Albuquerque evening citizen. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1905-1907, 1905-10-07
ESSAY ON HAPPINESS, ITS
CHARACTER AND CONTENTS
BY the Editor

/ cry, unmarried by violation of its
fundamental laws. o rendered de-
crepid by neglect. Hence, children
should be taught this fundamental
fact by illustration at home and in
structiUns at sch35l.
A sane mind is enc which knows It's
duty and discharges it-duty 10 self,
duty to others, duty to God. The
knowledge Of duty m only form
instruction, anu The three great i'll
=. strucfoIs of mank'nd-the fanny fire
side, the ministerial pulpit, the teach.
or's chair-should realize tds force Of
their obligation to have the expanding
human mind thoroughly imbued with
this requisite knowledge at the time
when impressions are most readily re-
ceived and most tenaciously retained.
A sage of other days declared the
three sublimest things in nature to be
the starry vault of night, a storm
swept sea, and the conception of
human duty. There can be no realiza-
ton of permanent happiness without
the comprehension of duty, in its
threefold fields, and its punctilious
performance.
When this broad foundation has
been laid, happiness has been secured.
But happiness, like religion Itself, may
on the one hand be lost or on the
other hand be cultivated into fuller
fruition Of flower and fruit. Many ex-
terror circumstances are contributive
to the expansion of happiness, upon
the foundation of a sound body and
sane mind. But three will be noticed.
They are:
First, possession of a competency
of this worlds goods. BY this is not
meant that mar should make him
self to be like "the ass whose back
with ingots bows" in order to bear his
heavy riches a days journey till death
unloads him. But a simple Compel
ency, so that carking cares may not
disturb the serenity of his mind with
fears of the future; that he may not
dread the coming of the wolf of want,
with snarling teeth and extended
fangs to sit at his fireside; that he
may not at death leave his loved ones
to the cold charity of a too often
heartless world; that he may be re-
lieved from tne deadening drudgery
of excessive toll; that he may have
wherewith to satisfy the natural and
innocent desires of mind and body
for recreation and amusement, for so
cial intercourse and intellectual de-
%velopment. Therefore, be diligent in
business.
Second, the possession of a mind
well tutored to the precision OF
thought, stored with knowledge care
fully acquired, and rendered acute and
logical by the habitual use of sound
reasoning. "Where ignorance is bliss
tbs folly to be wise" is an old saw, as
false as it is Anticipated. The trouble
is in the Where" for no sucf
Where" has ever yet been found
Nowhere can it be truthfully said tha-
ignorance is bliss, or highest happl
ness; for the ignoramus differs bu'
slightly in his capacity for pleasure
from the frolicsome colt that roaml
amidst the meadows green. The en-
joyments Of each are exclusively ply
steal; and it is only by the cultiva
Ltion of the mind that man rises abov,
the brute. Therefore, my son, ge
wisdom and with all thy getting ge
understanding"
Third, the possession Of a happ!
family circule. The mar who can e
forth under his umbrella into a storm,
night, and say, who cares If it doe
rain? We are all herel" can neve.
know happiness other than of a mega
tive character. But he is the happy
man, indeed, whose little ones chamber
about his knees or place their BABY
arms about his neck while they wills
per their cooling words of love; he
whose father, that guided his youth
full Naps and counseled his buddinl
hopes, now leans upon his arm, as tn,
tottering steps draw near to the val
ley of the shadow; he, who sees thu
mother that bore him, with dimmeC
eye but happy heart, seated beside hi
fire; he, the wife of whose bosom
grows daily fairer to his sight ant
dearer to his heart, though time 1!
blowing his burrows on her brow an
sitting the silver threads among tn,
glossy braids of her hair-he, who hai
these things. in addition to a san,
mind in a sound body, a sufficienc,
of worldly prosperity, and a min
stored with the gathered riches O
knowledge, certainly has all the har
piness that early life can hold.