The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1861-05-25
CnI,ix.asd Taste.

WLxIE COLLINS, in his Woman in White
makes the following observations upon this
subject. They are curious, and, we believe,
true, upon the whole:
cat any time, and under any circumstances
of human interest, Ia IL not strange TO see how
little real hold the objects OF the natural
world amidst which we live can gain on our
hearts and minds We go to Nature for com
fort in trouble and sympathy in joy, only in
books. Admiration of those beauties Of the
inanifYlate world, which modern poetry so
largely and so eloQuently describes, is not,
even in the best Of US, one OF the original in
stincts OF our nature. As children. we, none
Of us, possess it, No uninstructed man or
woman possesses it. Those whose lives are
most exclusively passed amidst the ever
changing wonders of sea and land are also
those most universally insensibie 10 every
aspect of Nature not directly associated
with the human interest of their Gazing:
Our capacity of approaching the beauties oi
the earth we live on is, in truth, one Oh tne
civilized accom- piisbments when We an I."i
as an art; and more that capacity Is rarely
practised by any OF MS except when our minus
are most indolent and unoccupled' nov h1u ,'
share have the attractions OF Nature ever nau
| in the measurable or painful Interests anu
| pp,o,ions of ourselves or our friends? What
space do they ever occupy In the tnousdhu
little narratives of personal experience ~hich
pass every DAY by wora 81 ,ba oar Minus
| com pass, al, that our hearts can learn, can De
| accomplished with equal certainty ana eq aai
| profit TO ourselves in the poorest az In the
richest prospect that the face OF the EARN can
| snow.
| These ideas will appear strange to many
| but we are disposed to think there is great
| deal Of truth in them. Lord MAcArLAr has
| proved in his history that the magnificent
views in the Scottish highlands, which now
command the attention of every traveller, were
not at MI estimated century ago. He quote'
from the books of a number Of travellers OF
that period to prove the fact. 1t was not unit
scorT began to throw around them the hale
Of his genius, that they began to be ADMIRED
and appreciated. We doubt very much whether
English travellers would admire the beauties
the Rhine, the Alps, and Italy, half as much
as they d. had Chiide Harotd never beer
written. taste for art is cultivated taste
beyond all doubt. No man admires the mas
terpieces of the great painters at first sight, al
be does after long study. Their beauties
grow upon the student, and he finds new ont
every day. CAMPBELL, the poet, who is said t.
have possessed fine taste for the arts, spen
several hours every morning while at Rom
before the Apollo Belvidere: and ne declared
| it would take him a lifetime to arrive at
proper perception of all its beauties.
If then a proper appreciation of the beau
ties of art is al requirement, why may not
proper appreciation of the beauties OF Natur
: be an requirement likewise? The facuit
which enables us to perceive the one is tn
same faculty that enables us to perceive tn
other Let any man look for the first tim
upon any natural object which he has hear
much spoken of; the sea for instance, or tn
Falls of Niagara. lie is almost sure to
disappointed. 1t is only by studying thei
for long time that they unfold themselves
their true beauty and majesty.