and integral order and coherence from
the personality of the writer. He
gathers into himself the spiritual re-
sults of the experience of his people
or his age, and through his genius
for expression the vast general back-
ground of his personal life, which, as
in the case of Homer, for instance,
has entirely faded from view, rises
once more in clear vision before us.
"In any museum," says Mr. La
Farge, "we can see certain great
differences in things; which are so
evident, so much on the surface, as
almost to be our first impressions.
They are the marks of the places
where the works of art were born.
Climate; intensity of heat and light;
the nature of the earth; whether there
was much or little water in proportion
to land; plants, animals, surrounding
beings, have helped to make these

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v?