ression made upon my mind by the descent towards
Italy along the Simplon before the new military road had taken the place
of the old muleteer track with its primitive simplicities?

Brook and road
Were fellow-travellers in this gloomy Pass,
And with them did we journey several hours
At a slow step. The immeasurable height
Of woods decaying, never to be decayed,
The stationary blasts of waterfalls.
And in the narrow rent, at every turn,
Winds thwarting winds bewildered and forlorn,
The torrents shooting from the clear blue sky,
The rocks that muttered close upon our ears,
Black drizzling crags that spake by the way-side
As if a voice were in them, the sick sight
And giddy prospect of the raving stream,
The unfettered clouds and region of the heavens,
Tumult and peace, the darkness and the light,
Were all like workings of one mind, the features
Of the same face, blossoms upon one tree,
Characters of the great Apocalypse,
The types and symbols of Eternity,
Of first, and last, and midst, and without end.
1799.

Thirty years afterwards I crossed the Alps by the same Pass: and what
had become of the forms and powers to which I had been indebted for
those emotions? Many of them remained of course undestroyed and
indestructible. But, though the road and torrent continued to run
parallel to each other, their fellowship was put an end to. The stream
had dwindled into comparative insignificance, so much had Art interfered
with and taken the lead of Nature; and although the utility of the new
work, as facilitating the intercourse of great nations, was readily
acquiesced in, and the workmanship, in some places, could not but excite
admiration, it was impossible to suppress regret for what had vanished
for ever. The oratories heretofore not unfrequently met with, on a road
still somewhat perilous, were gone; the simple and rude bridges swept
away; and instead of travellers proceeding, with leisure to observe and
feel, were pilgrims of fashion hurried along in their carriages, not a
few of them perhaps discussing the merits of 'the last new Novel,' or
poring over their Guide-books, or fast asleep. Similar remarks might be
applied to the mountainous country of Wales; but there too, the plea of
utility, especially as expediting the communication between England and
Ireland, mor