Clarksville chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1857-1865, 1858-08-13


man as long as she win bear with my dull
ness.
81 shall be happy, my dear Helen, she
answered, "if / can afford you any present
interest, or by any effort of mine, add to
your stock Of permanent enjoyment. BUTT
is rarely the case that the young seek the
society Of the old for that pleasure which
they usually expect to find only among
those of their own age"
"That is true !" said Mr.. Lee "and it
is because they who have reached the
meridian of life, but rarely possess that
charity for the levity and indiscretions of
youth which their own experience should
have taught them; and, as a necessary
consequence, there is no sympathy between
them, but rather an antipathy that be-
comes a repulsive sternness which forbids
any approach to familiarity on the part Of
the young. IF all persons of your age,
aunt, possessed your unbounded charity
and goodness of heart, the unnatural bar
riers between the two periods of life would
be broken down, and old age would be
rendered more cheerful, and youth, more
discreet. One Epicurus can do more to
advance human happiness than thousand
Zenos"
"What !'' exclaimed Mr.. Hart, who just
then joined them, care you delivering a
lecture on ethics, Mr.. Lee, and in ball
room %
"No, sir, the remark was incidental"
"And l hope it was made in jest" said
Mr. Hart, "for should be sorry to hear
you speak seriously in commentator of
such man as Epicurus, and especially in
the presence of ladies'"
'Iapprehend, sir, said Mr. Lee, ''that you
hayeimbibed the popular prejudice against
/ the bestand wisest Of heather moralists.
That his name has become term of re-
proach is no proof that his example was
bad, or his precepts vicious in their ten
dency. His Garden was never polluted
! by icenciousness any more than the
Portico of Zeno; and that the stole philo
sophy, oe the latter, obtained to a greater
degree than the benign and humanising
tenets of the latter, is no argument in
favor of the superiority of either; and
then, as now, want of success was prima
facie evidence of want of merit. In the
rivalry between the schools of Philosophy,
the ascendancy Of the one was the ruin OF
the other, and was so understood by the
populace, without one sensible reflection
upon the merits of either"
IL am not conversant enough with the
subject to argue it with youth, Mr.. Lee
but even granting that Epicurus Was the
great and good man you esteem him tC
have been, his opinions have been condemn
ed by the world, and his practice made &
synomyme with licenciousness. Is it right
then, that we should commend doctrine.
that are considered subversive of good
morals, by the great mass of mankind
even if they are as pure as TRUTH itself p
''It is my turn, now, Mr. Hart, to hope
that you have spoken in jest, for, surely
sir, you can not seriously ask if it be righ
to advance truth, But if you intend, al
suspect, TO ask whether it be polite t.
do so, a good deal may be said on botl
sides though | incline to strict con
struction of the old adage, that honesty
is the best policy. Error is never beni6
cial, and truth never hurtful, and it il
the want Of che latter, and the abundanc,
of the former that create the ills which
curse society. And pardon me, sir, if
I add that can never be politician enough
to contract or expand my honest opinion
to fill the measure Of popular belief"
But you can not hope, Mr., Lee, to re
move this curse from society, by revivinj
the doctrines of Epicurus? Do you no
agree with me, Miss Berne, that tn
remedy would be worse than the evil it
self?'
, IL am no metaphysician;" she replied
"but with my limited information on tn
q subject, would say that the philosoph
G which makes happiness the primary objee
of life, and which teaches us to obtain
through the proper direction Of our facul
n tics-an enlargement of our perceptions
n and a refinement of our tastes, is preterabl
to that which assumes that perfect hap
|. piuess consists in perfect Indifference,
"You are the first lady" said Mr. Har
:, that ] ever heard speak in cOmmedotio
c of Epicurus."
o "lIcis fayortc character of my father,