luminous evening of the temperate walker! He has nothing left of man but a physical need for bed…time and a double nightcap; and even his pipe; if he be a smoker; will be savorless and disenchanted。 It is the fate of such an one to take twice as much trouble as is needed to obtain happiness; and miss the happiness in the end; he is the man of the proverb; in short; who goes farther and fares worse。
Now; to be properly enjoyed; a walking tour should beg one upon alone。 If you go in a pany; or even in pairs; it is no longer a walking tour in anything but name; it is something else and more in the nature of a picnic。 A walking tour should be gone upon alone; because freedom is of the essence; because you should be able to stop and go on; and follow this way or that; as the freak takes you; and because you must have your own pace; and neither trot alongside a champion walker; nor mince in time with a girl。 And then you must be open to all impressions and let your thoughts take colour from what you see。 You should be as a pipe for any wind to play upon。 “I cannot see the wit;” says Hazlitt; “of walking and talking at the same time。 When I am in the country I wish to vegetate like the country;” which is the gist of all that can be said upon the matter。 There should be no cackle of voices at your elbow; to jar on the meditative silence of the morning。 And so long as a man is reasoning he cannot surrender himself to that fine intoxication5 that es of much motion in the open ai