t and Frederick O. Prince; Honorables
Robert C. Winthrop, Charles Francis Adams, George S. Hillard, Charles
Sumner, William M. Evarts and Charles Devens; such writers as Ralph
Waldo Emerson and John Lothrop Motley, and divines as Right Rev. John B.
Fitzpatrick, Roman Catholic bishop of Boston, Right Rev. Theodore Dehon,
bishop of South Carolina, and Revs. Cotton Mather, Benjamin Colman,
Andrew Eliot, Joseph Tuckerman, William Jenks, Samuel Cooper Thacher,
Francis Parkman, N.L. Frothingham, William H. Furness, Alexander Young,
Frederick A. Farley, James Freeman Clarke, William Henry Channing, Henry
Ward Beecher, John F.W. Ware, Edward E. Hale and Phillips Brooks.

[Footnote 1: Rev. Phillips Brooks.]

* * * * *

THE WHITE AND FRANCONIA MOUNTAINS.

By Fred Myron Colby.

[Illustration: WHITE MOUNTAIN RANGE FROM MILAN.]

What would the world be without mountains? Geographically, one vast
monotony of unchanging surface; geologically, a desert waste. Mountains
are the rib-bones of the great skeleton of nature, and they hold
together the gorgeous outline of river, valley, lake, and savannah that
gives the earth all its varied beauty. Beautiful and grand as they are,
they are as useful as ornamental, and serve a momentous necessity in
mundane affairs. They are grand landmarks of the Almighty's power and
mercy and goodness, and historically occupy a _high_ position in
the lives of nations.

The seers and saints of the old time speak of the strength of the hills
as if they were the special gifts of the Creator to his favored people
for their defence. The history of later nations has shown us that they
have found more in the strength of the hills than defences against the
attacks of outside enemies; that they have drawn from them a moral vigor
of character, a keenness and activity of intellect, and a love of
country, which has produced the most enduring and elevated patriotism.
And, indeed, we must bless God for mountains; those who live near them
are larger, better, nobler than the denizens of the plains. "Flee to the
mountains," cried the angel to Lot. Ah! there was meaning in the
command. Men stagnate upon the plain; they grow indolent, sensual,
mediocre there, and are only vivified as they seek the great alphabet of
nature, as they pulsate with her in her wondrous heart-beats. It has
been the mountain men who have ruled the world.

New Hampshire is a land of mountains. She is