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148 LETTEES.
the- essential dignit}'- of man.—There are
times and circumstances wherein only the
stoic's principles will minister to peace ; but
that there is an epicurism founded on the
legitimate exercise of our whole being, natural
and spiritual laws alike declare. We cannot
but recognise the genial as a vast means of
good.
I believe there are minds that are
chiefly and
nobly active only through the
honest exercise of their sympathies, and that
restraint and self-denial may blight as well
as guard.
Accordingly I rejoice in much of
the life-enjoying spirit of Italy.
I have seen
it accompanied by so much moderation and
good feeling that it seemed often like a
sincere hymn of unconscious gratitude, a
reflection of the smile of Heaven. It is not
altogether and universally enervating and
selfish; it is frequently accompanied
by a
disinterested and urbane spirit, and is, after