DOMESTIC PLEASURES PLANNED.
“I THINK, my dear,” said Mrs. Temple, laying her hand on her husband's
arm as they were walking together in the garden, “I think next Wednesday
is Charlotte's birth day: now I have formed a little scheme in my own
mind, to give her an agreeable surprise; and if you have no objection,
we will send for her home on that day.” Temple pressed his wife's hand
in token of approbation, and she proceeded.--“You know the little alcove
at the bottom of the garden, of which Charlotte is so fond? I have an
inclination to deck this out in a fanciful manner, and invite all her
little friends to partake of a collation of fruit, sweetmeats, and other
things suitable to the general taste of young guests; and to make it
more pleasing to Charlotte, she shall be mistress of the feast, and
entertain her visitors in this alcove. I know she will be delighted; and
to complete all, they shall have some music, and finish with a dance.”
“A very fine plan, indeed,” said Temple, smiling; “and you really
suppose I will wink at your indulging the girl in this manner? You will
quite spoil her, Lucy; indeed you will.”
“She is the only child we have,” said Mrs. Temple, the whole tenderness
of a mother adding animation to her fine countenance; but it was withal
tempered so sweetly with the meek affection and submissive duty of the
wife, that as she paused expecting her husband's answer, he gazed at her
tenderly, and found he was unable to refuse her request.
“She is a good girl,” said Temple.
“She is, indeed,” replied the fond mother exultingly, “a grateful,
affectionate girl; and I am sure will never lose sight of the duty she
owes her parents.”
“If she does,” said he, “she must forget the example set her by the best
of mothers.”
Mrs. Temple could not reply; but the delightful sensation that dilated
her heart sparkled in her intelligent eyes and heightened the vermillion
on her cheeks.
Of all the pleasures of which the human mind is sensible, there is
none equal to that which warms and expands the bosom, when listening to
commendations bestowed on us by a beloved object, and are conscious of
having deserved them.
Ye giddy flutterers in the fantastic round of dissipation, who eagerly
seek pleasure in the lofty dome, rich treat, and midnight revel--tell
me, ye thoughtless daughters of folly, have ye ever found the phantom
you have so long sought with such unremitted assiduity? Has she not
always eluded your grasp, and when you have reached your hand to take
the cup she extends to her deluded votaries, have you not found the
long-expected draught strongly tinctured with the bitter dregs of
disappointment? I know you have: I see it in the wan cheek, sunk
eye, and air of chagrin, which ever mark the children of dissipation.
Pleasure is a vain illusion; she draws you on to a thousand follies,
errors, and I may say vices, and then leaves you to deplore your
thoughtless credulity.
Look, my dear friends, at yonder lovely Virgin, arrayed in a white robe
devoid of ornament; behold the meekness of her countenance, the
modesty of her gait; her handmaids are Humility, Filial Piety, Conjugal
Affection, Industry, and Benevolence; her name is CONTENT; she holds
in her hand the cup of true felicity, and when once you have formed an
intimate acquaintance with these her attendants, nay you must admit them
as your bosom friends and chief counsellors, then, whatever may be your
situation in life, the meek eyed Virgin wig immediately take up her
abode with you.
Is poverty your portion?--she will lighten your labours, preside at your
frugal board, and watch your quiet slumbers.
Is your state mediocrity?--she will heighten every blessing you enjoy,
by informing you how grateful you should be to that bountiful Providence
who might have placed you in the most abject situation; and, by teaching
you to weigh your blessings against your deserts, show you how much more
you receive than you have a right to expect.
Are you possessed of affluence?--what an inexhaustible fund of happiness
will she lay before you! To relieve the distressed, redress the injured,
in short, to perform all the good works of peace and mercy.
Content, my dear friends, will blunt even the arrows of adversity, so
that they cannot materially harm you. She will dwell in the humblest
cottage; she will attend you even to a prison. Her parent is Religion;
her sisters, Patience and Hope. She will pass with you through life,
smoothing the rough paths and tread to earth those thorns which every
one must meet with as they journey onward to the appointed goal. She
will soften the pains of sickness, continue with you even in the
cold gloomy hour of death, and, cheating you with the smiles of her
heaven-born sister, Hope, lead you triumphant to a blissful eternity.
I confess I have rambled strangely from my story: but what of that? if
I have been so lucky as to find the road to happiness, why should I be
such a niggard as to omit so good an opportunity of pointing out the way
to others. The very basis of true peace of mind is a benevolent wish to
see all the world as happy as one's Self; and from my soul do I pity the
selfish churl, who, remembering the little bickerings of anger, envy,
and fifty other disagreeables to which frail mortality is subject, would
wish to revenge the affront which pride whispers him he has received.
For my own part, I can safely declare, there is not a human being in
the universe, whose prosperity I should not rejoice in, and to whose
happiness I would not contribute to the utmost limit of my power: and
may my offences be no more remembered in the day of general retribution,
than as from my soul I forgive every offence or injury received from a
fellow creature.
Merciful heaven! who would exchange the rapture of such a reflexion for
all the gaudy tinsel which the world calls pleasure!
But to return.--Content dwelt in Mrs. Temple's bosom, and spread a
charming animation over her countenance, as her husband led her in, to
lay the plan she had formed (for the celebration of Charlotte's birth
day,) before Mr. Eldridge.