The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1878-08-08

THIRD QUARTER.
Happiness.

IAPPlNESS Is IN LaStc anu not III
things; and it is by having what we
love that we are happy, not by having
what others find agreeable.
The most common error of men and
women is that of looking for happiness
somewhere outside of useful work. 1t
has never vet been found when thus
sought, and never will be while the
world stands; and the sooner the truth
is learned the better for everyone If
you doubt the proposition, go around
among your friends and acquaintance
and select those who have the most en-
joyment through life. Are they the
idlers and pleasurc-seekers. or the
earnest workers? We know what your
answer will be. OF the miserable hui
man beings it has been our fortune or
misfortune to krow, those were the
most wretched who had retired from
useful employment in order to enjoy
themselves.
Garry the radiance Of your soul in
your face. Let the world have the
benefit of it. Let your cheerfulness be
felt for good wherever you are, and let
your smiles be created like sunbeams
"on the just as well as on the unjust
Such a deposition yields a rich reward,
for its happy effects come home to you
and brighten your thoughtful moments.
Cheerfulness makes the mind clear,
gives tone to your thoughts, adds grace
to the countenance. Jubert says:
"When you give, give with Joy, smil-
ing" Smiles are little things. and
cheap articles to be fraught with so
many blessings both to the giver and
receiver; pleasant little ripples to watch
rs we stand on the shore of everyday
life. They are the higher and better
responses of Nature to the emotion of
the soul. Let the children have the
benefit of then-tko little ones who
need the sunshine of the heart to edu-
cate them, and would find sympathy
for their buOyant nature i'm the cheer
full, loving faces of those who need
them. Let them not be kept from the
middle-aged, who need the encourage
ment they bring. Give your smiles
also to the aged. They come to them
like the quiet rain of summer, making
fresh and verdant the long, weary path
of life. They look for them from you,
who are rejoicing in the fulness of your
life.
Every one desires to be happy. The
condition Of Heaven is the ambition of
earth. What the angels have men long
to acquire. Religion as source of
happiness comes to men, therefore,
with a great natural advantage in its
favor, for men crave from instinct the
very experience it is calculated to be-
stow. But how is it in point of fact?
Why, the fact is, it is not made to seem
i'll the popular mind rs the source of
happiness. Men naturally look to its
examples to apprehend it in that way.
On the other hand, the impression
made upon them is often precisely the
reverse. They are thus repealed from,
instead of being attracted to it; and re-
ligion mus. approach them ever after
at a great disadvantage. Now, it can
not be too often repeated, and empha-
sized by the testimony and life of
Christians, that religion does make q
person happy. The moods and tenn
pers it fosters are those of happiness.
1t lightens ones burdens, consoles him
in sorrow. hlasses him with great
hope, and Ills him with peace. The
practice of religion never fails one.
You may learn q trade, hoping thereby
to gain wealth, and you may fail; you
may study, hoping thereby to become
famous, and you may never see the
fame you desire; you may aspire to the
honors of the forum, and the applause
of the populacc may be withheld, but
no one ever studied the principles of
holiness and acted up to his knowl
edge, and failed of his reward. He
who does business for God can never
be bankrupt. All else may fail us, but
the pleasures of Christian hope and the
consolation of Christian faith can never
be taken from lis. The virtuous man
can lose nothing, for his virtues are his
reward.--tiOltleD Rule.