Page:A protest against the extension of railways in the Lake District - Somervell (1876).djvu/44

 in bad weather, and a healthy competition might be created between the tradesmen in the two neighbourhoods. But no amount of local unanimity would avail anything against the general determination to retain Kensington Gardens for the benefit, not only of the bordering districts, but of the whole of London.

If there is any part of Great Britain which can be said to be held in trust for the whole nation, it is the Lakes. It is the most generally accessible of the mountain districts, and notwithstanding all that has been done round Coniston and Ullswater, it is still the most unspoiled. What even mountain districts can become under certain combinations of industry and locomotion, may be seen in parts of Yorkshire: and if the ascent of Helvellyn or Fairfield had to be begun amidst the smoke of chimneys, the roar of furnaces, and the shrieks of railway engines, the special charm of the Lake scenery would be gone. Much, no doubt, that is striking and beautiful would remain, for it would be long before even the most sanguine speculator would be tempted to reproduce the Rigi railroad on a smaller scale; but the seclusion and freshness of the valleys would be destroyed, and the enjoyment even of the mountains would be half neutralized by the annoyances clustered at their feet.

We will not go the length of saying that there is no conceivable gain to the inhabitants of Rydal and