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CHAPTER XXXII. 



CHAPTER THE LAST. 



To be upon the mountains is always an inspiring, an ex- 

 hilarating event ; and the further you penetrate amidst 

 them, the greater is the feeling of delight. It is a pecu- 

 liar sensation you experience when climbing among them : 

 and I know nothing like it, except the thrill of gladness 

 and exultation which fills the heart when you have given 

 yourself to the waves, and are forcing your way onward 

 over the open sea. For mighty as are the forms which 

 rear themselves around, and sensible as I always am of 

 their vastness, on me they never exercise an overwhelm- 

 ing power : on the contrary, all my best energies are 

 called forth by the sight, and by the difficulties to be 

 grappled with : the mind seems to expand and grow, — 

 to rise, as with newly- awakened strength, till it is on a 

 level with the grandeur that it beholds. 



On the mountain- top the same silent joy possesses my 

 whole being as when in presence of the ocean; and as I 

 have sat on the rocks of the Lizard or Land's End, look- 

 ing out for hours over the Atlantic, and watching the 

 long waves that heaved their ponderous weight along, 

 awe was in my heart, it is true, and a tremendous sense 

 of God's omnipotence ; but there was no feeling of little- 

 ness : on the contrary, within me rose an elate conscious- 



