Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from L'�le Perc�e; The Finial of the St. Lawrence or Gasp� Flaneries: Being a Blend of Reveries and Realities; Of History and Science; Of Description and Narrative; As Also a Signpost to the Traveler
Blen learned little of human anatomy studying it only from the outside or from a few accidental gashes on the body. We may search the whole length and breadth of our great mountain system of eastern North America - the Appalachians - and find no more than here and there a gash or surface scratch to tell the secret of its making. But on the coasts of Perc� the scalpel of the sea has gone deep and here stand exposed, riotously incarnadined, the very penetralia of the mountain system. Over such intimate structures the haruspex read the future; here he reads the past. And so, amid other charms of beauty and humanity, Perc� and her coast hold out this brilliant record of a long past. And there are added features in her geology which implant added beauty to her lines and are not elsewhere to be seen. These facts invite more than a passing interest in a spot otherwise natu rally attractive and physically inspiring.
It is a geologist who tells this story and who invites his reader to look at the coasts of Perc� through hi eyes. If you draw back with an unexpressed shudder at the thought of scrutinizing and analyzing the boun ties of Providence with a cold scientific glare, let us have this matter out between us here at the start.
The appreciation of beauty in nature depends on the capacity of the heart to make a response in kind. The tones of a great organ must kindle sympathetic tones somewhere, in arch or roof, choir or sanctuary, if their resonance is to rise to highest dignity and beauty. The appreciation of a landscape is not alone to be sensible of its lights and shadows, the composi tion of its color scheme, not even of its genius - the special grace by which it captivates and dictates; in which it declares its unlikeness to any other. The artist will draw his landscape as he sees it, or its genius as he apprehends it. So he may even paint the spirit of the lily. He may express the results of nature's work as they seem to him, and try within the limitations of his brush or clay to delineate the soul behind them. The long processes which effected these results, the constant succession of changes throughwhich the landscape or the lily has attained its present aspect, so far his portrayal will hardly reach.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
