The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1896-09-23
STONEHENGE.

The OIu hyCnOlORy cnteTB 1uLo Iu6 heRrt8
Of Visitors There.
"a common remark that feeling
Of appointment is almost invariably
experienced on a first visit to Stone
henge. This is partly due to the vast
solitude in which the monument stands.
There is nothing near enough to it in
any direction to furnish standard by
which to estimate the magnitude of the
stones. Consequently they look much
smaller than they really are, and we
miss that imposing effect Of immcnsity
which everybody associates in advance
with s5tonehenge. Another cause Of dis
appointment is what we must call the
reserve Of the monument. Mystery,
whether vested in persons or things, has
a fascination Of its own, but the fasci-
natior is Of kind that is only enjoya-
BILE when the mysterious thing or per-
son is not actually present.
We all know the delight Of discussing
interminably person about whom no
amount Of discussion brings us nearer
to knowledge, and we all know also
the chilly, baffled feeling that takes
possession of US when we pass from such
discussion into the presence of the in
scrutable person. An impenetrable re-
serve is undoubtedly one of the striking
characteristics of Stonehenge. And this
reserve, however much it may increase
the impressiveness of the monument as
subject Of thought and speculation,
certainly takes away from its impress
iveness as an object contemplated by
the bodily eye. We are so accustomed
to the easily interpreted language-util-
itarian and sentimental-of modern,
medieval and classical buildings and
monuments, that we hardly realize how
much Of the impression they make on
us is due to the wide range of memories
and associations they touch in ourselves
until we are confronted with a monu-
ment like Stonehenge, the language of
which is dead for US, and in whose pres
ence we are reduced to the blank emo
tion of wonder. 1t is quite pathetic to
zee how, in the dearth Of ineligible
symbolism or appealing beauty, every
observant visitor seizes eagerly, at his
or her first visit to 1.-THE stones,' upon
the lemons and mortise holes in the piers
and the imposts OF the trilithons and
tho outer circle of Sarsens, as the only
features which speak to US directly Of
the part played by human ingenuity in
the construction Of the temple Those
knobs on the upright stones and CORE
spending sockets in the lintels which
the uprights support tell an unmistaka-
ble-albeit very homely and practical
tale of labor for q definite and quite
intelligible result.
At the moment of the summer SOL
stice Stonehenge may, however, be said
to relax it's reserve and admit US for
once into its confidence. It tells in visi-
BILE signs the secret Of its orientation to
the midsummer sunrise, and its cold
and monotonous grayness warns into
color and life as the sunlight flows in
under the lintels of the Sarsen circle
and the piers shoot their sharp shadows
over the ground. Then the stones cease
to be dead stones-they seem to bo re-
spending sympathetically to the influ-
ence of the sun god, and something of
the feeling Of the old mythology enters
into the hearts of all onlookers. Add to
this touch of sentiment the solid satis-
faction of having gained rough ocular
demonstration of the truth of al asser-
tion of the learned which we are inca
pable either of understanding in detail or
attacking critically-and you have tho
answer to the question that is involun-
-tarily suggested by tho presence on the
ground of a number of people who seem
animated by the smallest amount posi-
bic of intelligent interest in the phc-
nomena before them. 'Why in the
world have all these people Gomez"
When you have once seen the sunrise
over the sun stone, you feel that you be-
lieye on your own account III the solar
orientation of the temple, and the line
of the axis onco realized on the ground,
the plan Of the building becomes intelli-
gible. e.-London Spectator.