Say that he trembled in every nerve with a sense of the beauty and sweetness of life; that he rebelled and protested and shrieked; that he was buried alive, with his eyes open, and his heart beating to madness; that he clung to every blade of grass and every way-side thorn as he passed; that it was the most horrible spectacle you ever witnessed; that it was an outrage, a murder, a massacre!" "Good heavens, man, are you insane ?" Rowland cried.
"I never have been saner.

I don't want to be bad company, and in this beautiful spot, at this delightful hour, it seems an outrage to break the charm.

But I am bidding farewell to Italy, to beauty, to honor, to life! I only want to assure you that I know what I lose.

I know it in every pulse of my heart! Here, where these things are all loveliest, I take leave of them.

Farewell, farewell!" During their passage of the Saint Gothard, Roderick absented himself much of the time from the carriage, and rambled far in advance, along the huge zigzags of the road.