The Defence of Idleness. 223 



trodden path during the night, and what their 

 earth-casts mean, as they lie over the bare ground, 

 set Darwin to thinking. What nonsense it is to 

 decry an aimless stroll, a journey without a goal ! 

 As if all life's excellence was to be purchased 

 only by sweat-drops. It is a happy thought, that 

 of idling away odd bits of time, only do so with- 

 out thought of possibly better things. When I 

 stop to eat a frost-nipped persimmon, a plague on 

 the intruding thought that finer fruits grow in the 

 tropics. To walk from Littleworth to Smalltown 

 may be merely the taking of so many steps ; but, 

 if you reach there one fact the wiser, you have 

 taken the first step in profitable idling. 



To idle away an hour, a day, or a week, let your 

 mind drift. Do not hold back, whatever beckons. 

 Be it the humblest weed, a dusty worm, or even 

 an English sparrow, let it be your leader, if it will, 

 and you will not be the worse for the company 

 you have kept. It is not a question of studying 

 any of these despised common things, but the re- 

 ception of such ideas as they may offer. Not one, 

 mind you, but has a part to play in the great 

 world drama, and, the chances are, can give you a 



