Page:A protest against the extension of railways in the Lake District - Somervell (1876).djvu/67

 your sidings and signals, and finish with a row of square-set cottages, looking as if they had been baked whole in one ugly mould, and stuck down in a lump, you do not enable a larger number of people to visit the same place; you simply destroy all its characteristics past redemption' and put the old place out of sight of every one for ever.

Lastly—do not suppose that the Railway Companies care very greatly about running cheap trips to Ambleside and Grasmere. Their object in wanting a railway I hinted at pretty plainly in my protest. When it comes to that, elegant bridges will be of little avail. Only to-day I heard something which, with your permission I will quote, as an expression of opinion, though differing widely from your own; 'we are being undersold by foreigners in iron, and if these hills contain iron we must get it, and never mind the scenery. We can't afford to keep fine scenery for a few, &c., &c.' Now if we desire to be nothing but ironmongers, and to live our lives, and die, and be buried amid the sweat and dust, the darkness and flame of our forges—well and good. That is what some people call 'progress.' But if purity of mountain air is good to be enjoyed—if it be yet worth while to cherish the patriotism that springs from affection for a noble country—if we have any purer love than the love of gain, any joy in the works of God, any care for rest, or any thoughts of peace—call these things 'sentiment' if you will, but they are noble sentiment, that is worth preserving; and most surely to be nourished and strengthened by the contemplation of the unsullied grandeur of Nature. We may mar that beauty of Holiness, and despise that power for good if we will; but, believe me, when our work of destruction is done, we shall find that they cannot be bought back with the price of all the iron in the world.

. Hazelthwaite, Windermere, July 26th, 1875.