In a Devonshire lane, as I trotted along T'other day, much in want of a subject for song, Thinks I to myself, half-inspired by the rain, Sure marriage is much like a Devonshire lane. In the first place 'tis long, and when once you are in it, It holds you as fast as a cage does a linnet; For howe'er rough and dirty the road may be found, Drive forward you must, there is no turning round. But tho' 'tis so long, it is not very wide, For two are the most that together can ride; And e'en then, 'tis a chance but they get in a pother, And jostle and cross and run foul of each other. Oft poverty meets them with mendicant looks, And care pushes by them with dirt-laden crooks; And strife's grazing wheels try between them to pass, And stubbornness blocks up the way on her ass, Then the banks are so high, to the left hand and right, That they shut up the beauties around them from sight; And hence, you'll allow, 'tis an inference plain, That marriage is just like a Devonshire lane. But thinks I, too, these banks, within which we are pent, With bud, blossom, and berry, are richly besprent; And the conjugal fence, which forbids us to roam, Looks lovely, when deck'd with the comforts of home. In the rock's gloomy crevice the bright holly grows; The ivy waves fresh o'er the withering rose, And the ever-green love of a virtuous wife Soothes the roughness of care, cheers the winter of life. Then long be the journey, and narrow the way, I'll rejoice that I've seldom a turnpike to pay; And whate'er others say, be the last to complain, Though marriage is just like a Devonshire lane. *[4] Iter Sussexiense.' By Dr. John Burton. CHAPTER II. EARLY MODES OF CONVEYANCE. Such being the ancient state of the roads, the only practicable modes of travelling were on foot and on horseback. The poor walked and the rich rode. Kings rode and Queens rode. Judges rode circuit in jack-boots. Gentlemen rode and robbers rode. The Bar sometimes walked and sometimes rode. Chaucer's ride to Canterbury will be remembered as long as the English language lasts. Hooker rode to London on a hard-paced nag, that he might be in time to preach his first sermon at St. Paul's. Ladies rode on pillions, holding on by the gentleman or the serving-man mounted before. Shakespeare incidentally describes the ancient style of travelling among the humbler classes in his 'Henry IV.'*[1]