t possible for a family to grow in knowledge and virtue and enjoy
life while dwelling in mean and dirty apartments.

Cleanliness is next to godliness, and it is just as true of the
outside of the house as of the inside. A pleasant and beautiful
exterior usually signifies pleasantness and peace within. While
well-fenced and well-tilled farms are always pleasing to the
eyesight, and neatly dressed roadsides are generally desirable, it
does not follow that no shrubbery or sylvan tangles of trees should
be allowed to grow on farms or by the wayside. A bare and rocky hill
or knoll suggests images of bleak and barren desolation, cold
blasts, and parching sun; while a hill clothed and capped with woods
gives the impression of a rich and charming country. Therefore the
land unsuitable for pasturage or cultivation on a farm had better be
covered with clusters of trees or with forests; and frequently an
old stone-wall or heaps of stones can be advantageously hidden by
vines and shrubbery, as they add beauty to the landscape, furnish
shelter to birds, and often protect the crops from cold winds. Many
a wayside in country by-roads is so rough and uneven, so rocky and
full of earth-pits, that it had better be covered with the wild
shrubbery of Nature than to be cleared up in such a way as to expose
to view all its unsightly objects. Whenever the roadside cannot be
covered by greensward, the native shrubs and wild vines ought to be
allowed to hide its nakedness with green foliage and beautiful
flowers. They give beauty to wayside scenery, and increase the
interest and pleasure of those travelling along the road.

CHAPTER XIX.

ENJOYMENT OF THE ROAD.

In travelling, whether one is riding or walking, it is not
sufficient for the proper enjoyment of the way to know how to get
along in a legal manner, but he should know how to put himself in
harmony with the elements of Nature, and to feel the "gay, fresh
sentiment of the road." The first requisite for this enjoyment is to
have a hopeful and sunshiny disposition. When people are buoyed up
by hope they will find enjoyment under very adverse circumstances.
Adam and Eve, according to Milton, saw without terror for the first
time the sun descend beneath the horizon, and the darkness close in
upon the earth, and "the firmament glow with living sapphires,"
although they did not then know of a sunrise to come. Yet even in
such a time as that, according to this poet, these hopeful n