I wanted a change, to go into a retreat after all the excitement and anxiety of the past few months, to get rid of the ennui and disgust of life that was unsettling me, and the best remedy I have found in such cases, is to go and benefit somebody, and give real enjoyment to others. I at once thought of my villagers. Have not great men sought rest by retiring to their country homes, why not I? For several years I had only ridden out a day at a time to attend some school festival or fair, but now I concluded to make a real visit. I had my tent, servants, bag and baggage sent out to make a real stay in my Reviera or Tusculum. I sought the shade of a big peepul, a ficus and a religiosa to me, and I was soon pleasantly situated. The condition of the villages was excellent. The drains I had formerly made carried away all the refuse to the opposite side of the village from the tank. The people were extremely healthy. Few deaths had occurred, and these were from natural causes. I had given them a number of talks about the value of manure and refuse, that this was food for the soil, that the land was hungry, starving, and needed to be fed. This they could understand, for they had been hungry themselves. I said nothing about nitrates or phosphates, or the chemical ingredients of different kinds of soil, or that the ash of wheat contains phosphates, potashes and magnesia. Too much learning hath turned many a wise man’s brain, and I wanted no insanity or confusion among my people. I told them that every seer of refuse was land food, and every seer would bring in a number of extra grains of seed, larger and better vegetables, a larger rate of interest than they had paid to the bunyas. I had frequently pointed out the stuff lying about and making the villages untidy and going to waste, while the soil was begging for it. I found that they had acted on my suggestion, and swept the streets and yards, and every straw and leaf were stored in the pits. The result was a clean village, healthy people, and thriving fields. In planting the trees years ago, I was careful to have them of good timber, or of excellent fruit. They beautified the villages, gave plenty of shade, while the lopped branches supplied fuel, the fruit was a harvest in itself of food, and gave the people a pleasure in life all conducing to health and happiness. I am a utilitarian, but include that which gives beauty and pleasure with the useful. Some years previous I had supplied a few imported cattle. These now formed quite a stock, of which the people were very proud and I rejoiced in their pride. I had given some talks on cattle and their treatment; that they could not expect a poor starved bullock to do good work, any more than a weak starved man. I drew a picture on the school blackboard of a fat-bellied man, thrashing and punching a pair of skeleton cattle, and gave my opinion of such a man, fattening himself while starving the poor brutes depending on him.