The use of the poker with one’s fire is as natural as shaking hands with a friend. And
Then shine the bars, the cakes in smoke aspire
A sudden glory bursts from all the fire,
The conscious wight rejoicing in the heat,
Rubs the blithe knees and toasts th’ alternate feet.
Writing in The Companion in 1828, he remarks:
A man ... may begin with being happy, on the mere strength of the purity and vivacity of his pulse: children do so; but he must have derived his constitution from very virtuous, temperate, and happy parents indeed, and be a great fool to boot, and wanting in the commonist sympathies of his nature, if he can continue happy, and yet be a bad man: and then he could not be bad, in the worst sense of the word, for his defect would excuse him.
Hunt quotes approvingly this from Hannah More:
Since life’s best joys consist in peace and ease,
And though but few can serve, yet all may please,
O let th’ ungentle spirit learn from hence,
A small unkindness is a great offence.
“Life,” says George Moore, “is a perfect gift, and our duty is to enjoy it; by doing so we can help others to enjoy.”
This was Hunt’s philosophy.
These quotations from his letters, taken from originals in our collection, are indicative of his view of life: