IN PRAISE OF RAIN 



"A land of hills and valleys, drinking water of the rain of heaven." Dent. xi. n. 



TT is the privilege of the educated the rain over and gone all these 



Englishman, unless he be a far- phases of his enemy's being have 



mer or a market gardener, to think an educating power on his eye and 



of rain as a nuisance. He does not mind, though he be unconscious of 



understand his debt to it ; he hardly it. They are beautiful in themselves, 



knows what it is to long for it. and the changes they work in the 



It interferes with the out-of-door atmosphere and on the earth keep his 



games that he loves, and it spoils outdoor mind alive and stirring. They 



his cycling or his motoring. But accustom his eye to see his landscape 



the fact is that the peculiar beauty through a glorifying medium ; they 



of his country is more the result have given his painters a sense of 



of rain than any other cause. It atmospheric effects which perhaps 



is rain, the gentle constant rain belongs to no other nation, for in this 



of the ocean, that has moulded his moist land of ours the atmosphere is 



country into hill and dale, and made almost always visible between us and 



his roads twist and turn, mount and the object we look at in the distance, 



descend, ever giving him fresh scenes And it is rain, spreading itself thus 



as he moves along them. It is this so constantly and so quietly over the 



gentle rain, not coming in seasonal moderate elevations of our land, that 



deluge, but spreading itself in fair has made water an almost invariable 



proportion over the whole year, that accompaniment of our wayside scenes ; 



has given such constant variety to our roads and lanes and footpaths are 



his landscape, and has given himself for ever crossing it, and bridges great 



the unconscious eye of an artist in and small are tempting the artist to 



contemplating it, and in suiting to it set up his easel, or the wayfarer to lean 



the works of his hands. The ap- on them and refresh his eyes with run- 



proach of rain, the passing of rain, ning water and its plants and animals. 



