 | The works of Washington Irving |  |
TRAVELLING.
To see the country would a journey take
Some dozen mile, or very little more;
Taking his leave with friends two months before,
With driaking healths, and shaking by the hand,
As he had travail'd to some new-found land.
Doctor Merrie-Man, 1609.
The squire has lately received another
shock in the saddle, and been almost
unseated by his marplot neighbour, the
indefatigable Mr. Faddy, who rides his
jog-trot hobby with equal zeal; and is
so bent upon improving and reforming
the neighbourhood, that the squire thinks,
in a little while, it will be scarce worth
living in. The enormity that has just
discomposed my worthy host, is an attempt
of the manufacturer to have a line
of coaches established, that shall diverge
from the old route, and pass through the
neighbouring village.
I believe I have mentioned that the
Hall is situated in a retired part of the
country, at a distance from any great
coach-road; insomuch that the arrival
of a traveller is apt to make every one
look out of the window, and to cause
some talk among the ale-drinkers at the
little inn. I was at a loss, therefore, to
account fo