XIV 



DECLINING YEARS (1873-1893) 



ALTHOUGH living such a quiet and, in one sense, 

 uneventful life at Nunburnholme, Mr. Morris's time 

 was nevertheless as fully occupied as it was possible 

 to be ; he was never idle. As nature abhors a 

 vacuum, so his energies seemed as if they must 

 perforce be continually finding exercise in some- 

 thing. It appeared impossible for him to pass any 

 portion of his time without occupation of some 

 kind. We are told of Thomas Bewick that odd 

 moments at meal-times were seized by him to 

 perform a few touches of his truly marvellous art ; 

 in a somewhat similar way, as regards the economis- 

 ing of time, my father would daily snatch such 

 moments for providing for his feathered flock and 

 other creatures their morning meal of crumbs 

 and other fragments. People used sometimes to 

 wonder how it was he did not wear himself out 

 by this perpetual motion of mind and body. But 

 nature was kind to him, and he was always able 

 to sleep off any wear-and-tear of the previous day. 

 This recuperative power was invaluable to him ; 

 without it he must have utterly broken down. He 

 was never what would be called an early riser, but 



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