If, in revolt against his urban inaction, a man desires to kick his heels in the freedom of other lands, he need not travel to Monte Carlo or to Paris, there to shock the astonished natives by behaving himself in a manner not permitted in the city of his birth: he may, instead, seat himself by his fireside and, book in hand, may transport his cumbrous form to countries and periods which will view his eccentricities without amazement. Who will there question his sanity if he dress himself in seaweed and flounder about the floor, pretending to be a fish? Did not the Society of Inimitable Livers thus amuse themselves in the royal palace of Alexandria? Or who will accuse him of intemperance if he take his place amongst the guests at a feast in Memphis, and dance a jig for the applause of Pharaoh? Has not Pharaoh himself said, as Harkhuf tells us, “My Majesty desires to see this man dance more than the treasure of Sinai, more than the gifts of Pount”? If he be in search of joke and jest, can he do better than read the tales of mankind’s youth? By his fireside, and exerting no muscle in the search for a merry atmosphere, he may see the worthy Antigonus, now grown old, walking the paved street of his city to pay a visit to his son Demetrius who lies ill in yonder house. He may watch the stern old man, as he is about to enter the door, met by a beautiful damsel who is coming out through it. Antigonus passes her without a sign, and entering the sickroom sits himself down by his son’s bed and feels his pulse. “The fever has just left me,” he may hear the young man say. “Yes,” replies his father, looking straight before him, “I met it going out at the door.” Or again, with no effort of the ears or eyes, he may see Marcus Appius rise in his place in a court at Rome and open his final speech for the defence with the words “I have been desired by my client to employ on his behalf industry, eloquence and fidelity ...”; and he may hear the caustic Cicero respond in an undertone “And how have you had the heart not to accede to any one of his requests?” If he be in search of love, there in the Past he will find it; for the bygone ages contain in themselves all the love of every man and woman who has ever lived. If he be concerned in the pursuit of beauty, there will he behold it; for all the loveliness that the sun and moon have looked upon are now become part of the Past. But, above all, if he be in quest of his childhood, of the high hopes and the beating pulse of youth, there in the playground of the Past he will find them.