The Ordway new era., 1910-09-16


shows himself to be possessed of q
feeling for proportion and line which
is impeccable.
It Is this innate suggestion of beau
ty and rightness In the canal life of
the country that gives to the wonder
ful calm Of the landscape its crown
ing glory. Flat pastures sweep out
on all sides to far horizon where
lines and colors stand out with singu-
lar clearness and brilliance. Sleek
black and white cattle are confined
to their rightful meadows by smaller
canals which serve as hedges. for the
people have put their mastery over
the water to practical uses at every
turn. We are shaded by tall trees
that are set along either side of the
road. and we know that we are In q
land OF peace. where hurry and clamor
would be unseemly. And yet in all
this benign Quietude there is nothing
lethargic, for always with US are the
great canals with their procession of
life. quiet and slow. but resolute and
unyielding. For variety and richness
the English landscape Is unapproach-
able, yet In this thing a contrast 10
not uninteresting. AS we 20 through
our highways and lanes and wood.
lands we shall fnd ali the beauty and
peace. but the one thing that we shall
often miss is movement and life which
Is wholly In tune with the surround
ings and is. SO to speak, essential
to the life Of the nation as a whole.
Trains may be this last, but they de-
stroy the calm instead Of emphasizing
1t. Motorcars are both discordant
and inessential. Even the pleasure
boats on a river lend a suggestion of
artifciality. A team on the plough
lands. q shepherd folding his sheep. a
field OF haymakers or reapers. only in
these do we find the life that is in
exact accord with the scene, and these
we can only find at intervals. In
Holland. on the other hand, in places
the most remote from cities and the
sound OF markets and commerce, we
hnd always the feeling Of seclusion
and restfulness heightened and
touched to sense of vitality by the
canals and their full-sailed barges.
These canals triumphantly redeem
the physical characteristics of the
country from the charge Of dullness,
Holland IN Its general features Is un-
deniably quaint but quaintness has a
charm which is not enduring. After
while we begin to tire of the square.
ness and orderliness. and to look upon
what appeared to be individuality at
first as eccentricity. We grow a little
uncomfortable In the land Of Lilliput,
and fret for change and some patch
OF wildness. But of the canals we
never weary, for in them we see the
expression of a nations character
nodded through centuries of stirring
and honorable history. We remember
the Dutch proverb: God made the
sea, we made the Shore" and we feel
that these waterways are not only
beautiful and charged with color and
atmosphere. but symbolical of a peo-
ple's greatness.
The Dutch painters, through whom
the national genius has found its most
forcible and enduring expression, have
realized very completely this strange
blend Of calm and strength To look
at one of their portrait groups of, say.
body of hospital governors, is to
understand at once that these men
conducted their business thoroughly
and well, but scornful OF unidentified
, haste. and for untroubled repose Van
der Meer's picture of Delft in the gal.
lery at The Hague could not we'll be
surpassed. In the great Dutch paint
ings we do not find the tranquility of
the open places and luxuriant haunts
OF nature. but the deep calm Of strong
life. sober and not highly imaginative,
but entirely satisfying in its degree.
The rise and fall of nations IL a
phenomenon still unaccounted for and
constantly recurring. We know that
| Rome step by step rose to splendor
the glory Of which is immortal, but
we cannot grasp the secret of this
splendor's decay or of the decline of
the other great civilizations Of the
world. We can but accept the fact,
and wonder at the ruined and yet
noble monuments Of their greatness
that still stand as at once a memory
and an inspiration. When the time
comes that the peoples of western
Europe have also passed into the
shadow of dead glories, we too shall
leave something Of our works to bear
witness to greatness that has gone.
But Holland will be but recorded
history to the new nations of far-off
ages The sea will have prevailed,
and the great canals, which are as
truly the essential expression of res
olute and heroic people as are the
palaces Of Venice or the Acropolis of
tho Greeks, will have perished and
will bear no testimony.
JOHN DRINkWATER.