New-York daily tribune., 1845-02-24
THE TRIBUNE.
.l,,nsoN,s LECTURE on MACBETH


nal summary of the true principles OF AIT. The
lecturer said
1t is universally allowed tina; unless given per-
fornance yield the genuine student an overbalance
ofpeasnre, il is not entitled TO be called work Of
art Allcur suscepiibili,les find pleasure in the at
tainmen, of ihcirproper objects Not,hat pleasure
is the object Of the susceptibility, but an accompa-
nimenl inseparable from the attainment OF the OBJ
ject Just enjoyment springs from the meeting Of
appetite, IN general, or of any particular appetite,
with It's cor-reatlve, food so that II anything, Pur
porting TO be food, bring pleasure TO the taste,
we inter- al once, that II Is no food. ne o0Ject
does not correspond 10 the appetite, ana therefore
is not the thing required. So, we might say, il-
less the percepon OF an alleged work VI al oIins
an oyerbalance pleasure, II ls not true work OF
art The susceptibility oi art does not ilnd In such
work, its corresponding object. Here the Plea
sure is not the end OF the work, but only test
whether the work be genuine or not, so that the
absence OF pleasure from It's contemplation utterly
inyali1ates It's pre;enslon
Again. il is universally allowed, that prodnc
ton OF Art, 10 be genuine, must. when properly
studied, produce The illusion OF reality. Ant IN all
ts forms, becomes perfect only when, ana SO lar
as II ceases 10 seem art.
Tie painting, or music, or statue, which, when
viewed with the proper sense 10 be such Is
not genuine but only COLLECTION OF colors, or
succession OF sounds, or a block OF marble And
world of art, many things afford great pleasure,
which. in the actual world, would give unmlxed
pain The difficulty then, Is, that, under The lllu-
sion OF reality, we ENJOY many things which, IN the
actual occurrence, would cause us great distress.
re obviaie this difficulty many people have tried
TO account for the interest we ake IN works o art
bv the principle OF curiosity. But the truth Is, the
legitimate interest OF such works increases as their
novelty oil SO that they really become more
Interesting as they cease 10 excite curiosity.
.t,i,rnn ntIutp uf.re a
s. II seems to me- neither that OF the unreal, nor
that of the actual but simply that OF the ideal. Ii
should perhaps be remarked, by the way, that the
proper anthess oil the ideal Is, not the rea but the
actual
Nay, the ideal Is even more real than the actual,
nasnuch as the former exists tor all times and
places, whereas the latter can only have local
and temporary existence. There Is truth OF Ma
turc, a truth Of Art; beauty OF Nature, and
beauty OF Art. These, though analogous, are not
identical and as they are NOT the same IN them
selves so they NAV not be addressed 10 the same
faculties. We WcconJcmplae abstract truth only with
an intellectual interest: individual lite only with
svmpaihetic interest The ideal OF Art unltes the
interest of both Indeed, it is in the harmonious
equilibrium of the abstract aud the individual, that
The IDEAL which is the province OF Art, consists.
Hence Art, in some respects, IS, tor us, superior
even 10 Nature: inasmuch as The former umtes an
intellectual and SYMPATHETIC interest IN one and
the same process; whereas Nature, OF herself Sc
cures brt ono of them al once. This distinction Is
exempllticd and recognized IN the difference be-
tween historical and individual portraits, winch
pracliscd eve readily distinguishes, though II may
never have seen ANYTHING resembling either. An
individual portrait is not properly work ct Art,
but only copy from actual Ilie and interesting en-
" for The sake of the person represents But The
interest OF an IDEAL historical, portrait IS OF an
altogether different sort, and Is as universal as The
sense for Art, because lis original is onnlpresent; !;
or rather, Is simply an idea.
A work OF art then, depends, for IFS legitimate
interest, simply on our Susceptibility OF The ideal
and. 10 explain this interest by some more general
susccptibity seems Just about as unphllosoph!cal
as TO explain the process of digestion by chemistry
or mechanism. Art therefors, like knowledge or
virtue is It's own end and 20 enquire for It's utility.
were like enqui!ng for the utility OF religion or
even OF a God. Bat the true appreciation and en-
ioyment OF art, an end, involves The exercise oi
special sense or special faculty a sense cor
responding neither to The unreal nor 10 the actual
but 10 the ideal as before explained. ltwas prooa-
bly, the want ol this sense that caused Macautay 10
pronounce poeirya species OF madness. He bn,
spoke then, he frequently speaks in the Split OF
That abom,nabe philosophy, or rather want oi PHI
iosophy, which assumes every one to be out C. his
senses, who takes an interest III any thing above or
beyond sense. lie seems 10 regard art very much
as iaso regards virtue that s he values Il only as
means and, while ne is unwilling TO foreso liz
incidental results the thing itself, which produces
them, seems to hlm perfect absurdiy He there
fore calls poetry divine madness, and laso calls
virtue blessed figs end and there is Just about as
much wisdom, SUSPECT, IN the one expression as in
the other.
Such, then. is the best explanation can give of
the fact, that many things, which, in the actual
world, would pain rs IN The world OF Art please
us, only because, and so far as they produce the
Illusion oil reality. Art does not speak 10 &C.
neral faculties, but calls forth faculty for the ap-
preclai,on and enjoyment Of Itself. The mind thus
untodsa new meta new sense tor truth and beau
ty; q sense analogous 10. but not Identical with,
Nj, 4
on the other hand, 10 creae'orrevea an ideal world
Tor the Use and occupancy OF the soul. is the true
mission OF Art. II II be said that, that ground,
sense tor Art Is useless; the answer is, II may bs
useless to us as economists and hnanclers, but not
as men; and, even If II were the fault would lie
with H,m who gave the susceptibility, not with those
who 6evcopc and eXerclSelt have known men
who discovered nothing in Nature but collection OF
PHYSICAL apuiudes; who valued creation only as
sofi OF huge spnnjns-ienny 10 twist out fortunes
and interests with; and who would sneer at the
sueS o' looking al Nature through any other than
econoiitcai iacuilles. OF Course such men need no
special sense 10 view either Nature or Ar, with
me lScn.GeS employees IN the counting room on
me plantation are all they have any use for Re-
igian. too, Ike AIT, er like Nature as a means. is
useful TO us as economists, and of course REQUIRES
no special development. But as an ultimate and
paramount sood, she infinitely useful ;ous as men
and inthS she has herself 10 unfold the facnl
ties by which she is known and received md IN
awaken the ASPIRATIONS of which she is The object
As the MILL grind out the -four OF self in,eres She
may be known well enoughb by the cacuative facu,,
lies; but as an end she be truly known ouly by
the eye which Is preconhgured 10 the light Of her
counJenance; aud she must first touch and open
that eye for Us. before she can engage the interest
which her nature claims. Ii Is enough, therefore,
that art, like religion, though by no means in the
same degree TEultiplleS the aims and objects OF
spiritual beDg that II helps to call forth into action
our spiritual eaergics and suscepabiites that, il il
does not enable US 10 get rich faster, il enables U,
70 r,se above riches and that, BY giving US ''nobler
i3ves and nobler Cares II tends TO win Us from
.qs gross delights OF sense, and life's unspI!iua
Pleasures daily wooed"
hsnsion and art do no, merely feed, bu, devel.
o!e US nor merely give US wealth, but give US
SOU. .e ENJOY 1t; no, merely improve our condition
assS as economists but quicken unfold and perfect
asua G as men. With them, and with proper
put are more; not only possess other things, bu,
become other beings than wilhou, ,hsm