INTERCOURSE WITH THE ILLUSTRIOUS. 385
traveller, is the sight of the living, who by their deeds or writings have made mankind wiser and happier. \Ve seek this privilege with the greater zeal, from the consciousness that it must be fleeting, and the appre hension that it may not be accorded to us again. Gray hairs are seen sprinkling the heads of the masters of the lyre, and we feel that another year might have been too late to clasp their hand, or catch the music of their voice. The statesman, the hero, the philanthro pist, bend beneath the weight of years, and we thank God that we came before the cold marble should have told us where they slumbered. We find clustering roses blooming in the garden of the man of genius, who so oft led us captive, while time passed unheeded. But where is he ? Where ? No reply, save a sighing sound through the trees that he planted, and we drop the tear of the mourner in his deserted halls.
Among the advantages of travelling, it is common to allow a high place to the knowledge of human nature. A still higher acquisition might be mentioned, the knowledge of ourselves. By remaining always at home, we are involuntarily led to magnify our own importance. Our daily movements may be points of observation to the villagers who surround us ; our footsteps be listened for by the ear of love ; the casual paleness of our cheek be painfully noted at the hearth stone. Marked attentions and fond observances create a habitude of expecting them, which may become mor bid ; perhaps a belief that they are fully deserved, and of course a dissatisfaction when they are withheld. 25
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