Surely Happiness Is Reflective, Like The Light

Into The Space Of One Little Hour Sins Enough May Be Conjured Up By Evil Tongues To Blast The Fame Of A Whole Life Of Virtue.

The Paternal Hearth, The Rallying-place Of The Affections.

Of All The Old Festivals, However, That Of Christmas Awakens The Strongest And Most Heartfelt Associations. There Is A Tone Of Solemn And Sacred Feeling That Blends With Our Conviviality, And Lifts The Sprit To A State Of Hallowed And Elevated Enjoyment.

I Have Never Found, In Anything Outside Of The Four Walls Of My Study, An Enjoyment Equal To Sitting At My Writing Desk With A Clean Page, A New Theme, And A Mind Awake.

If I Can, By A Lucky Chance, In These Uneasy Days, Rub Out One Wrinkle From The Brow Of Care, Or Beguile The Heavy Heart Of One Moment Of Sadness; If I Can, How And Then, Prompt A Happier View Of Human Nature, And Make My Reader More In Good Humor With His Fellow-beings And Himself, Surely, I Shall Not Have Written In Vain.