I  recollect  no  happier  portion  of  my  life  than  this,
my  calm  old  age.  It  is  like  the  sunny  and  sheltered
slope  of  a  valley,  where,  late  in  the  autumn,  the  grass
is  greener  than  in  August,  and  intermixed  with  golden
dandelions  that  have  not  been  seen  till  now,  since  the
first  warmth  of  the  year.  But  with  me  the  verdure
and  the  flowers  are  not  frost-bitten  in  the  midst  of  win
ter.  A  playfulness  has  revisited  my  mind  ;  a  sympa
thy  with  the  young  and  gay  ;  an  unpainful  interest  in
the  business  of  others  ;  a  light  and  wandering  curi
osity  ;  arising,  perhaps,  from  the  sense  that  my  toil  on
earth  is  ended,  and  the  brief  hour  till  bedtime  may
be  spent  in  play.  Still  I  have  fancied  that  there  is  a
depth  of  feeling  and  reflection  under  -this  -superficial
levity  peculiar  to  one  who  has  lived  long  and  is  soon
to  die.
