The Young Lady's Counsellor by Daniel Wise

THE MISTAKE OF A LIFETIME. 19
What nonsense I That old alchemist with all his
philosophical learning, must be sadly lacking in common
sense ! " you vehemently exclaim, your pursed
brow and flashing eyes expressing also thf' earnestness
of your indignation at his folly.
But why should you^ young madam, be so incensed
against that harmless old alchemist, while you are
guilty of a folly equally obvious, but infinitely more
serious in its consequences ? Why is that theorist
a fool ?
Simply because he seeks an obvious impossibility
: he pursues a dream, — he grasps a shadow !
Vou do the same ; for have I not convicted you. on
the testimony of your own consciousness, of seeking
to extract true happiness from the external world
alone ? With equal discretion might you search
after the elixir of life, or the philosopher's stone.
For
how can perishing matter satisfy imperishable mind \
Can a mind like
yours, endowed with ciavmgs after
the Divine, the infinite, and the immortal, be satisfied
(vith the finite, the created, the ever-changing visible
world? Never! It is impossible, in the nature of
thmgs.
And a mind unsatisfied is a mind unhappy.