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This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ Ce document est film* au taux de reduction indiqu* ci-dessous. 14X 18X 22X 10X MX )0X y 12X 16X 20X 24X 28X 32X The copy filmad h«r« has b««n r«produc«d thanks to tha ganarosity of: McLennan Library McGill University IVIontreal Tha imagaa appaaring hara ara tha bast quality possibia considaring tha condition and iagibiiity of tha original copy and in kaaping with tha filming contract spacificationa. L'axamplaira filmA f ut raproduit grAca d la fiAnArositi da: EMcLennan Library McGill University Montreal Laa imagaa auh/antaa oift 4tA raproduitaa avac la plua grand aoin. compta tanu da la condition at da la n4ttati da l'axamplaira filmi, at •» conformitA avac laa conditiona du contrat da filmaga. Original eopiaa in printad papar covars ara filmad baginning with tha front covar and anding on tha last paga with a printad or illustratad impraa- slon, or tha back covar whan appropriata. All othar original coplas ara filmad baginning on tha first paga with a printad or iliuatratad impraa- sion, and anding on tha laat paga with a printad or iliuatratad imprassion. Laa axamplairaa originaux dont la couvartura •n papiar aat ImprimAa aont fiimia 9n commanpant par la pramiar plat at an tarminant soit par la darniAra paga qui comporta una amprainta d'impraasion ou d'lllustration, soit par la sacond plat, salon la caa. Toua laa autraa axamplairaa originaux sont filmAs 1% commandant par la pramlAra paga qui comporta una amprainta d'impraaaion ou d'illuatrstlon at an tarminant par la darnlAra paga qui comporta una talla amprainta. Tha last racordad frama on aach microflcha shall contain tha symbol — ^ (moaning "CON- TINUED"), or tha symbol y (moaning "END"), whichavar appliaa. Un daa symbolaa suivants apparattra sur la darnlAra Imaga da chaqua microflcha, salon la caa: la symbols — *> signifia "A SUIVRE", la symbols y signifia "FIN". IMapa, platea, charts, ate, may ba filmad at diffarant raduction ratioa. Thoaa too iarga to ba antiraly includad in ona axposura ara filmad baginning in tha uppar laft hand cornar, iaft to right and top to bottom, aa many framaa aa raqulrad. Tha following diagrams illuatrata tha mathod: Laa cartaa, pianchaa, tablaaux, ate, pauvant Atra fllmAa A daa taux da rAduction diff Arants. Lorsqua la documant aat trap grand pour Atra raproduit an un saul cllchA, il aat filmA A partir da I'angla supAriaur gaucha, da gaucha A droita, at da haut an baa, 91% pranant la nombra d'Imagas nAcaaaaira. Las diagrammas suivants illustrant la mAthoda. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 >'-ffV. •«^d: ■*r-tin ,rt.j \. .V- 'r-'' 'S'la^-.-M- ,?■ V'sT , ■'\v^-5 i-^-^j m- ii i"„V '-.i»-^:- ■v.. -.■-.■■ ■4 ''*' 4 y '-.I • ■■^:\ ... , . '■■^■■■^ ,1'' <>.M ^■>'^■ ■' 'uT J ^ •<■ ».j:f r ./- '- ^;; '^ ^ "• .v,'''f ^ '-a - "J'!?-" ' ' '''H 1 -1«1 .:-^ 1 "!» . . . '^'i-^ ■ f .^7? -|*lf :.:''>'' ,1^14 ■)/-.,:"'' V'-wp.- . ^ ] » y-;, .-V.^.^, ";'., .^ ,i4| 1^'- • 'f.- :: * , ;>> --".*»' S4 'i^k^^r . iv. ■;!V < ...«..../ ■'',. .■>- •-.:.. ■•"•"♦w^^- "^ -r" %-■'*' ' ..«- ► ./ f "« ■■■■» >. ■ > T ■ -r: ',• % \ ■ A . ^ .urn -.f#i| '•.< "*», ¥ 7 A w •PRIZE ESSAY AlND POEM ■*: f m OF THE -*-, YICTORIA, y. I.,^ **"■■ On the Beauties of the Scenery ^ Surveyed from Beacon Hill* ,:i«i^' VICTORIA, V. I. 'V.'' ••J^v Ek McMillan, Printet, Morning News Office^ 1868; * #' * # # w" * ,f< #^ % ^IwrWmrf m- # " ^. ;fe #■ « ■W' .:# .i;- «r # ik .j(j # ■*^ "^P^ V ■ # PRIZE ESSAY. y^, ^^'WSpPw-' ^ iSr The influence of scenery on the mind is acknow- ledged by all. Not only are those of cultivated in- tellect affected by it, but even the ignorant and de- praved feel unconsciously its power. The external world is indeed a reflex of the moral world, and has been termed " the visible living garment of God." There are phases iu nature which correspond to every emotion that agitates the breast, from the first tender blossoming of hope, to the last scowling blackness of despair. Thus "Wordsworth, the great poet of nature, says : "How exquisitely the individual Mind (And the progressive powers perhaps no less, Of the whole species) to the external World Is fitted : — and how exquisitely, too — Theme this but little