I do not myself understand
that. I should not wish to see Etna merely because Empedocles is
supposed to have jumped down the crater, nor the site of Jericho
because the walls fell down at the trumpets of the host. The only
interest to me in an historical scene is that it should be in such
a condition as that one can to a certain extent reconstruct the
original drama, and be sure that one's eyes rest upon very much the
same scene as the actors saw. The reason why Syracuse moved me by
its acquired beauty, and not for its historical associations, was
because I felt convinced that Thucydides, who gives so picturesque
a description of the sea-fight, can never have set eyes on the
place, and must have embroidered his account from scanty hearsay.
But, on the other hand, there are few things in the world more
profoundly moving than to see a place where great thoughts have
been conceived and great books written, when one is able to feel
that the scene is hardly changed. The other day, as I passed before
the sacred gate of Rydal Mount, I took my hat off my head with a
sense of indescribable reverence.
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