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235
The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft
·
George Gissing
160
The
man
of
thought,
as
we
understand
him,
is
all
but
necessarily
the
man
of
impaired
health.
The
rare
exception
will
be
found
to
come
of
a
stock
which
may,
indeed,
have
been
distinguished
by
intelligence,
but
represented
in
all
its
members
the
active
rather
than
the
studious
or
contemplative
life;
whilst
the
children
of
such
fortunate
thinkers
are
sure
either
to
revert
to
the
active
type
or
to
exhibit
the
familiar
sacrifice
of
body
to
mind.
I
am
not
denying
the
possibility
of
mens
sana
in
corpore
sano;
that
is
another
thing.
Nor
do
I
speak
of
the
healthy
people
(happily
still
numerous)
who
are
at
the
same
time
bright-
witted
and
fond
of
books.
The
man
I
have
in
view
is
he
who
pursues
the
things
of
the
mind
with
passion,
who
turns
impatiently
from
all
common
interests
or
cares
which
encroach
upon
his
sacred
time,
who
is
haunted
by
a
sense
of
the
infinity
of
thought
and
learning,
who,
sadly
aware
of
the
conditions
on
which
he
holds
his
mental
vitality,
cannot
resist
the
hourly
temptation
to
ignore
them.
Add
to
these
native
characteristics
the
frequent
fact
that
such
a
man
must
make
merchandise
of
his
attainments,
must
toil
under
the
perpetual
menace
of
destitution;
and
what
hope
remains
that
his
blood
will
keep
the
true
rhythm,
that
his
nerves
will
play
as
Nature
bade
them,
that
his
sinews
will
bide
the
strain
of
exceptional
task?
Such
a
man
may
gaze
with
envy
at
those
who
"sweat
in
the
eye
of
Phoebus,"
but
he
knows
that
no
choice
was
offered
him.
And
if
life
has
so
far
been
benignant
as
to
grant
him
frequent
tranquillity
of
studious
hours,
let
him
look
from
the
reapers
to
the
golden
harvest,
and
fare
on
in
thankfulness.
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