17. - . . . I am very glad we married young. I would not
have missed these five years, no, not for any hopes; they are my
own.
'NOV. 30. - I got through my Chatham lecture very fairly though
almost all my apparatus went astray. I dined at the mess, and got
home to Isleworth the same evening; your father very kindly sitting
up for me.
'DEC. 1. - Back at dear Claygate. Many cuttings flourish,
especially those which do honour to your hand. Your Californian
annuals are up and about. Badger is fat, the grass green. . . .
'DEC. 3. - Odden will not talk of you, while you are away, having
inherited, as I suspect, his father's way of declining to consider
a subject which is painful, as your absence is. . . . I certainly
should like to learn Greek and I think it would be a capital
pastime for the long winter evenings. . . . How things are
misrated! I declare croquet is a noble occupation compared to the
pursuits of business men. As for so-called idleness - that is, one
form of it - I vow it is the noblest aim of man. When idle, one
can love, one can be good, feel kindly to all, devote oneself to
others, be thankful for existence, educate one's mind, one's heart,
one's body.
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