ROCKS. 51 



we are obliged to use and to tolerate ; but of these the 

 stonewall is one of the least exceptionable, inasmuch 

 as it harmonizes with nature, and is expressive of that 

 freedom which it affords to the traveller and the ram- 

 bler. 



It may be remarked that no inconsiderable share of 

 the interest added to a prospect by the presence of 

 rocks, arises from their connection with the history of 

 past ages of the world. They are indeed the monu- 

 ments of the antediluvian ages, and no man who is 

 acquainted with the commonly received geological facts, 

 when wandering among these relics of the mysterious 

 past, can fail to be inspired with those emotions of 

 sublimity, which proceed no less from the wonders of 

 science than from the bolder creations of poetry. 



