CHAPTER X LABOUR AND REST AMONG the troubles of life I do not, of course, reckon the necessity of labour. Work indeed, and hard work too, if only it be in moderation, is in itself a rich source of happiness. We all know how quickly time passes when we are well employed, while the moments hang heavily on the hands of the idle. Occupation drives away care and all the small troubles of life. The busy man has no time to brood or to fret. "From toil he wins his spirits light, From busy day the peaceful night; Rich, from the very want of wealth, In Heaven's best treasures, peace, and health.”1 1 Gray. This applies especially to the labour of the field and the workshop. Humble it may be, but if it does not dazzle with the promise of fame, it gives the satisfaction of duty fulfilled, and the inestimable blessing of health. As Emerson reminds those entering life, "The angels that live with them, and are weaving laurels of life for their youthful brows, are toil and truth and mutual faith." We Labour was truly said by the ancients to be the price which the gods set upon everything worth having. all admit, though we often forget, the marvellous power of perseverance; and yet all Nature, down to Bruce's spider, is continually impressing this lesson on us. Hard writing makes easy reading; Plato is said to have rewritten the first page of the Republic thirteen times; and Carlo Maratti, we are told, made three hundred sketches of the head of Antinoüs before he brought it to his satisfaction. It is better to wear out than to rust out, and there is "a dust which settles on the heart, as well as that which rests upon the ledge." "1 At the present time, though there may be some special drawbacks, we come to our work with many advantages which were not enjoyed in olden times. We live in much greater security ourselves, and are less liable to have the fruits of our labour torn violently from us. But though labour is good for man, it may be, and unfortunately often is, carried to excess. Many are wearily asking themselves "Ah why Should life all labour be?" 2 There is a time for all things, says Solomon, a time to work and a time to play: we shall work all the better for 1 Jefferies. 2 Tennyson. |