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EXTRACTS FROM HIS WORKS [oh. vii. 
2.—Mountain Inspiration. 
It is delightful to wander far away from the 
haunts and even the solitary huts of men, and, 
ascending the steep mountain, seat one’s self on the 
ruinous cairn that crowns its summit, where, amid 
the grey stones, the ptarmigan gleans its Alpine 
food. There, communing with his own heart, in 
the wilderness, the lover of Nature cannot fail to 
look up to Nature’s God. I believe it in fact 
impossible, in such a situation, on the height of 
Ben-na-muic-dhui or Ben Nevis, for example, not 
to be sensible, not merely of the existence but also 
of the presence of a Divinity. In that sacred 
temple, of which the everlasting hills are the pillars, 
and the blue vault of heaven the dome, he must 
be a fiend indeed who could harbour an unholy 
thought. But, to know himself, one must go there 
alone. Accompanied by his fellows, he may see 
all of external Nature that he could see in solitude, 
but the hidden things of his own heart will not be 
brought to light. To me the ascent of a lofty 
mountain has always induced a frame of mind 
similar to that inspired by entering a temple; and 
I cannot but look upon it as a gross profanation to 
enact in the midst of the sublimities of creation a 
convivial scene, such as is usually got up by parties 
from our large towns, who seem to have no higher 
