The Portland gazette. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1818-1824, 1824-05-11
COMMUNICATION.
FRoM TEE ApvERTIsER.

FROM THE ADVERTISER.
Ask, what is huuas life the sage replies.
With disappointment lowering in bis eyes,
painful passage Ger a restless food
A vain pursuit Of fugitive false good.
scene Of fanced bliss, and heartfelt care.
Closing at last 10 darkness and despair
In all ages of the world, from the creation
until now, there has always been something
to lament Indeed both observation and ex-
perience conspire to teach us, that pure and
unalloyed happiness is net the lot Of anv NOR
tai, however richly endowed by fortune, or in
whatever degree successful in all his objects
of pursuit. The constitution of the human
mind Is such, that how inpatient soever it
may be OF crosses and contradictions. still, an
UNMARRIED round Of pleasing qualification pals
even to safety, from its very want of stimu-
lants to action. Thus it happens, that those
who TO appearance possess all which might
render life paradise, still have something to
sigh after Lost on the sea OF their own
beundless desires, they steer their course
without a chart and without compass, wrap
ped IN the obscurity which their ungoverna-
bic fancles have thrown around them, though
cheered at times by the twinkling Of some i'm
aginary star And yet, this life is not all
painful passage DER a restless food" And
however the weak and querulous may rail and
however those wrapped in the impenetrable
folds of unkind and unsocial feelings, broodiDe
over their own msfortunes, may depreciate
those joys which they refuse to participate
still there are moments, even of this life.
which, to the VirtuJus and enlightened. are Of
sufficient value to repay ages Of suffering. Ii
was maxim of celebrated French writer.
that none are either SO happy or 81 unhappy,
as they imagine. Prone to magnify every
thing either of pleasure or of pain, we take
much from that real comfort we might enoy.
by creating forms 10 our own fancy, which
far exceed those that really exist. aud in mo-
ments of good fortune we draw SO rayishing a
picture of the happiness within our grasp, as
makes g the bliss of sweet reality" seem dull
and Joyless in the comparison. Should we
bring our pleasures and our pains to the cool
investigation OF reason, and weigh them in
the scale of sober and unbiased Judgment
We should ind that although we have much to
lament, yet that there are open to US many
sources ofrejoicmg. If instead of conceiving
ourselves what we are not, we should be con-
tent with what we are II, instead of wander
ing, as our imperious fsncies lead us, into the
boundless regions Of futurity, and culling
from all imaginary situations, those most suit
&c to our own desires, and satisfying ourselves
with feasts Of ideal happiness, we should be
content 20 move in the sphere where our
lines are fallen TO u.s." smoothing BY latent
suterance the rugged paths Of life, aud reioic-
ing 10 prosperity only as the means Of more
extensive usefulness, we shorld soon find, that
this world is not altogether scene OF fancied
bliss, but ofpure and refined enjoyment.
But, the truth is we wish impossibilities.
" The mind" saws Dr.. Johnson, dances
IRON scene TO scene, unites all pleasures in
all combinations, and riots ID all delights.
which nature and fortune, with al their boun-
ty cannot bestOv. Like one engaged in the
Perusal of some well-wrought tale Of fancy
who, when contemplating the character of an
imaginary hero, clothed with all the virtues.
and decorated with all the godlike qualities
which can dignity mortality, soon identifies
himself with this ideal creation Of the authors
fancy, so we, poor feeble insects Of an hour, n
daringly gaze upon the destructive fires Of
ambition, -" and doting, perish in the blaze"
Or like one wrapt in all the horrors and all
the alluring ictons Of some ancient romance.
who sees
Antique shapes Of knight and giant grim.
Damsel and dwartih long procession CLEAN,
we dwell on the visionary and base less images
of our untutored imaginations, until the faint
and heeting figures at first seen dimly in the
distance, assume more perfect form, and
rivet our attention like the spells OF some Do
tent enchanter Another obstacle in tbe
way Of happiness y, that We know not what
we wish. Unacquainted with the texture NJ
our own minds, we wander from one object to
another, forever tosi on the wares Of uncer-
tainty, exposed to all the storms which
threaten the unwary and unguaIded. II we
would save ourselves from The pangs sf disap-
Pointmeni, the wild phrenzy or DESPAIR. We
should learn to regulate and methodist our
desires. If We could only analvze our
thoughts, instead Of grasping at whatever
presents itself to our imagination, and pursu-
ing il with ardouT, However impossible 70 al
tain, and unreasonable 70 hone for xrr, sh,s,l4