One who goes touring on foot with a single volume in his knapsack reads with circumspection， pausing often to reflect， and often laying the book down to contemplate the landscape or the prints in the inn parlour； for he fears to come to an end of his entertainment， and be left companionless on the last stages of his journey. A young fellow recently finished the works of Thomas Carlyle， winding up， if we remember aright with the ten note-books upon Frederick the Great. “What！” cried the young fellow， in consternation， “Is there not more Carlyle？ Am I left to the daily papers？” A more celebrated instance is that of Alexander， who wept bitterly because he had no mere worlds to subdue. And when Gibbon had finished the Decline and Fall， he had only a few moments of joy； and it was with a “sober melancholy” that he parted from his labours.
Happily we all shoot at the moon with ineffectual arrows； our hopes are set on inaccessible El Dorado； we come to an end of nothing here below. Interests are only plucked up to sow themselves again， like mustard. You would think， when the child was born， there would be an end to trouble； and yet it is only the beginning of fresh anxieties； and when you have seen it through its teething and its education， and at last its marriage， alas！ It is only to have new fears， new quivering sensibilities， with every day； and the health of your children’ s children grows as touching a concern as that of your own. Again， when you have married your wife， you would think you were got upon a hilltop， and might begin to go downward by an easy slope. But you have only ended courting to begin marriage. Falling in love and winning love are often difficult tasks to overbearing and rebellious spirits； but to keep in love is also a business of some importance， to which both man and wife must bring kindness and goodwill. The true love story commences at the altar， when there lies before the married pair a most beautiful contest of wisdom and generosity， and a lifelong struggle towards an unattainable ideal. Unattainable？ Ay， surely unattainable， from the very fact that they are two instead of one.