ROCKS. 49 



pleasure than the same beheld from an even slope. Is 

 it the more agreeable when we partake of any such en- 

 joyments, to be disconnected from the objects immedi- 

 ately around us ? Or when standing upon a rock that 

 projects from the surface of the ground, may we not 

 experience an illusive feeling of elevation? In the 

 town of Beverly are many grand and delightful views 

 of the ocean, from different points on th-e neighboring: 

 hills and eminences. Some of these views are proba- 

 bly unsurpassed by the coast scenery in any part of the 

 country. I have repeatedly observed that parties of 

 pleasure, when making an excursion among these hills,, 

 are not satisfied with a view of the ocean and land- 

 scape,, until they have beheld them from some elevated 

 or projecting rock. There is probably a poetic feeling 

 of isolation attending us when standing upon a rock,, 

 that increases those emotions, whether of beauty or 

 sublimity, which are excited by the prospect. 



Any one who has rambled over the bald hills that 

 bound almost the whole northern shore of Massachu- 

 setts Bay, can bear witness to the power of these land- 

 scapes to magnify those sublime emotions that come 

 from the aspect of desolation. They are felt, in these 

 places, unaccompanied by that profound melancholy 

 which must ever attend us when contemplating a wide- 

 scene of ruins. Here the appearance of desolation is 

 sufficient to awaken a deep emotion of sublimity ; but 

 while surrounded with so many evidences of a fertile 

 and prosperous country, we are equally affected with a- 

 sense of cheerful exaltation. I doubt whether the most 

 beautiful garden in Europe would afford so much of 

 the luxury of mental emotion, as a ramble over these 

 bald hills affords to one whose mind is properly attuned- 

 for such enjoyments. It is evident that the hills with- 



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