Such an one has not
surrendered his will and contracted for the next hundred miles, like
a man on a railway. He may change his mind at every finger-post,
and, where ways meet, follow vague preferences freely and go the low
road or the high, choose the shadow or the sun-shine, suffer himself
to be tempted by the lane that turns immediately into the woods, or
the broad road that lies open before him into the distance, and shows
him the far-off spires of some city, or a range of mountain-tops, or
a rim of sea, perhaps, along a low horizon. In short, he may gratify
his every whim and fancy, without a pang of reproving conscience, or
the least jostle to his self-respect. It is true, however, that most
men do not possess the faculty of free action, the priceless gift of
being able to live for the moment only; and as they begin to go
forward on their journey, they will find that they have made for
themselves new fetters. Slight projects they may have entertained
for a moment, half in jest, become iron laws to them, they know not
why. They will be led by the nose by these vague reports of which I
spoke above; and the mere fact that their informant mentioned one
village and not another will compel their footsteps with inexplicable
power.
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