size, coupled
with wonder at the work of the great Builder of its walls and
foundations; then an apprehension of its eternity, a pathetic sense of
its perpetualness, and your own transientness, as of the grass upon
its side;--then, and in very sadness, a sense of strange companionship
with past generations, in seeing what they saw. They did not see the
clouds that are floating over your head, nor the cottage wall on the
other side of the field, nor the road by which you are travelling. But
they saw _that_. The wall of granite in the heavens was the same to
them as to you. They have ceased to look upon it; you will soon cease
to look also, and the granite wall will be for others. Then, mingled
with these more solemn imaginations, come the understandings of the
gifts and glories of the Alp;--the fancying forth of all the fountains
that well from its rocky walls, and strong rivers that are born out of
its ice, and of all the pleasant valleys that wind between its cliffs,
and all the chalets that gleam among its clouds, and happy farmsteads
couched upon its pastures; while, together with the thoughts of these,
rise strange sympathies with all the unknown of human life, and
happiness, and death, signified by that narrow white flame of the
everlasting snow, seen so far in the morning sky. These images, and
far more than these, lie at the root of the emotion which you feel at
the sight of the Alps. You may not trace them in your heart, for there
is a great deal more in your heart, both of evil and good, than you
can ever trace; but they stir you and quicken you for all that.
Assuredly, so far as you feel more at beholding the snowy mountain
than any other object of the same sweet silvery grey, these are the
kind of images which cause you to do so; and observe, these are
nothing more than a greater apprehension of the _facts_ of the thing.
We call the power 'Imagination,' because it imagines or conceives; but
it is only noble imagination, if it imagines or conceives the _truth_.
And according to the degree of knowledge possessed, and of sensibility
to the pathetic or impressive character of the things known, will be
the degree of this imaginative delight.

18. So natural is it to the human heart to fix itself in hope rather
than in present possession, and so subtle is the charm which the
imagination casts over what is distant or denied, that there is often
a more touching power in the scenes which contain far-away promises o