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11. There were the most rugged forms, and the most graceful outlines, — bold, perpendicular cliffs, and gentle, undulating slopes; rocky mountains and snowy mountains, sombre and solemn, or glittering and white with walls, turrets, pinnacles, pyramids, domes, cones, and spires! There was every combination that the world can give, and every contrast the heart could desire.

12. We remained on the summit for one hour,

"One crowded hour of glorious life."

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It passed away too quickly, and we began to prepare for the descent. The traditional inaccessibility of the Matterhorn was vanquished, and was replaced by legends of a more real character. It proved to be a stubborn foe; it resisted long, and gave many a hard blow; it was defeated, at last, with an ease that none could have anticipated.

13. Others will essay to scale its proud cliffs, but to none will it be the mountain that it was to its early explorers. Others may tread its summit snows, but none will ever know the feelings of those who first gazed upon its marvelous panorama.

14.. The time may come, when the Matterhorn shall have passed away, and nothing, save a heap of shapeless fragments, will mark the spot where the great mountain stood; for, atom by atom, inch by inch, and yard by yard, it yields to forces which nothing can withstand. That time is far distant; and, ages hence, generations unborn will gaze upon its awful precipices, and wonder at its unique form. However exalted may be their ideas, and however exaggerated their expectations, none will come, to return disappointed.-Edward Whymper.

CXVII. - THE ROMANCE OF THE SWAN'S NEST.

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And the mane shall swim the wind;
And the hoofs along the sod
Shall flash onward and keep measure,
Till the shepherds look behind.

7. "But my lover will not prize
All the glory that he rides in,
When he gazes in my face.

He will say, 'O Love, thine eyes Build the shrine my soul abides in, And I kneel here for thy grace.'

8. "Then, aye, then he shall kneel low, With the red-roan steed anear him, Which shall seem to understand,

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11. "Three times shall a young foot-page Swim the stream and climb the mountain

And kneel down beside my feet:
'Lo, my master sends this gage,

Lady, for thy pity's counting!

What wilt thou exchange for it?'

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13. "Then, the young foot-page will run
Then, my lover will ride faster,
Till he kneeleth at my knee:
'I am a duke's eldest son!
Thousand serfs do call me master,
But, O Love, I love but thee!'

14. "He will kiss me on the mouth,

Then, and lead me as a lover

Through the crowds that praise his deeds.
And, when soul-tied by one troth,

Unto him I will discover

That swan's nest among the reeds."

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That swan's nest among the reeds!

ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING.

CXVIII.A PERUVIAN TEMPLE.

THE worship of the sun constituted the peculiar care of the Incas, and was the object of their lavish expenditure. The most ancient of the many temples dedicated to this divinity was in the Island of Titicaca, whence the royal founders of the Peruvian line were said to have proceeded. From this circumstance, this sanctuary was held in peculiar veneration. Everything which belonged to it, even the broad fields of maize which sur rounded the temple, and formed part of its domain, imbibed a portion of its sanctity. The yearly produce was distributed among the different public magazines, in small quantities to each, as something that would sanctify the remainder of the store. Happy was the man who could secure even an ear of the blessed harvest for his own granary!

2. But the most renowned of the Peruvian temples, the pride of the capital and the wonder of the empire, was at Cuzco, where, under the munificence of successive sovereigns, it had become so enriched that it received the name of "the Place of Gold." It consisted of a principal building and several chapels and edifices, covering a large extent of ground in the heart of the city, and completely encompassed by a wall, which, with the edifices, was all constructed of stone. The work was of the kind already described in the other public buildings of the country, and was so finely executed that a Spaniard, who saw it in its glory, assures us he could call to mind only two edifices in Spain which, for their workmanship, were

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