Lab
Library
Journal
Shop
Sign in
to keep
Share image
1
235
The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft
·
George Gissing
137
VII.
This
morning's
sunshine
faded
amid
slow-gathering
clouds,
but
something
of
its
light
seems
still
to
linger
in
the
air,
and
to
touch
the
rain
which
is
falling
softly.
I
hear
a
pattering
upon
the
still
leafage
of
the
garden;
it
is
a
sound
which
lulls,
and
tunes
the
mind
to
calm
thoughtfulness.
I
have
a
letter
to-day
from
my
old
friend
in
Germany,
E.
B.
For
many
and
many
a
year
these
letters
have
made
a
pleasant
incident
in
my
life;
more
than
that,
they
have
often
brought
me
help
and
comfort.
It
must
be
a
rare
thing
for
friendly
correspondence
to
go
on
during
the
greater
part
of
a
lifetime
between
men
of
different
nationalities
who
see
each
other
not
twice
in
two
decades.
We
were
young
men
when
we
first
met
in
London,
poor,
struggling,
full
of
hopes
and
ideals;
now
we
look
back
upon
those
far
memories
from
the
autumn
of
life.
B.
writes
to-day
in
a
vein
of
quiet
contentment,
which
does
me
good.
He
quotes
Goethe:
"Was
man
in
der
Jugend
begehrt
hat
man
im
Alter
die
Fulle."
These
words
of
Goethe's
were
once
a
hope
to
me;
later,
they
made
me
shake
my
head
incredulously;
now
I
smile
to
think
how
true
they
have
proved
in
my
own
case.
But
what,
exactly,
do
they
mean?
Are
they
merely
an
expression
of
the
optimistic
spirit?
If
so,
optimism
has
to
content
itself
with
rather
doubtful
generalities.
Can
it
truly
be
said
that
most
men
find
the
wishes
of
their
youth
satisfied
in
later
life?
Ten
years
ago,
I
should
have
utterly
denied
it,
and
could
have
brought
what
seemed
to
me
abundant
evidence
in
its
disproof.
And
as
regards
myself,
is
it
not
by
mere
happy
accident
that
I
pass
my
latter
years
in
such
enjoyment
of
all
I
most
desired?
Accident--but
there
is
no
such
thing.
I
might
just
as
well
have
called
it
an
accident
had
I
succeeded
in
earning
the
money
on
which
now
I
live.
Marker
Marker
Fine marker
White-out
Fine white-out
Circle
Paint
Unmarker
Hand
Scalpel
Dice
Sieve
Purify
Undo
Redo
Start over
