The International Magazine, Volume 4, No. 5, December 1851Various
History
The International Magazine, Volume 4, No. 5, December 1851
Various
Art, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals; Literature, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals; Science -- History -- Periodicals
Germany has, we think, in some respects a strong resemblance to the
views of America. It is not so much wanting in detached copses and
smaller plantations of trees as the countries farther south and east
of it, while it has less of the naked aspect in general that is so
remarkable in France. Detached buildings occur more frequently in
Germany than in France especially, and we might add also in Spain. The
reader will remember that it is a prevalent usage throughout Europe,
with the exception of the British Islands, Holland, and here and there
a province in other countries, for the rural population to dwell in
villages. This practice gives to the German landscape, in particular,
a species of resemblance to what is ordinarily termed park scenery,
though it is necessarily wanting in much of that expression which
characterizes the embellishments that properly belong to the latter.
With us this resemblance is often even stronger, in consequence of the
careless graces of nature and the great affluence of detached woods.
The distinguishing feature existing in the farm-house, fences and
outbuildings. Of a cloudy day, a distant view in America often bears
this likeness to the park, in a very marked degree, for then the graces
of the scene are visible to the eye, while the defects of the details
are too remote to be detected.
The mountain scenery of the United States, though wanting in grandeur,
and in that wild sublimity which ordinarily belongs to a granite
formation, is not without attractions that are singularly its own.
The great abundance of forest, the arable qualities of the soil, and
the peculiar blending of what may be termed the agricultural and
the savage, unite to produce landscapes of extraordinary beauty and
gracefulness. Vast regions of country possessing this character are to
be found in almost all the old states, for after quitting the coast for
a greater or less distance, varying from one to two hundred miles, the
ranges of the Alleghanies interpose between the monotonous districts
of the Atlantic shores and the great plains of the west. We are of
opinion that as civilization advances, and the husbandman has brought
his lands to the highest state of cultivation, there will be a line of
mountain scenery extending from Maine to Georgia, in a north and south
direction, and possessing a general width of from one to two hundred
miles, from east to west, that will scarcely have a parallel in any
other quarter of the world, in those sylvan upland landscapes, which,
while they are wanting in the sublimity of the Alpine regions, share so
largely in the striking and effective.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account