登陆注册
4712000000062

第62章

It had been agreed between my friend Mr. C. and me, that before I left England, we should make an excursion together to Stonehenge, which neither of us had seen; and the project pleased my fancy with the double attraction of the monument and the companion. It seemed a bringing together of extreme points, to visit the oldest religious monument in Britain, in company with her latest thinker, and one whose influence may be traced in every contemporary book. I was glad to sum up a little my experiences, and to exchange a few reasonable words on the aspects of England, with a man on whose genius I set a very high value, and who had as much penetration, and as severe a theory of duty, as any person in it. On Friday, 7th July, we took the South Western Railway through Hampshire to Salisbury, where we found a carriage to convey us to Amesbury. The fine weather and my friend's local knowledge of Hampshire, in which he is wont to spend a part of every summer, made the way short. There was much to say, too, of the travelling Americans, and their usual objects in London.

I thought it natural, that they should give some time to works of art collected here, which they cannot find at home, and a little to scientific clubs and museums, which, at this moment, make London very attractive. But my philosopher was not contented. Art and `high art' is a favorite target for his wit. "Yes, _Kunst_ is a great delusion, and Goethe and Schiller wasted a great deal of good time on it:" -- and he thinks he discovers that old Goethe found this out, and, in his later writings, changed his tone. As soon as men begin to talk of art, architecture, and antiquities, nothing good comes of it. He wishes to go through the British Museum in silence, and thinks a sincere man will see something, and say nothing. In these days, he thought, it would become an architect to consult only the grim necessity, and say, `I can build you a coffin for such dead persons as you are, and for such dead purposes as you have, but you shall have no ornament.' For the science, he had, if possible, even less tolerance, and compared the savans of Somerset House to the boy who asked Confucius "how many stars in the sky?" Confucius replied, "he minded things near him:" then said the boy, "how many hairs are there in your eyebrows?" Confucius said, "he didn't know and didn't care."Still speaking of the Americans, C. complained that they dislike the coldness and exclusiveness of the English, and run away to France, and go with their countrymen, and are amused, instead of manfully staying in London, and confronting Englishmen, and acquiring their culture, who really have much to teach them.

I told C. that I was easily dazzled, and was accustomed to concede readily all that an Englishman would ask; I saw everywhere in the country proofs of sense and spirit, and success of every sort: Ilike the people: they are as good as they are handsome; they have everything, and can do everything: but meantime, I surely know, that, as soon as I return to Massachusetts, I shall lapse at once into the feeling, which the geography of America inevitably inspires, that we play the game with immense advantage; that there and not here is the seat and centre of the British race; and that no skill or activity can long compete with the prodigious natural advantages of that country, in the hands of the same race; and that England, an old and exhausted island, must one day be contented, like other parents, to be strong only in her children. But this was a proposition which no Englishman of whatever condition can easily entertain.

We left the train at Salisbury, and took a carriage to Amesbury, passing by Old Sarum, a bare, treeless hill, once containing the town which sent two members to Parliament, -- now, not a hut; -- and, arriving at Amesbury, stopped at the George Inn.

After dinner, we walked to Salisbury Plain. On the broad downs, under the gray sky, not a house was visible, nothing but Stonehenge, which looked like a group of brown dwarfs in the wide expanse, --Stonehenge and the barrows, -- which rose like green bosses about the plain, and a few hayricks. On the top of a mountain, the old temple would not be more impressive. Far and wide a few shepherds with their flocks sprinkled the plain, and a bagman drove along the road.

It looked as if the wide margin given in this crowded isle to this primeval temple were accorded by the veneration of the British race to the old egg out of which all their ecclesiastical structures and history had proceeded. Stonehenge is a circular colonnade with a diameter of a hundred feet, and enclosing a second and a third colonnade within. We walked round the stones, and clambered over them, to wont ourselves with their strange aspect and groupings, and found a nook sheltered from the wind among them, where C. lighted his cigar. It was pleasant to see, that, just this simplest of all simple structures, -- two upright stones and a lintel laid across, --had long outstood all later churches, and all history, and were like what is most permanent on the face of the planet: these, and the barrows, -- mere mounds, (of which there are a hundred and sixty within a circle of three miles about Stonehenge,) like the same mound on the plain of Troy, which still makes good to the passing mariner on Hellespont, the vaunt of Homer and the fame of Achilles. Within the enclosure, grow buttercups, nettles, and, all around, wild thyme, daisy, meadowsweet, goldenrod, thistle, and the carpeting grass.

