SANITARY ASSOCIATIONS 187 



I at first, and he took the banter, as he always 

 did, with enjoyment, until he suddenly posed me 

 with the question : ' And now do you see any 

 other jokes to make ? Well, then,' said he, ' that 's 

 all right. I wanted you to have your fun out 

 first ; now we can be serious.' And then with a 

 glowing heat of pleasure, he laid his plans before 

 me, revelling in the details, revelling in hope. 

 It was as he wrote about the joy of electrical 

 experiment : ' What shall I compare them to ? — 

 A new song ? a Greek play ? ' Delight attended 

 the exercise of all his powers ; delight painted the 

 future. Of these ideal visions, some (as I have 

 said) failed of their fruition. And the illusion 

 was characteristic. Fleeming believed we had 

 only to make a virtue cheap and easy, and then 

 all would practise it ; that for an end unquestion- 

 ably good, men would not grudge a little trouble 

 and a little money, though they might stumble 

 at laborious pains and generous sacrifices. He 

 could not believe in any resolute badness. ' I 

 cannot quite say,' he wrote in his young manhood, 

 ' that I think there is no sin or misery. This I 

 can say : I do not remember one single malicious 

 act done to myself. In fact it is rather awkward 

 when I have to say the Lord's Prayer. I have 

 nobody's trespasses to forgive.' And to the 

 point, I remember one of our discussions. I said 

 it was a dangerous error not to admit there were 



