Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1910-09-16

sides Of his canals, he works ~
stinct rather than by design and
shows himself to be possessed -
Keeling for proportion and line which
is impeccable.
1t is this innate suggestion of baan
ty and rightness in the canal life ~
the country that gives to the wondar
Iul calm of the landscape It's crown.
ing glory. Flat pastures sween o,,,
on all sides to a far horizon Uhor,
Ines and colors stand out with sine-,
lar clearness and brilliance SIeo,
black and white cattle are confined
10 their rfghtful meadows by smare,
canals which serve as hedges. for the
people nave put their mastery ovor
the water to practical uses at eveyv
turn. We are shaded by tall treas
that are set along either side of tbo
ROAD, and we know that we are in
land or peace, where hurry and clamor
would be unseemly. And yet in all
thlS benign quietude there is NOTHING
leeharglc, for always with us are the
great canals with their procession NJ
me- quiet and slow, but resolute and
unyielding. For variety and richness
the English landscape is unannroacb
aole' yet in this thing contrast is
not undressing AS we 60 through
our highways and lanes and wood.
iahds we shall find all the beauty and
peace, but the one thing that we SHAH
olten miss is movement and life which
Is wholly in tune with the surround.
1ngs and is, so to speak essential
70 the HE OF the nation as a whole,
trains may be this last. but thew de.
stroy the calm instead of emphasizing
IL. Motorcars are both discordant
and inessential. Even the pleasure
Doats on river lend a suggestion of
artinciality. A team On the plough.
lands, shepherd foldiIs his sheen q
held OF lawmakers or reapers only in
tnese 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 wa
nnd always the feeling of seclusion
ana restfulness heightened and
touched to a sense of vitality by the
canals and their full-sailed barges.
These canals triumphantly redeem
the physical characteristics of tbe
country from the charge of dullDess.
Holland in it's general features IS nm.
deniaoiy quaint, but quaintness has a
charm which is not enduring. After
~
Whlle we begin to tire of the square.
ness and orderliness, and to look mon
what appeared to be individuality at
frst as eccentricity. We grow a little
uncomfortable in the land of TilIiput
and fret for change and some match
OF Wlldness. But of the canals we
never weary, for in them we see the
expression of a nations character
moIded 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 PEG
pies greatness.
me 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 we'll, 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 well 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 is 6
phenomenon still unaccounted for and
constantly recurring. We know that
Rome step by step rose to a spleudor
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 rIe
~ III VIC NeAu Uul dEECBt TIC 1850
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 .a-
shadow Of dead glories, We too sha"
leave something of our works to bear
witness to & greatness that has gore.
But Holland will be but a recorded
history to the new nations OF taro7
ages The sea viii. have prevailed.
and the great canals, which are as
truly the essential expression OF a res
olute and heroic people as are me
palaces of Venice or the Acropol3s @.
the Greeks. will have persisted a-a
will bear no testimony.
JOHN oRINKwATER.