heard of among men — The external World is fitted to the Mind; And the Creation (by no lower name Can it be called) which they with blended might Accomplish." The love of Nature is one of the most refining and elevating emotions of which man is capable, and has been a redeeming point in the characters of many. It is a strong characteristic of Byron and Rousseau, and, like charity, covers a multitude of other faults. Without running into Pantheism — the worshipping of Nature as God — it is not only a natural but an exalting exercise of miiKJ, to worship God in nature. And although some nave been led to regard researches into the constitution of the uni- verse as a substitute for all religion, yet a deep love of the beautilul, as expressed iu the works of creation, will, in a well regulated mind, ever lead "from Nature up to Nature's God." m # '# • 4 It is the office of the Beautiful, in art as well as nature, to purify and refine, to wean man from sor- did influences ; and he who has the misfortune to be wanting in an appreciation of it, is dead to a thousand sources of interest and loveliness which everywhere present themselves. We live in an at- mosphere of grandeur and beauty; earth, air, water and sky are redolent of it, and offer a never failing source of enjoyment to him who sympathises with nature. The presence of the beautiful in our homes, gives a grace to daily life, and sheds a lustre on the humblest objects. Without some attention to it home ceases to be attractive — neatness, order, fitness, all are elements of the beautiful. This fair world, these flowers with their lainbow hues, these forms of beauty and grace, tell us in unmistakable language that their Creator had something more in their design than a merely utilitarian purpose, and proclaim that they were made to adorn the earth, minister to man's delight, and satisfy his cravings for the grand and beautiful. Whilst ordinary scenery, the woodland and the dale, the gentle elope and the winding river, con- vey soothing and agreeable images, it is reserved for mountain scenery to touch those deeper chords, and awaken those grander sensations, which it is one of the highest privileges of our nature to feel. The many allusions to mountains in Scripture, show the powerful influence they exercised on the old Hebrew writers. Thus we find in the Psalms: "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help;" "Thy righteousness is like the great mountains ;" and again, "The mountains shall bring peace unto the people, and the little hills, righteous- ness." The influence and attributes of mountain scenery have been analysed with wonderful subtlety and expressed with great elegance of diction, by John Ruskin, one of the most accomplished critics of this or of any age. The love of mountain scenery is a striking mani- festation of the spirit of the age in modern times. In the classical era, and in the middle ages, moun- tains were looked on as objects of terror, places only fit to be " inhabited by the beasts." Even so late bh the times of Addison and Gray, these poets could fir.d no better epithets to apply to them than "horrid," " rugged," etc. ; but when the "ideas of the mi formed by the two last may be seen the summit of Mt. Rainier supposed to be the loftiest on this coast. It takes its name from Rear Admiral Rainier, a friend of Vancouver, and is distant 150 miles. In contrast with these eternal snows, as yet unsullied by the foot of man, are the blue waters which separate us from the American shore, bearing on their bosom yonder stately ship freighted for a distant port, and yonder small canoe creeping along the shore, whicli, with its squalid occupants, harmonizes well with the desolate grandeur of the scenery. We behold man, who has bent the powers of nature to his easy mo- tion, side by side with the savage, who, in his rudo craft, still struggles against them. This contrast is rendered all the more striking by the appearance of the mail steamer, which links this green isle of the sea to the big world beyond and brings to its exiled denizens tidings of those that are far away. The most imposing portion of the panorama is toward the East, where, across the Gulf oi" Geor- gia, the great snow-covered peaks of the