. In this essay, it will be my object to prove, that, however exalted our nature may be, it is still but very imperfect, unless it is further developed or improved by the labour of our mind and body; and that on this labour depend as well our present happiness as our future destiny. For what is man, with all his capabilities for usefulness and enjoyment, without the culture and training of his faculties ? An organised living mass of flesh, blood, nerves and bones, consuming to be consumed again, and nothing else. But C |