296 LETTERS TO BROTHER JOHN. 



single hinge : Has man, as he now exists in a high 

 state of refinement, chosen the right path ? Does 

 it conduct him to happiness? Or, admitting that 

 perfect happiness is incompatible with a sublunary 

 existence, does it ensure him the largest possible 

 proportion of happiness of which his terrestrial 

 existence is susceptible ? If not, then he has not 

 chosen the right path he has not exercised a 

 sound reason in his choice ; inasmuch as he has 

 chosen to travel in a road which will not conduct 

 him to the object of his journey. 



To prove that man, in a high state of intellectual 

 culture, is not happy, really seems a work of super- 

 erogation; it is only to iterate the most universally- 

 acknowledged of all truisms : it is merely to prove 

 that which no one thinks of denying. Throughout 

 all highly-civilized societies, and in all cultivated 

 languages, the unhappiness of man has ever been a 

 standing proverb in the mouths of all men, and a 

 fruitful theme of declamation and lamentation, both 

 with the philosopher, the worldling, the poet, and 

 the preacher. 



A state of discontent is unquestionably a state of 

 unhappiness; and, contrariwise, I think you must 

 be compelled to admit that contentment is happiness : 

 for it is clear that he only can be contented who 



