Non-Fiction > Books > London, 1881 - Virginibus Puerisque, and other papers

Child's Play. 251
not merely repeat them to himself; he leaps, he
runs, and sets the blood agog over all his body.
And so his play breathes him ; and he no
sooner assumes a passion than he gives it vent.
Alas ! when we betake ourselves to our intel-
lectual form of play, sitting quietly by the fire
or lying prone in bed, we rouse many hot feel-
ings for which we can find no outlet. Substi-
tutes are not acceptable to the mature mind,
which desires the thing itself; and even to
rehearse a triumphant dialogue with one's
enemy, although it is perhaps the most satis-
factory piece of play still left within our reach,
is not entirely satisfying, and is even apt to lead
to a visit and an interview which may be the
reverse of triumphant after all.
In the child's world of dim sensation, play is
all in all. " Making believe " is the gist of his
whole life, and he cannot so much as take a
walk except in character. I could not learn
my alphabet without some suitable viisc-en-