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Untitled Article
jsneasuge by the absence of imperious flVrtive r& > -exertion- 1 have na doubt € ha £ jjte w $ q much * happier when compiling ius t ) ictionaTy , or even when writing the parliamentary debates \ n a garret in Grub Street , than in the luxurious indolence of Steeatham .
r I have said that employment , constant regular employment of any kind , cannot fail to hacve a most beneficial efect upon , the spirits and temper ; * but it is evident that this effect must be greatly heightened , if it be directed towards --honourable pursuits , or
&r ise from the pTosecution of objects suggested by a generous and benevo lent deposition . It may therefore Jbe added in the second place , that the liaf > f > me&s of man must materially clepead on the gratification of the
jaaore enlarged and benevolent feelings -of his nature . It is scarce possible -for any man to be happy in a £ tat £ of absolute solitude . I do not stt ^ ak here of those occasional seclusidns from social intercourse which
are ^ us ^ fui to promote meditation and * hoi * g ; ht > and which may thus tend greatly -ttx exalt and improve the be-^ evolen ^ , feelings , and suggest to us additional " Opportunities and modes of mailing them into action , but an ^ frti re and permanent separation from -all -intercourse with our
fellow-creatures . The happiest men probably are they who enjoy the most frequent and constant opportunities of cultivating the sentiments which belong 10 and arise out of domestic society . AVhat p icture of human felicity can equal that which is often enjoyed in the simple scenes of private life ;
» wherfe every one is deeply interested in the general welfare ; where every heart » gldw « with delight in contemplating the enjoyment of all ; where every one is actively employed in
mintstefi&g to the general good of the Httle society . Such feelings thus gerlertated and improved , in a mind otherwise well disposed , are the best means of introducing and nourishing rttore exalted and extensive affections
arid of leading to a complete forgetflilf } €£ s of self ; £ n an habitual regard thr&Mgh the whole conduct of life tortjie general welfare and improve-• \® efr \ J<feeh ^ nnan » ace . . ^ Clos ^ ly allied to benevolence is ^ i * yljfrt < ii& ^ Qrr ^ monly called a good Mm-: 4 # * v ;/ Ife ° W ^ mflfcrJiy connected , haw-
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ever , these gu ^ lities are sometimes seen separated , and may easily be distinguished from each other . There are many persons of great and emi nent worth , and who possess abundance of benevolence , or who are at least continually performing acts of the
most dismterested and even profuse beneficence , who are yet destitute of all command of tempers who either administer their good offices with a sour moroseness of manner which takes from them their most powerful charms , or are liable to sudden fits
and starts of passion which , sometimes induce them to inflict serious evils upon the very persons whom but a moment before they had cherished and assisted . Thus their kindness even towards those whom they wish to serve , is interrupted or prevented ,
and all its happy effects both oa the giver and the receiver are in a great measure destroyed . A temper of this kind is one of the greatest bars to happiness in those who are afflicted with it : —it becomes therefore one of
our most important personal duties to be strenuous in our endeavours to restrain and sweeten it . There is aa apology , but a very imperfect one , which is sometimes made for this unhappy irritability of ^ tem pe r , which ascribes it to a morbid sensibility in the original constitution of such
persons . This apology might be made with nearly equal justice for every moral defect and for every intellectual folly whatever ; and if admitted , puts a stop to all sorts of improvement . It is true that original temperament , or rather , perhaps , improper management in early life , may occasionally give rise to an unusual degree of this
disposition ; but this can be no justification of it ; it cannot render it less inconsistent with our enjoyment of life and society y and rather furnishes an additional ' motive to such persons as have laboured under these
disadvantages , to be more than ordinarily solicitous to keep it in check . And let no one imagine that this is impossible;— -that his own case is so peculiar as not to yield to the ordinary influence of moral rncdicine . There w a course of discipline before which the most inveterate mental disorders will
give way . The remedy , however , it must be admitted * is often more easily perceived and pointed oqitthan app lied * To perceive it only requires good sense
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3 i § On the Sources of Human Happiness .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1816, page 316, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2453/page/8/
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