MOUNTAINS. 261 



inhabitants of mountains are more warlike than the in- 

 habitants of plains. Their superior success arises from 

 the greater facilities afforded by their position for prac- 

 tising the artifices of war. They know all the passes and 

 all the grand points for intrenchment and attack. This 

 knowledge and these advantages have gained them an 

 undue reputation for courage and heroism. 



Nature has confined her intellectual and moral gifts to 

 the inhabitants of no particular description of surface. 

 A constant familiarity with the sublime scenes of nature 

 does not exalt the imagination ; neither does a confined 

 valley, with its narrow prospects both of the heavens and 

 the earth, cramp the mind or dull the sensibility. It 

 is the want of education and of intercourse with the 

 world that affects the character. It cannot be denied 

 that there is a moral influence arising from landscape ; 

 but, contrary to the general opinion, tame and rather 

 homely landscape is the most favorable. All those scenes 

 that enchant with their beauty, or dazzle and intoxicate 

 by their grandeur, when constantly before us, are depress- 

 ing, and cause the same action upon the mind that nar- 

 cotic stimulants produce upon the nervous system. But 

 the majority of inhabitants of every country are unaf- 

 fected in any way by their daily and habitual prospects. 

 Their exhilarating and depressing effects are chiefly felt 

 by persons of more than ordinary culture or poetic sensi- 

 bility. 



It is to individuals of this class, however, that my re- 

 marks are addressed. They will agree with me that a 

 moderate share of the beauty and sublimity of landscape, 

 in the scenes about our home, is the most desirable, on 

 account of their moral influence. Homely objects and 

 monotonous views are not depressing ; they are simply 

 unsatisfying ; and if we are within the reach of fine pros- 

 pects, we are always prepared to enjoy them. Land- 