Cascade 10 range rear their jagged crests on the far hori- zen. Some of them are qmte isolated and when viewed in the clear and crisp atmosphere, appear to rise out of the sea, '* mountains that like giants stand to sentinel enchanted land"; their reflections mirrored in the still and glassy waters, and prolong- ed from time to time by gentle undulations produc- ing a magical effect. Here may also be seen the entrance to Puget Sound, a magnificent sheet of water, along whose shores grow the epars which have found such favor with the navies of the world. In all probability the terminus of the Railway that crosses the Northern portion of the American con- tinent, will be on some point on these shores, so that the fleets 'of Ormus or of Ind" will in future track its surface. But the culminating point of the view is unqaes- tionably Mt. Baker, whose great peak, clad in pure white, rises in solitary majesty to a height estimated at between 12,000 and 13,000 feet. It is remarkable for its beauty of outline, and bears a considerable resemblance in this respect to the Jungfrau, the Queen of the Bernese range of the Alps. It was observed by the third lieutenant of Vancouver, and received his name. However deserved the compli- ment, one cannot but wish he had possessed a name more euphonious. For, to those ignorant of its ori- gin, it is apt to suggest a very common process of domestic life, in connection with one of nature's grandest objects. The great height of this mountain is rendered the more apparent from the circumstance of there being no other peaks in the immediate neighbourhood to dwarf it, and also trom the comparatively low height of the hills in- tervening between the spectator and its base. A group of pines in the foreground with their dark foliage also enhances the brilliant effect of the Biiow. Looking at this mountain, which stands up as a lonely sentinel of the silent land, with its hoary vj 11 I head far above the adjacent ridges, and its breast covered with the soft and shining snow, we are all the more interested remembering that from that sum- mit, now smooth and peaceful, have, within the memory of man, belched forth volcanic flames and burning stones, and that beneath that breast of vir- gin white repose the forces that may shake a conti- nent. This fact has caused it to occupy the attention of those who have considered the causes of the shocks of earthquake which from time to time agitate the coast. To the left of Mt. Baker are some distant peaks ; these are the Fort Hope mountains, on Fraser river, in British Columbia. Coming nearer, in the middle distance a feature of historical interest pre- sents itself. For there lies the upper portion of the famous island of San Juan, the circumstances con- nected with the occupation of which by joint Bri- tish and American Garrisons are too well known to need recapitulation. Nearer still is the residence of the Governor, a ca^eilated structure imposingly situated on a ridge of rocks, with villas, gardens, and homesteads scattered around. All these give that human element to the landscape without which wild and uncultivated nature soon ceases to be at- tractive, and to leave those agreeable impressions which form so great a charm in the scenery of more civilized countries. 'No one can survey these magnificent peaks, array- ed in virgin white, that have stood from all time with their foundations deeply laid in the earth, em- blems of stability and power, without some emotion of awe and wonder, and without being for a while spell bound and exalted. "As the spirit of the low- lands is repose, so that of the hills is action" ; and these sharp peaks lifting their crests to heaven seem to cry out as it were, and realize to us the convulsive throes that brought thorn forth with anguish into the world, an everlasting monument of the Creator'.^ power. In their presence, — in the presence as it 12 were of the Eternal, how insignificant becomes man with his hopes, his fears ! — the creature of a day, a flower blooming iu the morning faded at eve. At all times is this scenery grand and beautiful, whether seen in the early morning when the rising sun tinges Mt. Baker wfth a tender rose color, at noon, when the snow fields gleam like polished f