The Rambles of an Idler 



does not take a magnifying glass to prove it. 

 It is well to be self-centred. Bacon declares 

 "it is a poor centre of a man's actions, him- 

 self, " but only by selfishness are we sure of 

 self-development and thus man can make the 

 most of himself ; and his nearness to excellence 

 improves his neighbor, for we all profit by the 

 examples s-et before us. We are more imita- 

 tive and less original than we think, and yet fail 

 terribly in the line of closer observation of what 

 the world outside of humanity is doing in so 

 far as being profited by what we see. Every- 

 where the world is teeming with valuable sug- 

 gestions. Not a beast or bird or spider but can 

 give us a useful hint, yet we turn our backs 

 or see with vision so oblique we had better not 

 see at all. We make much of the silk the 

 spider spins, but not to any purpose. Folk-lore 

 rhymes concerning weather are our nearest ap- 

 proach to wisdom so far as cobwebs are con- 

 cerned. How we pride ourselves on what we 

 are, yet scarce a man but has cobwebs in his 

 skull. Thought, light as gossamer, flits through 

 the brain and we smile approvingly and call it 

 wisdom. Perish the thought that we may be 

 mistaken ! 



40 



