te.

For more than eleven hundred kilometres it flows between banks redolent
of history and legend to so great an extent that it is but natural that
the art and architecture of its environment should have been some unique
type which, lending its influence to the border countries, left its
impress throughout an area which can hardly be restricted by the river's
banks themselves.

We know how, in Germany, it gave birth to a variety of ecclesiastical
architecture which is recognized by the world as a distinct Rhenish
type. In Holland the architectural forms partook of a much more simple
or primitive character; but they, too, are distinctly Rhenish; at least,
they have not the refulgence of the full-blown Gothic of France.

Taine, in his "Art in the Netherlands," goes into the character of the
land, and the struggle demanded of the people to reclaim it from the
sea, and the energy, the vigilance required to secure it from its
onslaughts so that they, for themselves and their families, might
possess a safe and quiet hearthstone. He draws a picture of the homes
thus safeguarded, and of how this sense of immunity fostered finally a
life of material comfort and enjoyment.

All this had an effect upon local architectural types, and the great
part played by the valley of the Rhine in the development of manners and
customs is not excelled by any other topographical feature in Europe, if
it is even equalled.

Coupled to the wonders of art are the wonders of nature, and the Rhine
is bountifully blessed with the latter as well.

The conventional Rhine tour of our forefathers is taken, even to-day, by
countless thousands to whom its beauties, its legends, and its history
appeal. But whether one goes to study churches, for a mere holiday, or
as a pleasant way of crossing Europe, he will be struck by the
astonishing similarity of tone in the whole colour-scheme of the Rhine.

The key-note is the same whether he follows it up from its juncture with
salt water at Katwyck or through the gateway of the "lazy Scheldt," via
Antwerp, or through Aix-la-Chapelle and Cologne.

Sooner or later the true Rhineland is reached, and the pilgrim, on his
way, whether his shrines be religious ones or worldly, will drink his
fill of sensations which are as new and different from those which will
be met with in France, Italy, and Spain as it is possible to conceive.

From the days of Charlemagne, and even before, down through the fervent
period of