I determined
therefore, if it pleased Providence to spare me, to see something of this
world; and so here I am."
Few of us are free, however much we might wish it, to follow the example
of the worthy Abbe. But although it may not be possible for us to reach
the Rocky Mountains, there are other countries nearer home which most of
us might find time to visit.
Though it is true that no descriptions can come near the reality, they may
at least persuade us to give ourselves this great advantage. Let me then
try to illustrate this by pictures in words, as realized by one of our
most illustrious countrymen; I will select references to foreign countries
only, not that we have not equal beauties here, but because everywhere in
England one feels oneself at home.
The following passage from _Tyndall's Hours of Exercise in the Alps_, is
almost as good as an hour in the Alps themselves:
"I looked over this wondrous scene toward Mont Blanc, the Grand Combin,
the Dent Blanche, the Weisshorn, the Dom, and the thousand lesser peaks
which seem to join in the celebration of the risen day.
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