The Colonnade, Marienbad.

The Forest Spring.

One of the most revered of all Marienbad's patients in the past was the immortal demigod of Weimar, Goethe. In quest of health, he came here for a part of three successive years (1821-1823). We read in one of his letters from Marienbad : "The situation of this place is delightful. Both architect and gardeners understand their business, and are accustomed to work on liberal lines. It seems to me that I must be in the wilds of America, where trees are cut down in a forest, that a city may be built there in three years." Goethe had reason soon to be as grateful to Marienbad as he had been appreciative of its beauty, for here in 1823 he recovered from a severe illness - a fact which he attributed solely to the use of these waters. Part of the benefit, however, which he and countless others have derived here should be ascribed to the pure, ozone-laden air of the surrounding pines and to the sunny, healthful situation of the valley, which, opening only toward the south, is sheltered on north, east, and west by densely wooded mountains. Not only, therefore, the most healthful, but also the most charming, feature of Marien-bad is the noble forest, whose winding paths invite one to its shadowy groves on three sides of the town.

From almost any portion of this health-resort the visitor may step at once into a gloriously roofed and richly tapestried cathedral, whose doors are always open to the worshiper; whose long-drawn aisles invite him to their tender twilight; whose incense is the perfume of pines; whose solemn music steals upon the silence like the breath of prayer. Walk where we will, we can remain for hours in this natural temple, the prototype of all the Gothic sanctuaries ever framed by man; a church without contentions, rivalries, or creeds; a shrine in which the universal Father is forever present. What can I say of German forests that will even partially convey the impression which they make upon me? If I had been a Druid in a previous incarnation, I could not have a greater love for trees than that which fills my soul. When these inimitable gifts of nature are discreetly shorn of wild growth, till they rise, erect, majestic, and severe, like stately columns, covering hundreds of square miles of mountain side, united in sublime companionship, yet still distinctly individual, as all great entities should ever be, I know of nothing finer in the world. Days spent in such a woodland are an inspiration and a joy forever. What wonder that the German Wald has always been a temple of the muses, the birth place of innumerable themes of song and story! Mendelssohn's lovely "Fare thee well, thou forest fair!" is but the musical expression of a million hearts.