FROM A NEW ENGLAND HILLSIDE. 229 



No, we do not need that the rich growth 

 of the roadside should be shorn away, or 

 that the banks should be graded like city 

 sidewalks and planked or paved. What we 

 want is a simple, practicable way among the 

 bushes beside the road ; so located as to 

 avoid unnecessary jumping and climbing, 

 and to be protected from washing by 

 storm currents. And for the path itself, 

 the foot of the passer may be relied upon in 

 most cases to establish that, provided the 

 way be given. The proverb goes, that for 

 him who wears shoes all the world is covered 

 with leather, or words to that effect ; and 

 this leather, or even bare feet, if there be 

 enough of them, will soon make upon a 

 sound sod as good a path as one could wish. 



So much for the highways ; but should 

 we always be confined to these ? A man s 

 house is, and undoubtedly should be, his 

 castle, and undoubtedly each has a right to 

 insist upon his own privacy. But this right 

 has its limitations. I always resent the pla 

 carding of large tracts with &quot;Trespassing 

 forbidden,&quot; when merely walking over the 

 fields is assumed to be trespass. At many 

 points along the seashore now, it is almost 

 impossible for the stranger to dip his hand 

 into the salt sea waves, or even to come into 



