The Art of Being Happy

The text, upon which the following observations and comments are based, does not assume to be a literal translation of the celebrated work of Droz. The original is strongly idiomatic ;and the author has carried an uncommon talent of being laconic sometimes to the point of obscurity. I have often found it impossible to convey to theE nglish reader a sentiment, perfectly obvious in the original, in as few words as are there used. The French, in its more numerous articles, more allowable and bold personifications, and arbitrary use of gender, has, in the hand of certain writers, this advantage over our language. When the doctrines of the book are compared one with the other, and each with the general bearing of the work, the inculcation, namely, of the truth that virtue is happiness, there will be found nothing immoral or reprehensible in it. The author, on the whole, leans to theE picurean philosophy. Unfavorable, though erroneous impressions have been very generally entertained of that philosophy.