MR FLOSKY
There is a secret in all this, which I will elucidate with a dusky
remark. According to Berkeley, the _esse_ of things is _percipi_. They
exist as they are perceived. But, leaving for the present, as far
as relates to the material world, the materialists, hyloists, and
antihyloists, to settle this point among them, which is indeed
A subtle question, raised among
Those out o' their wits, and those i' the wrong:
for only we transcendentalists are in the right: we may very safely
assert that the _esse_ of happiness is _percipi_. It exists as it is
perceived. 'It is the mind that maketh well or ill.' The elements of
pleasure and pain are every where. The degree of happiness that any
circumstances or objects can confer on us depends on the mental
disposition with which we approach them. If you consider what is meant
by the common phrases, a happy disposition and a discontented temper,
you will perceive that the truth for which I am contending is
universally admitted.
_(Mr Flosky suddenly stopped: he found himself unintentionally
trespassing within the limits of common sense.)_
MR HILARY
It is very true; a happy disposition finds materials of enjoyment
every where. In the city, or the country--in society, or in
solitude--in the theatre, or the forest--in the hum of the multitude,
or in the silence of the mountains, are alike materials of reflection
and elements of pleasure.
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