192 THE ORIGIN OF DERBYSHIRE SCENERY. 



nature of the vegetation and is frequently indicated by a line of 

 willows. 



Tlie river course has been referred to as " serpentine ; " and 

 the geologist, in surveying it from some neighbouring height, sees 

 in it as it glides along a stronger resemblance to a serpent than 

 is conveyed by its form alone. Its motions are snake-like. 

 The imagination perceiving only the effects of long continued pro- 

 cesses, becomes oblivious of the immense periods of time necessary 

 for their accomplishment. A millennium becomes an hour, and 

 the river is a living tiling, winding hither and tliither, ever the 

 same, yet ever changing its form. Tlie sunlight falls across the 

 cliff; it is transformed to the shape it possessed ten thousand 

 years ago, and the work of the cutting-tools of nature is revealed 

 to the vision. And from the effect the mind seeks the cause, 

 and perceives in the shining orb above the source of the energy 

 of watery vapour, falling rain, and rushing torrent. It sees in it 

 the source of the gentle motions of the air, and the mighty 

 tempest, and of the ever-changing outlines of the face of the 



earth nay, the sustainer of life and physical beauty. Still 



further, and the restless mind seeks the final cause, and can find 

 no resting-place but in that beneficent, all-pervading, all-sustaining 

 Power, which, in the beginning, " created the heavens and the 

 earth." 



In conclusion, I desire to express thanks to my friend, Mr. 

 John Ward, for valuable suggestions and information. It has 

 only been possible, in the limits of such an article as this, to * 

 touch the fringe of the subject, and indicate some of the leading 

 facts, but I hope at some future time to deal with it in a fuller 

 and more detailed manner. 



