290 THE EULOGY OF RICHARD JEFFERIES. 



to touch it I held my hand so that I could 

 see the sunlight gleam on the slightly moist 

 surface of the skin. The earth and sun were 

 to me like my flesh and blood, and the air of 

 the sea life. 



" With all the greater existence I drew from 

 them I prayed for a bodily life equal to it, for 

 a soul-life beyond my thought, for my inex- 

 pressible desire of more than I could shape 

 even into idea. There was something higher 

 than idea, invisible to thought as air to the 

 eye ; give me bodily life equal in fulness to 

 the strength of earth, and sun, and sea ; give 

 me the soul-life of my desire. Once more I 

 went down to the sea, touched it, and said fare- 

 well. So deep was the inhalation of this life 

 that day, that it seemed to remain in me for 

 years. This was a real pilgrimage. " 



There is much more a great deal more in 

 this remarkable book ; but what follows is 

 mostly an amplification of what has gone 

 before. He dwells upon the striving after 

 physical perfection, the sacred duty of every 

 man and woman to enrich and strengthen 



