SEPTEMBER. 327 



upon them as the unconquerable abodes of free 

 hearts ; as the stern, heaven-built walls from 

 which the few, the feeble, the persecuted, the 

 despised, the helpless child, the delicate woman, 

 have from age to age, in their last perils, in all 

 their weaknesses and emergencies, when power 

 and cruelty were ready to swallow them up, 

 looked down, and beheld the million waves of 

 despotism break at their feet : have seen the 

 rage of murderous armies, and tyrants, the 

 blasting spirit of ambition, fanaticism, and 

 crushing domination recoil from their bases in 

 despair. " Thanks be to God for mountains !" 

 is often the exclamation of my heart as I trace 

 the History of the World. From age to age, 

 they have been the last friends of man. In 

 a thousand " extremities they have saved him. 

 What great hearts have throbbed in their de- 

 nies from the days of Leonidas to those of 

 Andreas Hofer ! What lofty souls, what ten- 

 der hearts, what poor and persecuted creatures 

 have they sheltered in their stony bosoms 

 from the weapons and tortures of their fellow 

 men, 



Avenge, O Lord, thy slaughtered saints, whose bones 

 Lie scattered on the Alpine mountains cold ! 



