PROFESSIONAL DIFFICULTIES 89 



was disappointing and the profits meagre. ' In- 

 diting drafts of German railways which will never 

 get made ' : it is thus I find Fleeming, not without 

 a touch of bitterness, describe his occupation. Even 

 the patents hung fire at first. There was no salary 

 to rely on ; children were coming and growing up ; 

 the prospect was often anxious. In the days of his 

 courtship, Fleeming had written to Miss Austin a dis- 

 suasive picture of the trials of poverty, assuring her 

 these were no figments but truly bitter to support ; 

 he told her this, he wrote, beforehand, so that when 

 the pinch came and she suffered, she should not be 

 disappointed in herself nor tempted to doubt her 

 own magnanimity : a letter of admirable wisdom 

 and solicitude. But now that the trouble came, 

 he bore it very lightly. It was his principle, as he 

 once prettily expressed it, * to enjoy each day's 

 happiness, as it arises, like birds or children.' His 

 optimism, if driven out at the door, would come 

 in again by the window ; if it found nothing but 

 blackness in the present, would hit upon some 

 ground of consolation in the future or the past. 

 And his courage and energy were indefatigable. 

 In the year 1863, soon after the birth of their first 

 son, they moved into a cottage at Claygate near 

 Esher ; and about this time, under manifold 

 troubles both of money and health, I find him 

 writing from abroad : ' The country will give us, 

 please God, health and strength. I will love and 



