A SUMMER AFTERNOON 117 
Selectmen, or plunge into any conceivable drudg- 
ery, in order to feel that there was still work 
enough in the universe to keep it sound and 
healthy. But this, after all, was exceptional 
and transitory, and our American life still 
needs, beyond all things else, the more habit- 
ual cultivation of outdoor habits. 
Probably the direct ethical influence of nat- 
ural objects may be overrated. Nature is not 
didactic, but simply healthy. She helps every- 
thing to its legitimate development, but applies 
no goads, and forces on us no sharp distinc- 
tions. Her wonderful calmness, refreshing the 
whole soul, must aid both conscience and intel- 
lect in the end, but sometimes lulls both tem- 
porarily, when immediate issues are pending. 
The waterfall cheers and purifies infinitely, but 
it marks no moments, has no reproaches for 
indolence, forces to no immediate decision, 
offers unbounded to-morrows, and the man of 
action must tear himself away, when the time 
comes, since the work will not be done for him. 
“The natural day is very calm, and will hardly 
reprove our indolence.” 
And yet the more bent any man is upon 
action, the more profoundly he needs this very 
calmness of nature to preserve his equilibrium. 
The radical himself needs nothing so much as 
fresh air. The world is called conservative ; but 
