Besides, monotony is pleasant in itself; morally pleasant, and
morally useful. Marriage is monotonous: but there is much, I trust,
to be said in favour of holy wedlock. Living in the same house is
monotonous: but three removes, say the wise, are as bad as a fire.
Locomotion is regarded as an evil by our Litany. The Litany, as
usual, is right. 'Those who travel by land or sea' are to be objects
of our pity and our prayers; and I do pity them. I delight in that
same monotony. It saves curiosity, anxiety, excitement,
disappointment, and a host of bad passions. It gives a man the
blessed, invigorating feeling that he is at home; that he has roots,
deep and wide, struck down into all he sees; and that only The Being
who will do nothing cruel or useless can tear them up. It is
pleasant to look down on the same parish day after day, and say, I
know all that lies beneath, and all beneath know me. If I want a
friend, I know where to find him; if I want work done, I know who
will do it. It is pleasant and good to see the same trees year after
year; the same birds coming back in spring to the same shrubs; the
same banks covered with the same flowers, and broken (if they be
stiff ones) by the same gaps.
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