, 1873-11-30
MAKING THE BEST OF THINGS.

bitterly roprORchtnE yonfaol1. IN euol&t you arc
invited to send forth your Imagination into
tle boundloss rogiona Of tho might-havs-beet,
and to tako comfort in ro1eoting that beneath
tho actual sbyas into which you havc fallen
yauns another conceivable abyss Of Which you
haye bocn lucky enough to atop short. From
tho moet ecrious down to tho most insignificant
troubles Of life tho sanlo kind Of Roothing oint-
mont Is applied to mons spiritual wounds. You
have loat fortuno-rcloioo that you have
pittanoo loft to keep you Out OF tho workhouao;
you arc suffering from toothache-bo thankful
that you havo not also pain in your stomach;
sseauy rain sets in Just a. You arc about to !,
take holiday-oongratulat yourself npon pos
eessing m umbrella, and think Of tho beautiful
lights and shslos which might haye boon one
monotououa breadth OF eunshina.
Everybody must have suffered at times under
wel1-meaut exhortations Of tbin kind, whose
conventional nature is indeed more or leBa caro-
fully hidden, but vhoao substance ID formed out
OF thaso old common-places: Tho general for
mula is painfully simple. However much you
hro suffering, tho bounaless fertility Of human
Imagination will aluaya onabls you to picture
s.id Of anybody that all tho avenues by which
pnin can approach him aro 80 throngod that there
Is not room for tomo additional grief to force an
entrance; and till that happens thcro Is always
T9om for apPlypg tai9 saT wesrtsome sonl9r hsr
broken on wheel, would romark to him that at
any ratio ho had fine weather for tho purpose.
Now to tho unregonerato human being moth
ing 10 more vexatfous than this modo Of couaon-
tion. As gcnora! rulc, all comfortcra have
boon ofliolons and disagreoablo people sinca tho
days OF Job. Tho difference between comfort
Ing sufforor and trlumphtng orcr h1a misfor-
tunes 10 occasionally impOrceptiblo, and when
tho triumph takes tho form Of bombardmont
xvif n11,1n ia rfP
Tho sophistry,. moreover. il in this caso 80
transparent Tint one fee1s that ono's in
tollecs Is insulted at the Same time tlas
onos moral character is depreoiatod. Tho
worae" iB as universally applicable, and thero-
fore has as little speolal application in any given
caae 40 the statement that tuo and two make
four. "Things might have beon WORSE anid
was carrying him on 10 hell. SHew 30 ?" asks
his acquaintance. "Why, the dovil" he answers.
might hnvo mado mo carry him." Fortunate,
indeed, is tho porson who haz not been irritnted
by friends acting in tho spirit Of tli1 consiatont
optimism, aud WHO tako credit to themselves for
Of virtue.
OF ali tho companions who erer drove an in
nocent man to the verge Of distraction, proba-
ply Mark Taple5 must hayo bsen tue most in
impostor, though Dickens mover found him out;
for man OF genuine checrfu1ness does not in
eist upon telling tho world and himself that no
ls "jolly'"' every five minutes, but. apart from
tude, dashipg bis wretchod little bit OF morality
In your face Sifeuoyer you wore out OF Spirits,
would havo justified his summary assassination
speaking OF course from tho point OF viow
fortunately, has become tho prophet of 4
popular school. Tho fondness Of Ills creator for
Linn proves that Dickens took him to be really
an admirable typo OF character; and accordingly
he aot to work proving 10 hundred different
,Yays TINT We ought to make tho bent Of things,
to look ut tho bright side Of tho world, md, 90
fur as cur own l!fo is concerned to ignore the
faot that 1t il full Of dark sladows aud ominous
forobodinga.
in favor, lts fayorite dogma still rotains wide
popularity, md few mn1ma are moro irritating
WHOM retRilol for private consumption, or more
miachevious in their bearing upon public affairs.
Tor the doctrine practically co1nes to this, TINT
hardships Of lifo not by accommodating our
selves 70 them ts we'll As no can, but by making
believe that they do not exist. It 10 well mud
right that human beings should retain IS much
ehsnn 's niS i eomp19e a with so ho pos
thinking man cannot 80 through tho
battle OF lifo in q state of rollioking exhilara-
tion, but to got what happinass NO can in plainly
desirable. Everybody las to make up lis mind,
nt this end md that man certainly makes tho
wisest choice whose provision for life includes
the smallost amount OF i!lusionB, btoBt people
arrange matters SO a. to put up with erils thnt
might DO remediod. and to attempt to meet tho
ifremediable by blandly lgporin. them. Tloy
run up veil which horvss pretty well for titao,
and enables them to denollnco Us oynic every
body who likes to look things in the fsco, but
which Of couras disappears just when it il really
wanted.
There was time, II no know, when the doc
triuo WAS adopted by tho philosophers, WHO uu-
dortook to prove mathonsatscslly taat 'what-
eyor is 10 right" They certainly did not Buccaed
more than other philosophers in practically COM
ioEting mankind; and, OH tho whole, tue world
has not much missed poor Pangloas aud the
school lie represented When Pope tried to en-
pound the eano theory III vorEe. 1t took oil tho
poetry out Of his Bparlliug coupletg. The csHen.
tial diseord showed itself when 1t was attempted
into ecstncy by contemplating tho beauties OF
tho uniyorso, or DO plunged into despair at tho
horrors around him !; but this placid optimism.
which, without explicitly, denyng tho OK
tha' samo thing rs good was totally alien to any
truo poeticai mood. With tho decay Of tho old
nchoo]s both Of poetry and metaphysics, this
lem Of tho unirorac went out Of fsihion.' Wo
aro living in times nhen tho wear and tear Of
life Ia far too great for any such tmny arn,or Of
optimism. but tho doctrine, though it is no
longer current In tho her intellectual apherea,
IL rs popular ah ever ot 4 lower altitude. Wa
need not remark laore upon tho grayo miuohiofa
which aro worked by 1t III the sphere Of politics
OF commerce. The evil results Of saying poaoo
When there ID no posco arc prctty gsnorally
recognized in theory. At tho present monlont
no arc content to put out OF view tho annoy
ancos which it oauaes In private l!fo.
Tho propensity to make Tho heat OF thugs Is
generally found in combination with tlloae
bnulor virtues which are moro annoying to
oue'a noighbors than most vices. The man rho
rises ut every morning. who always ties up hin
lettors with red tape, and who ia convinced Of
tho great truth that 1t Ia hotter tobo half IN hour
too carly than hRlfn-ninnto too ats, is fraquontly
given to making tho bost Of ti,ings. The duty Of
doing 10 10 : moral maxim juAt 6lg enough for
him to understand, 1lo probably roaeota upon
1t IN tho early morning 1T tho Tina whom his ood
bath is bringing out tho glow, physical and NOR
al, which makes him an offonAs to ali weniior
vesscls during tho rest Of the day. Tho rudlY
toyial person who gotta himself up aitor tho
country gentleman typo, or the moro unotuous
varioty, ot popular rruachor, il apt to 10
perapiring tls doctrine at every pore. It