THE LANDSCAPE BEAUTIFUL 



the pre-eminence o£ America in literature. 

 Doubtless, they ought to be pardoned for 

 telling the truth with such very good 

 intentions, but it is sad to think that they 

 can gfive no better reason for the faith that 

 was born in them. 



Or, to put it differently: we would ail 

 like to believe that the American landscape 

 is the best the Creator ever designed, but 

 our faith is forced to rest on a sadly insuffi- 

 cient, unreasoned and uninformed basis of 

 observation. 



Mr. Kinosuke Adachi, in a delightful 

 essay on Japanese landscape gardening, 

 tells how the apprentice-gardener of Nippon 

 must take his note-book and travel for 

 months through the Flowery Kingdom, ma- 

 king intimate studies from nature, with 

 notes and sketches of all he sees, and feels, 

 and dreams. For he must not only see and 

 know the natural landscape, — ^he must feel 

 its beauties, and must dream its most inner 

 meaning before he can begin to make land- 

 scapes of his own. 



It is a fine picture. The young gar- 

 dener with all his best aspirations attune, 

 and with his soul quick to every touch of 

 beauty, going to such an almost holy quest, 



100 



