THE GOODNESS OF THE DEITV. 
255 
infancy are agreeably taken up with the exercise of vision, 
or perhaps, more properly speaking, with learning to see. 
But it is not for youth alone that the great Parent of 
creation hath provided. Happiness is found with the 
purring cat, no less than with the playful kitten; in the 
armed chair of dozing age, as well as in either the sprightli- 
ness of the dance, or the animation of the chase. To novel¬ 
ty, to acuteness of sensation, to hope, to ardor of pursuit, 
succeeds what is, in no inconsiderable degree, an equiva¬ 
lent for them all, * ‘ perception of ease.” Herein is the exact 
difference between the young and the old. The young are 
not happy, but when enjoying pleasure; the old are happy, 
when free from pain. And this constitution suits with the 
degrees of animal power which they respectively possess. 
The vigor of youth was to be stimulated to action by 
impatience of rest; whilst, to the imbecility of age, quiet¬ 
ness and repose become positive gratifications. In one im¬ 
portant respect the advantage is with the old. A state of 
ease is, generally speaking, more attainable than a state of 
pleasure. A constitution, therefore, which can enjoy ease, 
is preferable to that which can taste only pleasure. The 
same perception of ease oftentimes renders old age a 
condition of great comfort; especially when riding at its 
anchor after a busy or tempestuous life. It is well describ¬ 
ed by Rousseau, to be the interval of repose and enjoy¬ 
ment, between the hurry and the end of life. How far the 
same cause extends to other animal natures cannot be judg¬ 
ed of with certainty. The appearance of satisfaction, with 
which most animals, as their activity subsides, seek and 
enjoy rest, affords reason to believe, that this source of 
gratification is appointed to advanced life, under all, or 
most, of its various forms. In the species with which we 
are best acquainted, namely, our own, I am far, even as an 
observer of human life, from thinking that youth is its hap¬ 
piest season, much less the only happy one: as a Christian, 
i am willing to believe that there is a great deal of truth in 
the following representation given by a very pious writer, 
as well as an excellent man.* “ To the intelligent and 
virtuous, old age presents a scene of tranquil enjoyments, 
of obedient appetite, of well-regulated affections, of ma¬ 
turity in knowledge, and of calm preparation for immor¬ 
tality. In this serene and dignified state, placed as it were 
on the confines of two worlds, the mind of a good man 
reviews what is past with the complacency of an approving 
conscience; and looks forward with humble confidence in 
* Father’s instructions; by Dr. Percival of Manchester, p. 317. 
