Page:Letters to Mothers (1839).djvu/258

 from the books they are perusing, some portion to relate, which will administer to general information, or rational amusement. All, according to their means, should he taught to swell the stock of happiness.

Mistakes are sometimes made, with regard to the nature of happiness. I knew a mother, replete with benevolence, and the soul of affection. She found her husband and children, made happy by the pleasures of the palate. Her life was devoted to that end. Elegance, and unending variety, characterized her table. Her invention was taxed, her personal labour often put in requisition, for efforts to which the genius of her servants was unequal. She loved the glowing smile that repaid her toils. The motive was affectionate; what were its results? In some, conviviality, in others gluttony, in all a preference of sense to spirit.