INTEODUCTOET. XI 



instead of the discomforts, the jam, the excitement, 

 and the unrest of the watering-places or the sea 

 shore. I visit them for their calm seclusion, their 

 pure air, their natural cheerfulness, their transcend- 

 ant beauty, their brilliant mornings, their glorious 

 sunsets, their quiet and repose. I visit them too, 

 because when among them, I can take off the armor 

 which one is compelled to wear, and remove the 

 watch which one must set over himself, in the 

 crowded thoroughfares of life ; because I can whistle, 

 sing, shout, hurrah and be jolly, without exciting 

 the ridicule or provoking the contempt of the world. 

 In short, because I can go back to the days of old, 

 and think, and act, and feel like " a boy again." 



