The Heart of Nature; or, The Quest for Natural BeautyYounghusband, Francis Edward, Sir
Philosophy
The Heart of Nature; or, The Quest for Natural Beauty
Younghusband, Francis Edward, Sir
Himalaya Mountains -- Description and travel; Natural history -- Himalaya Mountains; Nature (Aesthetics)
daisy-covered lawns, its flowerbeds, its may and lilac, laburnum and
horse-chestnut, and with the towers of Westminster Abbey and the Houses
of Parliament rising behind it, is certainly more beautiful than the
same piece of land was two thousand years ago in its natural
condition.
What has been done in this respect in England is only typical of
what is done in every country and of what has been done for ages
past. The Moghul emperors, by the planting of gardens on the
borders of the Dal Lake in Kashmir, added greatly to its beauty. And
the Japanese are famous for the choice of beautiful surroundings for
their temples and for the addition which they themselves, by the
erection of graceful temples and by properly cared-for trees and
gardens, make to the natural beauty of the place.
So man is both affected by the Beauty of the Earth's features and
himself affects that Beauty. And this relationship between man and
the Natural Beauty of the Earth is one of which Geography should
take as much cognisance as it does of the relationship between man
and the productivity of the Earth.
But Natural Beauty is manifested in an innumerable variety of forms.
The whole Beauty is never manifested in any one particular feature
or region, but each has its unique aspect. Each feature has its own
peculiar beauty different from the beauty of any other feature. And
what men naturally do, and what I would suggest geographers
should deliberately do, is to compare the beauty of one region with
the beauty of another, so that we may realise the beauty of each with
a greater intensity and clearness. We can compare the beauty of
Kashmir with the beauty of Switzerland and California. And the
comparison will enable us to see more clearly and to appreciate the
distinctive elements which make up the peculiar beauty of each of
those countries. It has been frequently noticed that people who have
always lived in the same place are unable to see its full beauty. The
inhabitants of the Gilgit frontier, when I first went among them, had
never left their mountains, and were altogether ignorant of the
special grandeur of their beauty. They thought all the world was just
the same. But men who have seen many varieties of Natural Beauty
and have taken pains to compare the varieties with one another
become trained to see more Beauty in each feature. Fresh
discoveries of Beauty are thus made, and our knowledge of the
Beauty of the Earth is thereby increased.
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Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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