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page 69
part of the view. It is, I grant, easy to conceive, that an
ancient castellated building, hanging over a precipice or
raised upon an island, or the peninsula of a lake, like that
of Kilchurn Castle, upon Loch Awe, may not want, whether
deserted or inhabited, sufficient majesty to preside for a
moment in the spectator's thoughts over the high mountains
among which it is embosomed; but its titles are from
antiquity - a power readily submitted to upon occasion as
the vicegerent (sic) of Nature: it is respected, as having
owed its existence to the necessities of things, as a
monument of security in times of disturbance and danger long
passed away, - as a record of the pomp and violence of
passion, and a symbol of the wisdom of law; - it bears a
countenance of authority, which is not impaired by decay.
"Child of loud-throated war, the mountain-stream
Roars in thy hearing; but thy hour of rest
Is come, and thou art silent in thy age!"
To such honours a modern edifice can lay no claim; and the
puny efforts of elegance appear contemptible, when, in such
situations, they are obtruded in rivalship with the
sublimities of Nature. But, towards the verge of a district
like this of which we are treating, where the mountains
subside into hills of moderate elevation, or in an
undulating or flat country, a gentleman's mansion may, with
propriety, become a principal feature in the landscape;
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