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Show 118. his essay from an h i s t o r i c a l p o i n t of view, we see i t in the context of Victorian l i t e r a t u r e of mountaineering. No matter what Muir might have wanted, for the V i c t o r i a n s a l l human a c t i v i ty f i t i n t o neat c a t e g o r i e s . For the V i c t o r i a n s, mountains might have a p e r s o n a l s i g n i f i c a n c e , or a e s t h e t ic significance, 0£ s c i e n t i f i c s i g n i f i c a n c e . Mountaineering, as a r e s u l t , could be j u s t i f i e d in t h e s e terms. But more likely, the j u s t i f i c a t i o n would be based on one of these as opposed to another. The a r t i s t , for i n s t a n c e , would say t h at his way of seeing mountains was s u p e r i o r to the g e o l o g i s t ' s, etc. More important, the p e r s o n a l s i g n i f i c a n c e had to be j u s t i f i e d in s o c i a l l y a c c e p t a b l e terms; climbing a mountain had to be p r o d u c t i v e , had to make one a b e t t e r member of s o c i e t y. If mountaineering had t o be seen as an a c t i v i t y which encouraged specific s o c i a l v i r t u e s , t h i s was a very narrow view of moral issues. Nevertheless, Muir's essay can be placed in h i s t o r i c al time, and seen in the c o n t e x t of h i s own h i s t o r i c a l moment. FOREGROUNDS, MIDDLEGROUNDS, AND BACKGROUNDS IN MOUNTAINEERING The Golden Age of Mountaineering in the Alps came to a close in 1865 when Edward Whymper ascended the Matterhorn. On the American c o n t i n e n t , the Golden Age had only j u s t begun in the summer of 1864, when Clarence King and Dick Cotter left t h e i r companions of the Whitney Survey, in hopes of climbing the highest peak in the S i e r r a . The heavy i n f l u e n c e by the British t r a d i t i o n on l i t e r a t u r e of mountaineering in America |