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 GREECE BEFORE THE WAR OF 1 897. 22^ tainly produce better wines than Italy, even including Sicily, and not improbably as good wines as any country. Greece far excels all other countries in her claims on travellers. No country has the same wonderful combination of scenery as Greece. The view from the summit of many Greek mountains is inconceivably beautiful. From Parnassus you can see peak and plain, island and sea to great distances; from Zakynthos to Asia Minor, and from Mount Athos to Crete, are the most beautiful panoramas known to mortals. In no more northern country, moreover, is there the same clear air — an air that seems to act magi- cally on distant objects. But the innermost secret of Greek scenery is the sublime charm of association. We naturally feel sympathy for the names of places taught and familiarized at school, when we learned what is the most beautiful in the his- tory of mankind, when we heard first the names that pervade all history, all literature, and are the best in arts, in philosophy, and other sciences.