Section Iii.--Contentment.

The true secret of happiness lies in a contented mind. If we would be happy, we must be satisfied with our lot as it is. There is no condition in which there is not something unpleasant. If we seek for perfection, we may roam the wide world over, and never find it; but, if we learn to bear patiently what we cannot help, almost any situation in life will be tolerable. Every one, however, is disposed to think his troubles the worst of all. The following story shows that no situation is exempt from trouble.

The old black sheep.

A gentleman in England was passing by where a large flock of sheep were feeding; and seeing the shepherd sitting by the road-side, preparing to eat his dinner, he stopped his horse, and began to converse with him. "Well, shepherd," he said, "you look cheerful and contented, and I dare say, have very few cares to vex you. I, who am a man of large property, cannot but look at such men as you with a kind of envy." "Why, sir," replied the shepherd, "'tis true, I have not trouble like yours; and I could do well enough, was it not for that black ewe that you see yonder among my flock. I have often begged my master to kill or sell her; but he won't, though she is the plague of my life; for no sooner do I sit down at my book or take up my wallet to get my dinner, but away she sets off over the down, and the rest follow her; so that I have many a weary step after them. There! you see she's off, and they are all after her!" "Ah, my friend," said the gentleman, "I see every man has a black ewe in his flock, to plague him, as well as I."

Hunting after contentment.

A man had a number of houses, and would move from one to another, because he could be contented but a little while in a place. A person asked him why he moved so often, and he said he was hunting after contentment. But content is never found by seeking.