182 THE EULOGY OF RICHARD JEFFERIES. 



and snigger, and there seems a kind of mean- 

 ness in the act very likely there is meanness ; 

 or to do so one must trample on one's neigh- 

 bours ; or one must desert one's habits of life, 

 throw over all that one loves, and make a 

 change of which the least that can be said is 

 that it is certain to make one uncomfortable 

 for the remainder of life. 



Therefore, Jefferies suffered that forelock to 

 be plucked by another, and continued to 

 wander about the fields. He had now indeed 

 attained the object of his ambition. He was 

 not only a recognised and successful writer, 

 but his work was also looked for and loved. 

 Happy that author who knows that his work 

 is expected before it is ready, and is loved 

 when it appears. Henceforth he made no 

 more mistakes. He understood by this time 

 his personal limitation. His work, as well as 

 his days, must be concerning the fields and the 

 wild life. Year after year that work becomes 

 more beautiful until the end. As for an income, 

 it was mainly secured by his contributions to 

 the magazines and journals. He wrote, during 

 the last ten years of his life, for nearly all the 



