Note 213 — Chapter X · THE ÆSTHETIC SENTIMENT.

Grant Allen (Mind, xx., Oct. 1880) points out that Homer describes beautiful districts as “fertile,” “rich in wheat,” “horse-feeding,” etc. He heard a peasant in the neighbourhood of Hyères praising the magnificence of a cultivated plain covered with vegetables, while showing the greatest contempt for a picturesque bit of woodland. An American visiting England said, “Your country, sir, is very beautiful. In many parts you may go for miles together and never see a tree except in a hedge.” Any one who has had much to do with the peasantry could quote hundreds of remarks similar to the above.