Gents Mag 1813 part 2 p.574

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	Gentleman's Magazine 1813 part 2 p.574 the road, arrived before him at the next inn, and bespoke dinner and beds. - My Father was so careful not to be put out of his regular pace, that he would not allow me to walk by his side, either on foot or on horseback; not even through a town. The only time I ever did walk with him was through the street of Warrington; and then, of my own accord, I kept a little behind, that I might not influence his step. He chose that pace which was the least exertion to him. and never varied it. It looked like a saunter; but it was steady, and got over the ground at the rate of full two miles and a half in an hour. - When the horse on which I rode saw my Father before him, he neighed, though at the distance of a quarter of a mile; and the servant had some trouble to hold him in. He once laid the reins upon his neck; and he trotted directly up to my Father, then stopped and laid his head upon his shoulder. - My Father delivered all his money to me before we left home, reserving only a few pieecs (sic) of loose coin, in case he should want on the road. I paid all bills; and he had nothing to do but walk out of an inn, when he found himself sufficiently refreshed. My Father was such an enthusiast with regard to the Wall, that he turned neither to the right or the left, except to gratify me with a sight of Liverpool. Winander Mere he saw, and Ullswater he saw; because they lay under his feet; but nothing could detain him from his grand object. - When we had reached Penrith, we took a melancholy breakfast, and parted, with a tear half suppressed on my Father's side, and tears not to be suppressed on mine. He continued his way to Carlisle; I turned Westward for Keswick. After a few days' stay there, I went back to Hest Bank, a small sea-bathing place near Lancaster, where we had appointed to meet. - While I remaineded at Hest Bank, I received two scraps of paper, torn from my Father's pocket-book; the first dated from Carlisle, July 20; in which he told me he was sound in body, shoe, and stockings, and had just risen from a lodging amongst fleas. The second from Newcastle. July 23, when he informed me 'he had been at the Wall's End; that the weather was so hot he was obliged to repose under hedges; and that the country was infested with thieves: but lest I should be under any apprehensions for his personal safety, he added, they were only such as demolished his idol, the Wall, by stealing the stones of which it was composed.' - On the fifth morning after my arrival at Hest Bank, before I was up, I heard my Father cry, Hem! on the stairs. I answered calling out Father! which directed him to my room; and a most joyful meeting ensued. He continued here four days, wondered at and respected by the company. We set out on our return home in the same manner as before, and reached it in safety. - During the whole journey I watched my Father with a jealous eye. The first symptom of fatigue I observed was at Budworth, in Cheshire; after he had lost his way, and been six hours upon his legs; first in deep sands, and then on pavement road. At Liverpool his spirits were good; but thought his voice rather weaker. At Preston he first said he was tired, but, having walked eleven mile farther, to Garstang, he found himself recovered; and never after, to the best of my remembrance, uttered the least complaint. He usually came into an inn in high spirits, ate a hearty meal, grew sleepy after it, and in two hours was rested. His appetite never forsook him. He regarded strong liquors with abhorrence. Porter he drank, when he could get it; ale and spirits never. He mixed his wine with water; but considered water, alone, as the most refreshing beverage. - On our return, walking through Ashton, a village in Lancashire, a dog flew at my Father, and bit his leg; making a wound about the size of a sixpence. I found him sitting in the inn at Newton, where he had appointed to breakfast, deploring the accident, and dreading its consequences. They were to be dreaded. The leg had yet a hundred miles to walk, in extremely hot weather. I comforted my Father. 'Now,' said I, 'you will reap the fruit of your temperance: you have put no strong liquors or high sauces into your leg; you eat but when you are hungry, and drink but when you are thristy; and this will enable your leg to carry you home.' The event shewed I was right. The wound was sore; and the leg, round it, was inflamed, as every leg under such circumstances must be; but it never was very troublesome, or ever indulged with a plaster. - From the time we parted at Penrith, till we reached home, the weather was extremely hot. My Father frequently walked with his waistcoat unbuttoned; but the perspiration was so excessive, that I have even felt his coat damp on the outside, from the moisture within; and his bulk visibly diminished every day. When we arrived at Wolseley Bridge, on our return, I was terribly alarmed at this, and thanked God he had but one day more to walk. - When we got within four days of the completion of our journey, I
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