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 THE GUARDIAN.

178

N° 31.

much time to diſcover what happineſs is; and wherein it chiefly conſiſts. An eminent writer, named Varro, reckons up no leſs than two hun

dred eighty-eight different opinions upon this ſubject; and another, called Lucian, after having given us a long catalogue of the notions of ſeveral philoſophers, endeavours to ſhew the abſurdity of all of them, without eſtabliſhing any thing of his own.

That which ſeems to have made ſo many err

in this caſe, is the reſolution they took to fix a

man's happineſs to one determined point ; which I conceive cannot be made up but by the con : currence of ſeveralparticulars. I ſhall readily allow Virtue the firſt place, as ſhe is the mother of Content.

It is this which

calms our thoughts, and makes us ſurvey our ſelves with eaſe and pleaſure. Naked virtue, however, is not alone fufficient to make a man

happy. It muſt be accompanied with at leaſt a moderate proviſion of all the neceſſaries of life, and not ruffled and diſturbed by bodily pains. A fit of the ſtone was ſharp enough to make a

ſtoick cry out, that Zeno, his maſter, taught him falſe, when he told him that pain was no evil .'

But, beſides this, virtue is ſo far from being

alone fufficient to make a man happy, that the exceſs of it in ſome particulars, joined to a ſoft

and feminine temper, may often give us the

deepeſt wounds, and chiefly contribute to render us uneaſy. I might inſtance in pity, love, and

friendſhip. Inthe two laftpaffions it often hap pens, that we fo entirely give up our hearts, as