Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 8, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 March 1891 — Who Are the Happiest People? [ARTICLE]

Who Are the Happiest People?

The Earl of Derby answered this question recently, in an address to the Scientific and Technological School of Liverpool, an institution of which was one of the founders. He said: “Having known men of many professions, I should say that the happiest lives are those which have been devoted to science. Every step is interesting, and the success of those who do succeed is lasting. “What general, what orator, what statesman, what man of letters can hope to leave a memory like that of Darwin ? An invalid in health, a man who seldom stirred from home; a man until his later years very little known to the outer world, but who from his quiet study revolutionized the thought of Europe, and will be remembered as long as Newton and Bacon. “If fame be ever worth working for (I do not say it is), that kind of fame is surely the most durable, and the most desirable of all.” These words are true of the disinterested men of science. We have never had in this country men more uniformly cheerful and good-tempered than Franklin, Bittenhouse, and Jefferson, who spent most of the leisure of their lives in the pursuit of knowledge, and Professor Agassiz was noted for the buoyancy of his spirits in every company •where he felt at home. But we can say something similar of every person who has a pursuit suited to his talents and circumstances. The happy people are they who have an occupation which they love, apart from any advantage it may bring them —one that they pursue with generous ardor. It is the element of disinterestedness that cheers their lives, whether they are engaged in ordinary or extraordinary avocations, and this is the reason why earnest students have such a keen enjoyment of existence.