Men whose lives are spent amidst the vicissitudes, surprises and disappointments of the money market are assuredly less idle than country gentlemen; the busy lawyer has less time to spare than the equally gifted fellow of a college; the skilled mechanic works infinitely harder, taking the average of the whole year, than the agricultural labourer; the life of a sailor on an ordinary merchant ship is one of rest, ease and safety compared with that of the collier.  Yet there can hardly be a doubt as to which individual in each example is the one to seek relaxation in excitement, innocent or the reverse, instead of in sleep.  The operator in the stock market, the barrister, the mechanic, the miner, in every case the men whose faculties are the more severely strained, are those who seek strong emotions in their daily leisure, and who are the more inclined to extend that leisure at the expense of bodily rest.  It may be objected that the worst vice is found in the highest grades of society, that is to say, among men who have no settled occupation.  I answer that, in the first place, this is not a known fact, but a matter of speculation, and that the conclusion is principally drawn from the circumstance that the evil deeds of such persons, when they become known, are very severely criticised by those whose criticism has the most weight, namely by the equals of the sinners in question—­as well as by writers of fiction whose opinions may or may not be worth considering.  For one Zola, historian of the Rougon-Macquart family, there are a hundred would-be Zolas, censors of a higher class, less unpleasantly fond of accurate detail, perhaps, but as merciless in intention.  But even if the case against society be proved, which is possible, I do not think that society can truly be called idle, because many of those who compose it have no settled occupation.  The social day is a long one.  Society would not accept the eight hours’ system demanded by the labour unions.  Society not uncommonly works at a high pressure for twelve, fourteen and even sixteen hours at a stretch.  The mental strain, though, not of the most intellectual order, is incomparably more severe than that required for success in many lucrative professions or crafts.  The general absence of a distinct aim sharpens the faculties in the keen pursuit of details, and lends an importance to trifles which overburdens at every turn the responsibility borne by the nerves.  Lazy people are not favourites in drawing-rooms, and still less at the dinner-table.  Consider also that the average man of the world, and many women, daily sustain an amount of bodily fatigue equal perhaps to that borne by many mechanics and craftsmen and much greater than that required in the liberal professions, and that, too, under far less favourable conditions.  Recapitulate all these points.  Add together the physical effort, the mental activity, the nervous strain.  Take the sum and compare it with that got by a similar process