10 



it reveals nothing, to the mind or soul. In a flat conn- 

 try, a hill, however insignificant, is a relief. A few 

 weeks ago, a friend standing by my side in one of the 

 level towns of the Old Colony, and no part of Massa- 

 chusetts can be called a plain, pointed with zeal to the 

 Milton hills, evidently gratified by the view, even at a 

 distance, of so trifling an elevation of land. 



It is difficult to say how far the o[)erations of the 

 mind are self-acting. Vse are influenced by what is 

 around us. The sun, the moon, the planetary host, 

 the myriads of stars, not only perform their parts in the 

 great system of celestial mechanics, but they perpetu- 

 ally invite and attract men to the paths of science and 

 religion. Paganism, or that form which bids men adore 

 the sun, is sincere worship, though its proper object is 

 unknown. 



Yet it is certain from this that we are so constituted 

 as to accept the instruction and influence of God's 

 revelation in nature. And what is true of the influ- 

 ence of odier worlds and systems, is in a degree true 

 of the globe on which we dwell. A single majestic 

 tree, a forest, a cataract, a mountain, the ocean, will 

 often compel us to homage and adoration. So a stone, 

 a leaf, a shell, a flower, we know not why or how, 

 stimulates a mind so that it advances to new regions of 

 science and heights of learning. No part of the world 

 is destitute of these teachers and preachers of science 

 and religion ; yet the mountains and ocean-touched 

 portions are the most favored in this respect. What- 

 ever is majestic, grand, sublime in nature, tends to 

 produce the like qualities not only in the student but 

 even in the common observer. So true is this, that a 

 race may l)ecome distinguished for the qualities which 



