200 THE LIFE OF RICHARD JEFFERIES 



undulating along the column as the feet are lifted, brings 

 tears in my eyes. Yet could I have in my own heart all 

 the passion, the love and joy, burned in the breasts that 

 have panted, breathing deeply, since the hour of Ilion, 

 yet still I should desire more. How wilhngly I would 

 strew the paths of all with flowers ; how beautiful a 

 delight to make the world joyous ! The song should 

 never be silent, the dance never still, the laugh should 

 sound like water which runs for ever. 



' I would submit to a severe discipline, and to go 

 without many things cheerfully, for the good and happi- 

 ness of the human race in the future. Each one of us 

 should do something, however small, towards that great 

 end. At the present time the labour of our predecessors 

 in this country, in all other countries of the earth, is 

 entirely wasted. We live — that is, we snatch an exist- 

 ence — and our works become nothing. The piling up 

 of fortunes, the building of cities, the establishment of 

 immense commerce, ends in a cipher. These objects are 

 so outside my idea that I cannot understand them, and 

 look upon the struggle in amazement. Not even the 

 pressure of poverty can force upon me an understanding 

 of, and sympathy with, these things. It is the human 

 being as the human being of whom I think. That the 

 human being as the human being, nude— apart alto- 

 gether from money, clothing, houses, properties— should 

 enjoy greater health, strength, safety, beauty, and 

 happiness, I would gladly agree to a discipline hke that 

 of Sparta. The Spartan method did produce the finest 

 race of men, and Sparta was famous in antiquity for the 

 most beautiful women. So far, therefore, it fits exactly 

 to my ideas. 



' No science of modern times has yet discovered a plan 

 to meet the requirements of the millions who live now, no 

 plan by which they might attain similar physical propor- 

 tion. Some increase of longevity, some slight improve- 

 ment in the general health is promised, and these are 

 great things, but far, far beneath the ideal. Probably the 



