Page:The astral world, higher occult powers; (IA astralworldhighe00tiff).pdf/52

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of obtaining any. The miser stepped up to the bed, and placed the four strayed guineas in her hand, and told her they were hers. She looked wildly at the money, and then at the giver, and then at the guineas again. She seized his hand, pressed it, blessed him, and called upon God to bless him; and the children thanked him. The thanks, and blessings, and tears which were showered upon that miser's heart caused it to break, and for the first time in his life a pulsation of pleasure, delight, and satisfaction beat through his soul, and as he stood and witnessed the joy, and thankfulness, and hope of that family he exclaimed, "What! is happiness so cheap? then I will be happy." Then he went away, not to drown himself in the Seine, but to seek out other similar cases of suffering; and after that he had on occasion to kill himself, for he had found what was the canker that had so long been gnawing upon his heart. He found that he possessed a moral nature that had needs, and that that nature was calling upon him to perform certain moral duties; and that the moment he obeyed the demands of that nature, he silenced that clamoring within, which had all his life long rendered him unhappy and discontented; and at a good old age he testified that the way to be happy was to be good and useful.

I think his experience will be yours and mine. We talk about wanting pleasure, and we seek it in amusements and at theaters, routs, and balls; and I tell you that this feeling arises from the same cause as the miser's misery. We have hungerings and thirstings of soul which we are required to satisfy, and except we comply with these requirements we will be disquieted.