The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1856-04-23
ASHLAND. ASHLAND COUNTY. OHIO WEDNESDAY MOI

! from morals--from country Art draw
. its Inspirations from these profount
sources, as well as from the ever opel
source of Nature. But it is not les
true that Art--the state-religion-ar
powers which have each their worlc
apart, and their own effects; they mu
taally help each othcr-they should no
serUe each other AS soon as one o
them wanders from its end, it errs anC
! is degraded. Does Art bliudly give it
sl.e up to the orders of Religion and th'
| State? In losing its liberty, it loses it
charm andits empire. Ancient Greece
and modern Italy are continually cited
as triumphant examples of what the al
lance of Art, Religion and State car
do. Nothing is more true, if the ques
tion is concerning their union-nothing
isfmore false, if the question is concern
ing the servitude of Art. Art, in Greece,
was SO little the slave of Religion, that
it little by little modified the symbols,
aud, to certain extent, the spirit itself,
by its free representations. There is a
long distance between the divinities that
Greece received from Egypt, sud those
of which it has left immortal examples.
Are those primitive artists and poets as
HOMER and D.DALUs arc called, strangers
to this changer And in the most beau
tiful epoch of Art, AEscHrLUs and Phi
DIAs carry great liberty into the reli-
gious scenes which they exposed to the
gaze of the people, in the theatre, or in
front of the temples. In Italy as in
Greece, as in every where, Art is at first
in the hands of the priesthood and gov
ernments; but as it increases in impor-
tance, and is developed, it more and
more conquers its liberty. Once more,
let US exaggerate nothipg-let us dis
tinguish, not sepaI ate-let us unite Art,
Religion, and Country-but let US not,
by their union, injure the liberty ofeach.
Let us be thoroughly penetrated with
the thought, that Art is also to itself
kind of religion.
God manifests himselfto US by the
idea of the true-by the idea of the
good-by the idea of the beautiful.
Each one of them leads to God, because
it comes from Him. True beauty is
ideal beauty, and ideal beauty is re-
Election of the infinite. So independent
=5s ALI official iifiiauce with Religion
and Morals, Art is by itself essentially
religious and moral; for far from want
ing its own law-its own genius---it
everywhere expresses, in its works, eter-
nal beauty. Bound on all sides to mat
ter by impossible laws-working upon
inanimate stone-upon uncertain and
fugitive sounds-upon words of limited
and finite ignifcation-Art communi-
Gates to them, with the precise form that
is addressed to such or such sense,
mysterious character that is addressed
to the Imagination and the soul-takes
them away from reality, and bears them
sweetly or violently into unknown re-
gions. Ever work of Art, whatever
may be its form, small or great, figured,
supg. or uttered,-every work of Art,
truly beautiful or sublime, throws the
soul into gentle or severe reverie, that
elevates it towards the infinite. The
infinite is the common limit after which
the soul aspires, upon the wings efiIhagi
nation as we'll as reason, by the route of
the sublime and beautiful, as we'll as by
that of the true and good. The emotion
that the beautiful produces turns the
soul from the world; it is this benefcent
emotion that Art produces for humanity.
-b$->-f<----
PRAYING TO THE PoINT.-A certain
lawyer who, 8hilom, dwelt in one of our
New England towns, noted for his over
reachiDgs and shortcomings, during
revival, came under conviction, and re-
quosted prayers for the furtherance of
his conversion. His appeal was respond.
ed to by one of the saints. an eccentric
but very pious old rnan-honest, plain,