nd to enable herself to bear the
extra pressure she did part of the work at night in order to keep
several hours of daylight clear for her walks in the country, where she
lived. Many writers, in the same situation, would have temporarily
abandoned exercise, but George Sand clung to it all the more at a time
when it was especially necessary that she should be well. In the same
way Sir Walter Scott counterbalanced the effects of sedentary occupation
by his hearty enjoyment of field-sports. It has been supposed that his
outdoor exercise, which to weaker persons appears excessive, may have
helped to bring on the stroke of paralysis which finally disabled him;
but the fact is, that when the stroke arrived Sir Walter had altered his
habits of life in obedience to what he believed to be his duty, and had
abandoned, or nearly so, the active amusements of his happier years. I
believe rather that whilst he took so much exercise his robust
constitution not only enabled him to endure it without injury, but
required it to keep the nervous system healthy, in spite of his hard
work in literary composition. Physical exercise, when the constitution
is strong enough to endure it, is by far the best tranquillizer of the
nervous system which has yet been discovered, and Sir Walter's life at
Abbotsford was, in this respect at least, grounded on the true
philosophy of conduct. The French romancer, Eugene Sue, wrote till ten
o'clock every morning, and passed the rest of the day, when at his
country house, either in horse-exercise, or field-sports, or gardening,
for all of which he had a liking which amounted to passion. Shelley's
delight was boating, which at once exercised his muscles and relieved
his mind from the weariness of incessant invention or speculation. It
will generally be found, that whenever a man of much intellectual
distinction has maintained his powers in full activity, it has been by
avoiding the bad effects of an entirely sedentary life.

I well believe that a person naturally robust, with a clear and powerful
brain, could bear twelve or fourteen hours' work every day for years
together so far as the work itself is concerned, if only so large an
expenditure of time left a sufficient margin for amusement, and
exercise, and sleep. But the privation of exercise, by weakening the
digestive and assimilative powers, reduces the flow of healthy and rich
blood to the brain--the brain requires an enormous quantity of blood,
especial