New-York tribune., 1905-04-23

preservation. particularly fascinating are those
which deal with the influence upon national
history and human character and progress OF
| landscape and it's mutations. These mutations
| especially as revealed on the eastern seaboard
of England-that region which once formed
part of the mainland of EurOpe-are still o0vi-
ousIy progressive. The soft rocks are still dis
appearing before the imDeriOus wash OF the
waves. the rate OF loss at Holderness, for ex-
ample. being about thirty-four acres a year
The coast line thereabOUts. Geikie tells US has
( receded between two three miles since the
Roman occupation. the encrOaching sea having
impartialIy destroyed humble villages and lOrdly
manOrs. Other portions Of the coast line have
changed by accretion in the other direction.
divers towns which once sat upon haTbor now
vegetating several miles inland
| The author dwelIs with suggestive detail on
the gathering Of typographical information froa
ancient historical documents. from poetry, from
place names and tradition. ard from geological
1 investigation He gives interesting Ilustra-
tion Of the traditions which turn out to be his
| tOricaly true in a story of Lanmermuir. This
| legend asserted that Cromwell. when in straits
| after Dunbar, sent two secret messengers by
| land 20 the commander at Newcastle. asking
for help in the enemys rear. These men, on
their way over the border. were said to have
been discovered and shot A landhOIder OF
II
| against the historical supPositiOn that Crorn-
wells communications with England were main
/ tained only by sea She had the ground dug
| up in which the two soldiers were believed 10
have been buried more than two hundred years
| ago-and there. among some mOuldering bones
were found few decayed buttons with coin
| Of the time OF Charles the First"
/ Those features Of the British landscape which
originaIly Influenced the distribution Of native
II NEa
holds to affect the development Of these tribes;
The Gael who long ages ago was pushed ed BY Eo-,S tfS
left there to maintain until only lew genera
tons ago his primitive habits as hunter ing war
mained comparatively unprogresslVe, the NoTseIlg' men,
Danes and Saxons. who took possession OF IN tae LOW Low
1 9oS tna{ lay DGI" ~ MI 7pon richer soil and
land with their homesteads, farms VILLAGES %" IS IS
turn sfaPSf1s nfS his HIS By @ SUCCESSIVE Teatouc sTaf
from the other side OF the North Sea- mas pr9set
his pristine language. and with it much OF that IN
dividuality of Character which has kept nm rom
mus WINS Mle es +5 sJ Iees Fertile Iand have to
a large extent retained the hOdinSs and habits o.
| their ancestors building comparatively few towns
and engaging in few crafts save farming and stock
raising the TeutOnic tribes. possessing themselves
/ of the broad cultivable lowlands and Ine s srees
the isIants a network Of thoroughfares, have scat
many great cities; have developed the industra!
resources OF the land and nave nanny SoiliiOu'eU
L
| The paper on the influence Of landscape on
mans imaginatiOn offers an uncOmmOnly en-
I tertafning discussion OF the way in which the
wonderfully varied and imposing aspects OF
Greek scenery affected the religious and super
stitious beliefs Of the people. The pathway
from picturesque myth to it's origin in a river
cleft gorge or a volcanic upheaval Is a be-
guiling one which loses nothing in Geibie's
guidance SuperstitiOus explanations OF physi-
cal phenomena may not have disappeared en-
tireIy. but the last two generations OF civilized
men have awakened to a new delight in natural
beauty. Our author notes that mountain scenery
in the closing years of the eighteenth century
mot only had no charm for intelligent and OBJ
servant men. but filed them with actual dis
gust" Poets have helped to change this unrea-
sOnable attitude. but he looks to the Of
science to work even more vital change The
revelations of geology he relies upon to provide
even enchanting visions than live in poetry
and he does. in truth, on many an eloquent
page. so far to persuade his reader that thrill
ing romance abides in the hammer Of Time. in
the devOuring sea. in the bursting fires of the
earth He believes that so far from deadening
human Imagination and killing poetry, the ex-
tension of geological investigation will create a
new bond between landscape and literature
Perhaps-but it must be admitted that the lines
which he from Lowell are not CONVINCING