Westward, the hills followed each other, forming several intermediate and
partial valleys, in a kind of undulations, like the waves of the sea,
and, bending to the south, completed the boundary of the larger valley
before described, to the southward of the hill on which I sat. In many
instances the hills were cultivated with corn to their very summits, and
seemed to defy the inclemency of weather, which, at these heights,
usually renders the ground incapable of bringing forth and ripening the
crops of grain. One hill alone, the highest in elevation, and about ten
miles to the south-westward, was enveloped in a cloud, which just
permitted a dim and hazy sight of a signal-post, a lighthouse, and an
ancient chantry, built on its summit.
Amidst these numerous specimens of delightful scenery I found a mount for
contemplation, and here I indulged it.
"How much of the natural beauties of Paradise still remain in the world,
although its spiritual character has been so awfully defaced by sin! But
when Divine grace renews the heart of the fallen sinner, Paradise is
regained, and much of its beauty restored to the soul. As this prospect
is compounded of hill and dale, land and sea, woods and plains, all
sweetly blended together and relieving each other in the landscape; so do
the gracious dispositions wrought in the soul produce a beauty and
harmony of scene to which it was before a stranger.
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