PSYCHOLOGICALLY CONSIDERED 



almost as wide as humanity. Certainly 

 he would be savage who could stand on 

 Mount Washington or Marcy and be un- 

 moved by the distant view. 



This feeling, yearning or tension o£ 

 distance can be even more plainly felt in 

 looking at the stars. When the sky is clear 

 and I look up steadily with peaceful mind 

 into the measureless depths of the heavens, 

 the way pointed off for us into spaces of 

 millions of miles by thousands of twinkling, 

 shining worlds, the tension almost trans- 

 ports me. My lungs expand, I stretch up 

 to my greatest height, and if I were not still 

 too self-conscious I would spread forth my 

 arms and reach for the stars as the baby 

 cries for the moon. I wonder if the dog 

 who howls at the moon is not oppressed 

 by that same sense of the infinity of space. 

 The feeling is wholly immediate and 

 irrational. No reasoning is involved. We 

 do not require an astronomical calculation 

 to tell us that the spaces which our eyes 

 penetrate are far beyond our comprehen- 

 sion. The heavens declared the glory of 

 God and the firmament showed His handi- 

 work before any mathematician ever 

 guessed how far it is to Mars or Saturn. 



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