Like shallow-thoughted reasoners of Earth, You make assertions without slightest proof, Or faintest shade of truth. Your thesis, this: God marks with disapproval all the good, And blesses all the evil with His smile. Entirely false in every case! The good Are ever happiest, in peace of mind, In ease of conscience, and the hope of Heaven. The wicked may be even rich, but wealth And happiness are far from synonyms. Is happiness the child of circumstance, Or is it not the offspring of the mind? And if the mind be tranquil and serene, Does happiness not follow everywhere? The cause of doubt in you, and many more, Is that the thousands who profess the good, Are ever mourning their unhappy lot, And sighing o’er the gloomy, narrow way; The tribulation of the promise read, Without its good cheer context. These are they Who stamp with misery’s blackest seal, a life Of righteousness. By these you cannot judge, For they are not what they profess, and would Be miserable in Heaven, unless changed. But take the truly good, one who’s content To take whate’er befalls, submissively; Who feels assured that all works for the best; Take him, in all conditions, rich or poor, In sickness or in health, in pain or ease; Compare your happy wicked, with his gold, ’Twill not require a moment to decide Which one is happier! Again, you ask Why Man was not created happy, and kept so? His very freedom and intelligence Prevents a forcèd happiness. The ends Of all Creation would be marred, and Man Lose personality. A happiness Made universal, asks morality That’s universally compelled; and lost Is all the scheme of virtue and reward. Man, forced to action would degenerate Into a listless, lifeless thing; the world Lose all its fine machinery of thought Combined with action. Beautiful variety Could not exist, dull sameness would be life. But Man is placed, with free intelligence, Amid surroundings from which he may cull A happiness intense, whate’er their nature be. If bright, the consciousness they are deserved; If gloomy, sweet reflections that they drape A future all the brighter for their gloom.