William Howitt, 1795-1879, was an English author. He published many books,
and was associated with his wife, Mary Howitt, in the publication of many
others.
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There is a charm connected with mountains, so powerful that the merest
mention of them, the merest sketch of their magnificent features, kindles
the imagination, and carries the spirit at once into the bosom of their
enchanted regions. How the mind is filled with their vast solitude! How
the inward eye is fixed on their silent, their sublime, their everlasting
peaks! How our hearts bound to the music of their solitary cries, to the
tinkle of their gushing rills, to the sound of their cataracts! How
inspiriting are the odors that breathe from the upland turf, from the
rock-hung flower, from the hoary and solemn pine! How beautiful are those
lights and shadows thrown abroad, and that fine, transparent haze which is
diffused over the valleys and lower slopes, as over a vast, inimitable
picture!