or sea' are to be objects of
our pity and our prayers; and I do pity them. I delight in that same
monotony. It saves curiosity, anxiety, excitement, disappointment, and a
host of bad passions."

But even as he writes one can see that he does not convince himself.
Possibly, he admits, "after all, the grapes are sour"; and when some
years after he did travel, how happy he was! At last, he says,
triumphantly, "At last we too are crossing the Atlantic. At last the
dream of forty years, please God, would be fulfilled, and I should see
(and happily not alone), the West Indies and the Spanish Main. From
childhood I had studied their Natural History, their Charts, their
Romances; and now, at last, I was about to compare books with facts, and
judge for myself of the reported wonders of the Earthly Paradise."

No doubt there is much to see everywhere. The Poet and the Naturalist
find "tropical forests in every square foot of turf." It may even be
better, and especially for the more sensitive natures, to live mostly in
quiet scenery, among fields and hedgerows, woods and downs; but it is
surely good for every one, from time to time, to refresh and strengthen
both mind and body by a spell of Sea air or Mountain beauty.

On the other hand we are told, and told of course with truth, that
though mountains may be the cathedrals of Nature, they are generally
remote from centres of population; that our great cities are grimy,
dark, and ugly; that factories are creeping over several of our
counties, blighting them into building ground, replacing trees by
chimneys, and destroying almost every vestige of natural beauty.

But if this be true, is it not all the more desirable that our people
should have access to pictures and books, which may in some small
degree, at any rate, replace what they have thus unfortunately lost? We
cannot all travel; and even those who can, are able to see but a small
part of the world. Moreover, though no one who has once seen, can ever
forget, the Alps, the Swiss lakes, or the Riviera, still the
recollection becomes less vivid as years roll on, and it is pleasant,
from time to time, to be reminded of their beauties.

There is one other advantage not less important. We sometimes speak as
if to visit a country, and to see it, were the same thing. But this is
not so. It is not every one who can see Switzerland like a Ruskin or a
Tyndall. Their beautiful descriptions of mountain scenery depend less on
their mas