lit ON ANIMAL LIFE 77 



forests of algse, all ' without hurry and care,' 

 as if their ' span - long lives ' really could 

 endure for the thousand years that the old 

 catch pines for. Here is no greedy jostling 

 at the banquet that nature has spread for 

 them ; no dread of each other ; but a leisurely 

 inspection of the field, that shows neither the 

 pressure of hunger nor the dread of an 

 enemy. 



" ' To labour and to be content ' (that ' sweet 

 life ' of the son of Sirach) ^- to be equally ready 

 for an enemy or a friend — to trust in them- 

 selves alone, to show a brave unconcern for the 

 morrow, all these are the admirable points of 

 a character almost universal among animals, 

 and one that would lighten many a heart 

 were it more common among men. That 

 character is the direct result of the golden 

 law ' If one will not work, neither let him 

 eat ' ; a law whose stern kindness, unflinch- 

 ingly applied, has produced whole nations of 

 living creatures, without a pauper in their 

 ranks, flushed with health, alert, resolute, 

 self-reliant, and singularly happy." 



It has often been said that Man is the only 



