Cemptationg 



for and can not afford. The saving of sixpence 

 on three or four occasions successively I find 

 always results in a moral elation which nothing 

 less than the needless outlay of a sovereign can 

 assuage. 



The deduction I make from this and from other 

 kindred experiences is that there is no virtue in 

 being always virtuous. The virtue becomes so 

 thick that one finds himself in the position of one 

 who from always walking barefooted contracts 

 protecting callosities on his feet. One must wear 

 shoes that are taken off periodically to keep one's 

 sole tender. 



Predestination to succumb to the temptation 

 of Seedsman's catalogue recalls Omar Khayyam 

 to my mind : 



Oh Thou, who didst with pitfall and with gin 

 Beset the path I was to wander in, 



Thou wilt not with predestination too 

 Enmesh, and then account my fall a sin! 



Oh Thou, who man of baser clay didst make 

 And who with Eden didst devise the snake, 

 For all the ill wherewith the face of man 

 Is blackened man's forgiveness give and take. 



47 



