CHAPTER X 



The Amateur Tramp in TLngland 



VAGABONDAGE is a term of opprobrium and 

 contempt, and yet there is a meaning in the word 

 that has a charm for respectable people. Kinglake has 

 expressed the thing admirably in " Eothen " ; there 

 come times to most of us who are worth anything at 

 all, when the restraints of society chafe beyond endu- 

 rance. Our nature has passionate longings to refresh 

 itself by a relapse into the habits of our primitive 

 progenitors. We cannot precisely cast away our 

 clothes, and a loose covering of skins for summer wear 

 would fret our over-sensitive epidermis ; the acorns of 

 the golden age would vex our artificial digestions, and 

 we should pull exceedingly wry faces over draughts 

 from the limpid stream. But a little playing at that 

 free-and-easy existence, modified by some appliances 

 of luxuries in the rough, is a very actual joy for the 

 time, that leaves delightful though disturbing remin- 

 iscences behind it. Many a care-harassed spirit will 

 keep longing for the wings of the dove ; but failing 

 these, a stout pair of legs, a sound stomach, and an 



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