CHAPTER XXII 



THE COURSE OF HISTORY. 



IN the Gallery of Art of the New York Histori- 

 cal Society is a series of five paintings by 

 Thomas Cole depicting "The Course of Em- 

 pire." On each canvas the same landscape is 

 pictured, though seen from different angles, while 

 the changes wrought by the hand of man pass 

 over the successive scenes. The lesson of the 

 artist is well worth careful study in our day. 



Conformably with our popular sociological 

 notion, the first picture bears the legend, "Savage 

 State," though we know historically that no civi- 

 lization has ever evolved from savagery unaided, 

 while in countless instances the clear evidence still 

 remains of the descent of savage tribes from 

 higher stages. But overlooking this we come to 

 the picture itself. 



In the distance is a hill that ends abruptly at 

 the dark waters of a bay, which are faintly seen 

 beyond a wild and rocky landscape, with gorges, 

 thickets and storm-beaten trees. On the crest of 

 the hill an isolated rock is balanced, left there by 

 the erosion of the waters in the earth's prime. 

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