同类推荐
  • 白谷集

    白谷集

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 方壶外史

    方壶外史

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 南湖集

    南湖集

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 无字宝箧经

    无字宝箧经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 瓯北诗话

    瓯北诗话

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 感动你一生的156个爱情故事(影响一生的故事全集)

    感动你一生的156个爱情故事(影响一生的故事全集)

    本系列丛书从感动的视角出发,撷取生活中最受广大读者关注的亲情、友情、爱情、做人、沟通等几大方面的素材与故事,用最优美的语言传递人世间最真挚的情感,用最恰当的方式表述生活中最正确的做人与做事箴言。
  • 请你跪下

    请你跪下

    游河舟一步一步挪过来,站到阿南面前。他站着,即使低着头,也比阿南高出半个身子,阿南得抬头才能看着他说话。阿南抬头看他,却不说话。游河舟被看得手脚无措,他不自觉地调整自己的身子,以适应阿南的位置。听到阿南说“请你跪下”时,他实际已经跪着了。他跪下后的高度正好跟阿南齐平。阿南与他面对面,看着他的眼睛说:“阿兰要我谢谢你。”他停下,看到游河舟又是点头又是摇头,不知有没有在听,他继续说:“阿兰说你教会她怎么做人了,所以要谢你。”说到这儿,阿南脱掉脸上的凝重,露出了微笑说:“不好意思啊,她还说要谢你让她嫁给了我。这个,我也得谢你。”他两手作揖对游河舟拱了拱。
  • 东坡易传

    东坡易传

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 少年林阳

    少年林阳

    何为武道?何为侠义?莫不是真侠士,敢救济天下苍生,又怎叫人扬眉于权贵,真真正正地做到赏善罚恶呢?浑浑噩噩,竟是个医生;明明白白,又确实是个糊涂蛋,林阳,可谓:怪哉!
  • 山东大鼓

    山东大鼓

    “中国文化知识读本”丛书是由吉林文史出版社和吉林出版集团有限责任公司组织国内知名专家学者编写的一套旨在传播中华五千年优秀传统文化,提高全民文化修养的大型知识读本。《中国文化知识读本:山东大鼓》为丛书之一,系统全面介绍了山东大鼓相关知识。《中国文化知识读本:山东大鼓》中优美生动的文字、简明通俗的语言、图文并茂的形式,把中国文化中的物态文化、制度文化、行为文化、精神文化等知识要点全面展示给读者。
  • 兽皮人的复仇

    兽皮人的复仇

    一个天降横财的中奖信息,一场连环不断的残酷杀戮。花季少女的意外惨死,天真幼童的神秘失踪,静谧山村摄人心魄的大量白骨...是否都跟那个离奇的传说有关?他,一个代理刑警队长,能否带着他的兄弟们解开谜团?
  • 强政老公很有爱

    强政老公很有爱

    在徐正轩的字典里,关于安然这个名字的解释,如下:安然是老婆,是疼到连自己都觉得恶心为止,安然是夫人,是奉承到连尊严都可以抛弃,安然是宝贝,是握在怀里连中暑都要捂住,某一天,安然如果累了,有他连坐十几个小时的飞机从国外赶回专程按摩,在安然的字典里,关于徐正轩的解释,如下:徐正轩是暴君,是霸道到连脱袜子都要蛮横抢着干,徐正轩是跟屁虫,是连上个洗手间都要徘徊在外认真守候,徐正轩是小气鬼,是除了他以外连司机都必须是女人,徐正轩是爱哭鬼,是连她扎破手指都要泪流满面自责不已。
  • 总裁校花赖上我

    总裁校花赖上我

    【鱼人新书】杀手兵王楚楠归隐花都来退婚,刚下火车就被抓去冒充霸道美女总裁的男友!我可是来退婚的,你怎么都赖上我了呢?【鱼宝宝书友1群333702438(已满),鱼宝宝书友2群417723151】
  • 宰下不约

    宰下不约

    【主宰帝尊】,书名改不了了!啧啧啧。远古万界被打爆,而现世地球是其中一片核心地带形成,后来因为特殊原因(修真界的微信拍卖群为引子),猪脚步越和宇宙中远古界的修真文明联系上。因为鸿蒙无字天书,激活了地球的灵气恢复,天道规则异变。再加上猪脚的父母因为掌握着某件核心之物,而被地球修真界的宗门,放逐到黄泉界,其中甚至牵扯到远古十二祖巫。三皇,人皇伏羲传承现世。带着由三清道祖,女娲娘娘,三皇五帝等代表人族一方的万经阁同时出现……而黑暗位面的诸王,冥王,撒坦,阎王,死神等也在蠢蠢欲动。甚至异世界宇宙大恐怖也显化冰山一角。
  • 幼真先生服内元炁诀

    幼真先生服内元炁诀

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。