And, observe, all these superiorities are matters plainly measurable and
calculable, not in any wise to be referred to estimate of _sensation_.
Of the grandeur or expression of the hills I have not spoken; how far
they are great, or strong, or terrible, I do not for the moment
consider, because vastness, and strength, and terror, are not to all
minds subjects of desired contemplation. It may make no difference to
some men whether a natural object be large or small, whether it be
strong or feeble. But loveliness of colour, perfectness of form,
endlessness of change, wonderfulness of structure, are precious to all
undiseased human minds; and the superiority of the mountains in all
these things to the lowland is, I repeat, as measurable as the richness
of a painted window matched with a white one, or the wealth of a museum
compared with that of a simply furnished chamber. They seem to have been
built for the human race, as at once their schools and cathedrals; full
of treasures of illuminated manuscript for the scholar, kindly in simple
lessons to the worker, quiet in pale cloisters for the thinker, glorious
in holiness for the worshipper.
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