Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1877-12-26
WHOLE NO. 1914
GIeanings.

The mere lapse of years is not life.
To eat and drink and sleep-to be
exposed to darkness and the light
to pace round in the mill habit, and
turn thought into an implement Of
trade,--this is not life. In all this
but a poor fractien of the conscious
ness Of humanity is awakened, and
the sanctitie still slumber which makes
it worth while to be. knowledge,
truth, love, beauty, goodness, faith,
alone can give vitality to the mechan-
ism of existence. The laugh OF mirth
that vibrates through the heart, the
tears that treshen the dry waste with
in, the music that brings childhood
back, the prayer that calls the future
near. the doubt which makes us medi
tate, the death which startles us with
mystery, the hardship which forces us
to struggle, the anxiety that ends in
trust, are the true nourishment of
our natural being.
An anxious, restless temper, that
runs to meet care on its way, that
regrets lost opportunities too much,
and that is over-painstaking in con-
trvances for happiness, is foolish and
should not be lndulged in. If you
cannot be happy in one way, be hap
py in another and this faculty OF
disposition wants but little aid from
philosophy =; tor health and good,
humor are almost the whole affair."
Many run about after felicity like an
absent minded man hunting for his
hat while it is on his head or in his
hand. Though sometimes small evils,
like invisible insects, inhlct great pain,
and single halr may stop a vast
machine, yet the chief secret Of COM
fort lies in not suffering tritles to vex
one, and in prudently cultiya.ing an
uudergrowth Of small pleasures, since
very few great ones, alas are let on
long leases.
Three -fourths of the difficulties and
mseries of men come from the fact
that most want wealth without earn
my II, l".no "IUnvuV ueoei'."o :"
popularity without temperance, re-
spect without virtue, and happiness
without holiness. The man who
wants the best things, and is willing
to pay just what they are worth, by
honest effort and hard self.denial, will
have no difficulty in getting what he
wants at last. 1t is the man who
want goods on credit that is disap-
pointed and overwhelmed in the end.
Happiness cannot be bought by the
bottle. 1t does not exist in any ex-
hilaratiou, excitement or ownership
but comes from the use of the faculties
of body and mind.
There cannot live a more unhappy
creature than an ill-natured old man
who is neither capable Of receiving
pleasures nor sensible of doing them
to others. Yet what is more COM
mon than peevishness, discomfort and
restless repining in the decline Of
life And how rare the spectacle
all admit its beauty-of cheerful,
contented and equablc old age! '1t
is difficult" SAID Madame de Stael,
during the last week of her brilliant
but strangely chequered existence,
"to grow old gracefully"
"The little | have seen of the world
teaches me to look upon the errors OF
others in sorrow, not in anger
When l take up the history of one
hear; that has snned and suffered, and
represent to myself the struggle and
temptation it has passed through
the brief pulsations of joy, the fever.
ish inqusetude Of hope and fear, the
pressure OF want, the desertion Of
friends-I would tain leave the erring
soul Of my tellowman with him from
whose hand it came. "-Longfelloao.