spires rising here and there from
clustered homes; to the south, a vast stretch of fertile fields,
rolling like a fruitful sea to the horizon; within the mighty circle,
groups of lower hills, wooded valleys shadowy and mysterious in the
distance, villages and scattered homes.

It was a deep saying of Goethe's that "on every height there lies
repose." A Sabbath stillness and solemnity reign in this upper sphere,
where the sound of human toil never comes and the cry of humanity never
penetrates. The boundaries that confine and baffle the vision along
the walks of ordinary life have all faded out; great States lie
together in this outlook without visible lines of division or
separation. The obstacles to sight which hourly baffle and confuse are
gone; from horizon to horizon all things are clear and visible, and the
world is vast and beautiful to its remotest boundaries. The repose
which lies on the heights of life is born of the vast and unclouded
vision which looks down upon all obstacles, over all barriers, and
takes in at a glance the mighty scope of human activity and the
unbroken sky which overhangs it continually like a visible infinity.
On such heights it is the blessed reward of a few elect souls to live;
but the paths thither are open to every traveller.

Chapter XV

Under College Elms

Stretched under the spreading branches of this noble elm, which has
seen so many college generations come and go, I have well-nigh
forgotten that life has any limitations of space or time; work,
anxiety, weariness fade out of thought under a heaven from which every
cloud has vanished, and the eye pierces everywhere the infinite depths
of the upper firmament. Days are not always radiant here, and the
stream of life as it flows through this tranquil valley is flecked with
shadows; but all sweet influences have combined to touch this passing
hour with unspeakable peace. Here are the old familiar footpaths
trodden so often with hurrying feet in other years; here are the
well-worn seats about which familiar groups have so often gathered and
sent the echoes of their songs flying heavenward; here are the rooms
which will never lose the sense of home because of those who have lived
in them. The chapel bell tolls as of old, and the crowd comes hurrying
along like the generations before them, but the eye sees no familiar
faces among them. It is a place of intense and rich living, and yet
to-day, and for me, it is a place