Toward the end of the yacht race in which the _America_ won her historic
cup the English monarch, who was one of the spectators, inquired: "Which
boat is first?" "The _America_ seems to be first, your majesty," replied
an aide. "And which is second?" asked the monarch. "Your majesty, there
seems to be no second." So it is in the race for happiness. The man who
is natural, who is open and kind of heart, is always first. The man who
is merely rich or sheltered or proud is not even a good second.
Cleon hath a million acres, ne'er a one have I;
Cleon dwelleth in a palace, in a cottage I;
Cleon hath a dozen fortunes, not a penny I;
Yet the poorer of the twain is Cleon, and not I.
Cleon, true, possesses acres, but the landscape I;
Half the charm to me it yieldeth money can not buy,
Cleon harbors sloth and dullness, freshening vigor I;
He in velvet, I in fustian, richer man am I.
Cleon is a slave to grandeur, free as thought am I;
Cleon fees a score of doctors, need of none have I;
Wealth-surrounded, care-environed, Cleon fears to die;
Death may come, he'll find me ready, happier man am I.
Cleon sees no charm in nature, in a daisy I;
Cleon hears no anthems ringing in the sea and sky;
Nature sings to me forever, earnest listener I;
State for state, with all attendants, who would change?
Not I.
_Charles Mackay_.